Well Guys,

I faces some problems and I love to hear some real serious and brutal comments.

Heres the problem that I face :

Over here in my country, magician seems to be growing more and more everyday. Especially teenagers. Every teenagers wanna be special and show off their unique hobby/skills.

Magic shops tends to push more teenagers to particpate in this kind of hobby. I wonder if this carries on where is the moments of magic gonna be. Another words, when you approach a teenager/s you will never astound them due to that they knows what you are doing. Although they are not into magic, their friends into magic share the principles and secrets with them. Teenagers just wanna have magic for fun and does not bother about the ethics about magic. Secrets is no longer a secret but just trickery.

From what I heard that was the owner of magic shop claims that the he is a business man and just wanna bring magic to more people to learn and enjoy the art of magic. Another words the owner just wanna earn money. Does this means that with money you can be a magican ? I just wonder sometimes. But is this ethical ? Man, where is the ethics ?

I do really hope you guys can stand out and help this kind of secenario over here.

Please help and I love to hear some good pointers to stop this.

Cupmagic
I doubt that anything that makes money for someone can be stopped. Can we out bid them? No. Unless the Pro's want to purchase all of the tricks and effects then the others, teenagers included, will do it. It's just a fact of life. $$$$$$$$$$
Slim King

Which means once you have money you can knows the secrets ? And spreading the ideas around ?

Another words, example: a group of friends of 10 wanna know how elevator 2 works, each just fork out $10 and accumulate the money and purchase the elevator 2 and share the secrets ?

Well, seems like the secrets of magic is nothing.

I'm sure the shop owner sees it that...
Selling a trick is no different than selling the fake doggy-doo hanging on the wall.
Sadly enough, there's a reason fake doggy-doo and magic tricks are sold in the same shops.


I wonder if, back in the beginning, magic and trick were used so often together...

"magic trick"

I know Frank I know what you meant.

But does this means that even children or kids knows how a professional perfoms. And the kids does not astound but shouting out the secrets hows its done. Its ridiculous. Whats more you will never able to be able to perform to teenagers in streets. Before you finish the trick, they knows what you are performing, this is due to his friends teaches them the trick or they had seen the trick and trys to catch you.

If that's the case, the whole street is full of magician ....aren't there.

This is just a phase. We have been through many similar phases over the years. Magic is more popular and "hip" than ever. That draws the attention of many young people.

In a few years, it will fade. Magic will be "old hat" and the magic shops will begin to close, and magic will fade from the scene and become much more rare. Only really talented magicians will be able to make a living, and there will only be a few pros.

That will be good for magic, I think, but hard on those who wanted to make a living at their hobby but just don't have the ability.

In the states, comedy went through a similar period with the rise and fall of the comedy clubs. There are still the same number of good comics, but the number of bad comics making a living has dropped.

None of this is good or bad, just the way it is.

Years ago I had a small mail order magic business. I advertised in many of the magazines at the time. I will refrain from mentioning the name of the business since the name has been appropriated (possibly unknowingly) by a member of the Café and I wouldn't want to embarrass him. Especially since posts have been made on the ethics form.

In any case I had a trick that I decided I would sell to the general public and make my fortune. At the time there was a periodical called The Magic Magazine, not to be confused with MAGIC. It was sold on the newsstands to regular folk and had a paid circulation numbering into the tens of thousands. It may have been more I forget. In any case the advertisement cost a bundle compared to the regular magic magazines. What happened? I sold two.

I tell this story to point out how small the magic fraternity actually is. Since Cupmagic has not put much in his profile, an ever increasing annoyance to me, I am not sure which country we are talking about. However if I can make the assumption that teens are basically the same worldwide, don't fret. This is just a fad and fads tend to fade rapidly.

There will be some who stay and those will become the magicians in the future. The rest will quickly forget the secrets they knew as those also tend to fade. In the bigger context, most of your audience will not become jaded by the magic shop owner’s penchant to sell, sell, sell.

Magic has survived for almost as long as humans have walked the Earth, one store owner will not make a bit of difference in the end.

Frank Tougas

Here's how you beat this.

Get the whole Tarbell course if you don't have it. Put together a terrific show from effects described in Tarbell. Build your own props if at all possible. Write your own scripts.

Now you have a show that isn't on the latest DVD that the kids are buying. They will have no idea where you got it. They won't know how you did it, even if they own Tarbell.

Don't believe me? Take a volume of Tarbell and just start reading. Read the effect descriptions until you find one for which you have no idea how that effect is accomplished. This was hiding on your bookshelf, and you are a magician. The kids will never find this stuff.

If you want to keep a secret, put it in a book.

Yours,

Paul

I have traveled the country and visited many magic shops.
I usually go in and with a thick Texas accent introduce myself as Billy Bob Thomas and I was told that the people at this magic shop was the best in the world and that there was a guy here named Doug Henning who would teach me how to read somebody's mind.

I can say that some owners and operators don't sell any real secrets to Billy Bob. Then I introduce myself and buy from them.
Others will start right out divulging secrets that should remain in the fraternity.


It is difficult to make a living in any chosen field and judging people and their motives don't help us very much.

Whit and Frank and others are right. The art and the mystery will remain.
Peace,
Parson

OK Doc, you got me going. I'll taper down my spending and take the money to Michaels, the dollar store, or Walmart! I just made a cool effect from T.A. Waters this morning. It's the way to go! You're totally right.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Dave