talkmagic.co.uk

Hey peeps

I was just browsing the various delightful comments on Youtube, and I found that an oddly high number of... 'noobish' (lets say) people claimed to be 'Magicians'.

It was quite alarming to think that some rabid human being was table-hopping at a restaurant somewhere, showing off card tricks and sponge-ball effects for money. So, I just sort of ignored them and amused myself by imagining them being in zoos with people poking large, pointy sticks at them (how splendid).

Anyway, it also made me wonder: "What makes a magician?".

This is quite an opinionated topic, but I was wondering what people thought makes a genuine magician. Not necessarily a good one, but rather what classifies someone as a magician.

Example:

They do magic professionally or They show people magic tricks.

Sorry if this is posted wrongly and all that (I'm rather new to this forum, so, sorry in advance ).

hey, amazing Q!

Personally i think what makes a magician is the passion. Someone who has the passion to learn and to reserch. They odnt necissarly have to be good at it, but they have to have that spark.

i think someone who still gets amazed by other peoples tricks has something special going for them aswell, not that they should be gullable - but they should still get the feeling they got the firs ttime they saw magic, when they see a nice, new(or not new) trick that amazes them!

overall - maybe the phrase "eger to learn" sums it up?

Does that help?

Very helpful, thank you

I'm just interested in people's views and opinions on what a magician is.

There's plenty of numpties around these days that claim to be magicians when they're obviously not (I certainly don't class myself as a magician ).

Though I will take a lot of this stuff into account too Thanks again

Yeah i know exactly what you mean.

I dont call myself a magician, i dont mind using the term or being called it - i just dont use it on myself much.

There must be many definitions of 'magicians' I would prefer the term, 'Being able to entertain people with magic'

I think 'entertain' is a very important part of performing as a magician.

But each to their own. To me, doing a magic trick doesn't make you a magician.

I suppose you can't really be doubted as a magician if you are making your living from it - even if you're a bit poor at it, it's your vocation - there's not much else you could say otherwise!

But the rest of us, if you can entertain with magic, rather than just "knowing how lots of tricks work", I would call you a magician.

I also think that if you have learnt to improvise and to be able to use every day objects, this helps - not much of a magician if, when asked to do something, you've "left your special cards at home." (Then again, you're probably not much of a magician if you did leave your special cards at home! ). If the magic focuses around you, and not the bits and pieces you carry, then you're probably a magician.

I'm reminded of this every time I meet Tenko in Leeds - several of us will have our current favourite complicated tricks to show (polished to varying degrees ) he does something simple but makes it his own, and it's far more memorable!

So I would add to that, to say you are a magician if you, personally, can entertain people with magical experiences.

Entertaining someone by using magic!

Callum asks "what makes a magician."

Answer: The audience.

You can call yourself anything you want: A singer, a dancer, a magician, an astronaut, whatever.

Just don't try to entertain people, or impress them, with your near-non-existent skills.

Only when others call you a magician do you become one. While you may call yourself one, you are still only a jerk who does cheap and obvious tricks.

I think a good magician is one who can not only confidently do tricks, but who also has a passion in doing them.



Whether that means been able to sit in a glass box in london for 44 days *cough* David Blaine *cough* or simply doing your first card trick with ease.

someone who is so protective over the art that he locks his books up in a box so that not even family members can have a quick browse haha

obviously its essential to be good at what your doing and present it in a specific way,but at the end of the day,its all done for entertainment,so if ya can entertain the crowd then your sorted.

Is someone who entertains with magic but, also brings something new to the table.

There are magicians, there are fans, there are hobbyists. Our types can be segregated into many levels since it's hard for me to describe a person doing a card trick as a "magician."

I truly believe you are a magician if you do this for a living. If not, you can say you practice magic or "do" magic tricks, but not as a "magician" in it's entirety.

Noodlesoup, I disagree.

Some brilliant inventors and geniuses of magic were amateurs.
Sure, they had shows, but it wasn't their 'profession' per se. The one who is my icon image was, at least according to Teller, one of the greatest magic minds from the past century.

My personal opinion is similar to Peter Marucci. You are a magician when laypeople think of you as one. Laypeople should be emphasized, since on youtube, a lot of 'dabblers' call each other magicians to boost each others' egos.

What is a magician anyway? It's kind of like saying what is a swimmer? Is it someone who competes professionally, maybe it's someone who swims in galas for their local club, or perhaps you just have to go down the pool once or twice a week. Well to me they're all swimmers, they're making an effort to do something they enjoy doing.

I think magician is the same sort of thing, if someone's got passion for magic and is taking the time and putting the effort into it then I think they deserve to be called a magician regardless of the level that they're at.

Why make a distinction? There's alot of elitism in magic and I really don't see the need for it. We all started somewhere and we're all still learning.

So according to Noodlesoup , Ed Marlo wasn't a magician !