Your thoughts on showing a magic trick to the same people over and over again?

[GrahamHorgan]

(NOT IN PERSON, BUT UPLOADING YOUR MAGIC.) This is an issue I have for myself on uploading my tricks and routines to YouTube and such places. I`m sure you`re like me. You have close friends and family that follows your magic and will see theses videos. Don`t you think by them seeing it, it takes away the element of surprise? Which is what magic is all about. And that`s not even mentioning that the video gives an opportunity for people to figure out your tricks. I would love your thoughts on this.

 

[Maverick85]

I try not to fall into the trap of feeling like I have to "fool" everybody. In my head, I'm an entertainer first. The form of entertainment I use is magic and humor. If I manage to entertain, my job is done well even if somebody might know exactly how the card went where it went and when it went. As long as they walk away feeling like the last few minutes weren't squandered, I'm a happy bunny. I haven't begun to upload any video yet as most of my work is in the field, but I do intend to start that soon. I don't think a video recording is going to change my methods too badly as long as I keep it as technically clean as I can.

I don't think a trick's been invented that can't be figured out and some folks who are "magic junkies", they may know where a trick is going just from knowing the basic principles of magic thanks to years of watching every performance they could get their eyes on. The only way you'll fool someone who's "Magic Smart" would be to start on one road and end up somewhere unpredictably different. That...I think of all the magicians in the world, one in a hundred could pull that off smoothly enough not to get caught. The rest of us may never achieve mastery to that level. I doubt I will.

That said, there are a few routines I've seen that I've been watching regularly for a long while and knowing exactly how the guy does it still doesn't help me know...exactly how he does it. It's very frustrating to see something done so well that knowing the trick doesn't help you figure it out. Mahdi Gilbert doing his O&W... I know I'm stupid but I don't like watching a simple trick and feeling sooooo stupid because of it.

Try not to worry about whether you fooled/tricked 'em. Try to be the best entertainer you can be and live inside the character you've made for yourself. That's gotten me a lot farther than hoping that nobody is paying closer attention than the typical viewer who's watching but not seeing.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I think it really depends on what the routine or trick is. If it's something like "My Pet Boris" then yeah, it will totally ruin the surprise if anyone remembers it (Which is iffy in itself). However, I have done the same trick to someone within the an hour and still surprised them. Something like Card To Pocket or Card Under Glass, when well done, build it up each time the card is revealed to be back where they thought it can't be. In these cases, when you say, "Do you know where the card is?" And they say, "Oh god, it's in your pocket isn't it. IT IS **** IT!"

I think it's really important to really think through the videos one posts. You can build a bit of a following by posting things like 20 second clips of a card transpo - but I personally think the best videos are ones that are planned out and scripted and blocked and all that. Like, think of Derren Brown's TV shows. There's usually segments where he does something kind of one-on-one, usually with a celebrity or maybe not. They are isolated, usually in interesting locations, and those were usually my favorite parts of his shows. Like when he did Smoke for Stephen Fry, or the bit with the undertaker in the crypt.

If you're posting up videos that are thought out like that, then it's more like watching a movie and probably won't come to mind when people see you perform the same or similar routines "in the wild" as it were.

 

[TylerScottIllusionist]

(NOT IN PERSON, BUT UPLOADING YOUR MAGIC.) This is an issue I have for myself on uploading my tricks and routines to YouTube and such places. I`m sure you`re like me. You have close friends and family that follows your magic and will see theses videos. Don`t you think by them seeing it, it takes away the element of surprise? Which is what magic is all about. And that`s not even mentioning that the video gives an opportunity for people to figure out your tricks. I would love your thoughts on this.

I learned quickly to keep my magic that I upload on Instagram separate from my stage and street routines. A lot of the best reactions come from the surprise of the effect. That's why we typically never tell the spectator exactly what is going to happen before we do it. We want it to be a surprise. If they have already seen the routine on video they are going to know the punchline before you do it live.

As far as my YouTube channel goes, I don't think anyone watches my magic product reviews other than magicians so it's safe to upload my working material up on there. I rarely share magic videos on Facebook anymore but I did share my recent compilation of street performances and a lot of people seemed to like the video. There was so much material happening in the video though (it's almost thirteen minutes long) that I doubt anyone will remember any of my punchlines.