Okay, sure, just another rant. That's what I do, though, isn't it? And there are a lot of you waiting for me to finish my original series about the state of magic today.

But, this rant is directly associated with that series and it is something that I have to cover to continue on with my original series (and it must be covered presently, in lieu of later).

In all honesty, I have covered this rant on a previous occasion here at Visions. Originally it was a diatribe over who is a professional and who is a semi-professional and what the criteria was for distinguishing between the two. In a nutshell, anyone who has "that professional attitude" is generally considered a professional these days (which makes no sense when given the consideration that a talented 12 year old with a "professional attitude" suddenly becomes competition for a magician with 20 years experience trying to feed his/her family).

Folks, a professional magician makes his or her entire living off of magic. A semi-pro magician makes a partial living from magic but still has a day (or night) job of some sort. Disputing this fact with whatever logic that you please only stands to muddy up the waters in a debate that is made much more complex than it ever needs be made.

A professional is someone who makes a living from his or her chosen field.

A semi-professional is someone who makes part of his or her living from a secondary field (that secondary field being given the "semi-professional" title of that particular field).

The funniest part of it all is that magicians dispute the facts above. Every other field on the face of this earth accepts the definitions given above. Magician, though, have a different way of seeing things. The semi-pro in our field simply cannot deal with such a title. No, they are professional in their attitude, therefore they are professional magicians.

Idiots.

At the bottom of it all is the amateur magician. They are the scum of the earth where magicians are concerned, the dregs of the brotherhood. Since the amateurs realize that they are the scum of the earth, they have decided to give themselves a euphemism. They are not "amateurs," they are "hobbyists."

Hobbyists?

Hobbyists?

Really?

Okay, here's a word for all you hobbyists to look up: mook. While you'll not find "hobbyist" to be synonymous with the word "mook," it is my opinion that they are one in the same where magicians are concerned.

The word, "amateur," is derived from the Latin, "amator," or "lover." What greater reason to study magic could possibly exist than someone who does it for the love of what we do? How many names in the magic industry can we come up with who were nothing but amateurs? What about Dai Vernon? Yes, Vernon was an amateur and so were dozens of other names that we worship in the study of magic.

Still, we feel the need to be pros when we are semi-pros and hobbyists when we are amateurs. Further still, we sit back and beat our breasts over the idea that we are secondary entertainment, at best.

Is it any wonder? Not to me, particularly when I look at the facts above. Hell, we don't even know who or what we are, so why should laymen have any better ideas? Second hand entertainment comes from an industry that has no identity. Magicians have no identity (or at least they struggle to define their identity).

Certainly, there are many who will disagree with my point of view.

That's precisely my point.

Take care and thank you for reading.

Mike