YouTube and the Future of Magic

[williamlitzler]

I would like to hear other magicians feelings on the positive or negative impact You Tube has on our art.

At first I loved the fact that I could see a lot of my heros in action, especially the old-timers. Back in the day, the only time the old footage was ever seen was on Movie Night at the magic club.

But what about the glut of amatures that are doing bad versions of our treasured classics? This is worse that the Masked Magician on Fox TV!

The place for magicians to earn their "chops" is at Birthday Parties, Blue and Gold Banquets and County Fairs. Not on the web where every error is magnified and criticism is seldom constructive.

What do you think?

 

[Deleted member 2755]

Yesterday, my friend's sister told me that she found out how I did Quarter in the Soda Can. She also called it Sinful and then I asked her where she heard that name from. She said all of the Youtube tutorials called it that.

I don't even need to say my opinion as you can tell right from that.

-Doug

 

[Deleted member 2755]

Oh, welcome to the forums by the way!

-Doug

 

[copperfield 14]

Close this thread before it's too late. Your new and welcome to the forums but even though your intentions are good other people usually cause arguments in these types of threads, and people are sick of youtube thread.

 

[tsarothpaco]

Youtube can only hurt magic, and cannot help it. Seeing (good) performances doesn't aid magic, it just gives us the chance to be an audience whenever we please.

~PaCo

 

[conjurer77]

I completely agree with the original post up above.

This art has sadly become diluted with two-bit, half-a** amatuers butchering sleight-of-hand techniques and card routines that most of us dedicate our hard hours to perfecting. I have been performing for 20 plus years and have never uploaded a video to youtube...yet. Now, I don't think I'm going to.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE youtube but I HATE these lame kids performing crappy magic and sleights on youtube just to feel like a star.

These kids are KILLING magic!

 

[Volcan]

This is why I started creating my own magic. Things have been going very well.

 

[copperfield 14]

I don't know what you guys are talking about.

 

[Wallmott]

Allot of people are complaning over youtube because for different reasons and the main one is that people are performing bad magic and magic tutorials and exposes magic.

I dont think youtube is a problem and never will be a problem. People does not sit around and search for magic tricks, ask someone on the street how many times they did think of magic in the term magic effects in the last 10 years. they will probably say none and if they did there were probably when they saw copperfield on tv.

Most of the tricks which are exposed are effects sold by the big magic companys, wich have fancy cool trailers. Get some old books and you will realise that most of effects from 30 years ago kills most new effects. But most unserious magicians wont go looking into the old books because they are to lazy and it takes allot more time to study.

You just have to do whatever you can to be the best performer you can.

 

[holo]

I don't know what you guys are talking about.

that guy was AMAZING















NOT!!!

 

[Eddie]

This is why I stopped doing "simple" tricks.

But...

Honestly I don't care if they say that "oh I figured it out!" because I will shove my cards into their hands and say, "okay mr awesome, you try it!"
And of course they will barely do it or not at all.

 

[CoryOOreo]

People care less about magic then you'd expect them to. Just let this whole issue be.

 

[coorothecrow]

yeah! i don't like the fact that other amatuers ruin all of magic!>=(

 

[Steerpike]

These kids are KILLING magic!

If magic can be killed by a bunch of malnourished, pasty, rich white kids, it wasn't a very good art to begin with.

 

[williamlitzler]

That is the best defense. Dress up an old effect or sleight, and you have something amazing and unseen on You Tube.

 

[williamlitzler]

There has to be a more civilized way to handle the hecklers. No point in getting into a Pissing Match with some jerk. Smile, give him a one liner to put him into his place, turn your back and blow the jerk.

Or, you could be like Don Allen. He would find an excuse to wack the heckler on the knukles with his hard wooden wand.

What are some other ways to handle the difficult spectator?

 

[williamlitzler]

We all started out as beginners. But the difference is that now the church basements and living room magic shows are now put out to the world.

 

[Squ!rrel]

I think we seriously overestimate how much people actually care about magic. You probably will occasionally meet someone who has looked up a few tricks on Youtube but most people just don't care that much.

When people go home they'll most likely watch TV, listen to music etc. Not go on the internet to try and work out how you did the tricks you showed then. They probably don't even remember what actually happened in most of the tricks.

People aren't watching all the poorly performed effects on Youtube, they have better things to do.

 

[Huruey]

I've experienced the effects of Youtube exposure, and I've made it quite clear how I feel about t in the past, but I think it's easy to work around it.

For a start, if you are performing for younger people (teens) more often than adults, I think it is a lot more likely you'll witness the effects, at least that has been the case for me. Never, when I have been performing for adults, has anyone brought up youtube or anything they've seen online.

Secondly, I think very few sleights/effects are at risk. The Erdnase color change and Healed and Sealed seem to have been worst hit (but again, only for younger people), at least around where I live (both of which have come up in conversation with people who didn't even know I did magic). These are not a huge loss when you consider the vast wealth of material out there. A lot of the really good stuff is almost immune, because it's simply too hard for all the newbie exposers out there.

I don't think double lift exposure is anything to worry about in the slightest, because a good double lift looks nothing like anything you'd find in a youtube tutorial. I get double lifts past family and friends all the time, despite the fact that many know of the double lift anyway.

Also, I think coin magic is immune to youtube exposure, because unlike a lot of card magic which sounds easy to do, but actually takes a lot of work and skill to do properly, coin magic actually sounds like it will take a lot of work and skill, so most people probably couldn't be bothered. The only coin exposure videos out there probably couldn't even convince a viewer that they are teaching the genuine method.

Finally, nothing I have created as ever been exposed on youtube. xD

I hate exposure, and I'll do anything I can to stop it, but there's no way it's going to stop me doing magic, no matter how bad it gets.

Huruey

 

[Wallmott]

Some simple "Cool Awsome Mind Blowing" effects will be on youtube but not the material in books etc.

As someone said a Youtube pass does not look like a perfect pass so it would still work.