To answer the question of the thread, I ask the person on a confidential and serious tone "can you keep a secret"?...[consideration time)]"So can I"! and then as they insist I tell them in a sincere tone "No in fact I don't know"! ... and they never ever believe me even when it is true.

What stereotype? The one that we don't tell our secrets? If you are a member of the IBM, the SAM or the Magic Circle of London, you violate your oath or agreement when you do this. If you don't take our Art seriously enough to protect the secrets, then you are no better than the Masked Magician. You just have a smaller audience.

There are a few occasions when I will reveal a secret. The case of the fellow doing the fire safety lecture would be one example. I wouldn't reveal more than one trick, though.

Another example would be the one Marshall Brodien suffered through. He was working for the mob in a bar in Chicago. He did a fairly nice card trick, and one of the fellows said, "Howdja do dat?"

"I can't tell you. It's a secret."

The mobster pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Marshall. He repeated "Howdja do dat?"

Marshall told him. So would I.

How about a little positive education such as: "You know, Great Magic is really much more than just a secret."

This might start people asking about what else goes into the process.



An additional thought: One of the things a clever publicist tells their clients to do when in an interview situation (and here I think it applies to random inquiries from the public) is to not answer the question you are asked , but answer the question you wish was asked.

The exception to the above scenarios for me, is when people see something on television and ask "Was that done with camera tricks?' Apparently, something about the episode bothers them on a subliminal level and they are asking because they want their suspicions confirmed. If I truly believe that it was a camera trick or something that could not be done live..., I tell them so, but with a positive spin:

"Well, that's the advantage of seeing magic done live. You know it all is really happening right then, right there don't you?"

I feel no compunction to lie and support or corroborate the liberties taken in an editing bay, and it once again sells the person of the virtues of going out to see a live performance.

Politicians do this all time!

I'm a bit sad to read the responses on this thread. Surely, the only correct answer is to say something like: "it's magic!", "I don't know, that was amazing when that happened.."...etc.
I really do live the fantasy, and also I know that magic is real. For real. I guess there I'm lucky, because so few magicians know in their hearts that magic can be real.
If you imply that you "know how the trick's done", you're reducing yourself to rank amateur. As far as our audiences are concerned, our magic is worked by using wands and special words. We should never disillusion them of that fact, just because we feel intimidated by their fascination with magic that they've seen others doing.
My 2c. Potty

When I was doing substitute teaching a few years back I would often incorporate magic into my lesson summaries to emphasize a point. I never revealed these effects or was ever asked "how', even with classes of 'emotionally disturbed' kids I was shunted into because "You handle it well," One reason was that they knew that if they behaved and completed the lessons early I would teach them a trick. I consider that any request for 'show me' is really a request to become a magician. Even today, I pass out Adair's "Butterfly Puzzle" like candy.

Funsway, I feel there are two very different issues. The thread is about folks asking how a trick's done. If you live the fantasy, then you know it's done by magic (human deception is, you know?) That would be my response : "It's magic".
But if someone asks: "show me how to be a magician?", or "How can I become a magician?" then that IS the magic question! It's then that I would offer something the individual could go away and learn. A bit of sleight-of-hand - for kids of 6 years and above, I like to teach them the Hindu Shuffle, and a very simple but baffling trick. I tell them that the main thing they need to do, if they want to learn magic, is to handle cards and coins a lot, until they become "familiar" with these things. I'm sure many of you know, how "sexy" a pack of cards feels, when you've spent thousands of hours with decks of cards in your hands!
Of course, those who ask "How's it done?" are maybe secrectly thinking: "I want to do that!"....but it's only the driven few who actually make that step of consciousness, to seek to discover the truth......
Potty

All of the reflexive remarks aside, perhaps the best answer to the question "Do you know how he does that?" would be, "There are many different ways to accomplish that particular item. That is, there are many different ways to make the mechanics happen. However, if I told you any one of them, or even all of them, all it would do would be to disappoint you. Because then you would learn the mechanics, but you wouldn't learn the part that makes it magic. It's like a kid with a butterfly. He takes it apart to see what makes it fly, and in the end, all he has are the parts of a dead butterfly."

And that was the question.

The question was not "How can I learn to do magic?" If they ask that, I give them my card, and ask them to drop me an e-mail or give me a phone call. Then I will give them some relevant information.

Here's an answer that I haven't seen yet, and would have to be delivered with more honesty and sincerity than most any of us could handle:

"No, I don't have any idea... but since you are asking me this, it must have been obvious to you that it was just a trick, a deception, or some kind of conjuring... Honestly, I don't know much about that stuff, but do you mind if I try something really different with you?"

Proceed with your strongest effect.

People ask me about Criss Angel Vegas (9.0 one) trickery all the time.

The last time a random guy asked me "Hey, do you know how can he walk up a wall and float in mid-air?" I said "Yeah, I know. It was told to me by a russian magician. He said that "When he's approaching the wall, he [add pseudo-russian improv. for 2 minutes, along with 'this should make sense in italian' hand gestures here]. Then he can safely land without smashing his face on the floor".

We had a good laugh (:

Two steps. Deflect ("I have no idea") then immediately redirect ("Did you enjoy it").

Since I don't teach magic, should someone ask "How can I learn to do magic?", I'll give them my card, and ask them to drop me an e-mail or give me a phone call. Then I will give them the name of a magician friend who can easily charge them for that, which I, more often than not, couldn't do.

It's not that I would mind teaching but people who do not know confuse tricks and magic. Even if I would love sharing what makes magic a real imaginary journey and work at making someone's tricks more magical, I'm not interested in teaching "tricks" and don't need neither the money nor the ego boosting.

However, knowing that this is an attractive potential market for professional magicians, it is easy enough to direct enthusiastic new comers with high expectations to professional magicians who can use the extra cashflow.

That's true. The stimulus package hasn't trickled down to the magic community yet!

You made a statement that is important for all of us to realize. Too many of us confuse the trick with the magic. That's like confusing a wrench with the ability to repair an automobile.

I've been denying myself for years!

Doug

Tell 'em to watch more TV- someone will be on soon to "entertain" them with the secret...

:lol:

as to the my answer to the question...if I know the method I say Yup! If I don't I say Nope!

I think the more interesting scenario is what to say when you don't know the method. I wonder how many people say "yes" anyway hehe