OMG.. ... I just watched the clip.

THIS is what you were all upset about people? what the heck?

He obviously isn't a magician so of course he would have to resort to using a hole in the ring

I thought he actually exposed it, not just did a 5 second gag with it which no one would confusse with a magicians effect.

Some people have nothing better to do other than to get upset. No one learned anything from that including, sadly, some magicians who should have learned something from the Farrell's performance.

I watched the performance and ---- ouch, rings are not inexpensive. What was that orange suit all about?

Jade used to work in a magic shop in San Francisco. Some guys came in and asked if she sold the ring trick like they just saw a guy do on the street...

She demonstrated the routine.

They said, "No not that trick, the guy on the street had a gap in one of the rings."

I won't mention his name, but he isn't too good (as you can tell) but he had the audacity to write and publish a book on the linking rings.

:kermit:

Although I agree with Frank here I disagree with notion that “everyone” knows about the linking rings and that it is O.K. for this guy to go on national T.V. and openly expose them. They’re not his to expose.

Not only was his performance and attire dreadful so was the fact he opened the key ring. Having a ring with an opening in it and showing it to the audience (millions of viewers) IS exposure.

Couple that with the fact that not only is their millions that don’t know how the rings work, but, also, an entire generation of younger viewers who are just now starting to get into (or seeing) magic makes it all the worse. I cut him absolutely no slack what so ever.

Does this guy perform magic or does he just mock it? IF you are an accomplished magician and your routine exposes the key ring as some do, then so be it. But I am less than thrilled that this Steve Martin wannabe is (dressing and trying way to hard to be funny) using something as beautiful as the linking rings as a comedy prop.

Less is more.

I wonder if Will Farrel knows that the magic community is talking about him. Thank you for posting the clip by the way. He did not really expose the secret because as everyone says no one will make the association when they see a magician performing it. Also Mr. Pete Biro, does Jade still own a magic store in San Francisco or does she reside in Los Angeles now? Do you know what the store's address is?

In my opinion:

The routine was exposure.

Most people know how the rings work (and the rest could guess).

The movie "Anchorman" was funny.

Obviously it was exposure.
I watched the clip. wow. what talent.

I was going to say that he had probably never seen a good rings routine
and just thought it was a funny joke.

Call him ignorant of the ethics of magic as far as preventing exposure.

Then I remembered that he's a hollywood entertainer. They care about nothing
but making sure they get applause at any cost.

So my opinion is that he darn well knew what he was doing was inappropriate
and just thought .... "so what. It'll be good for a laugh."

Back to reality..

For most people, that memory has already faded and they would still enjoy a good rings routine.

So do your part and go out and do yours well. Really well.

To address a comment from much earlier in this thread, there is a nice ring routine in Tarbell that starts with exposure of a key ring and a demonstration of how it sounds different than a regular ring when struck. The magician then announces that he doesn't use one, discards the key ring, and does the routine. In the right hands, this would slay.

Yours,

Paul

Well he's not a magician, he's an actor so you can't really blame him for the exposure. I am also sure that nobody noticed it watching TV because it was very hard to see.

I saw the clip. It was funny! (in a Will Ferrel sort of way)

I saw no "exposure" at all. All I saw was a parody of a magic act with a gag finish.

If you hold the gimmick up in full view of the audience, that's exposure, joke or otherwise.

Maybe some of the viewer thought that he put the cut in the ring because he could not do the trick.

Fish, That is an interesting interpretation. That is quite possible actually. I haven't thought of that. LOL

Or maybe people thought he broke the ring right then, I really don't think it was a big deal, I thought it was funny, even from a non magic stand point

Let me get this straight... If he goes out and chops down a 3000 year old redwood tree that’s O.K. because he’s an actor not a botanist.

What? You’re kidding me, right? Are you saying that nobody could see that GIGANTIC gap he made on that ring?

Unfortunately your reasoning is flawed. Showing a ring, with a gap in it, as he did, IMPLIES that this is how the linking rings are accomplished (or as we know some part thereof). Less is more.

I respectfully disagree. This is Will Farrell were talking about not Arnold Schwarzenegger.

All in all, the damage will be minimal, same with the masked magician exposing magic. Most people barely remember the pain of the 9/11 tragedy and that's a lot more important. People forget easily given time, thankfully.

Funny, after seeing the clip I was thinking of having Porper make me a ring with a HINGE so you could open it like Ferrell did... but I have some ideas on how to make it work as a gag and not seem like a tipoff on how the rings really work.

I'm not saying it was right. But I believe that most people know how the rings work. Chris Capehart even spoke at a lecture and admited to showing his audiences the gap. Then goes on with his routine to discredit the key ring.

After seeing the clip, the first thing that came to me was that he was lucky Leno is the host and Carson is no longer around. It would have been interesting to see or hear Carson's reaction.