Wizard interview

I'm sure you're all sick of my interviews, but this one is different. It is an interview of me, by Steve Bourie of the American Casino Guide, and is several orders of magnitude better in production values than mine. Have a look, if you like.

Nice! and no Hawaiian shirt. Even nicer LOL

The advice about avoiding intimidation by playing early was great.

Only slight fault I could come up with, would be tell people if casino has a slot club, join and use the card.

One of your best !!!

Quote: buzzpaff

Only slight fault I could come up with, would be tell people if casino has a slot club, join and use the card.

I agree; I should have said that.

Quote: Wizard

I agree; I should have said that.

Talk about a small world. I am pretty sure I talked on the phone with the original Wiz in the 1960's. Well, answered the phone and
told Henry it was Don from Chicago. It was a pay phone in the poolroom and Henry Gordon had appeared before Kefauver committee in the 1950's. Anyway Don would call and offer Henry the nickle line on games that were unbalanced.
If Henry liked the team, he would bet a few thousand.

Quote: Wizard

and is several orders of magnitude better in production values than mine.

Other than lighting, sound, quality of equipment,
and no 300 pound Samoan playing Dan Lubin,
it looks identical to me..

Quote: Wizard

I'm sure you're all sick of my interviews, but this one is different.
It is an interview of me, by Steve Bourie of the American Casino Guide, and is several orders of magnitude better in production values than mine.

Mr. S, only those who are sick are sick.
I have seen some very good videos from Steve before.

One thing you do a lot in many videos is you really have a great command of the words "um", "a" and "ah".
As a singer, I am into words and phrasing.

I think you can do much better replacing a few of those "ums" with something else. (try Pi)

You are so handsome and that is mathematically speaking!
I know you hear that all the time
Thank you so much
Sally

If no Hawaiian shirt, at least a classic car shirt.

Wizard, looks like you just need to relax more.
To me you do not seem to be having much fun like Dan the Craps dealer has in the videos.
Keep at it!
Thanks

The interviewer does something very common. He turns up the sound when he speaks. Given that it looks like he records the questions after the interview, in a quiet room with his comments accompanied with text, he makes it tough for the interviewee who is working under more realistic situation.

But you project a candidness which comes off very well.

It would help if he put a few of your key points in text on the screen where subtitles are usually placed.

' To me you do not seem to be having much fun like Dan the Craps dealer has in the videos."

That's because Dan took his "medicine " that day.

To give you some background, that video was done last year during the Global Gaming Expo. The show was at the Palazzo and this interview was done in Steve's room at the Hilton. That was day it was pouring rain, windy, and the traffic everywhere was horrendous. I was going to drive but the Palazzo parking garage was just that. All the lanes were filled with cars just sitting there, everybody trying to leave and nobody moving. So I tried to get a cab from the Palzzo, but the line was enormous. So I went to the Venetian -- same thing. I had a specified time to be at Steve's room, and it would have been faster to just walk than stand in the cab line.

By that time the rain had died down a little, but was still a strong drizzle, plus it was cold and windy. I know it isn't that far, but it was not a pleasant walk. Plus, I was wearing fancy shoes. Anyway, by the time I arrived at the Hilton I looked terrible and was in a foul mood. Nobody had a comb so I had to try to fix my hair with my hands. So, I did my best to block all that out and get through the interview, but I was in no mood for it. That is probably why my answers were so brief.

About Steve's questions, he said that his microphone was not functioning, so he was barely heard in the audio. The cameraman didn't notice because he could hear him just fine in the same room. So they had to rerecord the questions and patch them in.

Your blackjack video with Steve has over 129,000 views. That is nothing to scoff at. Most people would kill for that exposure, my brother especially.

Quote: teddys

Your blackjack video with Steve has over 129,000 views. That is nothing to scoff at. Most people would kill for that exposure, my brother especially.

Wow, I had no idea. I give Steve all the credit. This gives me motivation to redo my videos in a more professional manner.

Tiles is my favorite casino game as well. Played on my recent trip at Bellagio and enjoyed the 4% commission on my $25 bets because they cant be bothered to use quarters.

You might actually want to script your answers. I suspect you have been asked the same questions so many times that you
just go down a mental list. Saying A, B, C, and thinking ahead of D, E , F. Do I skip C? Etc. No other reason for your skipping
about getting a slot card and using it. Plus less editing afterwards !

Quote: buzzpaff

You might actually want to script your answers.

Nah. First, what sounds good in writing is not necessarily what sounds good spoken. Second, if I followed the script it would probably come off as canned.

In this case I deliberately asked Steve not to tell me the questions in advance, which I think leads to a more spontaneous answer. The last thing I want is to come off like a politician, giving off canned answers.

Quote: Wizard

This gives me motivation to redo my videos in a more professional manner.

Its not that difficult. Get a good camera and a nice location.
Make sure the lighting and sound are good by doing a few
minutes and reviewing the result. When you're happy, shoot
it. Thats how the pro's do it. They always do sound and
lighting checks before a shoot.

Does that mean I should tell MITT ROMNEY to take your name off his short list of VP candidates ?

Quote: buzzpaff

Does that mean I should tell MITT ROMNEY to take your name off his short list of VP candidates ?

I thought the former Alaska governor is already his VP choice

Quote: buzzpaff

Does that mean I should tell MITT ROMNEY to take your name off his short list of VP candidates ?

No, tell him to leave it there. He may going for the 180-opposite effect, like McCain did.

I was ready to vote for John as I am a Vietnam era vet and appreciate his service. Plus wanted his experience.
Then he picked Sarah Palin. Not exactly who I wanted a heartbeat away from the Presidency !

Quote: EvenBob

Its not that difficult. Get a good camera and a nice location.
Make sure the lighting and sound are good by doing a few
minutes and reviewing the result. When you're happy, shoot
it. Thats how the pro's do it. They always do sound and
lighting checks before a shoot.

Now just thinking outside the box here.....

Is there a High School near by that has a good
audio visual productions department ?

Maybe you could give them some practice and
perhaps an acknowledgement on your video,
OR if they don't want that, then a small donation ?

My local school system does indeed have such
a video dept with students learning the craft.
They do the videos of the school plays and
choir concerts. They have even won awards
for an original production they did interviewing
local WWII veterans.

Maybe that was a cooperative effort between
the video kids and the journalism kids.

You might need to exclude the lovely party
pit dealer.....

Quote: Wizard

Nah. First, what sounds good in writing is not necessarily what sounds good spoken. Second, if I followed the script it would probably come off as canned.

In this case I deliberately asked Steve not to tell me the questions in advance, which I think leads to a more spontaneous answer. The last thing I want is to come off like a politician, giving off canned answers.

I second that! The video is not a book, it has to get you interested in the book. You don't want to sound canned.

However, I think he has to find less ambient noise when he interviews you. It does sound jarring to have his questions recorded in one place with the text, and your answers in the high noise environment.

I had a chance to watch it yesterday.

There were two questions back to back which had essentially the same answer. Advice for BJ players and for VP players. You did a god job of giving the same answer in different ways so you didn't appear to be repeating yourself.