I've been into several magicians blogs and some of them actually proudly name themselves as part of The Magicians Underground, not to mention the videos here and there of magicians actually claiming to be the same thing.
Here is an example to make things clear: Lets consider Mafia gang members ( weird example, but stay with me) to be underground, what if one of them wears a T-Shirt with "I'm a Mafia Member" on it? Having something that identifies you as part of the magic underground makes as much sense as wearing a T-shirt that identifies you as a member of a Mafia.
This is not to say that there are no cliques in magic. You can form one yourself. Just get together with a couple of friends and start snubbing other magicians. But that's no way the same as an underground magic circle. Its easy to understand why most of today's magicians can't tell the difference because they weren't there back when magic was really an underground. I wasn't, but I know some who were, and had the pleasure to talk with.
Magic Underground can be defined ( as a friend puts it) as having a monopoly on a cache of exclusive magic information. The measure of that monopoly is the amount of time that elapses between when something circulates within the inner circle and when it finally reaches the masses. Darwin Ortiz ( a card magician and author ) mentioned somewhere that when Derek Dingle ( great close up magician) taught him the Staurt Gordon Double Lift, it was 15 years later that the move got published in a Darwin Ortiz book, Dingle also taught him the Altman DoubleUndercut palm ( a very good palm), and the move was published after a decade. This is not to mention that the moves were invented years ago before Dingle taught it. Another example is Fred Robinson's Center Deal has only been taught face to face to certain individuals, and to this day the move is not tipped anywhere. Today, the lead-time between private circulation and mass distribution is two or three years and shrinking.
Many might disagree with me. Romantic notions die hard, particularly in an inherently romantic field like magic. Heck, debunking the magic underground is like disproving flying saucers. To some, the very lack of evidence is proof of just how super-secret they are.
Finally, some magicians have a deep interest in perpetuating (spelling, I learned this word recently) this myth. Stay tuned for the magic underground video series, magic underground magazine, magic underground cable TV show, and magic underground decoder ring. (Of course, you won’t be allowed access to any of these super-secret things—unless you have a credit card.)
If any of you wants to let others play on your insecurities by implying that they’re part of some exclusive underground that you’re not, that, of course, is your business. If you start feeling too badly, you can always start a website or make a video that proclaims you a member of the magic underground. (Or just have a tee shirt printed up.)
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Another point that is particularly interesting in the newish "underground" concept. For some reason, in today's magic market, "underground magician" actually means "extremely skilled" ( thus making it a valid marketing ploy ). Hence, when you take away the "title" from the magician's name, you'll be accused of lowering down his status. Let me be more clear about this: The accusations will mostly come from younger magicians, who fall in love with the whole "underground" idea, and come to idolize the "magic underground". Take out the term "underground" from one of their idols, and you'll be met by flames, where in reality, you did not comment on that magician's skill. Reailty check: Underground or not, this factor is no way related to skill.( presentation, technique or otherwise )
Juan Temariz (Spanish card magician ) is considered a celebrity in Spain, that would take him from the newish "underground" term. I wouldn't be surprised if one magician ( I'm guessing a young cardguy) would look down on his material, because the guy isn't "hip" enough, he's not "underground" enough.
Cheers,
- Feras
- So underground that no one cares.
P.S, for all young magicians out there, I don't mean to stereotype or offend at all, I'm merely stating what I see.
P.S.S, I'm young too, I'm 21!