Magic that doesn’t tick the boxes

“...cool.”

As a reaction to street magic, it checks none of the boxes of what typically makes for great TV.

No explosive disbelief. No running up and down the street in confused, overjoyed panic. On paper alone, it reads as underwhelmed or dissapointed.

The moment was Blaine’s first televised special. He still recalls it as his favorite reaction to a trick. 

“I was in love with this kid,” Blaine says on the YouTube series Hot Ones with Sean Evans. 

Blaine’s excitement wasn’t shared by the network. “They just said, ‘No. This doesn’t work. It’s not good TV.”

The full interview is delightful and worth a watch. That particular story is a great example of why the most potent and effective creative ideas sometimes struggle to survive the marketing machine. 

Blaine recognized the magic of the moment. The young man from Barstow isn’t underwhelmed. He’s frozen in disbelief. Busy trying to make sense of what possibly could have happened, he squeezes out a single, definitive “cool” without otherwise moving.

It works BECAUSE it’s unlike every other reaction. 

Sometimes the ability to instinctively feel why something works is out-matched by the rigid criteria it’s graded against. The boxes that must be ticked.

Of course highly creative ideas can still be ineffective ideas. But when your gut is telling you something is golden, give it a seat at the table. Because sometimes what makes for “good TV” can’t be boxed into a checklist.

5.3 million views on YouTube later, the “cool” clip has become one of Blaine’s most famous moments, and one he’s still grateful he pushed to keep.

“The one I loved the most, I had to fight for the hardest.”