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Bato William
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All I've managed to write is
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Is YouTube a good or a bad thing for magic?

Is there too much exposure of effects?

Or is it good exposure?

Bato William
You're nothing but a pack of cards! - Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)
Bill Hegbli
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Eternal Order
Fort Wayne, Indiana
22797 Posts

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What do you think?
tomboston
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Fort Lauderdale, FL
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I think this was discussed in a prior thread. But my thoughts are that most people (at least the ones I know) have no interest in searching Youtube to find the secrets to magic tricks. They have many other things to do in their lives. This is good for me, since when I show them an effect, they have never seen it anywhere before.
Alexo
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Long Island, NY
113 Posts

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The only people who search youtube for magic secrets are wanna be magicians who either don't want to buy the effect or can't afford the effect. Unless it's someone like criss angel walking on water or david blaine levitating laymen usually don't care.
As for youtube the plus and minuses is that it makes it easier to do everything. It makes it easier for underrated or new performers to get their work seen but it also makes it easier for bad performers to get their work seen. It's a double-edge sword.
JoeJoe
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Inner circle
Myrtle Beach
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Right now today, you can reach more people on YouTube than you can on the "Tonight Show". Good or bad ... I imagine that is in the eye of beholder.

-JoeJoe
Amazing JoeJoe on YouTube[url=https://www.youtube.com/user/AmazingJoeJoe]
ropeadope
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Mississippi
453 Posts

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Due to my location I don`t get to see much magic except on T. V. and there is never enough there for me so occasionaly I go to youtube. I like it because I can usually get my fix there. Much of it is young amateurs that are not so good but thankfully there are well known magicians there that I may never have gotten to see if it wasn`t for youtube clips and postings of famous acts. Loved Tommy Coopers act!

And yes there is to much exposure. I think tomboston and Alexo are right, most people are not that interested or take the time to find the secrets that we try so hard to keep, unless it`s by some well known celebrity magician. Secrets are passe` these days in any subject.

John
Nothing is better than more.
Darth_Prime
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It's not so much "youtube" although I hardly ever go on it, it's the young kids who use youtube
Mary Mowder
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Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA
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Its sure a mix.

I see know-it-all teens who have been watching "you-tube" Magic and at first (generally) it's tough but because the magic on "you-tube" is often bad and they ARE interested in magic they are usually fans by the end of the show.

I do some flourishes, one handed shuffles, flashy cuts etc... which are interesting to that age group (and me) but not the amazing stuff you can see on the web. They still like it because it's live and unexpected (I'm a middle aged woman) and I have some amazing Close-Up material. I'm also not confrontational.

It is really sad that many kids get interested and subsequently lose interest in Magic without ever seeing a real live magician, visiting a magic shop or performing a single trick.

They are like Topsy being raised by a bunch of speculators. They need guidance

-Mary Mowder.
magictvlv1
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THis is kinda related to my graduate school post.... How has the internet and Video and television for that matter affected magic
Anatole
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I feel that in general television specials--like the World's Greatest Magicians series--help magic by exposing people to an art form they might otherwise not have considered as a hobby. Children are exposed to other arts--singing, playing musical instruments, drawing, painting--in school as a regular part of the curriculum. Magic may appear in a school setting rarely as part of a school assembly when a professional magician visits. So I feel that television is the main avenue through which people of all ages are exposed to magic. Granted, there is good and bad magic on TV, but there are good and bad examples of all art forms on TV and in all performing arts. Fortunately, the producers of TV shows are often very discerning critics of what constitutes good entertainment, so there's a greater likelihood that there will be relatively good magicians on broadcast TV. The same cannot be said, unfortunately, of youtube.

My own interest in magic was sparked back in the 60's when NBC's weekly show "International Showtime" featured a full hour of magicians from all over the world. That was where I saw Swedish magician Carlo Tornedo's manipulation act. I promptly went to the public library and scoured the 793.8 section until I found a book--Henry Hay's _The Amateur Magician's Handbook_ that explained some of the effects in his act, and my education as a magician began.

The Internet in general has been good for magic, starting with Bruce Barnett's listserv The Electronic Grymoire in the 80's when the Net was starting to really grow (even before the WWW) and expanding to sites where anyone can view magic for sale at places like Denny and Lee Magic Studio and Stevens Magic Emporium. Both of these sites provide not only tricks for sale, but educational insights as well. At Denny's site, for instance, Denny has posted an excellent essay called "The History of Magic, Why We Need to Know" at
http://www.dennymagic.com/cgi-bin/hazel.......r=050829
and at Stevens' site you have gems like (pardon the pun) "The Gemini Archives" at
http://www.stevensmagic.com/gemini/index.htm
with essays by people ranging from Billy McComb to Mike Rogers.

Of course, the problem with the Internet is evaluating the quality of the magic-related material on the Net. But the same can be said about any subject a person researches on the Internet. Part of my responsibility as a school librarian was teaching students how to evaluate and validate the information sites they find on the Web. After all, anyone can put up a web page, and as I have often pointed out here and elsewhere, the Web is as vulnerable to Sturgeon's Law as any other medium: "Ninety percent of everything is crud." (I will, however, commend both public and school librarians as being more critical in selecting magic books and videos for their collections. While I was in graduate school I wrote a term paper called "793.8: A Guide to Selecting Magic Books for School and Public Libraries." I should probably post a summary of the selection criteria here.

It is by and large the responsibility of parents and teachers to help all children (of all ages) to become informed and critical users of all information, whether it's learning magic or learning the scientific method. I realize that's a little redundant/circular, since two words in the preceding sentence use the root word "inform." But I think you catch my drift.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez
----- Sonny Narvaez
rebekahjoyce
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AZ, USA
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I think that is the right form and manor you tube can be vary good for magic, like almost anything.

How many people question now if TV is good for magic, I am sure a grate number here saw magic for the first time on TV or at the vary least can remember a inspiring performer they saw on TV. We would say that is good it brought positive attention and inspired future performers, or hobbyist (It is said you can die from exposure but you can also die from starvation). But almost all will say the masked dude was bad in that he was exposing and tearing down other performers (IMHO).

I think You tube and simulator sites can be a good thing if given some guidelines/ suggestions so that individuals do not inadvertently expose and present them self and the larger magic community in the best light.

I would think some off the guidelines/ suggestions should be things like..

… watching your video before you upload it. Did you do as well as you thought? Do you need to re taped it because you unintentionally exposed your method?

… should you edited it a little so the method can't be worked out from repeated watching, and do you think that type of editing is ethical to do.

…should you some red haring and false leads into you filmed performance to send the re-watchers onto a wild goose chase.

… disabling comments on videos helps keep people from exposing your methods but does keep people from praising or appropriately criticizing your performance.

.. are you really preforming or just showing a trick you know. If it is just a trick are you ok with that.

.. do you have the right to record the effect that you are preforming. Do performance rights apply to you tube and the like?

.. are you doing someone else's performance world for word or other wise stepping on there act/ show /ect. Or are you just inspired by 'such and such'

and the list can go on. But I thing that you tube can be a good or a bad thing but some 'rules of engagement' could go vary far in making it a positive for magic.

Rebekah

*note I am slightly dyslexic and do my best to make all my post readable. But putting grammar police on me will note help.
SilvaAce
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Fargo, ND
156 Posts

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There has always been some form of exposure. I don't really care for these kids on youtube that can't even hang on to the props they are using. Even though, they are exposing the secrets I don't let it bother me to much anymore.

I have realized over the years that if you give your audience something to talk about to their friends, that is all that really matters. People want to see something different. Most of them have a day job and the same freaking routine everyday. They want to feel special! Show them something that is cool and that they don't get to see very often.

They don't want to see the kid on youtube. You know the one with bad lighting and shaky video. Keeps wiping his nose with his hands talking about pick a card.

Show them something that they know is being done by somebody that put in the time. It is almost like giving them a handmade gift card on their birthday. They will appreciate that you are sharing this piece of devotion with them. Make them laugh, or make them shout WTF! They will appreciate it, even though they might have seen the secret performed by that wetnosed kid on youtube. Deliver your magic! PERIOD!
All you have to do to change your life, is to change your daily habits!



Carlos Silva
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