My main question is how do you explain magic morals to a layman, or for that matter another magician?
I'll give some examples of some scenarios I've gone through lately to be clear.
1. The Kissing Card trick is a viral video put out by local guy here in Salt Lake City. He is not a magician but rather a guy that likes magic and knows a couple tricks. This video just happens to feature Wayne Houchin's effect "French Kiss". He promised that after so many likes he would reveal the secret. I felt like I needed to let him know that this wasn't a very good idea.
My communication went something like this "I saw that you wanted to teach Wayne Houchin's magic trick "French Kiss" on your youtube page. I know you don't mean any harm in sharing but it really isn't your trick. You teaching it on your youtube page would be kind of like Rachel Ray taking a recipe from Paula Dean and showing how to make it on her show without Dean's permission."
2. I recently created a way to make a car disappear. While I haven't seen anyone else use the exact same method I have a hunch that it was discovered by Franz Harrary before me. My friends and family think it's a cool idea and want to film it so that we can promote my show. I feel like we could go film it and send a video to Harrary just to be sure it's original. My freinds don't understand why.
3. Lastly, a local club here had a so called "workshop" that taught how to make and perform Calen Morelli's Dresscode. The kid who suggested it had downloaded the DVD off a torrent site. So about 10 magicians leaned the trick without Calen getting a penny. I wrote a letter to the presidency of this club, all of whom have been in magic for many years and a couple are full time professionals. To my surprise almost nobody had a problem with it!
So here are 3 moral dilemmas with three very different types of people. How do we explain that these things are wrong?
I'll give some examples of some scenarios I've gone through lately to be clear.
1. The Kissing Card trick is a viral video put out by local guy here in Salt Lake City. He is not a magician but rather a guy that likes magic and knows a couple tricks. This video just happens to feature Wayne Houchin's effect "French Kiss". He promised that after so many likes he would reveal the secret. I felt like I needed to let him know that this wasn't a very good idea.
My communication went something like this "I saw that you wanted to teach Wayne Houchin's magic trick "French Kiss" on your youtube page. I know you don't mean any harm in sharing but it really isn't your trick. You teaching it on your youtube page would be kind of like Rachel Ray taking a recipe from Paula Dean and showing how to make it on her show without Dean's permission."
2. I recently created a way to make a car disappear. While I haven't seen anyone else use the exact same method I have a hunch that it was discovered by Franz Harrary before me. My friends and family think it's a cool idea and want to film it so that we can promote my show. I feel like we could go film it and send a video to Harrary just to be sure it's original. My freinds don't understand why.
3. Lastly, a local club here had a so called "workshop" that taught how to make and perform Calen Morelli's Dresscode. The kid who suggested it had downloaded the DVD off a torrent site. So about 10 magicians leaned the trick without Calen getting a penny. I wrote a letter to the presidency of this club, all of whom have been in magic for many years and a couple are full time professionals. To my surprise almost nobody had a problem with it!
So here are 3 moral dilemmas with three very different types of people. How do we explain that these things are wrong?