This is Keith Barry’s take on the blindfold act.
Okay, I’ll be honest with you: I like him, but I personally feel he’s lacking a little something as a performer. His biggest advantage is mainly the rub he gets by performing for celebrities in his shows, but outside of that, he hasn’t really done anything yet to strike me as a cut above the rest. His scripting for his routines aren’t refreshingly different, his effects aren’t terribly original, and he’s not particularly funny, either.
What you cannot fault him for, though, is his ability to capture an audience. He may not be the best performer I have ever witnessed doing mentalism, but he knows how to get his name out there, and perhaps finds his popularity almost comparable to most of his other contemporary TV magicians. As a marketing man, Keith Barry certainly knows how to attract the right kinds of people.
Keith is of Irish descent and you can tell as much by hearing him speak with that unmistakable accent of his. He has a lot of things going for him as a performer, as he has crossover appeal, which even some of our best mentalists still find difficult to achieve. Nonetheless, he is often one of the first mentalists a good number of casual fans tend to know, so he does deserve a place of recognition in this month’s focus on mentalism.
Look for his TV special “Extraordinary” or bits and pieces of it on YouTube (The above video came from that TV special.). Even if you’re an advanced mentalist, you would appreciate the way he dresses up his routines to appeal to the average viewer.
No comments:
Post a Comment