Criss Angel No Phenomenon

“He lives his act.” -Robert Angier, The Prestige

There’s a scene in movie ‘The Prestige’ where an old, bend over, slow-moving Chinaman performs amazing tricks by making these heavy objects appear. One particular object that appears from seemingly nowhere was a big fish bowl complete with water and a few big goldfish. When the performance was over, the movies two magicians watched the old man very slowly and frailly make his way into a carriage. The movies main characters, Alfred Borden and Robert Angier, stood watching. Alfred believed the magician had the fishbowl between his legs. Robert was bewildered, how could this frail old man, carry a big heavy fish bowl between his legs during his hour-long act? Alfred still watching the man says something like, “Being old is part of his act”. Robert understanding sums it up, “He lives his act.”

One of my side hobbies is magic. Specifically mentalism. So it’s no surprise that Phenomenon is my show of choice last night.

Now every performer in this arena has a specific act. And they live that act. Some of them act like they can really read minds, some act like they can see the future and some act like they can channel a spirit to help them accomplish tasks. Magicians have a reason for their “powers”. Maybe they had an accident? Maybe they just had a natural talent since they were young? Maybe the spirit of a friend helps them? That’s their back-story.

If anyone caught Phenomenon last night you would have seen something unexpected and in my opinion uncalled for.

Why single out this one performer and not the others who have made similar claims as part of their back-story? To be fair, Criss Angel, is a Harry Houdini fan. And Harry Houdini, hated mediums, he spent a lot of time and effort exposing them. According to the shows background info on Criss, they went so far as to call him the next Houdini. Could it be Criss was trying to pull a Houdini? Maybe he was temporarily possessed by Houdini himself thereby proving the performer could be the real thing after all?

Seriously folks, I really believe Criss was way out of line here. That was not the forum to attempt to single out and belittle one of the performers just because you don’t like or believe their back-story. It was not the forum to challenge your own co-judge, the hand that feeds you. Especially when Criss, himself, proclaims to use supernatural forces and performs séances in his own show.

That was just Criss’s over inflated ego trying to act like Houdini exposing another medium. You’re no phenomenon in my book Criss…

What we can learn from Writers

Think I’m crazy for creating a blog that talks about things to learn from books, movies and tv? Think again. When we are at a loss of what to do in a situation we can go to our friends, historical figures, and I believe characters in books, movies and tv.

© Photographer: Kamaga | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Great Writers either know their material or they research it thoroughly. Like Author Golden who wrote ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ after hitting a roadblock he started actually researching everything he could about the culture and the time period. And he interviewed actual living geishas. He threw away his five hundred-page manuscript and started over. He ended up writing such a realistic account that others believe he was writing about an actual living and breathing person.

Writers come up with an enormous variety of situations from normal to far extreme situations that hopefully none of us will ever have to worry about. But a key to how these characters react or pro act is the fact that writers have time to really consider and explore the outcomes these characters go through. Like Santiago, a character from ‘The Alchemist’, who has to decide between continuing down the path he is currently on and traveling down the path his heart wants to follow.

Because these actions are well thought out, oftentimes these actions are valid for the situation and makes for a valid source of guidance. This applies doubly so if a writer were to do a story based on actual events. How does President Dedmon, from ‘We Are Marshall’ convince the commission to continue the football program? How did Rudy Ruettiger, from Rudy make it into Norte Dame? Whether or not you agree with how the characters deal with a particular situation you’d still have to admit they could teach us something. But, it’s up to us as observers to learn.

So when you think you are at an impasse and looking to family and friends isn’t fruitful. Try looking to what other people in actual events did. Barring that look at what characters in similar situations did.

What do you guys think?

Gordon Ramsay: A Real Mentor to Restaurateurs

The search for a mentor led me down many paths. Most of them I read about in books or see them on TV. Then I happened upon a show called ‘Kitchen Nightmares’. Gordon Ramsay whose restaurants won multiple Michelin Stars, published several books.. This is a man who knows how to build a successful restaurant from the ground up. He’s someone I would call the perfect mentor for anyone who would want to start their own restaurant. Not only because he knew how to run a highly successful restaurant and what standards they should apply to their business but also he knew the psychological pitfalls an owner can fall into.

In the episode titled “Did I stutter?”. Ramsay believed that the owner’s fear of failure was keeping the restaurant from succeeding. At first I was thinking, what is Ramsay talking about and the restaurant’s owner kept asking him, ‘what are you talking about?’. Then I saw it. I understood just what he was talking about. Every time Gordon suggested a change he didn’t like it. In the owners mind if he stopped doing what he was doing it would mean he failed. Finally the owner realized what Gordon was talking about. it was an Ah hah moment for him.

I really envied these lucky restaurant owners who had the opportunity to learn from an internationally acclaimed restaurateur. Not everyone gets the opportunity to be guided by someone so far down the road we want to travel down. Not everyone has someone point out clearly something that we are blind to, something that is keeping us back.

In another episode, where he turned the restaurant Dillons around.  He called the restaurants cleanliness standards awful.  The owners said they received a higher than average grade from the City and they clean the kitchen once a week.  Gordon took the owners on a tour of his kitchen.  Gordon’s kitchen defined clean, the owners inspected the fully staffed kitchen.  Gordon told them his kitchen is cleaned twice a day!

Watching a couple episodes, patterns begin to emerge.  Setting aside cosmetic changes to the look of the restaurant, the menu, food and service.  One of the key things Gordon seems to apply is to bring out the owners passion for his business and try to make that passion seen, felt and known within the business.   Once this is done the whole feeling within the restaurant changes.  The owners drive is increased, the ambiance of the place feels more important and personal.  Once this happens the owners change for the better.

My way has been to study everything I could about the greatest people in the field I wanted to be successful in; while at the same time have a deep understanding of who I am and what I am capable of accomplishing in the hopes that I’m not being blind to something.  To sum it up what I learned about business from watching the show is:

• Set a higher standard for yourself and/or your business
• Bring out your passion into what you do.  Make sure it is felt in your product or service
• Don’t be afraid to fail.  Failing teaches us what not to do.

How about everyone out there? Have you had the opportunity to learn from an expert or mentor or hidden monk in your field?