I'm typing this up to address a disturbing attitude I've seen going around the magic community in general. I've had words with a few individuals personally, and this is the compilation of my thoughts on this matter.
Let me begin by saying very plainly I don't want to hear about how you think you figured out the method to someone else's effect by watching the trailer. I would rather listen to Louie Anderson digest a deep-fried McRib sandwich than hear you brag about your percieved intuition.
Why? Because these boasts are either followed by or carry a subtext of, "I figured it out, so the method sucks." This makes my blood boil. No matter how many times you're proven wrong, how often other magicians use the effect with great results, you just repeat the process next month with the next big releases.
For all of you would-be Hercule Poirot in-trainings out there, I have three words for you: Hindu shuffle force. This is the kind of method that you people would whine about if you caught on. You would say how disappointed everyone would be about the method and how it would fool no one. I use this force regularly. Do you know how often I've been caught? Never. Ask yourself: does that make you wrong or am I just that awesome? Loaded question, because it's both. I rule.
Some around here have tried to illustrate to you that the method is nowhere near as important as whether or not you can get the reactions. And they're absolutely right. The Hindu force is obscenely simple, but obscenely effective at the same time. But it's only a tool to get me where I want to go. There are plenty of ways to accomplish the same end.
What it all comes down to is that if you fail, it's not the fault of the method. It's yours. It's always your fault.
I had a guitar teacher at one point who toured Europe with a guitar that cost him $90. Carlos Santana has a custom-made PRS guitar that he pays over $5000 for each. And yet my teacher managed to get excellent tone out of the cheapo rig.
If that analogy was too obtuse, how about this. Copper/silver transpositions. Lots of different ways to do them. Scotch & Soda is one of the most popular as it allows you to end totally clean, and that is a nice advantage. But I personally prefer to pack as light as possible with minimal gimmicks, so I do my effect with pure sleight of hand. It's riskier, but if I get caught it's my own fault, not the method. But it does work, and the spectators still see the same end result: the impossible switch of two coins from within closed fists.
When people start learning magic, they usually feel a little discouraged to learn how simple and obvious it all really is. But with experience, you come to learn that you should be thinking less of the method and more of the performance thereof and how it will look.
However, when you begin talking about how you already figured out methods and how people are going to be disappointed to learn them, you betray yourself as either an amateur, or a bad magician.
So the next time you feel like bending our ears with your "wisdom", stop and consider whether or not any of us want to hear it, and whether you're making a colossal fool of yourself. Harsh, I know. But this all needed to be said.
Let me begin by saying very plainly I don't want to hear about how you think you figured out the method to someone else's effect by watching the trailer. I would rather listen to Louie Anderson digest a deep-fried McRib sandwich than hear you brag about your percieved intuition.
Why? Because these boasts are either followed by or carry a subtext of, "I figured it out, so the method sucks." This makes my blood boil. No matter how many times you're proven wrong, how often other magicians use the effect with great results, you just repeat the process next month with the next big releases.
For all of you would-be Hercule Poirot in-trainings out there, I have three words for you: Hindu shuffle force. This is the kind of method that you people would whine about if you caught on. You would say how disappointed everyone would be about the method and how it would fool no one. I use this force regularly. Do you know how often I've been caught? Never. Ask yourself: does that make you wrong or am I just that awesome? Loaded question, because it's both. I rule.
Some around here have tried to illustrate to you that the method is nowhere near as important as whether or not you can get the reactions. And they're absolutely right. The Hindu force is obscenely simple, but obscenely effective at the same time. But it's only a tool to get me where I want to go. There are plenty of ways to accomplish the same end.
What it all comes down to is that if you fail, it's not the fault of the method. It's yours. It's always your fault.
I had a guitar teacher at one point who toured Europe with a guitar that cost him $90. Carlos Santana has a custom-made PRS guitar that he pays over $5000 for each. And yet my teacher managed to get excellent tone out of the cheapo rig.
If that analogy was too obtuse, how about this. Copper/silver transpositions. Lots of different ways to do them. Scotch & Soda is one of the most popular as it allows you to end totally clean, and that is a nice advantage. But I personally prefer to pack as light as possible with minimal gimmicks, so I do my effect with pure sleight of hand. It's riskier, but if I get caught it's my own fault, not the method. But it does work, and the spectators still see the same end result: the impossible switch of two coins from within closed fists.
When people start learning magic, they usually feel a little discouraged to learn how simple and obvious it all really is. But with experience, you come to learn that you should be thinking less of the method and more of the performance thereof and how it will look.
However, when you begin talking about how you already figured out methods and how people are going to be disappointed to learn them, you betray yourself as either an amateur, or a bad magician.
So the next time you feel like bending our ears with your "wisdom", stop and consider whether or not any of us want to hear it, and whether you're making a colossal fool of yourself. Harsh, I know. But this all needed to be said.
