I’m sure we’ve all had the experience where we buy a magic trick online and when we get it, we feel disappointed by it. Perhaps the method seems inadequate or the plot of the trick is not quite how we expected it to be, and it feels either as if we have wasted our money or that we have been duped by the dealer!
But the truth of the matter is that most of the time we have probably just deluded ourselves. When we watch a video trailer or read a description of a marketed item, part of the fun is imagining how the trick is actually done.
Inexperienced magicians, in particular, are often fascinated by the method almost more than by the effect achieved, and because they have limited magical knowledge, they are easily fooled.
This wouldn’t matter so much if it wasn’t for the fact that in the absence of any known possible explanation, we sometimes start to imagine all sorts of fantastic methods, ones that turn the trick into a miracle that we just have to buy.
When the trick then arrives and turns out to be achieved with a thumb tip and a length of invisible thread, our extravagant expectations are hugely disappointed, and we feel cheated. The fact that the supplied props perfectly achieve the effect that fooled us so badly, is conveniently forgotten.
Magic is unique in that when you make a purchase you are buying an illusion of some sort. And the fun part is that you don’t even know exactly what you will receive for your money! You are ordering a concept, an idea, a moment of visual eye-popping impossibility perhaps, not a loaf of bread, and you need to understand this if you want to avoid buyer’s remorse.
Now, of course, it would be wrong to lay all the blame for frustrated expectation at the feet of the hapless purchaser, because the magic creators and suppliers also play their part in the delusion. Video dems can be deliberately misleading and imply that an effect is far cleaner or stronger than it actually is. It’s all part of the tease to hook the customer in, and since the magician is buying a secret, the dealer is not duty bound to reveal in advance how the effect is done.
But there should be a balance between a sales pitch and outright lies. Exactly what being fair to the customer means can vary from one supplier to another. When you purchase a few times from different dealers you should soon get to know whether they have been honest enough with you, or whether they have deliberately tried to encourage you to buy inferior products. If you feel you have been deceived, there are plenty of other suppliers to try.
I think the key thing to do in order to avoid constant disappointment is to watch video dems with your rational head on. Remind yourself that there is no such thing as magic (!), so there has to be a method. The chances are, this will not be something fantastical, but possibly potentially almost boring. But, try to remember that it is the effect that counts, and if the method supplied achieves the promised illusion in a fooling way, you should not feel disenchanted.
With the possible exception of the Tenyo magic range, plots are usually better than the methods, so accept that.