talkmagic.co.uk

I need help. But not that urgently though. Those who can help just help.Those who cant its alright. Here is my problem:

All of us know magic is supposed to be a secret. But my mate just cant keep his mouth shut and has revealed some secrets.I dont really want to lose him as a friend so what do i do?
P.S.: He is a magician too.

beat him. beat him badly while wearing a mask, problem solved and you guys are still friends!

but yeah, go talk to him about it and he should understand why if he himself is a magician

could show him a few messages on exposure from this site, I take it your quite young and new to magic. This site has magicians who have practised and performed many years on it and so perhaps he will respect their advise and come round to your way of thinking.
I don't even like having magic tricks exposed to ME If I know all magic then I'll never get that feeling of wonder we all get when we see good magic.
I personaly only want to know the secrets of the tricks I perform, the rest is for others to amaze me with, and long may they do so

Last point when people say 'show me how it's done', most of the time it's just because they have to say something
interesting to see what you other guys think about this? as it's a common problem in magic

Davendithas wrote:I need help. But not that urgently though. Those who can help just help.Those who cant its alright. Here is my problem:

All of us know magic is supposed to be a secret. But my mate just cant keep his mouth shut and has revealed some secrets.I dont really want to lose him as a friend so what do i do?
P.S.: He is a magician too.

You've learned a very valuable lesson. Once you give someone else knowledge, you no longer control it. The only rational solution is to keep your magical secrets bottled up.

Davendithas wrote:But my mate just cant keep his mouth shut and has revealed some secrets

And

P.S.: He is a magician too.

He is not a magician.

As other have said - try and make him see sense. If that doesn't work then don't perform magic to others when he is around and/or to people who he knows too. If he won't keep his secrets a secret, then at least he can't divulge yours too.

Im trying to get some sense into him now and i think hes changing... for the better.I think.

He is not a magician.

Actually he is. But just sometimes he gets out of hand and reveal some secrets. Sigh Sigh, some of his tricks were even seen through by many other spectators. Didnt train properly... haha.

Im trying to get some sense into him now and i think hes changing... for the better.I think.

Good move - my comment was if he says he's a magician but then goes out giving secrets, that does not make him a magician. A trickster, maybe, but most definitely not a magician. He clearly hasn't put the time in learning his magic - is he a magician when people can quite clearly see what he's doing?

A magician's job is to create wonder - to amaze and mystify; so how can he do that and then take it all away for his audience and still be a magician?

Did you sit him down and say...

"Look mate. The art of magic is survived by people keeping the secrets. It makes things difficult for me to have people like you ruining the art for those I love to perform for. I wish that you would stop telling people the secrets when they ask you."

Honesty is amazing... but if you want to be a little indirect, here is what I have said to people before...

"I know what it is like though, I knew a guy who loved to give away secrets because he thought it made people like him more... or think he was a "cool" guy... all that stuff. I understood why he did that, but it really didn't make him look any better, once people had the secret they just thought of him as they guy who would expose it. Not some cool guy that knew a bunch... plus he really got on my nerves. It's funny, people think they look good exposing a secret in magic... when they look far better keeping it... and using it."

You know. that kind of thing.

I have the exact same problem with a guy who is neither a magician nor my friend. He has revealed back palming a card and classic palming a coin, but has made such horrible descripitions of each, no one catches on when I palm a coin.

Try to explain to your friend that, even though he thinks that people want to know how tricks are done, and the people may really think that they want to know the secrets, that unless they are planning on becoming magicians that magic will be forever ruined for them (yes, a sleight exageration but I am trying to make a point). I have ben practicing magic for 30 years now, and when I learned the first of many secrets I never looked at magicians performance the same way again. Although I certainly love magic, and enjoy watching magicians perform, I do not watch it the same way the average spectator does. When I watch another magician perform, usually the amazement I experience is from the skill of the performer, the structuring of, or handling used in, the routine, or how the performer handles the audience.

Let him know that, although he thinks that he is giving them what they want, they will be far less happy knowing the secrets and will enjoy magic in the future much less, than if they did not know how the tricks were performed.

Yes. Once you know a few sleights and what is going on, your sence of wonder is gone. Compare the last card effect you saw to the first great piece of magic you saw in your life. Think about your reactions to both. That is what happens once you learn magic. This will happen to laymen if your friend (and my classmate ) keep spreading secrets.

Your friend should be
1. Ashamed of himself
2. Excommunicated
3. Publicly flogged

What he has done is to spoil the enjoyment and amazement of others.

In my opinion this is as low as telling a five year old that father christmas does'nt exist (we all know he does)

Your friend should be
1. Ashamed of himself
2. Excommunicated
3. Publicly flogged

Sounds a bit harsh, don't you think.

No i agree with that

You can always try to turn his "knowledge against him".....find another way to perform a specific effect, and bluff him (and everyone he has told) by making it like like....as you said for example - a classic palm..when in reality you have done the dirty work a different way. Slow the performance down, try to make things look obvious, and hope someone calls you out. Then reveal both palms, the back of your hand, or whatever the specs thought happened, and have a good chuckle.