I don’t know what magic secrets exposure means anymore

By Paul Osborne

Exposure. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? When I was a lad [picture me walking up a hill carrying a bread loaf while Dvorak’s New World Symphony is playing – now there’s a reference for the teenagers] magic secrets exposure was an easy concept to understand. From my very first magic book – How to be a Conjurer by Robert Harbin – the rules of magic were clearly laid out: Never tell anyone how a trick is done, the author wrote.

However, even in those dark days before the internet, the waters were sometimes muddied. I remember Paul Daniels being criticised for including tricks such as the Chinese Linking Rings and the Rice Bowls in his magic sets, with some magicians saying that Paul was exposing these classics of magic to children.
And then, a few years later, those “bad boys of magic”, Penn and Teller, crashed onto the scene. Most of you will have noticed, in my opening line, the nod to Teller’s sublime smoking routine where classic sleight-of-hand moves are explained to the viewing audience. As a teenager, watching their first TV special, I thought, “well, this will annoy a lot of magicians, but, what the hell. I love it.”

Teller has often spoken about the duo’s approach to exposure: that most of their audience probably had a magic set as a child, that most people know what a “palm” is, and that, sometimes, a routine can still blow your mind even if you’re in on it. Check out their version of the cups and balls using clear plastic cups for proof of this. (Dai Vernon witnessed them perform this effect live and laughed his head off, according to Teller; The Professor ‘getting’ what they were doing.)

Today, social media is awash with magicians and hobbyists performing tricks and then exposing the method, and many have been criticised for doing so. But I think the argument is more nuanced than it seems.

Mentalist Spidey, who puts out many magic tutorial videos on YouTube, addressed some of his critics on the Magicians Talking Magic podcast. He said: “There’s a difference between magic secrets exposure and teaching magic. I see a lot of YouTube videos with a child who learned a trick last week, barely knows how to hold the cards, and is exposing the secret to the trick. And I don’t like that.

“I teach magic. Everything on my channel is either something I created, or something I adapted, or something that’s so old-as-the-hills that nobody could claim ownership to it. My videos, on average, are 14 to 18 minutes, and you’re learning one trick. And by the time you get to the tutorial, we’re about eight or nine minutes into the video. My average view is six to seven minutes. So most people have left the video before I even get to the secret.

“It’s all by design. It starts with me talking about the trick, then I do the performance, then I talk about the history of the trick, and then we go into the tutorial which is taught slowly and effectively. I want real students, not someone who is looking for a quick secret.”

The flipside of a tutorial though is the video that’s designed for entertainment by magic secrets exposure. One famous YouTube magician was brutally criticised by Craig Petty on his Magic TV channel for exposing illusion bases, a principle that many stage performers use in their shows.

I think most of us can agree that giving away secrets that aren’t yours is wrong. If Murphy’s Magic brings out a new product from a particular creator, and then someone immediately reveals the method on YouTube, that’s not right – and they should be called out. But for tricks that are many years old and not owned by anyone? This is where I get confused. Is a wannabe magician seeking out the Three-Card Monte trick on YouTube any different to someone visiting a library and reading the trick’s secret in a magic book? OK, for the former, you don’t have to physically leave your chair but you still have to invest time in searching for it online.

So maybe the ‘what does exposure mean?’ answer lies in how much time and effort it takes to discover that secret. A wannabe-magician spending 20 minutes watching a Spidey video, listening to his explanations and watching a performance, is very different to a layman channel surfing, coming across a repeat of the Masked Magician on the TV show Breaking The Magician’s Code and being spoon-fed classic secrets used by working magicians.

And talking of Three-Card Monte, in 1994 John Lenahan became the first magician in 85 years to be thrown out of The Magic Circle after explaining the sleight-of-hand used in the trick on the BBC show How Do They Do That? His website’s bio states: “The trick is no more than a gambling con, but I took the rap and enjoyed the publicity.” And today, happily, he’s now a Circle member again.

I contacted The Magic Circle to find out the club’s current position on magicians who give away secrets on YouTube, and also whether Vegas legends Penn and Teller would, today, be allowed to join the club.
President Megan Swann said: ”We have a committee which considers each case individually. It is complicated and often depends on the intent of the magician and what the trick is. Generally, it’s safer to avoid YouTube exposure videos though, as it’s hard to control who sees them.
“As to whether Penn and Teller would be allowed in – now that’s an examination which would fill our theatre!”

So did programmes such as Breaking The Magician’s Code do much long term damage to magic? Hopefully not, but it certainly showed non-magicians that a lot of secrets are simply ugly and mundane. Remember Julius Dein’s appearance on Good Morning Britain when the camera picked up the invisible thread used to make a pair of spectacles move on a tabletop? It was actually quite amusing reading his fans express their outrage on social media. Did they really think he had magical powers? Or did they think the method would be more elegant than it was? Into my head popped the headline: ‘Magician uses secret thread shock!’

With great card magicians, however, even if you know the moves and sleights you can still appreciate the performance. When an expert such as Michael Vincent executes a side-steal – you may know what he’s doing, you may know roughly when he does it, but you can’t see him do it. And therein lies true magic.
But let’s leave the final comment to seasoned performer Doc Dixon, who beautifully summed up the Masked Magician TV show – in that Atlanta bar-room drawl of his – with one simple down-to-earth line:
“All I could picture in my head was the guy who’d just spent two grand on a Zig-Zag the week before.”

Let us know what you think about YouTube ‘exposure’ in the comments below.

When Spectators Film Your Magic Performance – Should You Mind?

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Keith asks if it’s OK when spectators film your magic performance.

Keith writes: Hi Dominic, Loved your book Approaching Tables. There’s more useful info in this book than all the books and DVDs I’ve bought on this subject. If you are ever looking to update it, I wondered what your thoughts were when people film your magic on their mobile phones (which seems potentially likely) – any thoughts on whether this is a good or bad thing, whether you should discourage them, or if you need to make any adjustments or compensation for it?

Hi Keith, thanks for the kind words about the book. I enjoyed writing it and it was a chance to answer a LOT of questions we get asked at Merchant of magic every day. To answer your question, I often have spectators film my close-up magic, probably because I encourage it as much as possible. There is nothing to fear from your spectators filming you. As long as you think about the following:

When people film your magic it’s invaluable marketing

They say that word of mouth is the best form of adverting, and they are right.. Every performance you give is an advert about how great you would be at your spectators future events. If some of the guests pull out their phones and film you performing, encourage it. Although all of my work tends to be close up to groups of guests, I’ve found this applies just as well for any size crowd. Make sure you switch around your material, so they can film something close up right away and then prompt them to pan out for reactions..

Spectator reactions are THE footage you want them to capture.

You want them to have some great footage of everyone having fun, they can show their friends..

Make sure your angles and misdirection is good

It’s pretty obvious, but make sure you switch over to material you know is 100% tight. Cameras can’t be distracted, so make sure that you don’t flash anything. The tricks you perform need to be structurally robust. In other words, they can withstand someone watching them over and over again. If you have to do a secret load, or misdirect the audience whist a change happens, this won’t hold up to repeat viewing.. always pick material to suit the conditions.

Remember: Audience attention spans are very short when it comes to video.. Switch over to short punchy effects at the start, so some magic happens quickly. If you start a long drawn out routine, don’t be suprised if their camera gets put away half way through.. you don’t want that.

Use off camera moments

Be aware of when the filming is taking place, and when spectators are just watching. You can use those moments, to set up something that can’t be done on camera. If I know someone is going to film because they are getting their phone out, I will try to do a body load or steal a watch, right away. I can then do the reveal, once the camera is rolling.. This is like instant, impromptu, pre-show!

Ask one of the spectators to use YOUR phone to film your magic.

You REALLY CAN do this. People don’t find at all. Just hand someone your phone and say:

“I’d like you to film this, because there is NO WAY you will believe what you are about to see..”

That doesn’t make sense, but at the same time.. it feels like it does.. I say that a LOT. You probably won’t show them the footage anyway, as you will go on to perform more.. but it SOUNDS good, and you will find the person will usually really enjoy doing it. That footage is great for your showreel, and you can even send it over to your client later when you recontact for a follow up.

Try to steer them to focus on the reactions of the spectators

Sorry to say, but the method of your trick is BORING to everyone other than other magicians. People sit through the method, to get to the magic. It’s just a tool to get a spectators reaction. The reaction is the reward and your footage should be full of rewards!

If you see a spectator just zooming in on your hands, steer them to focus on the whole group. other spectators questions and engage with them, make them a feature of the performance too. Bring you r hands up away from your waste line level. Your crotch is not the best think to be on camera,, faces are! If you reveal a card, move over to stand next to a spectator and bring it up to be displayed at a level that gets people in the shot. Open up whats being filmed. It’s quite easy once you start thinking about it.

Remember to smile and have fun

Pause at good moments for them, move into the best light available in that area, and remember to smile.. You need to make sure you look like you are having fun. I know you will be, but have you checked how you look when you are deep in a routine and paying attention to 10 things at once.. Smile, relax and make it look effortless.

Make sure you get them to send you a copy

After you finish with a group, take a moment to ask for a copy of the footage. They can transfer directly from phone to phone. or just ask for their email address so you can get a copy later. Make sure you do this… Bank all the performing footage you can.

When spectators film your magic tricks, they need to reference you.

Take a moment to give the spectator your business card and ASK THEM to put it up on youtube or facebook with your NAME. Always do this.. Without some reference to you, it’s giving you nothing back.

Remember to smile and have fun

Do you have any tips about having spectators film your magic that I have not mentioned here? Please tell me about it in the comments section below.

HELP: When you share this post on social media it really helps me reach more readers. So if you found this helpful or interesting.. Please give me a few seconds of your time to share the post. I appreciate your help!

Why Close-up Magicians Should Practice BEFORE they Perform

by Dominic Reyes 3 Comments

By Dominic Reyes

One of the most common problems we see holding back close-up magicians is the idea of learning on the job…

The belief that it’s OK to just learn the basics of a few magic tricks, then to go out right away and start performing for the public without any practice. It’s an attitude that magic shops have partly been responsible for. Magic Shops turn over new releases every day, they depend on a stream of magic enthusiasts eagerly buying new self working magic tricks all the time. The process of:

Buy

Play

Perform once or twice,

Buy again…

It’s a cycle, with tricks being sold as consumer items to purchase, play with and perform to your friends in coffee shops or pubs a couple of times, then it’s back to shop again. This way of marketing magic as a ‘past time’ often to a young base of close-up magicians, is fine as a recreational activity, but it’s often packaged as a way of developing as a magician.

Let’s look at the pro’s and cons of this attitude:

Four Reasons why it’s fine to start performing before you have practiced a trick

1) Getting out to perform before you have mastered your material, means you don’t have to view yourself as a hobbyist. You can start calling yourself a ‘pro’ right away and charging people to see your magic.

2) The best real feedback, and an honest response come from the general public.

3) It’s hard to learn the fine tuning, timing and professional touches of a trick without live performance.

4) You’re never going to see these people again, so it doesn’t matter if you give a bad show, or that they think you are a terrible magician, or that ‘live’ magicians in general are not very good. You don’t have any duty or debt to represent magicians in general. You can practice and walk away, so really there is no risk to you.

YOU ARE BETTER THAN THAT

Why it’s best to practice your material BEFORE performing to the public.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying magic as a hobby. Not everyone wants to go out and perform to the public. That’s fine, and for many people, it’s the best option for them to get the most out of magic. We don’t all need or want to be performers.

The danger of the amature is that:

The less you know, the less unsure you are , and the happier you are to appear a professional. ‘The foolish don’t not know that they do not know…’

It’s so easy to sit around playing with magic tricks with your friends, then decide to print some business cards, grab a few simple magic tricks, and to get out and call yourself a magician. Often the result, unless your real skill is a dynamic, interesting personality (Which is something you HAVE mastered over time) is that you will present your magic, at very best, in an AVERAGE generic and unpolished way. There’s no WORK behind it. It’s generic, and can be copied by the next magician that visited the same magic shop as you..

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

I’m often asked: How can I learn all the finer points of a trick before I’ve had experience?

Yes, I agree with magicians that say that you can only really learn the finer points of a presentation through performance. I find that too. However, that doesn’t mean a process of practice, rehearsal, and adjustment shouldn’t take place first. Practice has two main stages:

Practice of the mechanics, and timing.
Rehearsal of the presentation

Many magicians who fail to develop the patter, eye-contact, gestures, and timing that a polished routine demands, have often skipped REHEARSE stage. That means they just go through the mechanics, but stops at the ‘acting’ part of the preparation. They find they freeze up when in-front of a live audience, or they forget their words etc. This freezing, also happens when magicians try to perform a trick they have not worked on, in a live busy environment.

Look at the rest of show business.. Plays, Movies, everything… Look at the magicians that are successful: Dynamo, Derren Brown, Blaine, Copperfield.. You will find distinct, focused practice at the core of their work. Skill is developed, then their act is rehearsed and refined. ONLY then, will live performance continue the development. Doing less than that and you are like a cheap generic DJ that just presses start on a series of playlists. Anyone can do that… Don’t be just ANYONE.

Your first live performances CONTINUE your practice, rather than replace it.

You have responsibilities to everyone in magic

If you think you can perform half mastered tricks to the public, and that it doesn’t matter if you mess up, because you don’t know the people. Think about the impression you leave. You might not see those people again, but they WILL remember YOU. They will also tell their friends about you. That’s called reputation. Don’t build a bad reputation first, then work to fix it…

You set your audience’s expectations for future close-up magicians. Don’t be the embarrassing guy that just turns up and does some fumbled, unpolished magic.. Be the magician and really impress them with THE BEST YOU CAN DO.

I would no more recommend that at musician pick up a guitar in a bar, and play songs badly all night, than I would suggest that a close-up magician practice new material to the public without the work they should put in PREPARING their material and performance. Think about the impression you are giving and how you represent the magic community.

How can you know when you are ready to become a magician for hire?

Dominic Reyes – Magiens Verden Magazine Interview – Magic Practice

Magic Tricks Gone Wrong – Mistakes in Magic