I truly think that magicians themselves are the reason the word ' magic ' has often had little respect in the real world and why so many lay people are surprised when they see live magic they are impressed with . Part of this is based upon how we in the magic community treat each other and how we treat our art .
It goes without saying that we should not steal from fellow magicians , but even that rule is not held to by many of our clubs . Exposing our secrets is indeed a firm rule all clubs mention , yet many do not even hold members accountable for that basic rule and to be honest even that rule does not hurt us as much as rule number one on this list does .
Here are the explanations from my own life that go along with these rules . Match them up and see how many apply to you . You might be surprised . We will cover one or two a month . I have been pleasantly surprised by how many magicians have sent me a private note thanking me for bringing my rules to their attention as they realized they have been guilty themselves of these rude actions and ‘ plan to change ’. Feel free to put these pledges on your wall at your club and I would even suggest that each new member get a copy and that at each meeting one of these rules is discussed and personal incidents mentioned so we can learn and remember how to treat fellow performers so we can promote our art in the way it should be promoted and respected .
D . I will not disturb a fellow performer prior to his show .
D . This one should be easy to understand and if you do not then you are not a performer . In fact , if you break this rule , never call yourself a performer
Think about it , would you really want someone to bother you right before a show ? Just because a performer is standing around does not mean that he is not doing something . He might be scouting people to use in his act , he may be going over some lines in his head . He may be actually working and doing secret stuff .
Move on , there is usually plenty of time to talk to the magician after the show , even if he is your friend . Bothering does not just mean trying to strike up a conversation , it can mean watching what he is doing prior to a show . There is nothing worse than trying to pre-show or set an effect up and having a magician with his eyes on you from across the room the whole time trying to figure out your secrets , and now you have to wait so you can hide what you are doing from them . Equate it to someone watching you put your pin-number into the ATM Machine .
We are trained to keep things secret , and if you are watching , you are making his job more difficult especially if he does not know who you are . I will be honest ; magicians make my job much more difficult when in reality they should be making it easier and helping me by not disturbing me prior to a show or trying to figure out what it is I am or I am not doing .
Even worse is when I am setting up in certain situations and someone wants to strike up a conversation with me due to audience being in the room as I am setting up . It is bad enough when a lay person who does not know better is doing so , but when a fellow magi is taking up that set up time , it is inexcusable . Remember , make a fellow magi ’ s life easier , not harder .
82 JUNE | 2024