Today I thought I’d take a break from my usual ramblings and write a blog specifically aimed at magicians and the magic fraternity.
Over the last few months I have become more and more incensed by a certain green magic forum. Not the place itself necessarily but some of the people who frequent it. Let me step back a little for context.
I started magic about 20 years ago. When I first ventured into this dark mysterious world there were only a few ways one could learn about magic. You could go to the library and pick a few childrens books on the subject, spend a few hours pouring over the information in the hope of extracting a few basic ideas and principles which you could develop. You could join a magic society (although the entrance requirement to such societies was that you already had some degree of knowledge) and coerce an experienced magician to teach you one to one. You could, of course, buy books, video’s and tricks direct from a magic shop. What you couldn’t do was get magic spoon fed to you.
One of the problems of buying magic from the dealers was that all you ever had to go on was the blurb regarding the product. No promotional videos, just a photograph and description of the effect (what the audience saw). The reality was you had to BUY THE SECRET. This often meant that what you got was decidedly disappointing. Let me clarify: The product, be it a book or video, wasn’t necessarily bad. More often than not it was just that you as a performer were not yet ready for it, or even if you were it might not fit your performance persona. Nevertheless, you had to buy the secret to know! My good friend and exceptional magician Gary Jones recounts buying a book by magician Larry Jennings when he first started in magic. Paid a small fortune to discover he was unable to do any of it. The book was shelved until such time that he was skilled enough to find it of benefit.
Some items of magic that find there way into ‘the magic drawer’ never saw the light of day again. Others are revisited and looked at with fresh eyes maybe years later before their true possibilities appreciated.
My point with all this is that everything has changes with the current generation of magician… especially those on certain forums. The want EVERYTHING and they want it right now BEFORE they pay a penny. When any new product comes out they expect full unedited performance videos for them to scrutinise over and over again whilst they post how they think it was done. They expect all questions to be answered. Is it this? Is it that? Worst of all they expect it to be effortless! The very idea that you might have to work at it or develop some performance skills!
What they seem to forget in all this is that you are paying for a secret… Don’t expect the secret to be free.
Spleen vented for today
Till next time…
While I do agree that those who try and steal the secret from the demo are bad, almost as bad as those that buy it and then expose it. With the plethora of effects constantly flooding the market, a lot of it crap, and most of rehashing of classics, I feel that short of actually showing me the how I need as much information as possible to make an informed decision.
The problem with words is that they mean different things to different people. I have a bit of a rant on my blog about how different an effect was from how it was described. Now I’m sure that the creator and even the reviewer felt their words were accurate but to me they were exceptionally wrong.
Magnus, isn’t part of the problem with what seem to be misleading descriptions of effects in ads that the ad describes the trick as (you hope) the SPECTATOR will REMEMBER it the next day, whereas you, the magician, need to know what REALLY happens. If all goes well in performance, the spectator will not notice, or will very soon forget, the details of what you did, and instead will remember the big, amazing effect. The details of what “really” was done were what made the trick work, but you play them down, and if you do so successfully, what the spectator sees and remembers is close to what the ad copy says.
I could not agree more. Yes, I purchased books in the past that I found were beyond my pay grade at the time (Including The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings) however, I was able to use them later.
The over-exposure of the “how” a trick is done has become ridiculous. There are thousands of youtube videos with comments filled with guesses of how it is done and “check out 1:27 to see the move” posts. Almost all of them are wrong but that is not the point. (I put up a billiard ball routine I do and found in the comments that the ball was coming from my sleeve. Really, you know ‘nothing’ about something as simple as a billiard ball routine and you post anyway?)
Yes, Magnus, you are right, most of what is ‘new’ is a rehash of the classics. However, since no one is willing to read through the Tarbell Course anymore, I guess it is all free game.
I assume that you are dealing with a reputable brick & morter magic dealer. You get so much more personal attention there. They should try and make sure that you are at least capable of performing an effect and suggest effects that fit you and your style. That is what a good brick & mortar dealer does for you.
Interesting post James, I enjoyed reading it.
I agree that there are people on the “green site” that just want secrets for free. However, the majority of people asking questions about products do so because they’ve been stung in the past by misleading ad copy, causing them to shell out money for a rehash of an old idea.
They don’t want to know the secret for free, they just want to make sure they’re not buying something they already have! This causes them to ask questions that they probably shouldn’t ask (at least not on a public forum).
The consumers AND the magic dealers/producers are equally to blame in my view.
Remember this current generation of teenagers have grown up with the expectation of being spoon fed at school. All their exams from aged six to eighteen are broken down into little ‘blocks’ and if they don’t do very well, they can have another go. They have little or no expectation or experience of working hard, towards an end goal, be it an exam or the performance of a effect to a real live spectator, without continually being cajoled, reassured and ‘nannied along’ by the rest of us. Maybe it is us ‘grown ups’ who have caused them to be like this.
James,
Someone had to say it. Your post was recently brought to my attention by Mel Kientz’ distribution network. I applaud your honesty and insight.
One thing never changes. The fact that everything ALWAYS changes.
But, we don’t have to like all of the changes.
Dan Garrett
PS: The consumers, magic dealers/producers, AND Marty are equally to blame in my view.
Thanks Dan – I agree completely. I will expanding on this subject in future blogs