"Repetition is the death of magic" - Bill Watterson
Visual magic seems to be the crack cocaine of the magic world. Everyone is looking for that next fix. That next "hit" if you will. As a consultant for other performers and TV shows, I am often plagued by taking a magical idea and "making it more visual". There are a few problems with this line of thinking however....
- You chew thru more material - "Visual" magic is often presented with little to no presentation other than "watch this". Without build up it becomes a throwaway gag sometimes.
- Weaker Magic - A lot of stuff that is done visually on camera can be re-wound and watched frame by frame and figured out OR it falls prey to the "too perfect theory" and people will dismiss it as CGI because that is the most obvious answer, even when it's not.
- Too much of a good(?) thing - If you already have a dozen "visual" effects in your show/on your timeline/etc, eventually everything starts to blend and look the same.
- No Mystery - The audience needs a breather. Sometimes obscuring something and letting the magic happen in the audiences' head is WAY stronger than shoving it in their face. Give those watching a little mystery and it will stick with the longer. (But don't turn it into a puzzle)
