I don't really have a strong opinion on any of this, but I will play devil's advocate here, just for the sake of providing a counterpoint to this email.
1. While I agree with his thoughts as they apply to performing on tik tok, facebook, etc. I'm not sure they hold true for in-person performing.
2. It’s probably true to say that most laymen want to know the secret, but I don't know that necessarily means they receive any joy from knowing it. I think it’s more a matter of them just being uncomfortable not knowing how something is done. The people who get true joy from learning secrets are the people who pursue learning magic. Greg Rostami is performing for that self-selected group of people. But there's nothing to necessarily suggest people generally get the same thrill from learning the secret. If they got the same thrill we got, then they would probably already be in the magic community. Do lay people want to know secrets. On some level, yes. But I also think it’s not completely clear-cut. Would Copperfield or Derek Delgaudio or anyone have sold-out shows if they were revealing the tricks at the end? I don't think so, but I don't really know. You could easily argue that a random tik tok magician is more "popular" than Copperfield or Delgaudio. And that's true in a lot of ways. But I do wonder if a live show could exist that exposed the tricks. You could say P&T did this, but their artistry was the exposure. They didn't put their art into the effect and then explain the effect at the end too.
3. I bet there are some who would say that exposing the methods is just as much an ego driven pursuit as not doing so. In the old days you could build your ego by creating a sense of mystery and power about yourself with magic. That's not an option anymore. Not online at least. There will always be someone in the comments describing how you did it (or giving a description that satisfies enough people). So now, maybe, the way to use magic to boost your ego is to be the first one to expose a method online—or the first one to do it in a way that gains traction. That way you get to glom onto the cleverness of the method and get your ego boost there. (I have no idea, because I watch almost zero magic online so I don't know what anybody is doing anywhere.)
Again, I’m not disagreeing with our guest here in general. I’m just making the case that exposure might be as ego-motivated as anything else in magic, and not wholly an altruistic gesture.
Now, let’s jump in the way-back machine and look at something I wrote a few years ago…
If things just progress as they're going, I think in a matter of years, the "mystery" element (the "magical" element) of magic will be almost gone. This isn't a bold prediction, this is just the way magic has evolved over the past couple hundred years. In 10 years, when finding out anything will be almost instantaneous, I can see the mystery being entirely eliminated. Or at the very most it will be this very brief moment that happens before the secret is immediately revealed. Magic tricks will be almost like the set-ups to jokes. And learning the secret will be the punchline. That will be the nature of performing tricks. I don't think this is a pessimistic point of view. I think it's not only realistic, but pretty much obvious. People will still like magic, but if will be a different sort of experience.
My only mistake here was thinking that it would take 10 years. This is, essentially, where online magic is now. Here’s a video of Eric Leclerc where he shows his Fool Us performance and then explains it. This would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Thankfully, the trick he’s exposing is hot dogshit, so it doesn’t really matter either way. And, in fact, the exposure here is definitely more interesting than the trick is otherwise. So it’s hard to take issue with it.
Getting worked up about the exposure of magic online is kind of a lost cause. Exposure is baked into online magic performances. There’s really no way around it. Either the performer has to address it in some way, or the people in the comments will.
Thus, the performance of “magic” online becomes a separate thing from the performance of “magic” in-person.
Online Magic - Uses the elements of deception to entertain.
In-Person Magic (at the highest levels) - Uses the elements of deception to create mystery, awe, and wonder.
So you’re saying magic when performed on facebook or tik tok can’t create “mystery, awe, and wonder”?
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. This should be obvious. Consider watching someone vanish an apple on Instagram. It might seem very cool and visually amazing. Now imagine sitting across from someone in real life as they make an apple in the middle of the table slowly fade away to nothing. That could be a life-altering moment. It’s just not possible to elevate the experience of a trick online to that of one that happens in person. The medium is limited that way.
Imagine the internet didn’t exist. I come up to you one day and say, “Hey, I have this new way for you to beam your magic into people’s homes.”
Sounds great!
“It’s somewhat impersonal, however, because you’re doing it for an audience of, potentially, millions of people.”
Oh, that’s alright. I don’t change my delivery and patter regardless of who I’m performing for.
“Also, they can watch the trick over and over.”
Oh, that’s not good. Doesn’t that go against a fundamental rule of magic?
“They can even pause it, rewind, and play it in slow-motion.”
Uh-oh.
“And there’s a place they can go to discuss how the trick is done with every other person in the world.”
Are you kidding me? Where is this place they can go? I pray that it requires at least some effort on their part to get to it.
“Oh, no, no. It’s about an inch away from where they’re watching you perform.”
What!? That sounds like a terrible medium for performing magic!
EXACTLY.
The traditional style of performance and presentation doesn’t work on the internet. And the people who have big followings performing magic online understand this. That’s why they’re not presenting magic in the contexts we normally would and with the same reverence for secrets that was ingrained in most of us who perform in the real world.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love it if there was no exposure of magic online. I wish secrets couldn’t be found with a simple google search. I wish the experience of seeing a magic trick was something that was rare and not something that everyone could call up at any time they want with a device that’s in their pocket. But that’s not how it is. And the secret to happiness in life is to focus your efforts on how to best navigate the terrain in front of you, not spending your time wishing the terrain was different.
That’s why my magic has followed the trajectory it has these past years. As I’ve written about on this site and even more-so in the books. Slowing tricks down, burying effects in layers of presentation, putting some burden on the spectator, creating something more immersive and personal makes the tricks unlike anything the person can see online. Most of the techniques I use wouldn’t even work online. That’s part of the reason why I use them. I want people to have a different experience than they would sitting at their computer. And the beauty of social magic is that you can slowly cultivate an audience who wants that too—an audience who is interested in more than secrets.
