I think that the greatest oddity of magicians in the 21st century is the idea that secrets don't matter; that exposure isn't bad and doesn't hurt magic. It seems a paradox to me that the cornerstone of our profession/hobby is the fact that for magic to take place the secret must not be known to the audience and yet we espouse the idea that the secret doesn't matter and exposure doesn't hurt us. Certainly a magician can entertain his audience if they know the secret, but the truth of the matter is that he isn't showing magic to them at that point. If the audience knows the secret, then magic doesn't exist.

Darwin Ortiz stated that magic is, "The illusion of impossibility." What a succinct definition of magic - the illusion of impossibility. It is hard to argue with that definition. You can add to it, certainly, but you can't take anything away from it.

By way of example: a card is put into the center of a deck and with a snap of the fingers that very same card has come back to the top. Done properly that is a powerful illusion of impossibility. Generally this is done after having a spectator sign the card in question in order to fully prove that a duplicate card isn't being used. While there is plenty of discussion in regards to whether or not it is good to have a spectator sign a card, the fact remains that the illusion is so powerful that the signature is almost necessary to ensure that the theorists will have nothing to go on.

When a magician shows this illusion to a spectator, the spectator is normally floored by the presentation. In fact, the magician doesn't even have to say a word when showing this effect because it is just that powerful.

The same trick performed for a magician means nothing, though. Almost every magician knows the tilt and double turn over. When performed for magicians they simply begin critiquing the performer's technique. The ambitious card has become passé amongst magicians. There is no magic because there is no illusion of impossibility.

That doesn't mean that the performer can't entertain his audience of magicians. He certainly can. But he isn't performing magic, he is simply entertaining an audience with his witticisms and comedy presentation (or artistic interpretation thereof). The magic itself is lost.

Of course we cannot hide our heads in the sand and believe that exposure doesn't exist. It's out there and we have to deal with it. I have to deal with it in almost every gig that I perform, from children's magic to adult magic too many secrets have been tipped to the general laity. All too often I find myself in a situation where children or adults know what I'm doing - they know the methods that I am using to make the magic happen.

That is honestly a shame (particularly with children).

Dai Vernon stated, "Magic is an art of deceit. The whole idea is to bamboozle them and bewilder them, and lead their logic astray. If you don't do that, it's like teaching a monkey to do a trick. A monkey can learn to do a trick, but he doesn't have the ability to understand the human element." Yet, he also stated, "I am firmly convinced that most exposures do no real harm."
Again - paradox.

To me the secrets of our trade are pure gold. Like any miser I like to keep my gold to myself. I'm happy to share that gold with anyone who values it as deeply as I do, but I don't like to share that gold with those who would just throw it away because they have no real core belief of the real value that is inherent in that gold.

Right down to the live wire is the fact that every beginner's book of magic states right from the get go, "Don't reveal your secrets."

We cannot change what is, but we can start to keep our secrets to ourselves. What do you say?

As always, thank you for reading and take care.

Mike