I think that something that could solve a lot of things hurting magic is to start treating it like an art. When someone sees Criss Angel or someone like that on TV, they think that it's really cool and visual and is great magic. However, it's really making them appreciate magic less. Magic used to be an art, that you needed to concentrate on the trick to truly be amazed. Now it's more WOAH MAN HOW DID YOU DO THAT!
I'm not saying that magic shouldn't be visual, I'm saying that the whole trick should be a performance, not just the ending. Take this example: If you go to a concert and a chamber orchestra is playing, you sit through the whole thing and you enjoy the entire experience, not just the climax at the end of the piece. We need to make the whole trick entertaining. If you performed Two Card Monte and you talked in monotone the entire time, you are setting the spectators up to only enjoy the ending when the cards change. What I'm sayin is that you need to perform the whole time!
What I think people should do is to become better actors. That's really what a magician is. An actor. Use more entertaining patter, more intonations in voice, more variations of mood, more interaction with spectators, more connecting with them, more stories to tell, more passion in your voice. Just be a better actor. And when you do become a better actor, you'll see that the reactions don't come after the trick and end when they stop clapping, they go on and on in the spectators mind. Instead of them thinking, "Wow, that was amazing, I want to know how he did that, I'm going on Youtube to find out" They'll think, "What a funny guy." or "That was a good story" If they are younger.
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,"
~ William Shakespeare
As You Like It 2/7