The Disappointment of Being A Magician...

I am in magic for the long rune, of that there can be no doubt. I have not chosen magic, magic has chosen me. And for this gift I am greatly appreciative, and could not wish for a better skill. I amaze people every day, allowing people, even for quick seconds, to take the leap from reality into fiction, and inspire them and o make them believe that there is something more to life than what they see and what they are told.

I love making smiles appear on children and the elderly's faces. I like seeing my parents proud of me. And I love to bring joy to the world in a unique way. It is with this pleasure that I continuemy studies in the art of prestidigitation, illusion, and magic. Without the joy, there would be no magic.

And for that I am pleased.

But there are other times where I wish I didn't have this talent, this skill. These times come when I am watching another magician perform. I remember what it was like to be that kid who is entertained at the birthday party. Those are the times when I wish that I still was oblivious to magic.

Sometimes, I think of how sweet it would be if I didn't know a thing about this world of sleight of hand and illusions.Because then I still would be indulged in that world of amazement and misunderstanding.

I mean don't get me wrong, I still see things that blow me away, and for those things I am greatful. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish a double lift, then a snap, and a show of the changed card would still amaze me.

Thoughts?
 
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I was going to post something like this about a month ago.
And I realized, why?
Because it is you who controls what you are amazed by.
By low stan-derds Standing Duds, is what yo umust think of somthing to be amazed by it.
If you think magic is cheap and fake, and someone shows you soemthing amazing, well you've been proven wrong. And that is what that feeling is. I still am amazed by alot of David Blaines things. You just have to look, friend.
 
Sep 9, 2007
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I once thought the same thing. Then I saw something even more amazing that I didn't know. And I felt a sense of wonder and amazement beyond any before because despite what I knew, I was still fooled.

And that is the real beauty. People come up with new ideas every day. You can still be amazed. you just need to look harder.
 
Apr 25, 2009
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Yorktown, VA
I started thinking about this the other day too. As I delve deeper into magic, I see that there really isn't anything crazy happening. Just a quick slight of hand. But lately, I notice that I am not interested in how they did, but how they presented it. I look at it as one skilled musician would look at another skilled musician. They both know how it is done, but it is how they put there own touch to it. We often forget that magic is an art to be admired. Like a painting to hang on the wall, it is in the beauty of the performance. We have to keep that in mind =)

-The King of Spades
 

Orb

Jul 19, 2009
84
0
Sweden
Indeed this is something that runs through every magicians mind at least at some point of their life (if not many). But just like everyone else stated, there are so much more magic, I am not one to condemn you of your skills, but I can still quite surely say that you do not know everything, and that there are loads of stuff out there that will fool you, badly, maybe even on a very deep emotional level.

Personally I recently encountered a video of Rick Merrill performing a coin magic routine where he turned 3 half dollars into 3 Chinese coins, I thought, alright, fair enough that's really well performed, I do that too, just not as good. Then he turned the Chinese coins into half dollars again (all three at an instant), now it started getting cool. Then he turned the 3 half dollars into jumbo half dollars, and then he turned the jumbo half dollars into jumbo Chinese coins. I do coin magic, it's all I ever do and focus 100% on, it's my big passion. I felt like I had grasped so much basic and even advanced, that there would be little left that would fool me. But man, I was so blown away and I get as speechless each time I see it.

I think we are all still oblivious to the magics visualizations, the major difference is that we now understand that the impossible is possible. But that (in my opinion) does not mean that you cannot get emotionally involved when being fooled.
 
Aug 31, 2007
1,960
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Long Island/New York
But there are other times where I wish I didn't have this talent, this skill. These times come when I am watching another magician perform. I remember what it was like to be that kid who is entertained at the birthday party. Those are the times when I wish that I still was oblivious to magic.

Sometimes, I think of how sweet it would be if I didn't know a thing about this world of sleight of hand and illusions.

DRAMA!:p

Seriously though, this reminds me of the time I was doing card magic for a couple people and one of the girls in the group asks me, "I feel like knowing the secret to these tricks would ruin it for me, doesn't it ruin it for you?"
I really didn't know how to respond.
I said it does kinda ruin it for me, but I'm here to entertain you guys.
She caught me off guard. . .

I figure their expressions on their faces are worth performing and knowing the secrets. Now that I know "the secrets" I can spread the joy of the feeling of magic that I use to have when I was a kid.
 

willtupper

Elite Member
Apr 28, 2009
282
335
If it's any consolation, mate, I think everyone feels that way about whatever art they pursue.

As a kid, I thought writers were magicians (so to speak). I believed that those who made books lived in castles, and delivered us texts from some great and secret place.

Writing and working in publishing has taught me, this is not so.

Music? I used to think symphonies were like novels. That every bit was different. Even songs. I thought that if all the lyrics were different (except for the choruses), then all the music they were playing had to be uniquely different, too.

No repeating phrases, no chord repetition. On and on and on.

Learning guitar, meeting many amazing musicians has taught me that, again, I was wrong.

It's not just magic, and it's not just any skill. It IS magic, and it's also EVERY skill.

Not much comfort, I know. But that's just the way it goes :).
 
Think about it this way:

How much magic does the average person see?
And how much magic do we see?

I'm fairly sure that we see much more magic, and likewise are fooled more often, despite all we know. Simply because of the amount we see.

If you feel you aren't fooled enough, go to a convention, or an IBM ring, or something, and I promise you will be fooled so much that it will hurt.
 
Jul 2, 2008
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Think about it this way.

I had never seen a magician before I started a couple years ago- NEVER. I didn't know what magic was or what it looked like. I wish I could go back and see.
 
Feb 28, 2008
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I think there's a level of amazement in knowing the secrets of magic, as well as any other art. In music, the pop formula has gotten somewhat repetitive. In film, romantic comedies just always end with people in love. And in magic, we get used to being amazed.

For me, with a lot of art I'm interested in, my amazement comes in different ways now. For example, Identity by Richard Sanders. The effect is quite simple, yet still amazing, and when I first watched it I just imagined what it would feel like to perfor it for laymen. Another example i the double lift. There are some magicians that do DLs so well, that I marvel in how clean it is. Kostya comes to mind.

Amazement changes with knowledge.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Personally, before I became a magician I didn't give a **** about magic. I thought David Blaine was kind of cool but that was it. I'd never seen a good magician live. I just found a deck of cards and looked up some stuff on the internet and got out a few books to pass some time over summer and realised it was far more fulfilling to actually do it than to watch. Most people will probably only see one or two good magician's in their entire life and many bad ones. The memories from the bad ones is what they tend to remember. If you didn't do magic you'd most likely think of it as some idiot in a suit with a playing card tie cutting a woman in half. Your chances of actually having a positive experience with magic is quite low. So really, you're not giving up much at all. There is the possibility that you could have met an absolutely brilliant magician who would have had a major impact on you, but realistically, this happens to very few people.

I suspect many other people didn't really care either. It annoys me when magicians try to make it sound like it's some sort of noble sacrifice. Sure, it would be cool to watch a great magician and not know how it's done, but how many of you really care? It's probably just a passing thought and then you forget about it. The original post was just really pretentious in my opinion. Some magician's really need to get over themselves. I'm not suggesting everybody in this thread is doing that, there's some well thought out responses here but I do often come across this attitude.
 
Jul 13, 2009
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Mid magic Crisis?

I do not know how you feel because frankly I am still amazed by a lot of magic.
I have never questioned whether or whether not I didn't want the ability to amaze people. But I guess that is just me, maybe in another eleven years I will find myself asking this question only time will tell. Until then though I am perfectly happy in my personal status with my magic life.

Typed from an itouch during college lecture,
Fang
 
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The Dark Angel

forum moderator / t11
Sep 1, 2007
2,003
18
32
Denver, Colorado
I can relate to this quite well actually. It was the sheer amazement, wonder and excitement that got me into magic in the first place. But after several months, and years, of performing magic, some of the "magic" is lost on me.
Instead of enjoying the performer that I am watching, I spend my time thinking about the method of the trick, and not watching him perform.
But, at the same time, magic is still a wonderous gift, and when all is said and done, I'm glad to be a magician.
 
Jul 13, 2009
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You know further thought into this subject I have come up with this conclusion, I feel that the reason why I find magic very fun to watch just like it was when I first started out is for this simple reason. I do not look at the micro but the macro, the entire performance, the performer entertaining me. I may think about the method but am still amazed they pulled it on me so well.

Here some advice when watching magic live or otherwise, watch the show as entertainment, leave your magic ego at the door and allow yourself to become a laymen for the night. I also just answered myself as well this is what I do everytime I watch a magic video or show for entertainment. This is how I am still amazed when I watch magic.
 
When I look at a piece of magic for the first time I try really hard to focus on what the trick is and now how the trick is done. I always thought the disadvantage of knowing magic is when I have kids and they become teenages I know when I say I don't have any money they will be like " Your a magician. Make some money appear."

Thanks

Justin Way
 
Jan 10, 2008
294
2
Dylan P., this was about the most heart-felt post i've read all week on these forums. All I can say is you're obviously very passionate about magic, so do me a favor; just strive to be the best magi as you can possibly be. Continue to bring joy to the vast majority and please don't harbor to much on what could have been, just concentrate on the now. I can relate though, I have felt the same way before and I commend you for your honesty.

Sincerely,
David
 
I am in magic for the long rune, of that there can be no doubt. I have not chosen magic, magic has chosen me. And for this gift I am greatly appreciative, and could not wish for a better skill. I amaze people every day, allowing people, even for quick seconds, to take the leap from reality into fiction, and inspire them and o make them believe that there is something more to life than what they see and what they are told.

I love making smiles appear on children and the elderly's faces. I like seeing my parents proud of me. And I love to bring joy to the world in a unique way. It is with this pleasure that I continuemy studies in the art of prestidigitation, illusion, and magic. Without the joy, there would be no magic.

And for that I am pleased.

But there are other times where I wish I didn't have this talent, this skill. These times come when I am watching another magician perform. I remember what it was like to be that kid who is entertained at the birthday party. Those are the times when I wish that I still was oblivious to magic.

Sometimes, I think of how sweet it would be if I didn't know a thing about this world of sleight of hand and illusions.Because then I still would be indulged in that world of amazement and misunderstanding.

I mean don't get me wrong, I still see things that blow me away, and for those things I am greatful. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish a double lift, then a snap, and a show of the changed card would still amaze me.

Thoughts?


this thread is much too egotistical for my tastes, but what the hell, right?


You wish you didnt have this talent? Really? its easy then, just stop. If you want to go back to being a layman that bad, then just leave.


And honestly? you dont know much of anything. I can only say that because I too do not know much of anything. But i do know enough to say you dont have talent if you go and post every halfas*ed thought you come across. They arnt bringing joy to the world, they are just cluttering it.

Magic has chosen you? Is this some disney movie? YOU chose to go into this art, not anyone else, and you can just as well chose to get out of it as well. The only person thats gunna care in the end is you.
 
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