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reidy73 0 Posts |
Hello all,
I am a hobbyist magician and all round fan of magic. I am currently studying social anthropology in London and am doing a project on magic shops and how the introduction of the internet has changed their traditional role as places to meet and exchange knowledge. I was wondering if any of you would be able to comment. Here are some questions: Do you think the internet hinders or helps the magic community? Do any of your relationships with other magicians formed on this site develop into friendships outside of the digital world? What effect do you think the internet has had on brick and morter magic shops? why would you go to a magic shop? Any way hope you can help. best Leo Reid |
ljBandit New user 29 Posts |
I can give you the opinion of some one who does not have access to a lot of physical magic shops as I live in Australia they are few and far between.
(1)Do you think the internet hinders or helps the magic community? I believe it helps people a lot for people who don't have access to magic shops and magic groups locally, but it does hinder in the fact if you start typing any popular effect into Google is more than likely will suggest to add "revealed" to the end of it, when it does not say reveal there are also a lot of knock off tricks which show or explain the gimmick in their descriptions. People performing them all over YouTube also does not help as if they are an amateur they tend to reveal the gimmicks by flashing but , yet It helps people like my self get magic downloads and communicate with the top magicians from around the world with hints and performance tips (rick lax), in turn creating a bigger more diverse magic community. peoples reviews are also a huge help as the times I have gone into the stores they perform things they have used over n over and sometimes the gimmick doesn't fit your performance. (2) Do any of your relationships with other magicians formed on this site develop into friendships outside of the digital world? I have not found anyone locally on this website as yet but information from here has led me to a place in which I found a local magic society and am going to my first meeting this week. (3) What effect do you think the internet has had on brick and mortar magic shops? I cant really comment as like I said I don't have many shops I can go to but from my experience with other shops physical items usually out way online purchases and if you do regularly go to a shop unless the prices is drastically different I don't think that would change. (4)why would you go to a magic shop? I would go to the magic shops (closest one is hour and a half away) if I wanted a big item that would cost too much for delivery, because the only difference between a lot of online and physical shops is the time in which it takes to answer questions, online shops have the creator in most cases performing it and the stores can also email the creator to answer any difficult questions. So I guess unless you have a local shop with someone who has a lot of knowledge there isn't much reason not to shop online these days. |
reidy73 0 Posts |
Hey
thanks for your reply was very helpful. |
1KJ Inner circle Warning: We will run out of new tricks in 4385 Posts |
Hi. Here's one more opinion:
Do you think the internet hinders or helps the magic community? As much as I hate to see B&Ms go away, I think it tremendously helps the magic community. It allows people to "get up to speed" so much faster. You can learn awesome techniques and routines in a matter of weeks that used to take years. Why did they take years? Because you needed a mentor who was the overlord of all magic, who would dispense their wisdom in bits and pieces. You know: "For the next three months, you are going to learn 'wax on, wax off'." Or, you learned from a book. I know a lot of "ol' timey" magicians claim you "MUST" learn from books, but you just don't get the same technical instruction from a book. I'm not saying books are bad, they are good because they often foster creativity, but DVDs and online streaming or downloads get you to the technical proficiency much faster. One comment about people posting revelations on the internet: While I think those people are retard and they should go away, I don't think it really hurts anything. Magic is really about the entertainment, not just the secret. And, more importantly, magicians, pro or amateur, tend to think that everyone is as interested in the magic secrets as they are. People aren't. Your average person has what we call... a life. They don't spend their time searching for magic secrets on the internet. These idiots posting revelations on the internet are annoying, I call them WEBSQUITOS. Someone needs to invent some sort of internet zapper so when the websquitos are attracted to the bright light of stupidity, they get zapped. But, they are just an annoyance, they aren't really having any impact on the world. Do any of your relationships with other magicians formed on this site develop into friendships outside of the digital world? Not really. I have become internet friends with some people and have talking about meeting when we are in the same location, but we tend to be busy with our lives and our families. I have "real" magic friends through my IBM chapter. I personally think there is no substitute for IBM or SAM membership if you don't already hang out with a group of magicians. What effect do you think the internet has had on brick and morter magic shops? Clearly, the internet has had a devastating effect on B&M. It's simple, their business has dropped to the point where most of them are either joining the internet or folding, or joining the internet AND folding, or just folding. why would you go to a magic shop? I am fortunate to still have a B&M close to me. I do go there every few months. It is really awesome, and I hope it never folds. It's in the Los Angeles area, so I frequently see some of the big names in magic there, like Steve Valentine, Danny Garcia, or David Regal. It is a place to ask questions and learn. Hope this helps. KJ |
Tukaram Loyal user Iloilo, Philippines 227 Posts |
I really miss the old magic stores. When I was a kid, in Dallas, TX, we had a great shop downtown. It was a like making a pilgrimage to ride the bus all the way downtown and go into this old shop. There is just nothing like seeing something done right there - even the bite out quarter was impressive from just across the counter. So the brick & mortar stores will always have place in my heart. When I moved away from Dallas a few years ago we had no magic shops. Kind of sad for a city of millions to not be able to support one magic shop.
But learning magic was much harder then. Now, I can order DVD's with so much info and great instructions. What is missing online is the camaraderie. Personal instruction has some drawbacks, like when the magician wants to trickle info slowly, or teach only what he wants to teach. I wanted to learn rope magic and this old guy (that had some great rope routines) would only teach me Dai Vernon's Symphony Of The Rings. It was fun to learn… but not what I wanted. I had one friend here in the Philippines that also did magic. We would sit at his house and just mess around with one trick or another. Discuss theory & practice. Help each other with moves that were troubling us. You don't get that online. Unfortunately he moved back to the US recently - and I have yet to find any English speaking magicians here ha ha, such is life. It is much easier to get the information online. There are some very good magic teachers on YouTube (not just the reveal kiddies). I think the internet is going to really help magic grow. It is easier to learn and easier to get your act some exposure. But it will not replace the camaraderie… |
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