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What do you consider magic? An art? Simple entertainment? A way of life?

Please share your thoughts.

I personally consider magic an art, because it releases so many emotions from spectators and laypeople. They can feel fear, happiness, anger, surprise, and many more. Magic also, if executed in a certain manner, can look like poetry, the way cards are fanned and coins are rolled looks beautiful, smooth, and poetic.

In one way, magic is a form of entertainment purely and simply, and I'd put it in the same bracket as stand up comedy, juggling, doing impressions of people, and so on.

In other ways it's more like a performing art, like playing a musical instrument, or dancing, or ice-skating, it depends on the context and the way in which it is performed for me.

I suppose street magic and close up magic is in the former category of being entertainment, whereas stage magic is more like a performing art. Things like XCM, flourishing and so on would probably be considered more artforms as well.

I agree. Different forms of magic have different qualities. Street magic and close up with entertainment quality (mostly) and stage stuff more poetic and art-y.

Definately a performing art if you go out to perform for others, although I wonder if those who practice magic for their own enjoyment and amusement without performing to others are taking part in a hobby rather than a performing art?

Again, I'd also say that it's entertaining, although by no means simple. Magic is a multi-faceted art form but I wold find it difficult to make a comparrison between a good magician and a good musician, or other performers for that matter. It's subjective and different for each person.

I think that street magic, close-up and stage magic are all performing arts requiring equal amounts of skill that is just channeled differently.

Any individual that can do something that the masses can't do, and entertain the masses whilst doing whatever he/she does is an artist in my eyes.

dat8962 wrote:Any individual that can do something that the masses can't do, and entertain the masses whilst doing whatever he/she does is an artist in my eyes.

It's interesting to see different people's interpretations of this. Does that make a stand-up comedian an artist? A good public speaker? An actor?

It's interesting to see different people's interpretations of this. Does that make a stand-up comedian an artist? A good public speaker? An actor?

It will be interesting but why not? Look at someone like Peter Kay, or Ricky Gervais. Look at someone like Johnny Depp. Wpuld you call them artists?

I would.

Public speaking - now there's one Imagine having to stand up in fron of dozens, hundreds or even thousands of strangers and speak for 30 minutes without boring the socks off the majority and NOT fluff your lines. I think that this is a very skillfull art form and one that is most often overlooked.

But it's all about personal opinions

My personal opinion differs a tad, but it usually does, so here goes...

1. Magic is entertainment. Anyone can buy a cheapo magic trick, or rob a file from YouNoob or filesharing places and perform to entertain, but this doesn't make them a magician.

2. Magic is an artform. Yes, it is. It can be used for creative expression, and personal reasons. In this way, yes, it's artistic.

3. Magic is a therapy. Yes... magic can be both relaxing AND theraputic. Magic can bring an individual out of their shell, and give them confidence. It can create a fantastic feeling of achievement.

4. Magic is a buzzword. Yeah, too right it is. Every man and his dog (oh, and women, LOMstypoos et al) seems to be into magic at the moment. Even our local landlord, who—bless him—is about as clever as a Churchill nodding dog, was seen entertaining the patrons at Xmas with a deck of Marvin's cards.

5. Magic is escapism. Yes... just like watching a good movie, watching a good magic show lets us shed our physical and spiritual beliefs for a while, and put a foot forward in the world of the obscure, improbable, and impossible. A fantastic example of entertainment.

6. Magic is misrepresented. Most people—especially 'the younger generations'—see magic as being almost invented around the late 90s by a certain American. And certain online stores who promote 'thEir' brand of magic have perpetuated the belief. However, magic is much, much more. And as always, I'd urge people to dig a bit deeper into magic history before considering calling themselves a magician.

7. Magic is deception and lies. Yes—of course it is. But no more than watching your favourite movie actor. Or listening to your favourite song. Actors, songwriters, performers of most ilks are deceptive. An actor is pretending to be someone they are not. A songwriter/singer is weaving what is usually a ficticious tale. A magician is simply fooling you into believing something is possible, which you know in reality is impossible.

8. Magic is free. Ohhhhhh yes. Magic IS free. It costs usually nothing to perform. However, to learn it, you must study. And study of any kind costs money. In the same way that learning a foreign language should be free—which it is... but you still have to invest TIME and MONEY into learning it.

9. Magic is a fad which will die out. Nah. Since the dawn of civilisation, magic of some kind has existed. Even in nature, animals put on grand illusions to fool other animals—whether it be for defence, 'baiting', or copulating. Magic is all around us, and we love being fooled by it. It's a stay-er.

10. Magicians are up their own harrises? Yes. They are. A good magician will guard their secrets from the masses, and share with a trusted few. It's not egotism or elitism that makes magicians seem pompous—it's more to do with the fact that they've INVESTED the time, and INVESTED the money, and GAINED the experience... why shouldnt' they feel a little bit elite?

In "Designing Miracles" Ortiz has some challenging thoughts on the perception of magic as an art:

Darwin Ortiz wrote:It's only in magic that many seem to feel that talking about art can substitute for mastering craft.

and:

Darwin Ortiz also wrote:If you're one of the many magicians who affirm that magic is an art, let me test your sincerity. Think of any item in your repertoire. If you could make this trick 10% stronger, but doing so would make it 50% harder, would you be willing to do the extra work?

Which is worth thinking about and a book definitely worth getting, especially if you answer "No" to the above question. I would agree that it is an art, but the above are ideas definitely worth thinking about.

For me magic is a tool, a means of eliciting a feeling of just pure impossibility which is a beautiful thing to experience and one which we experience less and less these days. That's why I maintain that XCM and all that is not magic.

More and more nowadays my magic is about making the participant the star; the effect is a demonstration of their latent abilities. Often they leave with a physical memento of their experience which, through various suggestive techniques, they find an enchanting item for years to come and is of benefit every now and then in their everyday lives.

To me magic is nothing more than making the impossible real. Can't really think of what else to say.

I see magic as a performing art. Anyone can go through the stages of a trick but if performed badly, it's nothing. But even the most simple of tricks, if performed with originality and flair can be mind blowing.

The magician is an actor, they're playing the part of a character that they've devised and that character will often change depending on the routine you're doing. When I perform my pink and fluffy valentines routines, I'm playing a totally different character to when I perform my okie spooky halloween routines.

It is entertainment, yes but in order for it to be entertainment, you have to first have mastered the performance.

Magic is about taking people out of their hum-drum lives for a few moments and showing them just a glimpse of another world that they half-remember from childhood.

One of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed was the first time I ran a spook night and I had 3 volunteers engage in a glass moving experiment (or a ouija board as they used to be called before it became un-PC to use the term). The sight of that glass moving around the table like an ice-skater almost moved me to tears. Odd.

i see it as a comparison to music...from the 1950s to present day...

at the beginning, it was more original, things had to be invented from scratch..you didnt have much to build on, except for really ancient ideas...(skiffle+gospel+work songs+blues+jazz)

then lots of changes very quickly as each new sleight or working spread like wildfire creating more and more new hybrids...(60s rythmn 'n blues+psychedelic rock+rock+west coast+brit boom etc)

then more theatrics involved and bigger stage illusions (ELP, Yes and so on)

then the cross overs and revivals...perhaps leading to nowadays, with bedroom-based magicians/musicians creating their own stuff and releasing it themselves...

you also have the copycat lot, a magpie mindset of samplers/creative thieves and outright blaggards...downloading for free and selling stuff thats not theirs...

plus the good old revivalists...an oasis/t-rex/beatles mixture...embracing the old, but adding the new...

that made sense in my brain..but probably not on here...whats new?!

then youve got the buskers and blaines of course...

Magic is one of the words we use to acknowlege the mystery of life and living.
It is also a way of explaining that for which a single explanation is not enough - so - magic is, well, magic

i see a big difference between elitism and just being proud of yourself...

it like getting a degree, i can completely understand someone being proud of themselves for passing...but would happily set them on fire if they somehow thought they were infinately superior to others just because they've got a new label to plonk on themselves...

knuckle down, learn your trade, be yourself...thats it...share with no one, or everyone, up to you...

I see magic like many other things like music, sport, acting etc. There are different levels professionalism, skill, knowledge et all for each of them. They are all fairly similar in one way or another.

In saying that I believe that magic has an extra dimension to these similar things. Magic can provide that extra element to enchant the mind and challenge people if even for one second- is that real magic.

I have a question for the everyone- When can you call yourself a magician? I mean at what stage do you change from a guy who knows a few tricks to a magician?

I know its not an over night thing but I'd like to hear your thoughts