talkmagic.co.uk

Michael Close, in his excellent Workers series, makes a strong case for the need for a pedagogical approach in learning sleights. He criticises much magic instruction for instructing people how to *do* the move, but not how to *learn* the move. You wouldn't teach someone how to play the piano, say, by telling them "hit this note, then this key, then this key, then this key.... and that's Moonlight Sonata!" but that's pretty much how a lot of magic instruction works.

His initial case made some impact, and I think, either by direct influence or otherwise, that Card College is, from what I've heard, a great set of pedagogical instruction. The Cullfather also wins with this approach - its increasing levels of complexity and its awareness of common errors. However I don't think overall a great deal has changed. I've seen a fair number of videos where a move is being taught by the moves progenitor, which seems, unless the creator is lucky enough to have decent teaching chops, to be a bad idea. How can someone who has developed a move know what is a good way to teach it if, in a sense, they themselves have never learnt it? How does someone know what the common misconceptions, errors and sticking points are?

Close makes the point that one-on-one magic instruction is invaluable. I imagine that's the case, though I don't know enough to know. I do know, though, that there aren't enough good teacher/magicians out there in DVD and book land.

You're so right, Gruey. There are very few decent teachers out there. I have to say that the exceptions are people like Bill Malone and Oz Pearlman, who are very good teachers as well as very good magicians, and on the opposite side of the coin there are brilliant magicians like Brian Tudor and (it really pains me to say this because I love him) Lennart Green who are AWFUL at teaching.