Magicians as friends.

May 3, 2018
70
74
46
New Mexico
hello, all.

It dawned on me that in my 25 years of practicing magic (practicing not performing) I have never had a friend who was a magician. In fact, I can’t remember even speaking to another magician until I met you folks.

My question, do you guys have magician confidants you practice with, or a local club you are a part of? Or, like me, do you only draw feedback from your mirror?
 
Aug 6, 2017
253
158
I have 2 friends from school that do magic. We hang out sometimes and at lunch share tricks and technique. I don't practice with them outside of school. Unfortunately, they have not read ANY BOOKS. I have tried to get them to read tricks because that is where the good stuff is. I would say because of that it is harder to share techniques because they don't know what they are and I am not going to teach it to them because one, I am not an expert at it and two, I don't want to share something that must be paid for.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
I do have several magician friends. Two very close friends are magicians, and several I would consider to be "close acquaintances". You know, the type of person in your life that you would definitely make time to have dinner with, but don't necessarily talk with very often.

I generally don't look for a lot of feedback from most magicians, but I do highly value the feedback from certain folks. The key being that I have to know the person really knows what they are talking about from real world experience. Since my main concern is putting on a good show, that's the feedback I look for. I don't particularly care of a routine fools magicians, for example, but I do care if they notice the audience isn't responding how I want them to.

I used to be in a magic club in Fresno. It was valuable to me at the time, but I think at this juncture in my life it wouldn't be as useful or valuable to me. I did meet one of my oldest and best friends there, though. He ended up being a groomsman in my wedding. Actually, come to think of it, another groomsmen was also a magician but on a much more casual basis.
 

Antonio Diavolo

Elite Member
Jan 2, 2016
1,092
881
24
California
I accidentally got a kid in my math class into magic. He learns from YouTube and always doesn’t practice enough if that counts lol. Other than that, the owner of my local magic store knows me well and I know a few of his regular customers from his magic parties. I wouldnt call them friends really but still.
 

JoshL8

Elite Member
Aug 5, 2017
409
393
WA state USA
I magic around with my wifes uncle from time to time. We trade back and forth a bit and I get some good direction from him. While I am envious of his sleight of hand ability with everyday objects it's his acting that really impresses me and gives me something to work on. He can really sell a simple trick as something amazing or believable portrayals of difficulty or reading tells to divine answers in mentalism effects.

Aside from him I have no other person who is into magic to get in person advice from or riff off of. I have been trying to get to a somewhat local magic club but the first meeting they hold each month is the middle of the week and the next one is on a day of my son's baseball practices. The club has been posting videos of their meetings so that helps a little. Later in the year maybe I will get a chance to personally partake in a few.
 
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byronblaq

Elite Member
Jul 22, 2010
225
129
Melbourne, Australia
One of my best friends is a fellow magician. We both pursued different paths in magic which makes testing ideas on each other very interesting and often very helpful.

It's good to have friends that understand your art but it can also be fantastic to work from isolation. Some of the best work I've done has been worked on totally independently.

Clubs are great to watch live performances regularly, meet others more experienced and making friends. It mainly taught me the art of presentation which is a whole category of it's own.

B.
 
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Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
1,101
Utah
hello, all.

It dawned on me that in my 25 years of practicing magic (practicing not performing) I have never had a friend who was a magician. In fact, I can’t remember even speaking to another magician until I met you folks.

My question, do you guys have magician confidants you practice with, or a local club you are a part of? Or, like me, do you only draw feedback from your mirror?

Yes, I do have friends in magic. It's kind of tricky though because it's tempting to go to a club meeting, meet a whole bunch of magicians that perform types of magic that you don't like, and to think that all other magicians out there stink.

I just want to say that I have learned from many other magicians who perform magic that I would never do. And that usually when we categorize a whole group of people, such as magicians, as being one way we are sure to be wrong. In reality magicians don't suck, people suck. There are some people out there that are great and that we will get along with. And there are some people out there that we will never get along with.

It can be obnoxious going to a club for the first time especially when you don't know anyone, and unfortunately usually the people that you don't like standout the most. I do have to say though that after going to several clubs I have made lifelong friends in Magic and in my personal life. I highly recommend it.
 
Nov 1, 2016
76
95
One of my best friends was the one who really got me back into magic, as I had been on and off for a few years, and he really just took off with me. We had classes together and we would throw ideas at each other all the time. We even started working on a few duo tricks (where two magicians are required) and I filmed him for gigs and stuff. It was a really neat experience, he moved away, and so much fun to have someone to toss ideas at.
 
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