Ok, I'm new at this whole magic thing, but is it just me or is Franz Harary very underrated....has anyone ever seen his show? How is it?

Some of his grand illusions appear to be absoulty amazing, but maybe I'm missing something.....

Under-rated is a huge understatement. I have been a friend and an associate of Franz's for approx 10 years, and its extremely sad how little respect and recognition he gets from the magic community.

For a man that has 3 complete Illusion shows ,created over 200 original illusions, worked with a who's-who list of celebrities and music stars, and performed on 5 continents for millions of people, he is virtually unheard of here in the states. He is one of the few remaining magicians that often has several shows running at once, with other magicians performing in the show in place of him.

If you count the 4 major magic magazines (genni, magic, mum and linking ring) in the last 20 years, that's approx 1,000 covers....not one of them has been of Franz.

In 1999 alone, between his Japan TV special, his India special, his live performances, and the shows he produced that included his magic, he was seen by over 1 billion people. that's in 1999 alone.

Why no love..who knows. Some say its because his shows are mostly overseas. When he does perform here in the states, his shows are smaller scale, unlike the arena and stadium shows overseas. Some say its because he's not part of the magic "clique" and didn't receive fame thru the traditional routes. Others feel he got a bad rap amoungst magicians because he "exposed a trick on TV" (which of course was a non-existing trick or made up trick designed just for the camera in efforts to keep them from exposing the zig zag illusion like they planned).

Either way, its sad. It's sad that a man who brings so much joy and inspiration to people gets no respect. Magicians constantly rip off his techniques/methods, bootleg his props, and steal his style.

Franz is a great person, and often misunderstood. If you get a chance to meet him, you'll see what I mean. As far as seeing him live, his smaller show will be in Laughlin in May, New Jersey in July, and possibly vegas later this year. He also has some overseas dates too.

Erich Troudt, I don't know you but I have to agree with every word you wrote on Franz Harary

Suffice to say that he was very kind with a friend of mines he had met just few minutes before!

Harary is really one in a million!

He did an interesting interview with MAGIC Magazine a few years ago. He told the story in the interview that once to protect the secret of an illusion, he and Janet Jackson ducked into the illusion to hide from some reporters. LUCKY GUY!!!

I used to think Harary was just a clone of Siegfried, but he really has made his own style and impression on the magic community. My favorite illusion was the disembodied he did on a guy. (We'll probably never see it ever again, unfortunately.) The figure painted on the outside of the cabinet looked like Michael Jackson. LOL.
Does anyone know if his 2 main assistants are still with him? (It used to be 2 men, back in his early years.
I really loved him hosting the "Masters of Illusion" TV series. I have every episode on tape. The series was cancelled shortly after he cut his hair. (Which should be no surprise to fans of http://www.jumptheshark.com.)

Franz has some amazing stuff. Every time he comes to the states he is never near us. Boy he should do a USA tour. I bet he would sell out at ever show. He is a great mind. One day I will see his show :O)

Michael

That's awesome....just from looking at what he has accomplished is amazing. Does anyone have a copy of one of his shows, or does he have a DVD out such as David Copperfield's "Illusion".

Thanks guys!

Franz's new DVD is incredible. Its basically a catalog of his biggest illusions combined with montages, shots of music stars doing his illusions and clips of the various TV shows.

He doesn't sell them, but they do show up on Ebay on occasion.

Shut up,Franz Harary at the moment is one of the best mind in the magic,
ok on the stage he have his leg open for a long time......lol but is a good good mind!great mind!

He has a whole set of performance-only dvds available from his site...