What Are Some Solutions?

[sky_lark]

Magic isn't as wide a form as some other art, and thus people don't understand it. Everything happens so fast and so thorough that they just don't get it. It stays with them for maybe that day, but then it's history. The magic that really excels is the type that stays with people forever.

If you go and see somebody levitate, cool, but it doesn't really matter.

If you go and see somebody make you levitate, that sticks with you forever. "I just floated three feet off the ground!" You're actually experiencing it; it's not possible.

Works with other tricks as well. But that's were magicians go wrong. They aren't opening up the tricks to spectators. It's always forgotten. You can do an extensive cups and balls routine, or you can do something extensive that actually involves the audience.

You pop one spongeball in their hand, one in yours, you open-instead of two being in your hand, there's two in their's. Why does that matter?

Because suddenly all the attention is on you. You just finished the trick. You aren't a magician yet you just performed magic.

Final thoughts: Involve your spectators. Support their beliefs. Make them feel like they are the magicians, not you.

PS. Worried about they getting all the fame and not you? Won't happen. Because the truth is: they can't do the trick without you.

- sky_lark

[Raito]

Television as it seems brought magic back to the general public, the problem is some of those effects on television is near impossible to perform live.
I am constantly compare to Criss Angel or David Blaine when I perfrom an effect.
So the only solution I see for people to respect all magicians is tone down the impossibility on television, and make a little personal miracle when you perform an effect.
Stop walking pass thin air or make people warp back in time. Because whatever people see on television, every magician is going to get compared to that.
Wayne Houchin's "Stigmata" seemed impossible to the audience, but can be perform by any magician. That's the type of miracle im getting at, not effects that bombard the mine.When people stop walking up buildings on TV then maybe i'll get a little respect.

[Darshwood]

Hey Guys:

Just a thought... I've been away from the net for a while, but when I started to read some of the posts on this thread today, I was reminded of something.

Magic has evolved for centuries, right? Some may even argue that magic has evolved over as much as 20,000 years. And now more than ever, it's available on an open market.

I recently returned to the art after a decade long hiatus. I was worried at first because I wasn't sure how easy it was going to be to pick it back up. What I found out was that anyone with a credit card can potentially become a magician. Of course not everyone can become a master or even a good magician as long as they own a PK ring or a custom deck of cards and a couple of instructional DVDs, but it is conceivable.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, I theorize that long ago, in order to become a magician, you had to really study. It wasn't about which trick you just purchased at the local shop or your favorite online store. You actually had to sit down and research the subject, practice the skills and undergo the training of a master showman. The little boys that climbed the Indian Ropes up into the air eventually grew up to become the guy that would climb up after the little boys only to chop them up into little pieces. ( If you don't know what I'm talking about - I highly recommend picking up any book on magic history at your local library.) In other words, to become a magician used to involve a rite of passage and that is not the case these days.

I, myself, would not say that I have a master teacher in the arts, but I do have a mentor. He has vastly helped me to advance in the art with nothing more than simple advice. Now I know that such advice can be found on any magic forum, but it means a lot more and holds steadily in the mind when it comes from someone you know and trust and have to face next time around when he asks "Well, did you do what I told you to do?"

I hope this doesn't read like mindless ramblings, but I was just inspired to suggest to all of my fellow conjurors - Find a mentor! Go to your local club meetings. Hit up the nearest shop. Find someone, anyone that is more experienced than you. Ask him or her if they wouldn't mind a session. The older guys will know exactly what you mean and there you have it - someone that will guide along the path of prestidigitation. I think you will find that when you meet a wise, old magician he will gladly share advice with you. We all want to help each other out. It's traditional among artists to share our knowledge with each other. Don't let that Christian Bale movie fool you - not all secrets have their price.

And that's my solution to one of magic's modern issues.

Peace be with you all and good luck,
Darsh

[thaumaturge]

In this day and age of immediate gratification

I wholeheartedly agree with you on this one Dave.

But I am not sure whether this is a sign of the times or the sign of a generation. When I was a teenager I performed magic much to fast, not giving attention to the detail of presentation and so forth.

There now seem to be hordes of teenagers coming to magic - which is really great. Twenty years ago, the average age of magicians seemed to be much higher.

This, in combination with the fact that it is now much easier to purchase good magic and places like Youtube, puts us in the current situation.

A solution to this problem is not easy. One of the early posts in the last topic mentioned lack of respect by the older magicians. I see this in my club: the older magicians don't understand what the younger magicians wants to achieve. So one of my solutions is to create some understanding and reduce the generation gap in magic, which will improve the magic teenagers perform.

We saw problems with the standard of magic in our club and now started a compulsory workshop where an experienced magician teaches the intricacies of performing magic.

I am the editor of my club's newsletter. Maybe I could raise the generation gap as a topic and tantalise some discussion.

Peter

[Ring Master]

What i think we should to help magic is to have fun doing magic, respect it and just enjoy the pleasure of the art of twisting reality that u have that no 1 has.

[RebelAce69]

.

We saw problems with the standard of magic in our club and now started a compulsory workshop where an experienced magician teaches the intricacies of performing magic.

I am the editor of my club's newsletter. Maybe I could raise the generation gap as a topic and tantalise some discussion.

Peter

That is something that will help alot. Many of the magicians I have met on forums are teenagers. The ones who are adults don't go on forums or even what to talk to you since they think your just a nieve "kid." Some of us who are teenagers or maybe even younger, in fact, are honestly really good magicians. I've seen performances on Youtube and other places and some are pretty good, and have practiced and have taken the time a intiative. The one thing that bugs me is the stereotype that most teens are here just to learn stuff buy every gimmick there is and then perform to look cool then tell the world. There is no real way to stop these people, it's their human nature and nothing can change that. With technology there will be no end unless we can pick out the best of the best of the people who actually take magic seriously. Obviously people who have been doing magic for 10-20 years know what's right and what's wrong with the "magicians code." We can only try and tell and convince these people what's right and wrong and doing that to every magician who has ever revealed a secret on youtube, will be endless. For a final solution, there isn't one, we can only hope people see the light at the end of the tunnel and realize magic is something you should respect and do for it, as it has done for you.

-RA69

[daffy]

Extract from Magic, November 1992.

"Quick: In the next five seconds try to name two branches of the performing arts where a performer who has no skill, has never practiced a day in his life and is absolutely awful at what he does, can earn a living. Beep. Time's up. Try this combo: magic and stripping. (Some people refer to the latter as exotic dancing.) A fellow walks into a store and buys a bunch of box tricks, has no talent and neoer practices, yet can work small jobs from now till doomsday and make a living. Strippers are lucky-at least they don't have to buy their apparatus: they're born with it! It doesn't matter if they're pretty or not, it couldn't be less important whether they can dance or not. They have the required parts. No talent, no practice, but making a living nonetheless. Actor? Forget it, you'd be out in a minute. Musician? Can't play your instrument if you haven't practiced. Dancer? Your body is your instrument, as in acting, and without a great deal of work you might as well not even show up. None of the more widely esteetned branches of the performing arts can be based solely, entirely, and completely on a "hook" or gimmick of some type. Even juggling, ventriloquism, and giving a chalk talk require some practice! Magic is based upon secrets (1 know something you don't), and stripping is based upon the lure of body parts (1 have something you want). If you know the secret or have the correct anatomy, you're in business. Thar's all, brother. Don't ever say that we never tackle the really important issues."

Richard Kaufman

[thaumaturge]

That is a great extract from Magic!

It begs the question, however, why somebody without much skill can become a professional magician. If this is the case, audiences obviously do not have very high expectations of what a magician does.

A distinctive difference between art and entertainment is that an artist has a product and then waits for audiences to become interested - which in some cases is only after death. An entertainer works the other way around - they create a product around what the market wants. I don't think that magic in the great majority of cases in an art, but is entertainment. There is nothing wrong with that, but we should not become too pretentious.

Most people are obviously happy with cheese sponge ball routines and meaningless card tricks.

The same is the case for most performing arts. Average music taste is not very high brow and not many people are interested in going to the theatre to enjoy a play. If audiences lower their expectations, so do the entertainers/magicians.

A solution: this is part of our cultural fabric. Although I don't believe people's psychology has changed, technology has created an environment in which this lowering of standards is encouraged - if it sells an add, it will get on tv. Maybe it is flagship magicians, such as the Theory11 artists who have a role to play in elevating people's expectations.

By the way, how about a combination of striptease and magic? English experimental performer Ursula Martinez performs some interesting pieces of theatre in that genre. Maybe she read the article in Magic and took it to the next level.

Peter

[-Ty]

Respect.

It all starts with us, with you, right here right now. Not theorising about what others can do, but putting a mentality to ourselves in this moment.

Respect our art/craft. Respect our effects.

What does that mean? Practice.

By practicing and learning our craft to the fullest extent possible, we will begin to respect the work and dedication that magic carries. Not only that, but this appreciation will carry through in performances and audiences will in turn bear more respect for what they are experiencing.

This will also help exposure, although this is a lesser problem. By stresssing the respect magic carries to other new magicians, we can begin to pull in a new appreciation for magic.
This comes back to the missing link of mentors and apprentices in magic. This type of learning is greatly lacking in today's scene, although in theory it should be easier.

But again, this exposure stems from a lack of respect within the community. And this starts with each and every one of us.

[/Preach mode]

Ty

[Krash]

I agree with you 100% Wayne. I really think that we don't take as much pride in our magic and in ourselves as we should. I mean, an effect is only as good as the performer. We all need to forfill our obligation to practice as much as we can. We need to make sure that the work we produce and show to the masses isn't the half assed garbage that some heckler would post on youtube just because he can...and no one's there to stop him.

I also agree with those who said we need to make it our responsibility to guide those dubbed as "newbies". I remember when I first started out, I had no clue how disrespectful it was to perform an effect that you didn't pay for. When you buy a DVD or a book that explains every detail on how to perform an effect it's like buying the rights to perform it and signing a contract saying "I swear never to screw this up in front of my audience."

We do need to take some form of effective action against exposure. What that is yet...I'm not sure, but I'm sure that we'll have an effective solution sometime in the future.

As of now, all we can do is practice our sets and place ourselves under a magnifying glass. We've all got what it takes, right?

Shane K.