Consent is sexy...

There is a bit of drama in the magic community as of late (more than usual I should clarify). A known magician who is now part of a cabal of other performers who create "prank" videos for money on fb decided to... I dunno... test the waters(?) of magic as a vehicle for pranks. The problem is, they did such by exposing a well known principle in magic. The magic community at large was up in arms and for good reasons obviously.

The main gripes I have heard are:

• Betrayal - Many who were fans of this performer's magic and creativity previously felt like this was a slap in the face to anyone who respected and/or looked up to them.
• Exposure - This one is obvious, but if it was their own creation, no one would have cared. Sadly, this was not the first magical effect they had exposed, it was just the first people had caught wind of. 
• Guilt by Association - The producer of these kinds of videos had already cut a major divide between himself and the community previously. The videos are of lackluster quality and perceived as existing merely for likes, shares and fat stacks of cash.(Mostly that last one) 
• No Real Reason -  The videos outcome would have been the same had they just cut the secret or used something different. There was no real ascertainable reason to make the video other than views and to throw magic under a bus.
  

Whenever something like this occurs in the community, the defense/excuse tends to fall on "Well THIS person exposes stuff and no one cares" or "it's ok to sell magic secrets or put it in books so why is this not ok?". This kind of deflection tends to be their main defense and smart people counter it with "We are not talking about them, this is about you".  Regardless of their reasons, none of them hold water because the main difference here is Intent. 

When magic is taught or bought, the person had to actively seek it out. They had to already have some sort of inherent interest in gaining that knowledge. They had to, even if it's only a little bit, put in some effort. What has happened recently is essentially the magic equivalent of someone walking up to you on the street completely unprovoked and saying "This is how a thumbtip works. Ok. BYEEEEEEE!" and running away. You did not ask to know that secret nor have any intent on ever knowing it. It was just thrust upon you with no consent.

Ok so, what about the people who found magic through exposure? I have heard a handful of people in their 30s say that one of the things that got them into magic was the Secrets Revealed specials (with the masked magician). I will be happy to tell you the difference between that and what is going on currently.

When one watched those specials not only did you get to see magic performed you also got to see what it looked like first. You could then decide if you wanted to know the secret or not. You could walk away if so inclined. In the aforementioned video, the secret was shoved in front of you in the first 3 seconds. (Technically sooner cuz of the thumbnail) You had no choice if you clicked play. You also did not see magic presented as the performing art it's meant to be. It was a cheap throwaway gag with no meaning.

Of course the minority who produces this content is claiming that the magic community doth protest too much. However, when things like this happen, the community SHOULD be vocal about it. There should be a discourse of some kind. Perhaps someone from the next generation will see it and say, "huh... I don't think this is the way magic should be presented. I don't want to alienate myself". I feel the damage these kinds of videos will do to the next crop of magicians will be felt long after the perpetrators have cashed their checks and faded away.

I hope I am wrong, but I can already see the ripples.

 

"The death of magicians on the internet..."

 Some people are catching on. Enjoy.

Get this guy a Merlin award.

Negative Reinforcement....

We all know the internet, and social media specifically, is an echo chamber right? It's a place where people go to justify their bad behaviors and prove themselves right to other people and themselves. We all mostly agree on this correct?

Well before social media, to inflict your bad performing habits on others, you had top go to your local magic club or, Zeus forbid, a paid gig. The average bear who knows little to nothing about the "secrets of magic" can be easily impressed by the simplest of store bought mysteries. Even the ones you weave some overly contrived story about a fictional elderly family member teaching you.

If you do enough performing for people, you will get better and start to hear how "great" you are. "You should be on America's Got Talent!" they say. The problem comes when you start to believe this stuff. It digs into your brain and you start to think you are better than you might actually be. You start to make some questionable decisions because you have had some modicum of success fooling people at private gigs or, more currently, on the internet. You start to believe your own bullshit.

Due to social media some people think they are more amazing or funnier than they actually are. Let me give you an example: Remember that magician who got in trouble for doing questionable material at a college? Do you think he learned a lesson from that? Well if Instagram is to be believed.... nope. Why do you think that is? Take a gander at the comments. They are encouraging of this behavior. In his social media bubble he gets the ego stroke he needs to believe this is another good idea and he's not alone. Tons of mediocre practitioners of the art get this fluffing every day and every hour.

I'm not saying praise is bad. What I am saying is that you need to remember that the things people are saying to you online they would say to anyone doing the same thing. They might even say it to a video of someone microwaving a burrito. It is the internet after all. You are not a beautiful and unique snowstorm snowflake. These are the same people who can't think of anything better to put other than "Beautiful" on every photo of a girl they see on the internet. I'm just saying temper what people say with reality.

I know that's asking a lot.

The new currency...

How do you think knowledge should be passed on?

Before people were "literate" and could read and write it was all oral (giggity). Knowledge was passed down from parent to child, elder to contemporary, master to novice. Someone who had been there and done that. As times changed, knowledge became easier to come by. You no longer had to prove yourself to receive these trade secrets.Technology has helped people find jobs and hobbies they never would have found in the aforementioned archaic system.

As we have progressed through the ages, trade has also been a way to garner favor. Scratch my back and I will teach you something. Sometimes it's tit for tat with a skill but more often than not, in today's society, it's monetary in nature. In the last few decades, this is how a lot of magic knowledge has been spread across the globe. From books and videos to magic shops both online and brick and mortar. You can learn how to do some cool stuff to pick up gals, amuse friends and sometimes even jump start a career for some of your hard earned cash. Seems fair right?

Why did I regale you all of this? Well it's because today I saw a video that made me want to punch babies (more than usual).

Yah good luck with that kid...

It seems the new stock and trade for learning something is now fake internet points. The worst part is, it's not even THEIR secrets to give away. It's other people's knowledge they are offering to divulge. Information they are selling and the perpetrator has likely not even paid for themselves. They didn't earn this knowledge through hard work or trade and yet are willing to offer it up freely for a fleeting moment of "fame" and a few button presses.

We are living in a world of amateurs teaching amateurs and I'm not sure how I feel about.

Dunning Kruger in effect...

I made the mistake of subscribing to some of the magic based hashtags on instagram a while back. Now, while I have seen some clever stuff on there, it is more just face palm inducing than anything.

As a consultant and director of magic and entertainment, I try to keep up with what is going on when and where I can. Because of that I know about a lot of the products released into the magic wilderness and this is where my problems come into play.

I see far too many people who essentially just do effects verbatim from the demo video. Nothing added. No personality, no reason, just a beat by beat recreation. I then glance at the comments and people are going gaga for these videos. That's fine, good for them. However it got me wondering...

Does using other people’s tricks with no alterations gives you a false sense of accomplishment and mastery when you are essentially just a cover band?

I have seen the same effect in three separate videos in the same day, all done the same way. Very few stand out and when they do, they just get copied. It's a never ending cycle. Of course, you can be so good, they CAN'T copy you, but how often does that occur?

Maybe it's none of my business to be exasperated by these things but... I can't help it. I just want magic to be better.

Is that so much to ask?

Let's talk about death shall we?

Magic has been hit hard the last few years. We lost a slew of people in the industry including Tom Mullica, Eugene Burger, and today Harry Anderson (Spoiler Alert).

Here is my thoughts on today's news. For those wondering, I did not start wearing a fedora because of Harry. I was doing it before I even knew he wore one. My introduction to him was from Night Court. I never saw him do much magic til' later. (aside from what he did on TV)

When I was in 7th grade I bought his version of needle through arm and performed it. (My parents were hippies and pretty open minded) Flash forward MANY years later, I got to meet and hang out with him at his magic shop in New Orleans. He was pleasant and put up with us just hovering around when not street performing. I have heard various stories from he was great to he was terrible and a bit in between. One thing I know for sure is he was a sharp guy who had some great ideas, was an excellent performer, and had the fucking WORK on magic square. (I hate magic square but I can admit when it's good)

Do yourself a favor and get his Penguin Magic lecture and watch it. It's a lot of stories and some good thoughts on tricks.

There was no one else like him was there?

Now in a more general sense, we are losing our legends and no one is stepping up to take their place. Magic as a performance art is slowly taking it in the neck from all of these youtube kids. They can do great tricks, but can't entertain an audience and I wonder what will become of the art form when those guys fall away to get real jobs. The world does not embrace the unique or talented like it used to so it's not being fostered. What are we going to say in 20 years? "Man remember that one guy who had all of those Youtube hits? Wasn't he great?"

The answer is no... no we won't.

To boldly not go away...

 Face it everyone. Internet magic is not going away.

It's time to stop bitching and embrace it. Instead of placing no value on it or talking down about it, let's help try to make it more palatable. Magic companies are still trying to sell this kind of magic like it's workable and practical. At some point they are going to have to create a new category. Right next to "Stage" and "Close-up" there needs to be a section titled "For Camera Only". You might think that sucks but it's more honest and at least you know what you are getting now. I'm looking at you Penguin and Murphy's.

It's not just the companies, it's the people releasing the magic as well. Be honest and upfront. If it only looks good from one angle at a particular time of day or only indoors in a dimly lit bar, let people know. Embrace your new genre and be a pioneer. Be the Steve Jobs of internet magic releases!

This will innovate magic... but only from this one angle.

There is a reason youth does not listen to age. If everyone "respected their elders" and didn't rebel against their "teachings" then we'd all still be churning butter and doing double undercuts. (one of those might be an extreme example)

So who will step up first? Will it be the magic companies or will it be the producers? A few have already dabbled in it and embraced this new concept. Sansminds released an effect and in the trailer specified it was best for their internet or promo video magic. If you are still one of the people clinging to the old ways you need to change with he times or hurry up and die. You're either in or in the way.

This in no way means I am endorsing NOT  releasing good practical real-world magic. We still need that for those who are brave enough to leave their house and want to make a living BUT it's time to acknowledge this is where we all stand and we must stand together.

Next time I will talk about people who expose magic on Youtube and the best places in the Las Vegas desert to bury their bodies.

They pull me back in again...

Yesterday I did something I try not to engage in often but since it pertained to the last post I decided to dip my toe in and...

On one of the FB magic groups This got posted. For those of you too lazy to watch it, it shows one of the previously mentioned individuals coaching his audience to over-react. To say it was met with dismay would be like saying Marlow and Vernon didn't "get along".

What really rips my sponge balls is the fact that there are magicians DEFENDING THIS! The problem is every single metaphor and example they give doesn't align because THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MAGIC. Any example you throw at me I will gladly find fault with and explain why it doesn't work as a comparison.

The reason there is no precedent for this is because, as I have stated before, the internet is a new frontier. No one knows exactly what will work until it does and then once that ground has been raped for money and fame people move on to find the next thing that will get them noticed. It's because of this I have come to the conclusion that internet magic is it's own animal separate from stage, close-up and even TV.

What's worse is when seasoned pros say things like this, "He's doing well for himself AND he is getting people interested in Magic." Yah great. he is getting more kids who think it's ok to do this shit interested in magic who won't work or contribute to the art. Greeeeeat. Just what our world needs, more crappy magicians. Yaaaaaaay.

"Oh but they're young. leave em alone." you say? In any other job is this an excuse? Oh he keeps fucking up your fast food order? It's ok he's young. She got your Starbucks coffee incorrect? She's just young. Please. When that happens, you people go apeshit and rip those "kids" a new asshole. You don't get to pick and choose your excuses (even tho' we all do).

I had a conversation with a magician friend who has done a lot of TV and he takes issue with all of this because if it becomes the norm, then TV producers will expect these reactions and when it's explained all of it's fake they will respond with "Well why don't we just do that then?". If this becomes a thing it could affect all of us in front of AND behind the camera who actually work for a living.

But hey, in this world what could possibly go wrong?

And we wonder why...

Why is it kids don't go to magic meetings or conventions as much as they used to? It's a mix of things. One of those reasons is they don't need those meet-ups to have meet-ups. With skype and facetime and other video medium they can share their creations immediately with each other. They don't have to wait a whole year to see and share what they have been working on. (Whether that's for the better or worse is a whole other post)

The other reason kids avoid these places are the grumpy old fucks who just want to dole out "advice" in the form of close minded rhetoric. Advice when delivered objectively is great. When it's delivered as law and nothing but this or that is right and you are wrong is not advice.

"Well how do they know that's gonna happen at a magic convention or meeting?", you ask? Simple. It's because they get this treatment online in the magic groups and forums. It happened to me. It happens to others.

A younger magician put out a utility device recently. It's not a bad piece of kit. Yes it bears some resemblance to some other gimmicks on the market but his is indeed different enough to justify it's existence. The problem comes in when the "experts" think something is similar to something else (even when it's not) and start saying shit like this:

"Be careful with that 100% claim.....any slight similarity puts it down to at least 90%."

"Has anybody NOT figured this out immediately?"

At this point they are just poking at the kid with sticks for no reason.

"But the lay people will want to examine the cards!" (Ah the mating call of the common amateur in the magic market place. The creator then explained he goes over how to have the cards handed out and examined and then got the following response...)

"Just because they don't ask doesn't mean anything other than you are too detached. You are cheating them out of a magical moment by leaving them with an unsolved puzzle. No more free lessons from me...get out your checkbook." 

Another "expert" decided to chime in with this:

"It is the magician that gets the (stronger) reaction, not the cards. I would love to meet you and prove my point. I can follow you with the two card Monte and get a stronger reaction than any of your four routines."

Dick move old man. The younger follows up with this:

"That's a bit harsh. You're basing your opinion on my skill as a perform off of a trailer. You've never seen me perform at a gig. To assume that you could easily get a stronger reaction is ignorant."

To which he gets THIS reply:

"Sorry. I wasn't talking about you as a performer but about the trick cards. (Nice backpedal there but you totally did.)  Makes me wonder why you still (7 years doing the trick) feel a need for trick gadgets?" (Wait didn't you just challenge this kid to a duel with 2 card monte which is a gimmick?)

As the final insult, after constantly comparing his gimmick to another one that is NOTHING like his, the younger magi put his foot down. The "wiser" guy replied with this:

"Yep, I was expecting a personal attack...it always happens with those who have no other retort." (It wasn't a personal attack by the way. Just being told he was wrong was enough to feel it was)

Why am I sharing the details of this you ask? It's because I don't want ANY of you to becomes these kind of people. I can already see the guys who are going to be these other people when they are in their 60s and 70s. They are pumped up full of ego and bitterness. They have "retired" for whatever reason and now ride a computer chair doling out advice (yes I recognize the irony of me typing that so shut up) in a world they haven't lived in for some time. 

This kind of stuff makes me mad and no one can/will speak up because you will get the same treatment. In the end, the worst offender of the two messaged the kid, called him a fool, and then blocked him. Sure would make me want to go to a place full of guys like that eh?

This is all I hear when I read stuff like this online

We are not alone...

At one point the only avenue for crazy people to spread their opinions was on a street corner yelling at passers by. Well in today's world the streets are webpages and the people walking by are anyone who happens upon those websites.

One of the internet's super powers to is to get information to a larger audience via various channels. Social media, blogs, websites, videos, etc. You can be whoever you like and say whatever you want (for the most part) and usually no one will track you down and punch you in the throat.

I remember the big magic blog boom of 03' sparked by the now defunct Magic Circle Jerk (ah the good old days). Many of these blogs have died off or just gone silent for various reasons or another. However there are some out there still going because they care enough to voice their opinion loud enough for others to hear it and maybe open some eyes and minds.... like a verbal claw hammer if you will.

I just found such a person(s) on FB who is doing their best to warn people of (perceived or real) shenanigans in the magic community. Will they continue this watchdog effort until they die? Likely not but hey...

You never know.