What does magic offer that no other art does?

Josh Burch

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I asked this question on Facebook and was surprised by the responses I got from magicians.

Here's the question: (Edit: ) What defines magic as a medium? What does magic offer that no other art does?

(Let us stipulate that we are talking about the best possible magic: Lance Burton, David Copperfield, Eugene Burger, Derren Brown, Derek Delgaudio, Ricky Jay level magic. What makes what they do unique when compared to the likes of Celine Dion, Carol King, LeBron James, Christopher Nolan, Stephen Spielberg, George Carlin or Bo Burnham ?)
 
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Gabriel Z.

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I personally think it's their level of creativity in the art. What they see appeals to a general audience. It's mostly what the common man can relate to. If you draw a stick figure(Card Magic of Gabriel Zudeck) and then you show a beautiful Michelangelo painting to someone such as the names mentioned above, 9 out of 10 people will gravitate towards the latter.... I feel that they have bent their minds so much, and have given their paintings so many layers that people can feel the time they have put into their work. I think the chess player Bobby Fischer said it best
....... Fastforward to 2:15 I think this applies to all fields of study.
 

Josh Burch

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Aug 11, 2011
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I personally think it's their level of creativity in the art. What they see appeals to a general audience. It's mostly what the common man can relate to. If you draw a stick figure(Card Magic of Gabriel Zudeck) and then you show a beautiful Michelangelo painting to someone such as the names mentioned above, 9 out of 10 people will gravitate towards the latter.... I feel that they have bent their minds so much, and have given their paintings so many layers that people can feel the time they have put into their work. I think the chess player Bobby Fischer said it best
....... Fastforward to 2:15 I think this applies to all fields of study.

Great interview.

All artistic pursuits have high achievers, but what can an audience experience in a magic show that is unique to that genre? What can they experience that is different than chess, tennis, music, or theater?
 
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Jun 18, 2017
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For me, mystery. You can look at a masterpiece or read an amazing piece of literature and admire the skill but ultimately you know how it is physically done. Magic surprises people. It's uses such simple equipment but makes people question the very laws of reality.

I think people need that in a world where the answer to any question you have is available on google. You can't google the explanation to a good demonstration of magic, and it makes people question everything.
 
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Josh Burch

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For me, mystery. You can look at a masterpiece or read an amazing piece of literature and admire the skill but ultimately you know how it is physically done. Magic surprises people. It's uses such simple equipment but makes people question the very laws of reality.

I think people need that in a world where the answer to any question you have is available on google. You can't google the explanation to a good demonstration of magic, and it makes people question everything.

I like that aspect of "Mystery". I only wonder if it's possible for that to exist in other art forms. At the end of Inception or Stanley Kubrick's The Shining we have a great deal of ambiguity. Is this ambiguity related to mystery? Is the mystery caused by a magical presentation in a different category of mystery than the mystery in a film like the ones above? My hunch is that it is but I'm curious what you think.
 
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WitchDocIsIn

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You absolutely can have mystery in other art forms.

Yes, people know that a painting is created by rubbing a pigmented substance on a surface. But it could be a mysterious image, such as when we discovered cave paintings. Look at the Voynich manuscript - full of writing we can't decipher, pictures we don't understand, and so on. It's one of the biggest mysteries in the world. Card Warp is nothing next to it.

From the audience's point of view, I don't think there's anything that magic offers that can't be offered in other mediums.
 
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Josh Burch

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From the audience's point of view, I don't think there's anything that magic offers that can't be offered in other mediums.

Short answer:

Nothing.

I disagree, but if it is true that magic offers nothing extra/different why chose it over another medium? If you can convey the exact same thing through poetry, theater, painting or music what makes magic different?

I think that magic forces the audience to see something that they find completely unexplainable within the laws of nature. It offers an unwilling suspension of disbelief. They are forced to witness the impossible despite everything they bring to the table.

I don't think that this exists in other arts independent of magic.
 
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From the audiences point of view - Magic lets you feel like a kid again, or brings back wonder. Same reason most magicians love getting fooled.

Magic has been able to both affect culture and adapt to culture since pre-history - something no other art form has been able to do. Sure, you could say sports has affected the popular culture of many times and places, but it really hasn't affected culture (though sports has come the closest). Furthermore, magic has effected other art forms. I wrote a full essay on this, does anyone want to see it? If so I can post it here, but its long so you may just want to skim through it.
 
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Hey I just thought of this:Why not flip the script?

What do other art forms offer that magic doesn't?

At the end of the day, aren't all entertainers and artists the same? A Poet tells a story, just as a comedian, an artist, a novelist, an actor, a director, a sports player, a comic book artist, a musician, or any entertainer do. Don't magicians? At the end of the day, we're all story tellers, we just tell our stories in our own ways. Even in the genre of magic, some do close up card tricks, some do grand illusions, some are escape artists, some are pickpockets, some are cardists, some are visualists. Whatever the case may be, we are all magicians, even though our shows differ so much that some genres cannot be presented with others. In that sense, aren't all entertainers and artists offering the same thing, just in different methods? Sure there are a few differences and singularities here and there, but they all stem from a common source.
 

WitchDocIsIn

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I disagree, but if it is true that magic offers nothing extra/different why chose it over another medium? If you can convey the exact same thing through poetry, theater, painting or music what makes magic different?

I do use other mediums as well. Magic allows me to combine several of my favorites, and it's what I am best at.

I think that magic forces the audience to see something that they find completely unexplainable within the laws of nature. It offers an unwilling suspension of disbelief. They are forced to witness the impossible despite everything they bring to the table.

I don't think that this exists in other arts independent of magic.

I don't think magic is the only way to do that. Theater can do unexplainable things. Science can do unexplainable things (to the uneducated audience). Sculptures can seem to be impossible. Dancers can move in seemingly impossible ways. Circus stars can do incredible things that seem to defy nature. Martial artists do incredible things. Contact jugglers seem to defy the possible.

How about movies? Back when the Blair Witch Project first came out, people believed it was real. That was an unwilling suspension of disbelief. Just because it doesn't happen often, doesn't mean it can't.
 
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Jan 2, 2016
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I agree with a lot of these answers. It's the mystery of how it's done, it's the childlike wonder of seeing something impossible, etc.

This isn't my own thought, I think it's from Our Magic but it's definitely not my own. But basically, you willingly suspend your disbelief (to an extent) when you watch a movie. You know that giant robots aren't actually fighting each other but that doesn't stop you from enjoying it. Magic forces a person to suspend their disbelief by showing them something they know is impossible, yet they just saw it happen right in front of them.

Magic is also interesting because it happens entirely in the minds of the spectators. It's only magical if they think it's magic.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I'm not sure if that will make any sense to anyone but that's what I think.
 
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Jun 18, 2017
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I like that aspect of "Mystery". I only wonder if it's possible for that to exist in other art forms. At the end of Inception or Stanley Kubrick's The Shining we have a great deal of ambiguity. Is this ambiguity related to mystery? Is the mystery caused by a magical presentation in a different category of mystery than the mystery in a film like the ones above? My hunch is that it is but I'm curious what you think.

I guess with the art comparison I can look at the Sistine Chapel and see something magnificent, but it doesn't leave me wondering 'how on earth did someone do that??'. Good magic is unexplainable, and it gives people those chills that I personally wouldn't get from seeing another art form. I admit though, that many people might get a similar feeling from artwork and I'm sure some do.

With film I've certainly had a feeling of being blown away. As someone who used to work in the technical side of film and TV I've even had moments where I've seen shots that I've wondered 'how the hell did they achieve that??' but the proof was always in the pudding. Special effects have come so far that almost anything is possible (although I love a great 5 minute steady cam shot with no obvious cuts or editing ala Children of Men).

With magic it's still very in your face and natural. Things can't just be explained away with special effects and I think that's what makes it more resonant now than ever before. Hundreds of years ago everything was a miracle. The snow could fall in summer and it was a miracle. Twins could be born and it would be a miracle.

There aren't many miracles left in a technological age which has brought digital manipulation to all the major art forms. Except magic - it's still there, happening in your hands.

I don't know, maybe others disagree!
 
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Josh Burch

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Aug 11, 2011
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I do use other mediums as well. Magic allows me to combine several of my favorites, and it's what I am best at.

I don't think magic is the only way to do that. Theater can do unexplainable things. Science can do unexplainable things (to the uneducated audience). Sculptures can seem to be impossible. Dancers can move in seemingly impossible ways. Circus stars can do incredible things that seem to defy nature. Martial artists do incredible things. Contact jugglers seem to defy the possible.

How about movies? Back when the Blair Witch Project first came out, people believed it was real. That was an unwilling suspension of disbelief. Just because it doesn't happen often, doesn't mean it can't.

What differentiates the medium of magic then? How do we define the genre?

Why don't people look at The Blaire Witch project or Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and call it magic? Why don't we look at dancers, sculptors, acrobats, martial artists and jugglers and call them magicians?
 
Sep 2, 2007
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There aren't many miracles left in a technological age which has brought digital manipulation to all the major art forms. Except magic - it's still there, happening in your hands.

I don't know, maybe others disagree!

I believe that this technological age we're in is miraculous in and of itself, let alone the miracles that can be found inside. I mean, think about the transfer of all this data. To a computer geek like myself, it makes sense and isn't magic. To others that haven't delved into the workings of computers, though, might say something like - "It's just utterly insane to me that all of this information can somehow get beamed right to my laptop... I can actually SEE my mother on the other side of the world." It's magical to them and it's right in their lap. These things are more normalized now, in 2017, but just 7 years ago... oh man, it was still a new, incredible thing.

It's amazing to me that an artist can use some pencils and create something that looks identical to a photograph. I genuinely feel that "WTF" feeling when I see a photo that's actually a drawing.

Have you ever seen the guys, maybe 3 or 4 of them, each on a motorcycle and they all drive in loops at the same time in a tiny cage ball? Holy mother fuck. There's no way that's possible. I genuinely get the feeling of disbelief that I see in my spectators when I see something like that. And it's the same. Because factually, I'm seeing it. Factually speaking, it's possible. But I can't see how it's possible. It looks like magic.Who thought to even try that? How many of you have you killed in the process? There's just no way....

This isn't my own thought, I think it's from Our Magic but it's definitely not my own. But basically, you willingly suspend your disbelief (to an extent) when you watch a movie. You know that giant robots aren't actually fighting each other but that doesn't stop you from enjoying it. Magic forces a person to suspend their disbelief by showing them something they know is impossible, yet they just saw it happen right in front of them.

I don't agree that magic forces a suspension of disbelief. That implies that you're challenging them. Most people know, for a fact, that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Therefore, it is impossible to actually make any material object completely vanish with no trace. They WANT to believe it, though. And as a magician, if you can create the perfect illusion that it really has vanished, then you have your reaction. If they didn't want to believe it, they'd go fishing for your other hand or your pocket etc.

Magic is also interesting because it happens entirely in the minds of the spectators. It's only magical if they think it's magic.

All art happens entirely in the mind of the observer because it's subjective. One thing can mean something to someone, and at the same time mean something TOTALLY different to someone else. When an artists creates a painting, sure there is meaning to them inside of that painting. But the real beauty of it is how it makes others feel. What does it make them think? What questions do they have? What feelings are bubbling up inside? As an artist you can paint certain things to steer these thoughts and emotions in certain directions (maybe a sunrise to elicit happiness and newness in someone, maybe the grim reaper to elicit thoughts of death and ending - which could also be interpreted as happiness and newness by some). We, as magicians, with our words and the magic we choose to present, can do exactly the same things. No more, no less.
 
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Sep 2, 2007
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I disagree, but if it is true that magic offers nothing extra/different why chose it over another medium? If you can convey the exact same thing through poetry, theater, painting or music what makes magic different?

Because it's what struck a chord with me on such a deep level that it has stayed with me forever. I used to draw when I was younger. I feel confident in saying that I was pretty good, and could've easily continued learning and expanding on that. But I didn't and for selfish reason. It didn't give ME what magic did and so I chose magic. And up to now, magic has always been my artistic choice of medium, though I could use other things to elicit these emotions.

I used to skateboard. And some might argue that it isn't an art. But I've gotten reactions out of people from landing a huge trick that rivals the reactions I get from doing magic. That feeling of disbelief, "YO YOU JUST DID THAT! NO WAY!!"

What differentiates the medium of magic then? How do we define the genre?

Why don't people look at The Blaire Witch project or Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and call it magic? Why don't we look at dancers, sculptors, acrobats, martial artists and jugglers and call them magicians?

The same reason we wouldn't look at a magician and call him a dancer. He's not dancing, just like the dancer isn't creating the illusion of magic. That doesn't mean that one can't feel the feeling of magic whilst watching a dancer.
 
Jan 2, 2016
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I believe that this technological age we're in is miraculous in and of itself, let alone the miracles that can be found inside. I mean, think about the transfer of all this data. To a computer geek like myself, it makes sense and isn't magic. To others that haven't delved into the workings of computers, though, might say something like - "It's just utterly insane to me that all of this information can somehow get beamed right to my laptop... I can actually SEE my mother on the other side of the world." It's magical to them and it's right in their lap. These things are more normalized now, in 2017, but just 7 years ago... oh man, it was still a new, incredible thing.

It's amazing to me that an artist can use some pencils and create something that looks identical to a photograph. I genuinely feel that "WTF" feeling when I see a photo that's actually a drawing.

Have you ever seen the guys, maybe 3 or 4 of them, each on a motorcycle and they all drive in loops at the same time in a tiny cage ball? Holy mother fuck. There's no way that's possible. I genuinely get the feeling of disbelief that I see in my spectators when I see something like that. And it's the same. Because factually, I'm seeing it. Factually speaking, it's possible. But I can't see how it's possible. It looks like magic.Who thought to even try that? How many of you have you killed in the process? There's just no way....



I don't agree that magic forces a suspension of disbelief. That implies that you're challenging them. Most people know, for a fact, that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Therefore, it is impossible to actually make any material object completely vanish with no trace. They WANT to believe it, though. And as a magician, if you can create the perfect illusion that it really has vanished, then you have your reaction. If they didn't want to believe it, they'd go fishing for your other hand or your pocket etc.



All art happens entirely in the mind of the observer because it's subjective. One thing can mean something to someone, and at the same time mean something TOTALLY different to someone else. When an artists creates a painting, sure there is meaning to them inside of that painting. But the real beauty of it is how it makes others feel. What does it make them think? What questions do they have? What feelings are bubbling up inside? As an artist you can paint certain things to steer these thoughts and emotions in certain directions (maybe a sunrise to elicit happiness and newness in someone, maybe the grim reaper to elicit thoughts of death and ending - which could also be interpreted as happiness and newness by some). We, as magicians, with our words and the magic we choose to present, can do exactly the same things. No more, no less.
You worded that much better than I did lol.
 
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