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A few days ago, a friend of mine approached me and asked me to help him out as he is interested in magic. He asked me if I could teach him some of the stuff that I do. Upon informing me that he has already purchased a book that tackles the basics (Magic by Mark Wilson), I told him to buy a deck and come back to me in a week.
My problem is this: should I let him out on his own to discover just exactly what it takes to be good in this discipline, or should I help him out by giving him full attention, and thus access to more advanced stuff?

How about putting training on hold for a while.
There are many basic effects in the Wilson book which use just a deck of cards or everyday objects.
Why not let him practice some more and put a routine together from these.
He can put on a small show at Christmas for you and family/friends. You can then assess him and see if he has what it takes to be a performer (and to keep secrets !)
If he still seems enthusiastic after this then maybe get him to buy a few easy to do effects and progress from there.

It is not the price of an effect or how difficult it is that makes it entertaining.
I remember a local magic club where all members had to put on a ten minute show just with tricks from the "Abracadoobries" range.
It seemed like going back to basics at first but I soon realised that a lot of good magic is available commercially, and for a good price.
The tricks in question may not have been of the best quality but the entertainment value was through the roof.

And its how much the audience are entertained that really counts. Why not help him devise a short routine then see how it goes down at Christmas? Is that not the best of both worlds?

Great ideas guys However, will I not be pressuring him too much if I make him perform on the tewty-fifth? He just got the book two weeks ago.

I have to agree, I think that is far too much pressure. I know guys who've been doing magic for years, but they have a REAL hard time actually performing for an audience. The killer is that these guys are pretty good, they just have a really hard time in front of an audience.

Personally, I'd say go with your gut. If you honestly feel that this guy is serious, help him out. Rather than just telling him secrets, which really isn't where the magic is, work on him with the simple stuff from a presentational point of view. Teach him to be a magician, not a trickster.

He may get a bit impatient with this, in which case he will take it upon himself to buy more advanced material. However, you will be giving him a strong foundation for when he decides to push through to the more difficult material.

Mike.

Michael Jay wrote: Teach him to be a magician, not a trickster.

Mike.

This is exactly what has been causing me trouble. How do I convey that magic is not entirely about the methods? I must admit, when I was starting out a few years ago, all that consumed me was learning how a trick was done and then trying to find more, focusing solely on the aspect of "how". Only two years ago did I realize that this approach to magic was wrong.

I'm just a bit apprehensive about boring him with what actually should be known.

Surely if it bores him, he is not the right person to perform magic!!!

To an extent, I have to agree that if it bores him, then maybe he doesn't deserve your time and effort. Then again, as I said, you are the one closest to him and will know better than any of us whether he is worth the time or not. You have to make this call.

Also, I think that the majority of us were after methods at first and hadn't the vaguest notion about presentation. Then again, not many of us had the luxury of a mentor, either. That, in my opinion, is what a mentor is about - leading us down the right path.

If he wants to buy up a bunch of tricks and learn the methods, don't stop him, but don't help him with that either. Tell him, bluntly, that you will teach him to be a magician and anything that he wants to do outside of that, like buying up a bunch of useless tricks, is his own thing. Let him know that there is nothing wrong with this but that the real magic is in entertaining an audience and not specifically tricking them. Eventually, he will come to the same conclusion that we all do and he will get past this opening phase. He will also be much richer for having your guidance from the beginning.

So, don't stifle his beginning need to buy up a bunch of useless stuff. In doing this, he will find what he is most happy with, so it really is an important part of becoming a magician, rather a finding himself sort of thing. Once you can see what kind of magic he is gravitating towards, then you will be more able to help him along with his presentational skills and his entertainment skills.

I hope some of this helped.

Mike.