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Hello all, i thought that i might share this with everyone as i am a bit taken back by it

Yesterday I had a video of mine shared by a fellow Magician as it was his trick

I then noticed a comment made by a person regarding this, it actually shocked me as this has never happened to me before

Even in the older generation, nobody has even mentioned it at the magic circle

Has anyone else had this happen? I know i am covered in tattoos but so are Luke Jermay and Peter Turner

The comment was removed as the magician felt that it was rude, I Don't think it was malicious but still

What i want to know is should physical appearance really matter in a performance?

It shouldn't matter, but to some people it does. The more people that view your video (or who you perform in front of), the greater your chances become of finding people who won't like you for this reason or that. Take it in stride and move along.

Of course it shouldn't matter but unfortunately to some it does. Just take it in your stride and don't let it bother your. I heard the occasional remark about my appearance when performing and how I should have made more 'effort', they obviously didn't realise that the bare footed hippy is part of my stage act and persona.

It matters. Packaging sells. Know your audience dress accordingly. Not overly long ago I asked a brilliant magician why he always performs with his sleeves rolled down. He does a lot of coin work and I heard several audience members mention that the coins go up his sleeve. He rolled up his sleeves for me only to reveal his other set of sleeves, devils, women, skulls you name it. He used to be a tattoo artist. Now unless he is performing for a rock band or the like he always wears formal attire because of those tattoos.

Sure he can fight it and maintain the line how it shouldn't matter. But it does and he has a family to feed.

Personally I'm not really bothered it was just unexpected, given the fact that this was a facebook video not a paid gig

Also I'm not a working pro i do this as a hobby, if i were to ever venture further i would like to believe i could look the way i want not what someone else expects

If the comments were meant to be constructive criticism then you can either take them on board or ignore them. Hard to think how you would make the tattoos disappear though! Being an old fffffogey I'm not a fan of tattoos as such but, as you mentioned, a lot of performers now sport such decorations so I recognise I'm probably way off target here. Bottom line, if your performances are of good standard they will ensure the audiences focus on the magic rather than bodily embellishments. In a nutshell, just do your thing!!

I read a post recently or might have been a videoclip where some magicians were discussing tattoos and saying basically they were a deterrent from the magic or something.

I personally don't have tattoos though I am thinking of getting one arm tatood with some meaningful artwork.. maybe.

I find some tattoos quite artistic myself, though I don't really favour an entire body full of tattoos.. but its all preference. and can be said about anything.

I think the notion that the trick looked less "neat" because of tattoos is ridiculous though.

oh. by the way, hi anyone who remembers me.. it's been .. years!!

I.D it has been a long time haha hope you are well. Two more sittings and my entire back will be covered, i have no intentions of performing topless though

I'm certainly not covered but I have got three, Tinkerbell on one shoulder, a purple ribbon on the other and a chain of hearts around an ankle. If I'm performing as my hippy mentalist persona I don't worry about them but if I'm doing a formal gig, I'll always make sure that they're covered up just because they don't always fit with how I'm trying to present myself. Remember, they can add character if you want to put across a certain look and for what you were doing on a YouTube vid, there wasn't really any need for that comment.

And... ID!!! Great to see you back!
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This is my back currently and what it will look like by November just FYI, i have a full Gladiator theme going on. I do regret the tribal but i was kind of young when i git that

Magic1Jim wrote:Personally I'm not really bothered it was just unexpected, given the fact that this was a facebook video not a paid gig

Also I'm not a working pro i do this as a hobby, if i were to ever venture further i would like to believe i could look the way i want not what someone else expects

I wish this was the case. I don't have any tattoo's and I really do admire the well done ones. And fully agree that it shouldn't matter if you have one or not. But it does. I also agree that the tattoo's do not take away from the magic, unless your magic is really bad and if that is the case anything will take away from your magic.

I do however have a birthmark on the left side of my face. Around my eye and the side of my nose so it is quite noticable, (my dentist tells me it also covers half my upper palate in my mouth. People do tell me that after a few minutes of talking with me they don't see it anymore. My friends only notice it when I have a fever as then it really shows up. There is a magician in Jean Bouchar who has a few things on the market and quite well known in Canada. Anyway he came into my fathers magic shop and I was demonstrating, and I must not have been feeling well. He took one look at me and called me a lucky b*****. I started to laugh and asked him why. He told me that this was the first time he noticed my birthmark, (we have known each other for years). he said at least mine is on my face. He showed me his hands and he had the same birthmark running along the entire side of his hands. He told me it sucked being a card guy because some folks see the birthmark and don't want to take a card.

It would be nice if we could put all these things aside. But we don't.

Wow not taking a card, it must be just how i was raised then. I don't judge people, i've been judged especially with tattoos like some thug even though I'm into the thousands now. Maybe it was my magic haha

Magic1Jim wrote:This is my back currently and what it will look like by November just FYI, i have a full Gladiator theme going on. I do regret the tribal but i was kind of young when i git that

Crikey !!! you have this on your back JIM.. You will never ever get a job in magic.

Haha Oh well, there goes my dream

Magic1Jim wrote:Haha Oh well, there goes my dream