Mean Spirited Magicians

[AshleyHall]

Hello everyone,

I stumbled across what I thought was an interesting article on magicians and how they are perceived...

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64689.asp

Mean Spirited Magicians Ruin It For The Rest

Guest Author - Joann Stewart

Wow! I have never seen such unprofessional behaviour by my friends in the magic world as I have seen at the magic forums.
I've seen posts attacking magicians for all kinds of reasons. Worse, I've read posts where magicians accuse other magicians of criminal activity based only on speculation.
Posts that say things like, this person is selling an item and it must be a bootleg copy. The funny thing is, these accusations do not come from folks that have bought the product, but just seem to want to tear down another performer.

This is poppycock.

When we tear each other down in public forums, we tear down our entire industry. If you have a legitimate complaint with another performer, contact them. Discuss it with that person, don't air it publicly.

Particularly when you only think the other person might be doing something you do not approve of. For crying out loud, have you never heard of slander? It is as wicked as can be.

You may think the forums are only for magicians, but a lot of hobbyists and interested lurkers also read the forums. You hurt not only other performers, but yourself also, when you post negative comments in the forums.

If you buy a product or service and you are not happy with it, I can understand posting a review to help others in their buying decisions. That is one of the benefits of a forum. But when you attack individuals character, particularly if you haven't even done business with them, you are most unprofessional.

I love magic and I hate to see it torn down by petty thinking and small minds.

The same goes for booking shows. Some magicians seem to think if they can tear down other performers when talking to a potential client that it helps them. It does not. No matter what I think of another performer, I never ever say negative things about that person to a client.

Even in casual conversations I make it a point to never belittle another performer. There are too many positive things I can discuss with friends, clients and on forums to waste my time tearing others down.

Remember, when you throw mud, you are the one losing ground.

If you would, I would love to hear your thoughts on this article and your dealings or how you handle "mean spirited magicians" and magicians gossip... thought it is an interesting topic for discussion.

 

[Craig Browning]

Thanks for the post, Ash it does touch on some very important points.

Some of you here may be aware of how my name is mud @ the Cafe and certain UK forums for one reason or another; mostly due to my "bluntness" -- I call a spade a spade. This ticks people off and as an end result they attack however they can. One particular gent in the UK has attempted to discredit me on numerous levels, even going so far as to say that I'm a scam artist and thief; his Lulu storefront stating quite boldly that I've attempted to steal his books and offers a reward for anyone that catches me in such acts.

This is an example as to how extreme and petty people can get. You will find however, that most of these people are dealing with deeper issues, usually feelings of inferiority or insecurity in their own skin and so they must lash out at others; especially when it appears that you might actually have and/or know far more than they do.

One of the biggest acts of cruelty we find on magic forums (thankfully E & T11 are exceptions most of the time) are those instances in which "magicians" attack people that believe in the miraculous, be it paranormal or religious. For much of the past 25-30 years there has been a very pronounced idea that if you study magic you can't have any form of belief in things outside logic and science, which is in deed POPPYCOCK! There is still a small but functional Christian Magicians Fellowship as well as those catering to persons of other faiths and there have always been those within our ranks (especially in Mentalism & Bizarre Magick) that have serious testimonials when it comes to the paranormal side of things. BUT, because of this pseudo-rationalist argument these people (most of them) keep their mouths shut in the forums out of fear and simply not wanting to put up with the assholiness of their fellows. Hell, there are those here and elsewhere that refuse to point newbies to my FREE downloads because I point out this and other contrasts that aren't "kosher" by today's standing.

Yep, that makes me a pot stirrer in much the same way Mark Lewis and the late Ford Kross put challenging perspectives on the table in hope of waking up one or two during the fall out. But why are Devil's Advocates needed? Why must argument and bitterness be required in our world when it comes to learning how to see things from multiple points of view?

I am admittedly, one of the more controversial figures in Magic today and for more than a few reasons. I can't deny this and in fact, I embrace a big chunk of this charge with pride, in that my contrariness, crassness, and even my arrogance at times, is what it takes to get a point across.

I know I've offered an alternative perspective to Ash's post, but the two views are applicable; sometimes there has to be some turbulence in the water.

 

[notsoltd]

I very rarely visit magic forums anymore, this being the exact reason. I happened to be scrolling through today and I'm glad I saw this post. Someone needs to point it out. I've honestly backed away from even the local magic scene too. I have my close magic friends and that's who I discuss ideas and things like that with.

I've been a part of numerous other hobbies, juggling, racing r/c cars, bowling, and so on and of all of them, I have NEVER seen people act as childish and petty as magicians do. Maybe it's their egos? Magicians tend to have these overly inflated hot air balloons of heads and I can't understand why.

Sure, maybe I don't like one persons material. Maybe I'm a huge fan of someone else that you may not like but we're all different people. So what? Why should we tear each other down for it? One of the biggest ones that stand out to me is these older mentalists that for some reason feel like magic and mentalism shouldn't be combined and if you're younger than 35, you shouldn't be doing mentalism. It's MY show, I'll do whatever the hell I want to.

That being said, I'm not a saint. I do, from time to time bad mouth other magicians but I NEVER do it openly on public forums. It is, however, something I'm working on putting to a stop. One of my biggest goals is to make sure I learn SOMETHING from everyone I meet, magician or not. I think everyone should do the same.

What's the old saying? If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Treat others how you'd want to be treated.