Do you need to know your magic history in order to be a good Magician?

I was at the coffee house the other day having coffee with a great magic friend of mine. We get together and talk about the new effects I'm creating and he shows off his awesome close-up magic.
Somehow we got on the topic of  "Do you need to know your magic history in order to be a good Magician?" Great question. Do you? Do you have to know all the history, dates, names of creators and their effects? names of card flourishes, coin flourishes palming techniques etc.....

Can you be a successful magician without being a walking encyclopedia of magic or is that part of the business? Is it possible to be off on your own and not be to knowledgeable of the art and just be good at what you do?


Are there pro magicians that are great and don't know to much about magic history.
Do we as magicians feel the need to belt out names, creators of effects, illusions ect....
just to make us feel superior over our peers. Do you feel insecure or threatened by not knowing as much as others?

Is studying magic slowing you down or preventing you from reaching your potential and reaching for the stars? How many times in scholl have you been taught sensless subjects only to never use them in your life. I think schools should concentrate more on life skils rather then "Fill in the hour" lesons.
How about taking the class to a grochery store and give them tasks like run a register that does't do the math for them. Stock the shelves, push carts....


Here is a breif conversation of Albert Einstein in this very subject.

ONE OF Einstein's colleagues asked him for his telephone number one day. Einstein reached for a telephone directory and looked it up. "You don't remember your own number?" the man asked, startled.

"No," Einstein answered. "Why should I memorize something I can so easily get from a book?"

In fact, Einstein claimed never to memorize anything which could be looked up in less than two minutes.

I think as artists we have to just be who we are and if rembering facts isn't your strength then find something that is. Strength doesn't come from knowlege. It comes from inside. -Imaginator-