Is Exposure In Magic Good or Bad?

ON EXPOSURE

By JC Sum

Sometime years ago, a member of a local magic club asked me if I could pen some of my thoughts on exposure in magic. Here are the results of the fruits of my cerebral processes:

Exposure in Magic. Is it bad? In most cases, definitely. But do we have to get all worked up over it? My personal opinion is no.
Let me ask you a question. What is the difference between someone publishing a book on magic which can be found in any major book shop and someone selling magic apparatus in a magic shop? The answer is nothing. Both are available to the public and in fact anyone with enough money could go down to the magic store and by a ton of props and learn all the secrets. In recent years, the Internet has made even more magical secrets available at the click of the mouse.

One high profile case of ‘exposure’ in magic was probably Herbert Becker’s series of books and CD Roms. This is not the first time any one released books or software on magic. Anthony Lindan was probably one of the first to publish instructional magic CD Roms. No one got terribly angry with him. To put it bluntly, Herbert Becker just has better marketing skills. Most of the publicity was created by magicians who complained, protested and threatened. Herbert Becker used these reactions to show how ‘valuable’ the magic in his book was to magicians. This captivated the general public even more. The same strategy (and success that followed) was adopted by Fox's 'Breaking the Magician's Code' television shows.

Several new magic enthusiasts have been constantly complaining to me about different forms of exposure in magic and telling me how detrimental it is to the art. My response is the same each and every time. I personally, feel that there is no need for worry. Mainly, because:

The general public has a very short memory span on the real secrets of magic even after been exposed to them at one time.
Original plots and handling throws anyone off including magicians. A slight twist is enough to astonish one who thinks he knows how it is done. If you are original, how is anyone to detect anything?
Perform with an attitude of entertaining the audience and not just trying to fool them. The more you challenge the audience, the more they will try to figure out your magic.
Exposures on sleights and secret techniques are useless since a well executed sleight is supposed to be invisible. How is someone supposed to point out a sleight when he can’t even see it?

I am not saying exposure is good. We should still try to stop it whenever possible, but there is no need to get frantic over the issue. Concentrate on improving your act and do not let people like Hubert Becker make money out of us magicians.

A lot of readers might be thinking: ‘Fine, this looks plausible in theory, but how do you actually achieve the above?’

I am going to site just one example but I think it will be enough: The Linking Rings. Consider the following about the Linking Rings:

It is one of the oldest pieces of magic.
It has been performed a million times by a million magicians over the last few hundred years.
It has been in virtually every toy magic set since the history of toy magic sets.
It has been exposed/ taught in countless books for the general public and more recently, exposed by the Masked Magician on television

Then why, does it still amaze, astound and entertain audiences all around the world?

I can attest to the power of the Rings by real audiences as I have been performing the rings since 1993 and it is still a prelude to my 'Visual Displacement' illusion. In 1998, I even performed the rings 5 - 6 times every night for the 30 consecutive days. That was over 150 performances.

Singapore magic dealer Gician Tan has been demonstrating and pitching the Linking Rings over the 20 years and has probably performed it about 5000 times. Each time he performs it, I have no doubt that audiences are literally stunned. The best part of this is that the ones being really badly fooled are the ones who ‘knows’ the secret and even own a set of the Linking Rings.

Here are three approaches to keep your magic alive and still be able to amaze your audience:

Innovate

A twist in handling, props or presentation can greatly change the whole illusion of the a certain effect. Remember, it is how the illusion/ magic is perceived in the minds of the lay audience and not the actual handling that is important.

Taking the Linking Rings as an example, Mike Caveney’s modern classic approach is his Linking Coat Hanger’s routine. This is a real twist but is supported by a logical patter.

Develop original moves so that all the rings can be ‘linked’ and ‘unlinked’. The routine that I developed years ago allowed the all rings to link. In fact, the first two phases of the routine involve the linking of rings which are examined by the audience immediately before and after the link.

Use a l***ing k** ring so that all the rings can be fairly displayed.

Develop a k**less ring routine such as Jack Dean’s routine.

Classics

The other end of the scale is not to innovate or create but to re-study the classics. Re-read and study the presentations and handlings of classic routines like the billiard balls, cups & balls, egg bag, lota bowl, bowl routine, colour changing knives, thimble magic and many others. Check out the Tarbell Series all over again, you will be surprised to know how much you missed.

Many of the moves and methods of the classic magicians are often overlooked and dismissed as old fashioned. Maybe it just requires a little refinement or ‘modernization’. There is a reason why the classics have been around so long - because they are timeless and have stood the test of time.

Some of the oldest techniques for Linking Rings is to use a large number of rings and eventually switch in or steal in the k** ring. Some may be practical, some may not be. You won’t know until you try.

Mastery

Have complete mastery of the routine or any other routine for that matter. A perfect example will be a recent magic release, Shoot Ogawa’s rendition of the classic Japanese ‘Ninja Rings’ routine. Even if you know the secret, you will still be visually fooled not to mention stunned with amazement.

This is the same reason why a magician who has mastered a flawless act can stand out among all other acts of the same nature. Consider Jeff McBride’s Card act and Lance Burton’s Manipulation act. Both are card acts yet both different and they stand out among all the hundreds of card acts around. That is because they master techniques to such a point that it amazes you even though you know how it is done. It leaves you thinking: “There’s no way he can s***l that dove so smoothly” or “He couldn’t have been back-******** all those cards!” etc.

The above three ‘anti-exposure’ approaches do not just apply to Linking Rings. They apply to every type of magic; Illusions, Close-up, Escapes etc. Choose the approach that suits you the best and take exposure as a stimulating challenge to improve your magic and elevate your artistry to a higher level.

Magic will live on forever, in spite of exposure!!