It's The Magic That Matters...

I have seen many magicians that seem to be caught in the past. They grumble about the new type of magic being performed, about how so much has been revealed. Whether this is good or bad is largely irrelevant. It is the nature of the beast these days. Complaining isn’t going to reverse it. Knowledge is free; it roams where it wants to.

The newest forms of magic, variously called hit-and-run or guerilla magic have arrived for a reason – with a new and more educated audience, new methods of presentation are necessary. While we can all sit around blaming David Blaine for the many new, largely untalented, magicians popping up all the time, the fact is he happened for a reason. People are tired of watching the same stuff.

Nobody believes in levitations anymore. The audience usually knows the method, or at least can guess it within a certain degree of accuracy. Patter is pointless. People want to see the trick, they couldn’t care less about your obviously false travels in the orient and what wise yogi you learned this trick from. Just get to the trick. It’s annoying even to other magicians. I can’t count how many times I have heard the exact same patter for a trick in various magic shops. Nobody falls for that “voyage through the orient” stuff. Especially when the person giving this inane story is seventeen. That’s not cute or quaint; it is idiotic.

While I realize this preamble has been a wee bit longer than I intended, the main point is this: it is the magic that matters, not the magician. Too many books, videos, etc. persist in telling the neophyte that the magician must be an actor. That your appearance should be cultivated to give off a certain air of mystery. To this I simply say: bullshit. You can do that if you want, but it is the magic that people will remember. The magician is merely the tool bringing the magic about. You don’t need to dress up like a wizard. You don’t need a “character”. You just need two hands. Actually, René Lavand does some amazing card work with just one hand.

Countless times I have performed for people who immediately tell me about the last guy they saw performing magic. They can tell me basically what tricks he did and how utterly amazing it was (Although, their descriptions are differently than what I am sure actually happened. But that just shows that the magician did what he was supposed to), but they can rarely tell me anything about the magician. I have asked, as I always desire to meet local practitioners of the art. Nothing. They recall nothing about the magician. Not his name, not his appearance. Nothing.

But they sure as hell remember that he made their chosen card appear in a beer bottle at the end of the bar.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with that. Magic is supposed to be entertaining to the audience. It isn't supposed to be about just how mystical and bad-ass the magician is. It is the magic that matters. Too many magicians are entertaining themselves, not the audience. I couldn’t care less if you know fifteen different methods of bringing a selected card to the top…and the average laymen couldn’t care either. Nor would he/she recognize the difference. As long as it looks good and the audience is entertained, you have done your job. If you are in it for fame and fortune…there are better ways to achieve those aims.

Practice the art. Master it. But don’t fool yourself into thinking anyone cares about patter. Patter is boring. It is a crutch for magicians who haven’t mastered the sleight yet. Learn it better, or figure out a different, more natural form of misdirection. Although boredom probably works, it isn’t recommended.

And at the end of the day, if you did what you were supposed to, they will run to the friends and tell them all about the wonderful things that you made them see. But they will have no idea who the hell you are, and frankly, they don’t care.