Conjuring, sleight of hand, illusion. Top hats, rabbits and doves. There's no denying people still love magic. David Blaine, Criss Angel, Derren Brown. These are not just people known 'within an industry', but hugely popular public figures. Movies like The Prestige and The Illusionist show that people are as interested in magic as ever before. Yet people enjoy magic in two very different ways. There are those that just love to be fooled, and those that love to figure out how the trick is done. Pity those in the second category, as magicians are notoriously sensitive and secretive about their work. One thing that both groups agree on however, is that it is all just a trick. In our increasingly secular society we're not inclined to believe the guy in the stupid hat and waistcoat has powers beyond the ken of mortal man.
Skilled Artists Should Not Hide Behind Magic Powers
So why are magicians so belligerent about admitting that they're no different to everyone else? Brown is particularly guilty of this tomfoolery, cultivating a smug otherworldliness and disguising a real talent for sleight of hand and cold reading (the art of learning a great deal about a person just by looking at them) underneath the pretense that he's in possession of mystical powers.
Partly it is just a question of style. For every Uri Geller and Derren Brown there are performers such as The Amazing Jonathan or Michael Finney, who perform all their tricks with a nod and a wink, making no claims to the supernatural. Certainly in an industry based on charlatanism this is the most honest approach, but the secrecy is still there. "Do Not Reveal Our Tricks!" is the mantra of magicians the world over.
Tricks Can be More Fun if You Know the Secret
There does not seem to be a logical explanation to this phenomenon. After all, an accomplished musician can still be enthralled and amazed by hearing a fellow virtuoso. In fact they will appreciate a performance far more than a layman. It follows that a person who knows how a trick is done is often more amazed, knowing how difficult some sleights are to accomplish. It is far more impressive to know that, whilst your attention was momentarily distracted, the magician snuck three balls under one cup, took another ball from a second and secretly picked the pocket of a spectator than just to know "they did something clever".
The Real Secret of Magic
The real reason magicians don't let on is simple. Money. Magician's don't just earn their money by drawing in a crowd. They sell to them. And a quick look at any magic supplies website will show just how expensive supplies can be. A gimmicked dollar coin can cost anywhere up to $90. For professional cups and balls prices start at $10 and go up to the many hundreds. And with each gimmick bought, instructions for one or two routines are given. The highest ticket items of all are the books for learning whole volumes of tricks.
Certainly there is a desire to amaze and entertain, and this is all well and good - it's fun to be amazed and entertained. And there are magicians such as Ricky Jay that don't sell their tricks at all. Yet such devotion to the artistry alone is unusual. It's not that a magician won't tell you the secrets of his craft, he just won't tell you for nothing...
Robert Ellinger - Hi, welcome to my site, whoever you are. I generally write about whatever takes my fancy, although my specialty is definitely film review ...
