3 Myths about Magicians
Misconceptions about What It Means to Be A Magician
It's 2022 and we're all barraged with information in the form of books, tutorials, and videos. I've been a professional magician for about 20 years now, and I'm gonna tell you what I wish I knew when I was starting out as an aspiring magician.
There are several myths about what it means to be a magician. Let's get those out of the way.
Myths about Being A Magician
Myth 1: Chicks Dig A Magician
Contrary to popular opinion (among guys at least), most attractive girls do not wake up from a dream of a cool guy who just showed her an amazing card trick.
She doesn't hope that an edgy street magician will one day sweep her off her feet, nor does she fantasize about magicians. "But what about Criss Angel? What about David Blaine?"
True, girls dig Criss Angel and David Blaine (and David Copperfield in his era).
Consider David Copperfield or Michael Ammar or Lennart Green..
These magicians have more talent in their little fingers than Criss Angel has in his entire chiseled body. But you don't see a host of hot girls screaming Ammar's or Lennart's name.
It's physical attractiveness and celebrity—not amazing magic. Lennart has neither attractiveness (not only physical attractiveness but also his manner—he's just not “cool,” same with Ammar) nor celebrity (outside the magic fraternity). They are more corny than edgy.
On multiple occasions I've performed for a guy or a couple guys, and the remarks were, "Oh my god, dude, that is a panty-dropper," or simply, "You must get so much p***y."
Even Jay Leno, when seeing a card trick from a magician on his show, said words to that effect, "You must clean up in the bars."
Girls love magic. They don't love magicians (unless you're a hot magician with good game...and celebrity helps).
A magic trick amazes or amuses, but does not arouse or intrigue a girl. At best it can charm her if you handle it right. But you know as well as I that the same trick can be charming in one man's hands and off-putting in another's hands.
Myth 2: If You Can Do David Blaine's Tricks, You Can Be Successful like David Blaine
By the year 2000, I could do all of David Blaine's tricks. Indeed, they got outstanding reactions.
But if you can master all of Blaine's tricks, and all of Criss Angel's tricks (well, not his tricks, he's got a team of a dozen magicians coming up with the innovative ideas), that still makes you a second-rate David Blaine or a second-rate Criss Angel.
Don't get me wrong, they're great for breaking the ice in high-school, but they won't make you a national celebrity or even a celebrity in your own city.
Neither David Blaine nor Criss Angel got famous because of their magic tricks—name almost any trick either have done and it had been done decades earlier by previous magicians.
It was the presentation, the style, the persona and the showmanship or lack of showmanship (yes, David Blaine had no showmanship and Criss Angel has poor showmanship...and that brand made them stand out among the sea of magicians), and a huge budget and network supporting them and blasting them across the nation.
Once you've mastered the tricks, you still have all your work cut out for you.
You need to develop a style and a voice—these will come after a lot of emulating other performers, and from performing in front of a lot of people. You need to develop showmanship. You need to develop an act, then develop a show. You need to balance the astonishment with some of the humor of magicians like this.
Once you've done all that, you still have all your work ahead of you. Now you need to develop a brand, make yourself a public figure, build a business, learn how to market yourself (itself an entire career...don't think that an agent is gonna take care of all that for you, it doesn't happen until you've already made your mark).
Becoming a master of the tricks you do is necessary, but not sufficient to make you a great magician.
Myth 3: If You Can Learn Mindreading Tricks, You’ll Be Able to Read Minds
Part of the allure of magic is that we all want to have some superpowers. Learning how Criss Blaine or Criss Angel levitates won’t give you the ability to levitate. The real methods they use are very ugly and very difficult to pull off (by that I mean, to make the levitation look good).
The effect may be beautiful, but the method is often disappointing and ugly. That’s the difference between method and effect.
You don’t get any special powers when you become a magician. Let that sink in.
Author: Jon Finch is a magician entertaining crowds and providing remarkable magic for remarkable events.
