talkmagic.co.uk

I read in another thread "magick is trickery, magic is cheesey and magic is immature and young people do nt think it is hip."

I have worked with young people for about twenty years and about seven years I have shown magic to young people. Some are not interested, but the majority are intreagued and entertained. The problem as I see it is not "magic" but performance. How you perform magic must be relevent to your audience and capture their imagination.

Look atBlaine, Derren Brown and Criss Angel to name just a few they are watched on tv, you tube, thier books are read and they have a huge fanbase of all ages.

It is an easy option to say magic is seen as boring etc. when we should be looking at ourselves and our performance. You only need to look at cups and balls routines. They have been around for over 2000 years the magic around it may have been modified and change, but the most important thing is that the performance and style has developed with the ages.

It is our responsibility to perform magic in a relevent way for all ages.

By "young people" do you mean children? I know at least one child who is totally underwhelmed by the most sophisticated of card sleights but just loves "that one where the balloon man made the rabbit come out of the box" even though YOU CAN SEE HIS HAND MOVING THE GIMMICK. Honestly!

In regard to the question 'Is Magic Cheesy and immature' the answer is obvious:

It depends on the person performing it.

Whilst he is not my cup of tea, I don't think for one minute for example Criss Angel is 'cheesy' and 'immature'. The models he dates especially don't believe so.

I tend to agree with the young'ins after the occasional visit to the MagicCafe forums. Have you seen some of the avatars there? In no way should we all be alike but damn... some of those guys... yeah.

An outside, but very real, factor to the success of Blaine, Angel, etc. is majorly funded marketing. It's no secret that, generally speaking, the younger the person is the easier they are to manipulate via advertising and endorsements. From breakfast cereal and toys to music and television/movies to clothing to magic and everywhere in between. That's in no way a slam at Blaine, Angel, etc. They still have to deliver and do.

You didn't specify ages but used more general terms like "children". That covers a lot of ages in an age group where the mental development of children just a couple of years apart can vary greatly. In the limited performances that I have done for elementary students I have found that the younger they are the harder they are to perform for. Purely guessing but I imagine it has to do with them not being as educated by both books and the real world to understand that something magical/impossible just happened. There are completely normal things that happen on an everyday basis that appear magical to younger children yet mean nothing to older children who are starting to get a grasp of physics, mathematics, language, etc. Kinda hard to entertain a child with Hippity Hop Rabbits when he/she is still amazed at how a little pink square on the end of their pencil can erase the black line that just came out of a yellow piece of wood. The same piece of wood that amazed them by starting off flat on the end but came out pointed after being inserted into a magical device that they themselves cranked the handle of.

Oh, to be a kid again!

Starving Stu wrote:. The models he dates especially don't believe so.

It's impossible to know the motivation of a lovely woman and her fabulously wealthy date

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj-9lSEBBm0

0:54 for one of British television's finest moments

I used the terms children and young people after reading the remark. I don't think age, sex or any demographic has any influence on what people think about magic. It is a modern day principle to put blame at the feet of other people. Some people said ballroom dancing was crumby and old fashioned, then we have a tv program on and love it or hate it it has made watching and performing it as a hobby have a dramatic increase in popularity. People blamed dancing it was not "dancing" that was the problem it was presentation and the image portrayed that was the problem.

Magic is no different as magicians it is easy to say such a demographic finds it boring, cheesey etc and magicians have a choice, lye down and blame the given demographic for saying...... when really it is our responsibility to perform in a modern and entertaining manner that stimulates and audience today. We have a choice Do as we have always done and get criticiced or listen to what is being said and adapt to keep magic up to date, relevent and stimulating. That ius not to say we should all become Criss angels, Derren Browns or David Blaines ( Can you imagine a world of clone of those three entertainers it would make you vomit at the thought of it.) But by creating a m0odern and relevent presentation we will have an art form loved and accepted by different audiences.

The answer is not to look at magic but look at the performance. If people critice a style that is not magic that is wrong but the performance.

Hello, its me!!!

Let me state first and foremost, that I agree about performance et al. Tbh without sounding like a pray after performing I can change most peoples opinions in magic but that's my point, I'm changing people perceptions, when people think of magic they think of it as a thing and unless they have been performed to to make them think differently most people think of magic as the things I have stated, cheesy, etc. This is down to a stigma that people have attached to it using their own opinions from the performances people have experienced in the past. Like it or not, when people think of magic as a whole the last things they think are "cool" "popular" etc. It is up to us to make people see it differently.