It's been a few weeks since I've been active here on my blog. Actually I really haven't been too active on the social network. For the past couple of years I decided that in the early months of the New Year I would take a mental break from the social network and free myself from social network stress and the constant need to upload a picture, video, post....It seems at times a competitive thing us humans think we have to do in order to be accepted by our peers and cliques. If you think about it there has been social networking way before our time. We just figured out a way to make it faster and stream across the world and into other countries instantaneously.
In the caveman eras they have been using tablets way before us. In fact writing on walls and slats was their main source of communication and socialization. I really don't have enough experience or education to go deeper into this, I'm just sharing with you the basics of what I learned from school.
One night at Barnaby's I was performing the cap through bottle effect. There was a small family of about five. 3 boys, 1 girl and the mother. Two of the boys were the "KNOW IT ALL" type. After I was done performing the effect the effect one of the boys said "I watch a lot of youtube video. Let me have you (P- ---G) I knew at this point that I was dealing with a "KNOW IT ALL!" and no matter what I do they will challenge it. These types are very dangerous to deal with and almost impossible to entertain. No matter how good you are in their mind they are looking at your magic as a challenge. They want you to feel like you can't fool them.
After a few attempts of performing various effects I decided to give the table a polite goodnight and move onto the next table. I decided to take a break and go to the back of the kitchen where I keep my magic gear.
I couldn't stop thinking of the kid who was rudely calling out my bottle effect. I think this is where ego gets the best of us magicians. As I was in the back of the kitchen going through my gear I couldn't help thinking about the "KNOW IT ALL!" kid. I felt that I had to prove my magic skills to him as well as everyone else at that table. So I went into Macgyver combat mode. I actually have an emergency kit that I take along with me on my shows. In that kit I cary.
1. Cards
2. Coins
3. Rope
4. Fishing line
5. Duct Tape
6. Electrical tape
7. Elastic
8. Super clue
9. Clips
10. Sewing kit
11. Dry clean cloth
12. First aid kit
There is a few more, but you get the idea. I started going through the emergency bag and I came up with a different method to make the cap penetrate the bottle without having a - - space ----I tried it out a few times and it worked like a charm. I then went back towards the table and purposely went to pass it up when I was surprisingly stopped by the mom. I think she was picking up on how I was slightly irritated when I was at there table earlier. She apologized and asked me to do more magic. I was actually predicting this would happen as I was purposely passing the table up. I decided to do the bottle again. I said to "You know what? earlier you insisted that I used a _ _ _ _. I'm not sure really what you were talking about. You see I took the _ _ _ _. off so now I don't have anything on." I'll do it again. I showed the bottle cap to everyone and then picked up the bottle. I clearly brought the bottle cap up toward the bottle and BAM! it went clear through. The two "KNOW IT ALL" boys jaws about dropped. It was a felling of prevailing. The sad thing was is that they still had the arrogant cockiness. So again I politely removed myself from the table.
With some people you just can't win. Sometimes it's better to just eat up your ego and pride and move on.
One of the things that kept echoing in my mind was when the kid said "I saw that on youtube" It seems like this is going on a lot on youtube as well as other video websites where young kids are revealing magic effects and ripping into them. They will rip into them and talk about what a rip off it is and that they could of made that. My mind frame is? "Ya, but you didn't!" There are many effects that I bought that I could of made myself, but I don't think that. Instead I think about the cleverness and hard work that went into making that magic effect. Being a magic inventor myself. I have come to appreciate all the little things that make that effect. Everything to manufacturing, directions, video all the way to packaging.
One of the other things I'm concerned about in the magic industry is "Magic Product Video Trailers"
The other day I was showing one of the regular customers at Barnaby's my new magic effect called "Sew WHAT" the customer wanted to see the new effect that I came up with.
As I was showing the video I they asked what some of the words meant that was coming up on the video?
You know, the magic jargon that comes up on many magic videos that say such things as
1. No TT neede
2. No strings
3. No D_ _ space _ _ _ _
When this question was brought up by my regular customer it made me think how it could be very easy for laymen to come across some of the jargon we use and simply Google it and land on a website where the gimmick is being exposed and explained.
The thing is, many magic videos use that jargon about certain gimmicks not being used. There is a reason for that and that is because the video is what sells the effect. It doesn't really matter if the video is low or high budget. The end result is. Is it good and is it a product I would want? Putting text in various portions of the video explaining that such and such gimmick isn't used adds to a potential sale. Especially if the viewer is unaware of how the magician is accomplishing the effect.
Many of us inventors are posting our products not only on youtube, magic websites, but also on our own personal social media pages where we have a mix of family, friends and magic network. I'm considering starting a new profile just because of this.
What is your thoughts? Do you think that revealing names of gimmicks in videos is a problem?
Do you have a solution or idea? if so please comment here. I think in the social era it's going to be more and more difficult to protect our art.
It feels like our ART is becoming more and more challenging, but I guess all we can do is concentrate and reach out to the ones that do appreciate it and maybe perhaps try to educate them a little on our art.
Thanks for visiting and please leave your comments on any of the above in the comments area.
-Imaginator-
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