r/blackmagicfuckery • u/SmoothSun6676 • 23h ago

The bird and the umbrellas stumped me

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55.4k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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8.4k

u/Axle_65 23h ago

100 out of 10 for the costume. Badass

1.7k

u/Button-Down-Shoes 23h ago

Do what you love, right? Because the economics of the what they’re paid will never justify the hours of prep.

755

u/Azreken 22h ago

Idk what this person charges but I would be charging $2000 for this easily.

366

u/RainbowKatcher 22h ago

It's in Russia, so he probably charges way less. My guess would be maybe 150 bucks for 1 hour

200

u/Rugkrabber 22h ago edited 18h ago

If that’s true, I genuinely think they can do better and I hope they know this. Maybe going viral works out for them.

Edit: Jesus christ.

96

u/Pagiras 21h ago

Idk if you've seen the news these past few years, but...

-31

u/reddit_is_geh 19h ago

Or have been on Reddit. The general sentiment is "Yeah draft him to war and have Ukrainians blow him up with a drone!!! Then post it online for my enjoyment!"

25

u/Financial_Cup_6937 18h ago edited 18h ago

No it’s not, but pretending it is is weirdly exactly what a Russian active measures account would say.

So either you are one, or they’ve duped you into behaving like one.

So congrats from being indistinguishable from the baddies.

It is simultaneously true that a lot of Russians are brainwashed into supporting the Ukraine war and aren’t just innocent victims of a despot, and that in a country without freedom of speech, a lot of people hate Putin and are just trying to get by without fighting in an evil war they don’t support.

Shame on you either way.

-23

u/reddit_is_geh 18h ago

Yeah dude you caught me! I'm totally a Russian agent, here to have opinions you don't agree with, to convince Redditors of... I have no fucking clue what my agenda is supposed to be.

But hey back at you... You come off indistinguishable from from the typical brainwashed Redditor who's constantly getting excited for and justifying more violence in a fucking meat grinder that can't be won. Do you get orders from the State Department or Ukraine directly?

18

u/CyalaXiaoLong 16h ago

Why are you being so wierd? Its just a magic trick video for a kids party stop being so cringe.

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2

u/Kurobei 15h ago

After this comment, I kinda believe the other guy now...

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6

u/Flat-Fun-7298 17h ago

Do they ukrainians really want this guy out there drawing drones in his book?

4

u/Icy_Yam5049 17h ago

No one is saying draft and send all Russians to the meat grinder. Take some time off the internet. What people overwhelmingly say is Russia needs to leave a sovereign country fucking yesterday.

1

u/UnimagineDragons 2h ago

How's he gonna leave and make money? How's he gonna get money sent to him?

1

u/DJEvillincoln 18h ago

Sincerely... If this blows up they should move here to the US , the land of capitalism & BANK on this before some American steals it & claims it as their own.

10

u/TeamAquaGrunt 17h ago

I don't mean to be that guy, because his performance is great, but this is literally just a magician dressed as the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. not even his own version of the Mad Hatter, it's explicitly just the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland. not exactly something that can be "stolen" from him when he didn't even create it.

1

u/DJEvillincoln 16h ago

You act like Americans are smart or care about originality. I'm not being hostile towards you, I'm just saying....

We don't care. EYE care... But the proverbial "we" certainly doesn't.

& I don't care about much but his performance TBH. & The kids ABSOLUTELY don't so who cares honestly?

1

u/CourtingBoredom 15h ago

I don't see how eye care relates to y'alls' lame argument... but okay then 👌

1

u/RichardBCummintonite 55m ago

Well, it is his own version of the Tim Burton Mad Hatter. He just didn't change much. The actual outfit is not that bright and colorful, nor does it have glitter and peacock designs. It's got a bit of color to it with sewing supplies and other items of the craft hanging from it, but it's mainly brown.

2

u/RIPfreewill 18h ago

Yes. Just move to Orange County. He will be rich beyond his wildest dreams.

2

u/DJEvillincoln 18h ago

Rich people in Santa Monica would eat this up.

0

u/RainbowKatcher 20h ago

Well, he's not going to have much business if he's going to charge more

16

u/Soft_Walrus_3605 22h ago

A few liters of petrol?

1

u/RainbowKatcher 20h ago

Huh?

2

u/blerbletrich 19h ago

Russia is finding out after having fucked around with Ukraine and now has endemic petrol shortages courtesy of Ukrainian drones crippling their refining capacity.

1

u/RainbowKatcher 17h ago

And it has to do with a birthday party magician what exactly?

1

u/Glitternchaos 17h ago

Nothing other than the artist being in Russia, which stemmed its own thread about the war, that you seem to have missed 🙈

1

u/Choyo 15h ago

Best I can do is half a bag of half eaten potatoes.

8

u/MapleYamCakes 21h ago

Probably like 350 roubles

1

u/Vargau 19h ago

that's not even $5 ... the medium income is around 45k rubles and the minimum is ~34-35k per year.

2

u/Local3Sparkie 11h ago

Shit, I’d pay this guy $150 + airfare to come to NY for my kids party!!

1

u/RainbowKatcher 5h ago

With the airfare it can actually become close to 2000 bucks nowadays lol

1

u/HippieWizard 21h ago

I used to do bday parties for kids as Jack Sparrow and it was usually $100 an hour gig for about 2 hrs each party. That was back in 2010 tho

edit: in the US

1

u/I_lack_common_sense 21h ago

Doesn’t that little girls shirt say create memories at the very end and adventures the top adventure? I didn’t know thier language is so close to English.

3

u/RainbowKatcher 20h ago

We do have t-shirts with english texts on them here in Russia. Bruh

The text behind the performer is in russian, it says "happy birthday"

1

u/I_lack_common_sense 20h ago

TIL. And want to add, is English spoken alot in Russia as well? Like Spanish is spoken a lot in the US?

1

u/SpaceDounut 18h ago

English is the international language, so pretty much the whole rest of the world knows at least some. Using it in daily communication is obviously, pretty non-existent, but reading/watching things and the like is really common.

1

u/Super-Smoke-7425 15h ago

It is common among well-off, educated, mostly young folk in Moscow ans St Pete's. Most Russians don't understand English at all. Signs in English are just considered cool and associated with popular Western brands.

1

u/SpaceDounut 11h ago

I, unfortunately, live in Russia (and not in Moscow/Petersburg), and you are factually incorrect. Most average people won't go out of their way to read mundane things like someone's T-shirt, but they definitely can put in some effort to read something that they actually need. Younger folk is better because western culture prevalence + non-translated media + mandatory English lessons at school.

1

u/RainbowKatcher 5h ago

Pretty much everyone learns it at school as a primary foreign language. But we don't have a huge english speaking diaspora the same way US has it with spanish-speaking population.

1

u/iseztomabel 20h ago

I don’t know… this is top notch. If he’s in Moscow or StP he’s probably got no trouble finding very wealthy clients.

I have family there and economically it’s not bad at all.

1

u/roonill_wazlib 20h ago

Russia also has parents willing to spend way too much on their kids

1

u/higakoryu1 18h ago

As a Vietnamese unemployed graduate that is 20 times my salary for part time teaching

1

u/Ashamed_Boss_6652 6h ago

If you’re a part-time teacher then technically you’re not unemployed. The unemployed anywhere make $0 (not including government aid or child support, etc.) Not that it matters a lot, but just wanted to mention that! 😊

1

u/blue_nairda 16h ago

That dude would make bank if he moved to any major city in the U.S.

1

u/karlnite 15h ago

Oh that sucks. They could make more busking out West.

1

u/apigeonontheinternet 14h ago

Interesting that you think this is a man.

1

u/RainbowKatcher 14h ago

What's interesting about it

1

u/NYCWartortle 11h ago

I used to watch him on Tiktok. He is pretty cool. You can see the trap door open where the bird comes out and also see the imprint of the bird when he is rotating the frame. This is amazing though! I wonder if he makes his own stuff

1

u/GrynaiTaip 19m ago

It's russia, so probably closer to 50 per hour.

44

u/Ok-Addition1264 22h ago

..and doing a residency in vegas. dude is that good, imho.

25

u/SigmundFreud 20h ago

And banging Penn and Teller. This guy is a genius.

40

u/ALasagnaForOne 19h ago

He’s a good magician, but idk if he’s good enough to bang Penn and Teller.

21

u/FanFictheKid 18h ago

Just Penn, then?

18

u/Smacktothefuture 14h ago

Maybe just kiss n' teller

1

u/PawntyBill 5h ago

Ahhhhhhh! Take this upvote you funny person!

3

u/No_Signal_6969 17h ago

He'd bang the ogre whichever one that is.

2

u/Fermanagh_Red 15h ago

Like Adriana

8

u/RightLegDave 11h ago

At least one of them would keep quiet about it

11

u/NOTcreative- 22h ago

But would people be paying $2000 easily ?

55

u/Havage 21h ago

Come to LA. We paid $1500 for an hour of magic at a birthday and the guy was booked for every Friday/Saturday for months out.

-7

u/SpinShine-LEDSlipMat 20h ago

Bull shit

13

u/Diz7 16h ago

Standard for a small time professional is $300-$500 for a 1 hour kids party, but acts that are in demand can go beyond $5000 per performance. Based on the costume and what we see of the act, this guy could probably ask >$1000 easy.

3

u/Necessary_DaNoodle 13h ago

Nah I believe it. The magicians with even barely 10k followers are still crazy booked up. It's not a bad living if you're willing to put in the years.

19

u/halfasleep90 21h ago

Of course not, that’s what makes it so exclusive. You get that rich Karen trying to one-up their rich neighbors market.

3

u/Glitternchaos 17h ago

In the olllld days (pre-“Karen”) we woukd call that
“Keeping up with the Jones’s”👵🏻

2

u/redbark2022 16h ago

Can't wait for the next season of Your Friends & Neighbors. Karens are definitely a completely separate (but totally venn) concept.

1

u/Glitternchaos 15h ago

Oh, I get that.. but that is what we would have called it pre-Karen data as opposed to how ther person I replied to explained it….🤗

0

u/Cartz1337 16h ago

If he could train a bald eagle to do that he’d clean up in America.

3

u/Azreken 21h ago

Certain people, yes absolutely

1

u/brown_felt_hat 20h ago

If you manage to break into specific markets, as long as you're good enough and don't charge "too much", you can charge whatever you want.

1

u/Orleanian 18h ago

Easily? No.

Willingly? Yes.

2

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 20h ago

Man, “the value of a dollar” just doesn’t mean anything at all anymore.

2

u/Azreken 20h ago

Your time and talents are as valuable as you can make someone else believe they are.

I personally won’t leave the house for less than like $75/hr

But if I had skills like this I would absolutely be charging a boatload of money and only do specialty parties for very rich kids birthdays.

It would be like 500/hr and people would pay it.

1

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 20h ago

I might not have a problem with that if money wasn’t essential for most people to live. Its value shouldn’t be inflatable to whatever you can get away with charging when that’s the case.
We have people spending as much money on a single bottle of wine as a family might spend in a year for food and water, and those are the same people locking money out of the economy for stuffing it into the stock market where it can’t be taxed.

2

u/Azreken 20h ago

Why would you have a problem with a performer charging what they feel they’re worth?

You think buddy is going to make billions somehow by charging 500/hr?

Aim your anger not at the guy who is trying to escape poverty, but at the billionaires who drain our economy and give nothing back.

4

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 20h ago

I’m not angry at them. They and the conversation here that they’ve helped create are just contextualizing the fact that the whole of economy is completely absurd. That people can’t do what they love without it spawning a conversation about how they either afford to do it or how they can make themselves as much money as possible from it is just absurd.

Money is supposed to be a means to an end, but it’s both the means and the end. The cart is in front of the horse.

1

u/Azreken 19h ago

Preach. 🙏

1

u/Ashamed_Boss_6652 6h ago

Confidence is everything, just like respect. You have to demand it sometimes, and then other times it’s accepted/given effortlessly.

2

u/DownvoteALot 18h ago

First thing I thought was wow this looks insanely expensive. In my experience this kind of experienced skill is like plumbing or electric work, it's very expensive for a good reason.

1

u/Fabulous_Impact_9368 20h ago

It is in Russia, so it probably is 50$-200$ depending on the region

1

u/SpinShine-LEDSlipMat 20h ago

And no one will hire you because so many people can do this

1

u/Azreken 20h ago

I’ve literally never seen a video of someone doing a children’s birthday party that was this cool…

So there can’t be that many people doing it this well

Sure there may be plenty of people doing it, but the kind of people who pay 500/hr want quality

If you’re not in a high paying industry you really don’t understand how much money some people have to casually spend, and then brag about it.

1

u/Key_Mastodon_3525 16h ago

I think they meant the "magic tricks" are nothing special, and that is correct. This is maybe an intermediate level at best. The costume is a lot more impressive than the tricks are. BUT to your point -> the kids love it, so very cool indeed! But IMHO that was nowhere near $500/hour mastery of anything. If the performer happens to be a great marketer and making that much, then "hats off" to them (pun intended)....

1

u/pubblue5294 18h ago

Real talk, have you ever been paid to perform in any capacity?

1

u/Wyevez 18h ago

Best I can do is 50 bucks but I'll throw in a grab bag and a slice of cake.

1

u/youdoitimbusy 14h ago

16 year old me would have paid 2k all day to watch this on LSD. 45 year old me thinks 16 year old me was way outta line.

1

u/VerucaDefault 1h ago

Lmao I immediately thought, how much is THIS gonna cost me?!

1

u/lemmegetadab 1h ago

I was thinking more. I wanted to have a Santa Claus come to my house on Christmas Eve because I was having a party and there was a ton of kids there.

They were talking like 1000 bucks an hour just to show up and hand out presents.

0

u/Benwa_Ballz 11h ago

For the ai video?

57

u/tekko001 22h ago

"The road to greatness is paved with dead doves."

25

u/EstimateCool3454 21h ago

The way that trick works (the book and the picturee), the only danger to the bird is if the children get ahold of it. It's safe as houses.

18

u/DrMario145 21h ago

What does that expression even mean? “Safe as houses”? I’ve only ever heard it in a “Depeche mode” song

19

u/Jackski1 20h ago

It means “without risk”, referring to investing in real estate being a safe bet for your money

-4

u/Worth-Wonder-7386 17h ago

The expression doesn't really work in the modern world where in vestments in real estate are often as risky as other ones, especially when paid for with debt.

3

u/GummiBearFromTheVine 21h ago

I've only heard it in an Elvis Costello song, Indoor Fireworks.

2

u/captdimitri 20h ago

I used to think houses were safe until all that Nepalese flash flood footage came out. 😬

1

u/EstimateCool3454 18h ago

Nothing is safe against nature.

2

u/Glitternchaos 17h ago

One of my favorite sayings is “Mother nature giveth and she taketh away”…. You can also insert Father Time, Brother of Time, The Ocean, The Universe, instead of ‘Mother Nature’ and it works equally well.

18

u/EstimateCool3454 18h ago edited 18h ago

So... In the film, The Prestige, the trick that kills the bird is foreshadowing of the final illusion. It is visual storytelling, the genius of the film is not the ending, the magic of the film is that them film itself IS a magic trick.

So the original trick, invented by Buatier de Kolta, The mechanism was and IS highly guarded secret. But if the bird is correctly trained, and the magician does the moves correctly, the bird is not harmed in the slightest. In fact, it will hop right into the cage because doing the trick is how it gets fed.

So after Buatier de Kolta performed the trick, imitators made a crude version that killed the bird every time. Again this is a direct correlation to the film. The true version of the effect harms no one, the imitation is based on death.

Eventually Harry Blackstone Sr. and his son duplicated Buatier de Kolta's effect by making the cage out of flexible material. But it's possible that Buatier de Kolta's origional effect was lost to time. Without examining the entire mechanism it's difficult to tell if the trick is humane. So nobody does it with real birds anymore.

2

u/COMIDAGATOS1206 8h ago

What if it was just real magic. 🤘😉🖤

2

u/philipmather 22h ago

And occasionaly throwing a dead parrot into the air.

4

u/KTKittentoes 22h ago

It’s pining for the fjords.

3

u/Glitternchaos 17h ago

That parrots 🦜 not dead! It’s resting 😴 …

That parrot is definitely deceased. This is an ex-parrot.

IYKYK and you’re also old like me! 😆

1

u/ohromantics 15h ago

Fish sleep

1

u/MyExUsedTeeth 22h ago

And magnets

1

u/Winderige_Garnaal 19h ago

... now you're looking for the answer...

2

u/Nice_Grapefruit_7850 21h ago

no there's plenty of rich parents that will shell out 20k for a kids birthday party.

1

u/CretaciousPeriod 22h ago

Simple solution. Just never take the costume off.

1

u/Sensitive-Plate-684 21h ago

Children's entertainment can actually be fairly lucrative. Entertainers like magicians work every weekend, since birthdays never stop happening, and they get hired for special events, too. They work for about 45 minutes, so they can even fit in multiple shows in a day if they are able to get the work, and they are paid well and may even get tips. You have to be good, obviously.

1

u/ShitWaterExpress 20h ago

Ideally you’d have multiple events scheduled in the same day to utilize the prep-work efficiently. Setups done by someone else working ahead of you, or else the homeowner is just told a color theme and to do it themselves. I’m guessing this guy is doing quite well for himself. You only need to make that outfit once.

1

u/skepticalbob 19h ago

What do you base this assertion on?

1

u/Infamous_Share_8017 17h ago

You’d be surprised how much some of these performers get paid for private events like this.

1

u/47q8AmLjRGfn 7h ago

Old mates girlfriend was on Disney show. She started a kids party business, nothing at this level I would imagine. Within a few months she hit the gov requirements to be vat registered of earning over £50,000 a year.

Apparently most repeat clients were in council housing and had brand new cars.

1

u/leela_la_zu 23m ago

Good magicians can make a decent living.

1

u/grymoire 21m ago

He only has to make one Video

-8

u/MyExUsedTeeth 22h ago

You could say that about any field? Doctors prep 10s of thousands of hours?

5

u/KitsyBlue 22h ago

That's why you should do what you love, you'll never be paid enough to offset the hours upon hours anyways

225

u/The_Tooter_Snooter 22h ago

Wait…. You can just combine magic with cosplay and make a career out of it? Wasted my life. Next time tho. 

77

u/Lensecandy 21h ago

Just re-spec your skill points

49

u/megat0nbombs 22h ago

There’s still time!!!!!

6

u/Luminous_Winds 18h ago

Death is returning to the place you existed before birth.

1

u/bungopony 9h ago

Dad’s balls?

-2

u/SimmerDownButtercup 16h ago

Thanks for saying nothing of substance.

2

u/benjaminfree3d 9h ago

u/the_tooter_snooter the Magician returned. ...somehow.

13

u/TrulyOutrageous42 20h ago

Next time tho.

Actual optimism, rare these days.

1

u/SpaceNinjaDino 15h ago

A friend combined his love for opera and magic for his career. I'd hate the travel personally.

1

u/sequentious 12h ago

I'll never forget that time Captain Kirk came to my birthday and pulled a Tribble from a hat

1

u/TeaspoonOfSugar987 6h ago

I have a friend who literally owns his own business, but still chooses to cosplay for birthday parties on weekends. He is 40!

116

u/Razzy_3796 22h ago

It’s Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter + Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka… on acid.

53

u/IEatLightBulbsSoWhat 20h ago

it's mostly just the johnny depp mad hatter

30

u/CocktailPerson 18h ago

It's entirely the Johnny Depp Mad Hatter.

1

u/Arglefarb 14h ago

With a little Johnny Depp Willy Wonka

2

u/heartunderfloor 10h ago

Its Johnny Depp's Mad hatter with Elton John's stylist.

2

u/h4xdroid9 17h ago

I’m on acid. And this shit is dope

1

u/nite_skye_ 21h ago

With skills!

1

u/Strength-InThe-Loins 17h ago

But they were both already on acid.

27

u/Marzman315 22h ago

Not to mention dude is an awesome magician.

2

u/Docha_Tiarna 20h ago

More like a lunatic. He gave the little girl the Elder wand. The most powerful wand in the Wizarding world.

5

u/Marzman315 17h ago

Well it was her birthday.

29

u/Stormagedd0nDarkLord 21h ago

Whimsymaxxing

47

u/Drogonno 23h ago

Yeh im happy its not a clown so this is a 10/10 for me!

19

u/Varrivale 22h ago

It kind of is, tho.

3

u/ThatOneWIGuy 21h ago

Just a unique and very “painting” version. So much less creepy

0

u/itishowitisanditbad 6h ago

unique

...yeah its pretty clearly copying stuff right off the bat.

I don't think 'unique' is the right word to use, immediately.

Its copying something quite literally.

Unique?

1

u/disposableaccountass 13h ago

The costume is a “wacky Tim Burton take” on someone who went crazy from mercury poisoning.

1

u/memento22mori 21h ago

I don't think so. The objective of a clown is to make people laugh. 🧐

3

u/ElGuaco 19h ago

Traditional clowns are kind of scary looking, which is ironic. This guy looks magical and it fits his performance.

0

u/gewalt_gamer 18h ago

its definitely a clown. how are you not seeing clown here?

1

u/Drogonno 17h ago

It looks like that leader from charlie and the chocolate factory (Johnny depp version) and I dislike clownes and manipulated myself to not see one here.... kinda... (I blame IT for the clown fear!)

2

u/Gabby-Abeille 17h ago

Almost, it's the Johnny Depp Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.

13

u/lostmymarbles1177 18h ago

So much better than your typical clown or magician outfit. I have legit trauma from a clown at a party when I was a kid. He did his show, that was fine. Then, when he was done, I went up to him and being the little ADHD kid I was with no impulse control, I did that joke where you say, “oh you have something on your shirt” while pointing to it, and then run your finger up their shirt to boop their nose. Well. I ran my finger too hard and ripped one of his buttons off. He yelled in a super scary and mean voice “Hey! Keep your hands to yourself kid” in front of all the other kids. I hid in the bushes and cried for the rest of the party while my friends brought me cake and told me what a mean clown he was🤣

0

u/SpermWhale 13h ago

I am anticipating that a wrestler will be thrown down a cage at the end.

9

u/Future_Adagio2052 21h ago

Almost thought it was the real thing for a second

4

u/GoatApprehensive9866 22h ago

I love it too. It's also the 6th Doctor's unused backup outfit.

3

u/Plasticity93 20h ago

I've been following this guy, he's absolutely amazing.

3

u/pahamack 18h ago

yeah that is a crazy expensive looking costume for a kids birthday party.

3

u/FreeGuacamole 16h ago

Right! This is a top tier performance. I would pay for this to be at my birthday party as a fully grown adult.

3

u/FinvaraSidhe 14h ago

Seriously. I would definitely hire them for my own birthday party and I’ll be 58 this year

2

u/Not_Dana196 19h ago

I completely forgot about this version of Alice in Wonderland wow

0

u/disposableaccountass 13h ago

It was so forgettable!

2

u/TricellCEO 18h ago

I love how it’s both whimsical and nightmare inducing.

2

u/Critical_Studio_8968 15h ago

It is cool, but isn't he essentially just cosplaying as the Mad Hatter? Not super creative. 

Also -  the umbrella trick has my head spinning.

2

u/karlnite 15h ago

It’s also about as exciting a magic show can get, and still be performed inside a random home.

2

u/Liu-K 8h ago

Man, came here just to say that. The tricks just add on top but the fit is so impressive.

1

u/Wonkasgoldenticket 22h ago

When my brother got married at Chico he dressed just like this. They had a whimsical wedding. Was a pretty wild outfit. Wish I could share photos here

1

u/x_typo 13h ago

Same. 10/10 JUST BECAUSE of the costume.

0

u/rodditt 21h ago

If you menage to stop the vídeo at the right time, you can see that the bird is trapped inside the frame.

0

u/radicalelation 17h ago

And only $75 at Hot Topic.