A friend pointed me in the direction of a Facebook video in which the ‘magician’ (I almost hesitate to call him that actually!) presents what feels like an endless stream of very quick magical illusions, after each of which he immediately exposes the gimmick or method.
Apparently there are quite a few different people offering very similar magic performances, although personally I feel life is too short to bother investigating them all.
Setting aside the hugely dubious ethical nature of this type of magical exposure, you have to wonder what the point is! The type of material required has to be something visual which is over in an instant and which can be explained with equal speed. In the case of the footage I watched, the moment the reveal has been done, the performer literally throws the props aside as if they are just worthless rubbish.
According to the stats, this particular feed has had 4.3M views. Seriously? Are there that many people prepared to waste their time with this mindless attempt at magic? Apparently so, a fact that makes me fear for the future of mankind!
In my view this is where the internet does magic no favours at all. Anyone who has a love and respect for our art must surely agree that this meaningless format is an insult to magicians all over the world who put thought, time and effort into what they do. After all, magic should be so much more than ‘here’s a trick, now this is the method’.
When the Masked Magician was on TV in the late 1990s, he presented what was essentially a pre-internet version of the same principle. There was furore at the time in many magic circles over the way that he performed a wide range of effects beloved by magicians and then exposed a method.
Galling and insidious as it was, particularly since the presenter (Val Valentino) used a mask to hide who he really was, the long term damage to magic was limited, really. In fact I can remember talking to lay people about it when doing shows at the time and often their reaction was not one of interest but of disappointment. Many said they didn’t watch it because they wanted to avoid spoiling the surprise that magic created.
So, bearing that in mind, again I have to ask, what’s the point? The performer gains no kudos or credit for skill or imagination, and his apparent total disregard for magic is not going to encourage anyone to book him for a show. He comes across as ignorant and mean spirited, and really the only viewers who are likely to find what he does interesting or worthwhile, are those who believe that magic is simply all about ‘how’s it done’.
At its best, magic is a wonderful uplifting experience. It can transport people to a world where the impossible becomes possible and where humour and amazement combine to spread happiness and excitement.
So it is particularly disappointing that there are those out there who sit in front of a camera and simply churn out this type of fatuous rubbish. The only hope is that eventually the novelty will wear off and that just like the Masked Magician, these ignoramuses will turn to something else.