Philosophy
While every magician should be entertaining, at a fundamental level they must also deliver on their implicit promise as a magician to do something that defies logic. Amusing props, jokes and stories are all fine, but what makes a magic show unique is its ability to deliver the impossible. Failure to do so is a discredit to the Art.
Most audiences are smart and rarely take a passive role when watching a magician. They enter into the performance with the suspicion that props are gimmicked and secret devices are hidden in the sleeves. Historically, the most effective magicians are the ones that took those suspicions head-on, allowing their props to be examined, performing with their sleeves rolled up, taking any number of infinite pains in order to placate the masses. Only if the audience is convinced the items used are legitimate can the subsequent effect be deemed impossible. Yes, it’s more work to do these things, but the audience cannot have their sense of wonder released if their skepticism is anchoring them to the ground.
As a general rule, people expect a magician to conduct demonstrations with many things, just as you would expect a professional juggler to do more than toss and catch little bean bags. The audience prefers variety and texture to a performance, so it is best not to overburden them with a multitude of demonstrations with the same prop–such as playing cards–unless specifically contracted for just such a speciality.
Media plays a large role in how the public perceives magic. TV and film have brought us a long established history of bumbling magicians, often performing only days (or sometimes minutes) after having bought magic props from some happy-to-oblige dealer. Is it any wonder that people often give credit to the apparatus and not the magician? Yet this sad mentality becomes an aid to the resourceful magician who perform using ordinary and borrowed objects. I can think of a no more effective tool than this to immediately separate quality magicians from their mechanically-dependent counterparts.
The title “Magician” is a bit of a misnomer, as more correctly they should be known as Illusionists, for they create the illusion of magic in the minds of their spectators. Much like the unheard tree falling in the forrest, without the spectator to interpret the performance, nothing magical can be observed. The audience should be treated as close friends and allies, for indeed they are the linch pin upon which resides the performer’s success.
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