Calling Yourself "Supernatural" Around an Effect

[WolfSage]

Hey,

So I was researching a little about magicians and social dynamics when I stumbled upon this "unspoken rule".

"When performing a trick never say you are supernatural or of the like. This would make you a liar and can ruin your reputation. This is not to say you should expose the trick, however."

The more I thought about this rule, the more I thought "Oh please. Nobody cares and you probably just made this up." Was I right or is this a real code of ethics? I do it all the time and don't think a thing of it. People probably don't either.

When I perform an effect with fire I say I'm "flame sensitive". Or that the cards I use "listen to me". I'm not trying to be "weird" or "demonic". What else are you supposed to say? Saying "I'm just a regular person performing irregular feats" is not gonna cut it.

What do you guys think?

 

[Colin]

This depends entirely on your character and what you are doing. If you are doing bizarre magic and telling people that you have supernatural power and can actually speak to the dead or have psychic abilities and taking their money to talk to dead relatives then you are being unethical.

If you make their signed card come to the desk five different ways and say it is because you have supernatural powers you are simply giving them a more entertaining answer than saying 'oh I can do it because I've spent hours learning how to turn over two cards to look like one, and I used this move called a pass which is pretty hard and an often inefficient way of moving a single card back to the top and then......"

As long as you are not saying it to abuse someones trust it really doesn't matter. Most people aren't going to be able to pull off making that claim and any kind of believable way anyway but if you can and are saying it for entertainment purposes it is nothing to worry about.

 

[WolfSage]

This depends entirely on your character and what you are doing. If you are doing bizarre magic and telling people that you have supernatural power and can actually speak to the dead or have psychic abilities and taking their money to talk to dead relatives then you are being unethical.

If you make their signed card come to the desk five different ways and say it is because you have supernatural powers you are simply giving them a more entertaining answer than saying 'oh I can do it because I've spent hours learning how to turn over two cards to look like one, and I used this move called a pass which is pretty hard and an often inefficient way of moving a single card back to the top and then......"

As long as you are not saying it to abuse someones trust it really doesn't matter. Most people aren't going to be able to pull off making that claim and any kind of believable way anyway but if you can and are saying it for entertainment purposes it is nothing to worry about.

Exactly! I'm not a fan of bizarre magic. Thanks.