Youtube Magic & Revealing Tricks

Is it hurting the art of magic?

In magic, we seem to have this endless discussion about whether magicians teaching magic on YouTube are destroying the art.

What I've noticed within these discussions is that usually, the guys who are excellent at magic are unfazed about someone teaching magic on YouTube. Whereas the guy who buys tricks in a shop and performs them once seems to be the most bothered by it.

But why is this?

Everyone agrees

Before starting this analysis, I want to make a disclaimer. I'm talking purely about teaching magic on YouTube with the purpose of someone else learning the routine. I'm not talking so much about the guys on Instagram or TikTok that are revealing trick after trick; all of us universally agree that that's a cheap way to get views and likes. Does it destroy the art? No, probably not. It just triggers the dopamine centers in the spectator's brain by tricking them that they've learned something new. This new knowledge, however, is only temporary, as they don't use or apply it, and so they'll also quickly forget about it. However, this does ruin magic for a very specific demographic of magicians, which is a shame.

Why the pros are unfazed

Whenever I see an online discussion about whether YouTube is destroying the art of magic or not, I never see any professional or master magician arguing within this discussion. Yes, it is true that information is much more widely available than 20 years ago, but this also comes with many great things. Such as being able to connect with magicians from all over the world, being able to learn from the best masters in the world right from the comfort of our homes, and having access to amazing resources such as the conjuring archive (thank you for saving me so many miserable hours, Dennis!).

With this wider distribution of information and wider connectivity, however, also comes the flip side, that it's easier to expose something; this is a cheap way of getting attention, likes, and views, our new (social) digital currency.

Whenever we're looking at the discussion about whether YouTube magic is destroying magic, I believe we're asking the wrong question. We're being too superficial with the question, and we stop meditating on it too early. Allow me to explain.

THE GOAL OF MAGIC.

Many people, magicians included, think that the secret of magic is the method. All those secret little techniques and mechanisms that will lead our spectators to the point of "I don't know how he did that". This, however, couldn't be further from the truth.

The real secret behind magic, as so eloquently explained by Brad Henderson in the Our Magic documentary, is not how the ball got under the cup. It's about how you make them care that the ball is under the cup. FN

In order to make someone care that the ball is under the cup, we need multiple aspects.

• Perfect technique

• Subtlety

• Eye to detail

• Proper presentation

• Emotion

All of the above are important to make the spectator care about the ball under the cup. It also gets us to the age-old discussion: which one is more important, presentation, or technique?

I have always thought this to be a useless discussion, as in my eyes, both are as important. The most head-on analysis of this that I've seen so far is from Ascanio (The Magic of Ascanio Volume 1, Jesús Etcheverry). He talks about the concept of the magical atmosphere. Basically, an environment that feels magical, a place in time where anything can happen. This atmosphere, however, is very delicate. In order to create the atmosphere, we require a certain emotional involvement, belief in magic from the performer, and a proper magical presentation. But, in order to maintain this delicacy, we need perfect technique. The moment that we hint the audience towards our technique, the atmosphere breaks. The audience will realise that "we did something."

In order not to lift the veil and to make the spectator live in a moment of fiction, we need to maintain the veil. The only way to do this is with a combination of perfect technique and beautiful presentation.

THE WRONG QUESTION

So when we ask the question whether or not YouTube is destroying magic, we're asking the wrong question all along. We ask whether YouTube is destroying magic by revealing secrets. Which it is not.

However, YouTube can seriously hinder a magician's ability due to improper teachers who don't seem to understand the deeper faculties that are required for magic.

Improper teachers

With the understanding that YouTube might hinder the process, the question arises: if all teachers on YouTube are necessarily bad teachers? The quick answer is I don't know. I haven't seen all teachers on YouTube. However, from what I've seen, it's not very good.

Don't get me wrong, some guys teaching are doing a fantastic job at giving people a basis to explore magic without a financial commitment. Channels like 52Kardsfn offer the magic enthusiast a way to see if he/she likes magic enough to later commit to buying their first magic book or DVD.

However, we got to understand that most channels are trying to teach the student a full spectrum of tricks and techniques without truly understanding the deeper nuances behind magic.

In an age of dopamine, we all want the next "new thing". We convince ourselves that we can do a technique properly without actually being able to do it half well. Then we want to move on to the next thing. This is very understandable, as you're new to magic and you're excited to learn all the new things. Praise to the curiosity and drive of the new magic student! (Sometimes I miss these days).

The problem, however, with this approach of going from trick to trick, and move to move without any proper guidance or system is that we don't learn concepts in systems.

Teachers on YouTube seem to lack the ability, and knowledge to communicate these systems.

Is this because they have some alternative agenda and want to lure you into their online course? No, probably not, although, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some.

The main reason is that some guys are as excited to teach, as the new students are to learn. Which I love! I love the fact that these people want to share their information in order to enlarge other people's lives. However, they're usually not ready to teach.

I very often see people teaching on YouTube that are still relatively new to magic. They've learned something new, and they can't wait to share this knowledge with someone else. They can do a cool new thing, and now they want to show you how to do that cool new thing. Pretty dope, isn't it? (Again, I love the intention behind this).

The problem with learning too long from this approach, however, is that you're learning magic from someone who doesn't truly understand magic. They don't understand the nuances that go into magic, and they also don't understand why certain techniques are the way that they are.

Eye for detail

Whenever I see my good friend and mentor Michael Vincent perform magic, I notice something different. Mike is able to fool well-versed magicians with basic things. Things that technically they should know. I'm also convinced that if anyone else were to perform it, the magicians who were fooled by Mike's performance would look right through it.

So why do they get fooled?

Mike has a meticulous eye for detail. He is able to dissect a magic trick and look at the moments that need to be changed, those little moments that could use something extra, or that don't fit his personality.

The times that I've seen Mike fool magicians with material from the royal road to card magic are uncountable. Probably about every time that I see him. These tricks, however, do have a different quality to them as to when someone performs them that just learned the trick.

Mike has a much bigger understanding of magic as a system. He understands which moments are important in order to make it magical, which moments need cover, and which moments can be played with.

This is an eye for detail that all beginners are missing. Furthermore, the magicians teaching magic on YouTube are missing this perspective. Because remember.

Details make for perfection, but perfection is no detail

It's all those little things that make a magic trick truly memorable and impossible.

Back to the main point

So when I'm asked if people revealing magic tricks or teaching magic are destroying the art of magic, my standard response will always be: No.

I doubt that this is hurting the art one bit. This is for the main reason that once someone sees a routine performed with proper presentation, and eye for detail, the spectator won't even recognize the secret, even when they're familiar with it.

But, I did say it was hurting a specific demographic of magicians? Which is true, and a shame for some people. The demographic it's hurting is the people who are performing those tricks that are so easy to reveal, that it takes but a 5-second TikTok video. Basically self-working trick boxes, and cleverly constructed gimmicks. If these things ever instilled a true feeling of magic is a question, though.

I don't doubt that there is someone out there that can craft a presentation that will make a trick box truly a miracle. But in raw magical quality, it will always be worse than sleight of hand. Most of those tricks look "funny" in some way, and the spectator will always say, "I don't know how that worked, but I bet it's that weird prop."

This, however, is still a shame. There is nothing wrong with wanting to show some people a simple trick, bringing them some joy, and then putting the "trick box" back in the bottom of the drawer. All of us need something to do, so why not share joy and mystery with people?

But even with that being a shame, is it hurting the art? No, I don't believe so.

So if revealing the easy tricks isn't hurting the art, and learning magic through YouTube is only setting us back in the learning process. Then there is one last question to look at: "Is revealing sleight of hand tricks hurting the art?".

See, this is an interesting question, because most of these tricks cannot be revealed in a 5-second TikTok video, however, we can have videos of someone showing an exposed angle of a trick that uses heavy sleight of hand, such as palming.

I don't think that this is hurting the art either for the same arguments as I've stated before. But interestingly enough, it can even have a positive effect on the art. For this, I want to refer to Devant's and Maskylne's book (Our Magic, Devant & Maskelyne, 1911)

Our Magic

Our Magic, is a beautiful book about magic that I can highly recommend anyone to read, even better, the book is public domain.

The book is amazing, it has theory, amazing examples, and great tricks. I've been told by many of my friends who have read further than the theory section that the good part of the book is actually the second part. That being said, I want to focus mostly on the first section, as I haven't read the entire second section.

In the first section, Maskelyne talks about the different levels of art.

• Fake art

  • Literally imitating another magician word for word, move for move.

• Real art

  • Still using someone else's method, but making a new and personal presentation. (Could also be the other way around, in my opinion.).

• Higher art

  • Creating a new method and presentation to bring across a certain experience (keep in mind that this is not for creativity sake, and changing a double lift into a top change doesn't count).

Wether or not magic is art, and even what is art is a discussion for a different time.

Maskelyne also believes that the real secret behind magic is not the "secret technique, or, to put it in his words:

“To most people, the “secret” to any magical presentation means simply “how it Is done.” It is assumed that, when once the device used in producing a magical effect has been discovered, the secret of that effect is revealed. The trick has been found out and, therefore, nothing remains to be learned. A more erroneous view has never been conceived.”

This also means that if someone has learned a bit about magic, they will hopefully start to understand all the details and nuances that go into it. They should start to respect it more, and therefore the performer. Spectators can find it incredibly clever, or respect the raw skill.

I think it's difficult to pin point one thing that a spectator will appreciate. Everyone of us is different. Personally, I always enjoy skill and mastery of technique. This is also the thing that I always gravitate towards. However, my good friend Danny Urbanus usually appreciates the plot point and clever ideas more (that being said, Danny is a genius sleight of hand magician).

Just as we magicians appreciate different things, so will our spectators. The point, however, remains. Even when people are learning something from and about the art, it typically leaves them with a sense of respect. An expose of palming can look cool, but will also leave someone humbled. The realization of how much practice and time goes into the art will set in. They will realise that in order to do this well, someone has to dedicate their lives to it.

Conclusion

Learning magic from YouTube can be a great stepping stone, and a great way to tip your toes in the water of the big magical ocean. However, it can set the student back into entirely understanding the art. It can set the student back as it's not teaching them a system. It's not teaching them the importance of nuances, however, it opens up the door to a new generation of magicians who can still learn all of those details later anyway.

As for revealing magic, it is a cheap way to get views, it's lazy, but, it's not really hurting magic. Most people will have forgotten about the secrets within a few weeks, and when a magician performs a routine properly, the secret won't be recongnized.

Finally, as for the case of revealing sleight of hand, it will humble someone and leave them to respect the art even more.

Some of this all boils down to fear: "What if someone knows how I do my trick?". In my experience, people appreciate that you want to share something cool with them, that you want to have fun with them, and that you want to take their day out of the mundane. So as long as you're not being a dick, people won't be a dick back to you.

Enjoy magic, focus on getting better, sharing more love, and gaining a more in-depth understanding of our beautiful art.

Life is too short to worry about people revealing and teaching magic on YouTube and social media.

-Rico