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Devin Knight V.I.P. 2493 Posts |
Hopefully this will start an interesting thread. As a boy growing up I read many "Magic Myths" in the catalogs. In most cases these are myths. They are only seldom true.
Unfortunately many magicians STILL believe these myths. I think it's time we debunk a lot of them. Feel free to add your own with comments. That's the purpose. I realize some of you may be offended by these comments...but the truth hurts. I've discussed this with other magicians and most of them agree that these are myths. You're more than welcome to disagree but don't just say "I disagree." Give us some reasons why you might feel these aren't magic myths. ALL OF THESE LINES HAVE APPEARED IN MAGIC CATALOGS to help sell magic to beginners: 1-MYTH: EVERYBODY LOVES MAGIC Fact: Everyone doesn't love magic. IN fact there are some people who hate it! Don't believe it? Just try going up to everyone in a restaurant and offering to show a trick. You will see just how many people really love magic. Many adults consider magic childish and something only for kid parties (despite Copperfield). Many people consider magic to be nothing more than puzzles and something to be solved. Millions of people HATE PUZZLES. 2-MYTH: IT'S FUN TO BE FOOLED Fact: It's not fun to be fooled. PEOPLE HATE BEING fooled. They might like to be entertained but NOT fooled. If you're married and tell a girl you're single, you've fooled her. If you cheat someone out of money, you fooled them. Do you think either of these people would say "boy, it was great being fooled!" The correct statement should be: "It's fun to be entertained." 3-MYTH: MAGIC WILL MAKE YOU POPULAR FACT:Maybe in a few rare cases and if you are careful. In real life many magicians LOSE friends. Everyone doesn't want to see your 20,000 versions of Marlo's Twisting the Kings. This has been posted before in the forums. Overdo your magic, or do BAD magic and people will RUN THE OTHER WAY when they see you bring out your cards. I'm not saying not to show some magic to your friends. If they really like magic, you might show them a trick or two maybe once or twice a week. A GOOD RULE TO FOLLOW is let them ask you first. I think Vernon said let them ask you twice. Don't assume they want to see a trick. If they know you're a magician and you do Good Close-up then they MAY ask you to show them a trick. If they ask you twice you know they are serious. ON THE OTHER hand if NOBODY ever asked you to do a trick maybe you should take a hard look at your presentations. 4-MYTH: MAGIC IS ALWAYS ENTERTAINING Fact: A lot of card tricks can be downright boring. I've seen magicians so boring that the many members of the audience got up and left. It takes lots of work to make magic entertaining. Just doing a puzzle and calling it magic isn't entertaining. 5-MYTH: MAGIC IS FUN FACT:Under certain conditions it can be fun for an audience, provided it is well presented and entertaining. If done badly then the magic is anything but fun. Let's say you are performing badly and the audience doesn't like what you are doing. Is this fun to you? I love magic when it's done well and that can be fun to watch. However the long hours I put in to master a move can be anything but fun. Dropping balls, cards etc in practice can be very frustrating and lead to minor cursing. It's a price I have to pay to master a move...this learning process to me is anything but fun! Speaking of pratice that leads me to the next myth. 6:MYTH: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT FACT: Perfect practice makes perfect. Practice a move wrong for hours and all you will have is a poorly performed move. Practice a juggling move wrong and you'll have to spend hours UNLEARNING what you did with all the FLAWED PRACTICE. Practice will only make you perfect if you practice the correct technique. Practice the wrong technique and you're worse off than before. 7-MYTH: MAGIC IS A GREAT WAY TO MEET WOMEN FACT:You need more than magic to meet women. Good looks help, but most important is a good personality. Show a woman a trick and you got her attention for 5 minutes (maybe). If you got nothing else to follow with, she walks away. Fact is many woman are AFRAID of you. Just look at the reactions BLAINE gets. People screaming and running away (some because they are really scared). I've had more than my share of this. In college I did my Retro Gravity for a girl. She starting screaming and ran away saying STAY AWAY FROM ME! THIS is NOT the way to meet women. Fact: Mindreading may impress a girl. Truth is you won't win her. If the girl REALLY thinks you can read her mind...SHE WILL NOT DATE YOU. Would you want to date a guy who could really read your mind? I don't think so. ONCE again I am talking from Experience! FACT: Many women consider guys doing magic to be childish or showoffs. I know that hurts guys but you'd be amazed how many woman accuse a guy doing magic on a date NOTHING BUT A SHOWOFF. 8-MYTH: BE THE LIFE OF THE PARTY! FACT: Be known as the JERK/BORE of the PARTY! Remember the previous rule LET THEM ASK YOU FIRST. Obviously if you have been hired to do a show at the party THEY DID ASK YOU FIRST. But to go to a party and start inflicting card tricks on anyone who will watch will make you the BORE OF THE PARTY. 9-MAGIC WILL GET YOU IN WITH THE BOSS Fact: Don't believe it! I was fired from several jobs when I was younger for showing magic to employees when we were suppose to be working. The real truth is most likely MAGIC WILL GET YOU IN TROUBLE WITH THE BOSS, if you do it at work. Don't believe for one moment the fact you are a magician will get you special favors with the boss (there may be a few rare exceptions, but they aren't the rule). 10-MYTH: ANYONE CAN DO MAGIC OR MAGIC IS EASY TO LEARN FACT: If you REALLY believe that you are a hopeless magician who has long left the world of reality. In fact if you buy into myth ten it is safe to assume: The ten myths of magic are actually the TEN COMMANDMENTS of Magic! Remember most any one can do a simple trick poorly, very few can make it entertaining magic! MAGIC LIES and Lines to deceive the Unsavvy.--I've seen these in magic catalogs: FOOLS EVERYBODY THIS TRICK WILL MAKE YOU A PROFESSIONAL MAGICIAN (yeah right) EVEN HOUDINI WOULD HAVE LIKE THIS! (I doubt it) NO SKILL, NO PRACTICE---(who are they kidding?) USED BY ALL THE LEADING PROFESSIONALS (ain't no such animal, except maybe a TT) DO IT 5 Minutes AFTER Getting it! (no wonder people hate magic!) YOU TOO CAN BECOME A SUCCESSFUL MAGICIAN (with no skill,no practice and within 5 minutes of getting the tricks, if we believe what the ads say!) I'M IN BUSINESS JUST FOR FUN! (so why do I have to pay for the tricks you sell?) WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T BECOME A PROFESSIONAL MAGICIAN? (just ask the 10,000 Copperfield wannabes who can't even book a birthday party) ORDER TRICKS TODAY, DO MAGIC TOMORROW! (just think in one day I can be a professional magician and be rich and famous overnight. Forget college, where else can I learn a new profession in just ONE DAY!) Can you imagine someone selling a book on dance. Saying buy this book.. tomorrow you'll be a dancer! GIVE ME A BREAK... --------------------------------- Devin Knight |
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hkwiles Special user Howard Wiles 797 Posts |
Just about sums it up Dev,
Howard |
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Necromancer Inner circle Chicago 3076 Posts |
I couldn't agree more. But let's not forget my personal favorite, "SELF-WORKING."
Creator of The Xpert (20 PAGES of reviews!), Cut & Color, Hands-Off Multiple ESP (HOME) System, Rider-Waite Readers book, Zoom Pendulum ebook ...
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Schaden Inner circle Purgatory 1253 Posts |
I thought you were going to talk about Scarne and other things. My question is: can we stop this sort of thing? Try to bring back the mystery in magic and make it more underground.
Lee |
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
You hit the nail on the button!
Dennis Michael
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marko Inner circle 2109 Posts |
Michael Close talks about this too. Great post, magicbuilder.
Thought: Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage.
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Sybilmagic Loyal user England 275 Posts |
What about the "This trick alone is worth the price of the book/dvd/video."
i.e. one trick with a lot of filler (sometimes). |
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Devin Knight V.I.P. 2493 Posts |
Sometimes a really good trick IS WORTH the price of the DVD. With so much bad magic on the market, I am delighted to find something I will use on a DVD. If I find one item that is really good it was worth the price of the book or dvd.
My favorite Pet Peeve is the dealer ad that says you can fill 10 to 15 minutes with this trick. Turns out some magicians believe it. I've seen some poor souls who actually think they can pull out 3 tricks and stretch them into a half an hour show. A rare exception to this rule is THE LEMON GAME. This is one trick you can fill in a good 10 minutes and still keep them entertained. However this is a rare exception to the rule. Now maybe some really talented comedy magicians with good patter (such as Harry Anderson) can get away with 3 tricks in half and hour. For most of us I think the audience will be thinking "get on with it," or "this guy talks TOO much." Devin The really sad thing is that many YOUNG magicians on this forum will read the above myths and think "this doesn't apply to me. I'm different and better." Those guys will learn the hard way. |
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MisterE21 Elite user Salt Lake City, UT 426 Posts |
I think 1, 4 and 5 are probably the most dangerous; all relating to magician's silly belief that all people, at all times, in all places are interested in seeing magic. Eugene Burger discusses this, saying he realizes that honestly, most magic by itself isn't entertaining; therefore, when he begins crafting a presentation, his main goal is "how can I make this entertaining and gripping?" Far too many magicians seem to think that the magic is enough entertainment and anything they do is just a bonus. ::sigh::
Your EFFECT is only as good as its AFFECT.
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ClodAppleleft Regular user Manchester, NH 195 Posts |
I actually have to admit I fell for the "Buy it today, do magic in 5 minutes" syndrome when I first started out. Almost all of my tricks for my first show were gimmic based tricks in that literally, ANYONE could do the trick from the start. A friend of mine (true friend, brutally honest) pointed that out to me. He said, "Dude, all of your tricks are gimmics. You do a great presentation and all, and that is half the battle, but without a doubt, you need more stuff that isn't gimmicked."
After that I started practicing more sleight of hand stuff. I added a sponge bunny routine that is all sleight of hand and such, and a torched and restored dollar routine that really took a lot of practice to get it right. I spent over $100 on a sword thru the neck that I was sure was going to be a killer effect, but hardly got any crowd reaction. I'm now working on a thimble routine, and I have to say that manipulating thimbles is tough, and I know that I am nowhere near ready to perform them, but when I am, watch out. Basically what I am trying to say is that gimmics are cool and such, but even with a great presentation, they get nowhere near the reaction that good sleights do. My feeling is that even if someone knows how you do a trick (like a paddle, or sponge balls, thimbles, cups and balls, etc.) if they can't catch you doing the moves, even if they know you've done them, they'll give you your props. Jeff
There are many different ways to cut an apple.
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hackmonkey Inner circle England 1093 Posts |
That was a great post Devin.
1- I agree 2- I mostly agree, I think people do like to be fooled. Just not in a "I am great, you are a idiot" way some magicians do stuff. Some effects I do, say spoon bending are not entertaining as more mystifying. The audience are being fooled but they enjoy it because it looks like real magic. 3- I agree and disagree. I agree with the main point, your mates don't want to see you do magic all day. I learned this fast at the start of my magic career, when my friends said to the effect of "No we don't want to see your latest trick. Let's go have a beer instead." These days I never do magic unless asked. As a teenager I had always been relatively popular (i.e not a loner!), but I would say doing magic has expanded my circle of friends ten-fold. If you do magic well people remember you, you will get invited to more parties etc. People want interesting people at their parties/dinners etc. People want to have interesting friends that they can introduce to their other friends. If you are not a show-off and let people ask you to perform magic CAN definatly make you more popular. Same as if you are a good singer or musician etc. People like people with talent. 4-agree 5-agree (fun but definatly frustrating sometimes) 6-agree 7-not quite in full agreement. Magic can be a great way to impress women if done right. In general I find women are attracted to confident men. In high school I was quite shy. Although I had friends, I had no girlfriends until the final year when I went out with one girl for a little while. Then just as I started college I got a job as a magic demonstrator, and started to perform professionaly, this boosted my confidence. I have met many women through doing magic at night clubs etc. because you come across as an interesting person with unique skills. BUT I never do magic while on dates. It should be you they like, not the magic. I do agree with the mindreading comment, found that out first hand. Magic can get you a date but it can't keep a women. 8-disagree. It is the way you do it. People hire you to put life into their parties. But you need to know when to give it a rest, that it for sure!!! 9-agree 10-agree. I agree with the main point, but if you show your boss one good trick every now and then he will definitly see you differently to some of the other staff. Thanks for starting this great, I would like to see other peoples opinions. |
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
Great post magicbuilder. I think they are all true and yet, they all can be disproven. It depends on the invidual. I've gotten my Boss's boss to ask me to show visitors magic. But, I don't' do silly tricks. They are are magical illusions.
Same goes for the rest of the list. It depends on the individual.
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Zednanreh Loyal user Miami, FL 211 Posts |
It is all true! - Alex
So you want to market or sell your trick? Before you do, read this!
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James Peters Veteran user Romford, UK 385 Posts |
There's a lot of truth in this; let's not forget, though ....
If we're going to win our audiences, we must entertain them in the best way possible. In my opinion, the best way I can entertain is different to the way anyone else can. We need to remember that the greatest part of Magic is what we contribute to it; this unique contribution is what makes it all worthwhile, and allows us each to entertain an audience in our own special way. We need to find new ways of doing magic to keep it fresh and alive, and there's no shortcut to doing so! James. |
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kaitou New user 58 Posts |
heh.. all good points IMHO... Although, about the "being fooled" comment, it can depend on your attitude in doing the trick. Is it "Betcha can't get how I do it," or "I think you'll enjoy watching this"? Most people are more willing to suspend disbelief if you keep a friendly demeanor.
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Peter Marucci Inner circle 5389 Posts |
Magicbuilder writes: "My favorite Pet Peeve is the dealer ad that says you can fill 10 to 15 minutes with this trick. Turns out some magicians believe it."
Absolutely! That also takes in that horrible line -- "a good, 10-minute 'time-waster'." Good Lord! Are we there to waste time or to entertain? And yet many magicians slavishly follow this dictum. No wonder magic is held is such low esteem by so many. |
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David43 Regular user 133 Posts |
In a mail-order catalogue-
sells on sight in the studio
I Put a Spell On You
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LeConte Special user Bay area 830 Posts |
This is an excellent post magicbuilder!
I wonder what the flip-side to this arguement would be. What are the (ten) biggest truths in magic(not for this thread though obviously)? This is a natural question to ask after reading something like this, so I hope that it is not too far off-topic!!
Drive Carefully
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MisterE21 Elite user Salt Lake City, UT 426 Posts |
I wonder...would the ten biggest truths simply be the "fact" section of the ten biggest myths?
Will I do agree that they are true, are they the biggest? I'd be interested to see someone with a bit more experience and breadth than I attempt that list...
Your EFFECT is only as good as its AFFECT.
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Peter Marucci Inner circle 5389 Posts |
LeConte asks: "What are the (ten) biggest truths in magic?"
One of the truths would surely be: "Entertaining the audience is crticial!" |
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