talkmagic.co.uk

Yes, overall it shouldn't really be an issue. Ultimately the only people who really want to know how tricks are done are magicians.

If I go to a restaurant and eat an amazing meal, I don't ask the chef how he or she made it or go home and try to find 'the secret' on the internet. Why? I'm already a novelist and a magician; I can't be a chef too! There simply aren't enough hours in the day, and can't spare the head space. At most, I might occassionally look up an ingredient or ask someone what is in some meal, but this minute amount of knowledge won't prevent an experienced chef from blowing me away.

Most people in this world are passive consumers: they simply want to enjoy/consume whatever is created by other people. And even those of us (novelists, magicians, chefs etc) who do create, we only create in certain areas: we're passive consumers too in most areas of life. I create magic and I create novels: when it comes to everything else, I'm a consumer.

Ted wrote:Yeah, people could go to the effort of registering on TM, asking a question and then going over to YouTube but that's a lot of effort for a casual person who just wants to see how it's done.

Not when you consider how many people we get sign up just to ask how a trick is done.

Maybe that's a good indicator of how difficult it can be for a mortal to find how a trick is done on a site like youtube!

A_n_t wrote:

Ted wrote:Yeah, people could go to the effort of registering on TM, asking a question and then going over to YouTube but that's a lot of effort for a casual person who just wants to see how it's done.

Not when you consider how many people we get sign up just to ask how a trick is done.

Not that many, globally-speaking.

Ted wrote:

A_n_t wrote:

Ted wrote:Yeah, people could go to the effort of registering on TM, asking a question and then going over to YouTube but that's a lot of effort for a casual person who just wants to see how it's done.

Not when you consider how many people we get sign up just to ask how a trick is done.

Not that many, globally-speaking.

What about magic community speaking?

I agree we do not have 100,000 sign ups a day to seek answers although we do see peaks after things such as Derren Browns Events and I am not saying YouTube in general is a major problem, merely that we may be adding to it by "helping".

A_n_t wrote:

Ted wrote:Not that many, globally-speaking.

What about magic community speaking?

I agree we do not have 100,000 sign ups a day to seek answers although we do see peaks after things such as Derren Browns Events and I am not saying YouTube in general is a major problem, merely that we may be adding to it by "helping".

Please don't think that I am being antagonistic, but the more the merrier I say. If someone sees an effect, needs to know how it's done, goes to the effort to find out and develops an interest in magic then fantastic. Let's not pretend that we didn't all start out like that. It's just that you, I and most people here older than 20 years old did not have the internet to help. We spent hundreds of pounds on dreadful effects from places like the Supreme Magic Company instead.

So I welcome anyone to this forum who has seen an effect and gone to the trouble of researching how it was done (YouTube, book, chatting to someone in a magic club, whatever). Even if they simply find this place and ask, that shows 1,000 per cent more initiative than your average magic TV exposure programme viewer.

I must agree with that. In the scheme of things, somebody learning one effect is not going to be that big a deal and if it sparks an interest to learn and develop their understanding in magic then that can only be good.

so kinda off the subject....but what about illegaly downloading off of torrent sites?? is that any worse than youtube? i feel it is just blatant theft any opinions??

If the owner of the effect hasn't agreed then any copying/sharing/downloading is theft.

I absolutely agree with Mandrake. It's a different thing from deducing a method from a poor performance.

I think sites/video's teaching basic sleights and moves are ok, but when copyright effects are "revealed", its no more than theft. I think that all these "revealer's" would soon get bored and frustrated if we all constantly keep changing one small aspect of the handling in our tricks, so we are always one step ahead.