Influence on my friends

[darosa.justin]

I perform to my friends quite a lot, and I always seem to find that my performances have quite a big impact on them.

Well, not ALL of them, but some of them that really get deep with the magic. Recently, I've found that my 'stellar' performances have given them a whole new view on magic- they've witnessed it with their own eyes, and want more!

2 friends in particular become more and more interested in the art of magic each time I show them an effect (usually at random times). They start to want to learn the art and ask me to teach them. They really bug me about how they can learn the art, etc.

Of course, I am happy to teach them some of the stuff I am really good at, but with a price. But what is that price?

Money- it seems that I am greedy and hungry for money more than sharing my skill. Also, they are not prepared to PAY to learn magic...after all, they have no idea it is purely sleight of hand.

So what do I ask for in return?
I really want to teach them, so I have more magic buddies (and because I love being the greatest magician they know, and their only magic teacher). Do I ask for money? Publicity? What???

Or should I just guide them to buy DVDs and books that teach basic magic?


P.S. Happy Chinese New Year- to all that care about it!!!!

 

[Sam Hardy]

This is the exact same situation with me - two of my friends started doing magic after I did it - and to be honest, it really pissed me off. Magic's my thing - I don't want anyone else doing it.

Sorry, that's just my input.

 

[Zapper]

Totaly agree with Emogician...try to get them into a different type of magic...

However they probably won't practice and will quit after bad reactions and figuring out... So try to just say no.

 

[adjones]

I've got a friend that I've been freinds with since we were toddlers, and he has showed a real interest in magic, so I taught him a couple things, and told him to buy Royal Road. I didn't ask for anything in return, because I knew he would put a lot of time and effort into the art.

 

[RichmanMatthew]

If you don't want him to do magic, just tell him the truth. (Nicely of course)

 

[kevin]

I suggest teaching them no cost. Having a friend that is into magic is one of the most helpful things in magic. You can learn off each other and practice together. Competition between the two shouldnt be a problem because you can work together.

kevin

 

[Glenn West]

I have found one of two things happen.

Teach them a simple trick, ie; a key card principle or something, and they will learn it, and then they will MAYBE learn something else, and that is it. Their interest will fall, or they will just play with that and nothing else.

OR

They will learn it and really peek their interest, and they will actually take off and start buying their own learning material, books, etc, and become a new magic friend.

I have had both of these things happen with friends, and never has it become anything of a problem.

 

[JoeCarr]

it really annoys me, and not just because 'its my thing, im original' but this guy learns the tricks off youtube, comes in the next day and performs 10000000 crap effects and now half the school know what a double lift is.... If he practiced i wouldnt mind but....

anyway it seems now he's trying to practice and i appreciate that, and i dont mind if he gets good, just as long as he doesnt reveal secrets...

anyway my advice would be do no magic for a few months, eventually people forget about it... and also dont bring in cards, as the next day the whole of my year had brought in playing cards to show me a card trick (mathematical, boring ones) and even a few year 11's tried it for a while...

 

[Tyler Johnson]

Sorry to be in such a grumpy mood, but I'm going to disagree with some of the posts.

This is the exact same situation with me - two of my friends started doing magic after I did it - and to be honest, it really pissed me off. Magic's my thing - I don't want anyone else doing it.

Why don't you want anyone else doing it? Are they stealing your light? Magic isn't just your thing, there are thousands of magicians all over the world. They can go on youtube and watch videos of David Blaine, or Dan & Dave, are they stealing your light too? Instead of getting pissed off at these friends, why not be an actual friend and practice with them, help them, exchange information. Get to be known as a group of magicians. I mean, I see all these flourishing teams (The Virts, etc.), why not make a team of magicians.

I suggest teaching them no cost. Having a friend that is into magic is one of the most helpful things in magic. You can learn off each other and practice together. Competition between the two shouldnt be a problem because you can work together.

Kevin is exactly right. Take his suggestion darosa.justin.

it really annoys me, and not just because 'its my thing, im original' but this guy learns the tricks off youtube, comes in the next day and performs 10000000 crap effects and now half the school know what a double lift is.... If he practiced i wouldnt mind but....

anyway it seems now he's trying to practice and i appreciate that, and i dont mind if he gets good, just as long as he doesnt reveal secrets...

anyway my advice would be do no magic for a few months, eventually people forget about it... and also dont bring in cards, as the next day the whole of my year had brought in playing cards to show me a card trick (mathematical, boring ones) and even a few year 11's tried it for a while...

I suggest befriending him, tell him learning off of youtube is bad. Then help him learn! Be his teacher, and if you teach well, he will grow fast and soon rise to your level. Then you can practice together and grow together. It's great to have a "magic buddy".

Anyway, that's all I have to say. Peace!

Tyler

 

[dejavu05]

I have a friend that likes magic too and wants to learn it. I teach him some basic tricks but not big ones. I try to encourage him to by giving him some decks like black tiger and ghost. I wouldn't ask him for money, just be generous.

 

[CDarklock]

Sorry to be in such a grumpy mood, but I'm going to disagree with some of the posts.

And I'm going to agree with you, adding a few comments of my own.

It's good to have friends that are into magic, and whatever you can do to help them is strongly advised. Your job as a teacher is to make your students better than you are.

You have to get over the ego thing. Chances are you will never be a world class magician. Look at how many world-class magicians there are alive today; it's really only a couple hundred, and they're spread across more than fifty years. So if you think about your school's chance of producing a world class magician - across every graduating class in the world, each year, out of those hundreds of thousands of classes... there are statistically less than ten world class magicians.

You are almost certainly not one of them. The chance is virtually zero. Indeed, the chance is virtually zero that you're in the same class with one of them. Or, indeed, that you're even going to the same school at the same time.

But if you teach ten other people, statistically, you have ten times that chance of being a teacher to a world class magician. There are plenty of people that taught a world class magician, didn't become one themselves, and yet make a damn good living on the strength of that student's reputation.

The guy who steals your routine, trashes you in front of everyone else, and basically acts like a jackass? He has even less chance of being world-class than you do. Because being a world-class magician (or, indeed, a world-class anything) has much less to do with your skill than it has to do with how people feel about you. Acting like a jackass doesn't make people feel good things about you.

Oh, and incidentally: refusing to teach your friends magic because you're afraid they'll make you look bad... is acting like a jackass.

 

[Sergey]

My best advice is to teach them a very simple trick that preferably you don't use, if they put time and effort into p racticing it and getting it right, and don't perform 20 minutes after they learned a trick, teahc them more if not all you know, because I'd love to have a magic buddy and you should too.

But if they don't practice it perform it right away don't care if they messed up, or after doing a good performance they reveal the trick to a close friend (it's tempting, even for more experienced magicians) then don't teach them any more magic, try to change the subject though and don't just say "no", you don't want to lose a friend .