Many magicians will say you that you should never reveal how a trick is performed.
In the past, anyone who revealed magic tricks was shunned by the magic community. It is unfair to magicians to spoil their performances by revealing how they do their magic. However, in recent years, television programmes and countless people on video sharing websites have exposed magic to such an extent that keeping the secret of a trick may seem a bit pointless. If someone wishes to find out how a magic trick is done, chances are they will be able to able to find it if they look hard enough for it.
Revealing Magic On TV
In 1997, Val Valentino shook up the magic world by debuting a TV programme that exposed how many magic tricks were done. The TV ratings for the series was huge but the tone of the series was very negative. People watching the program would come away with the opinion that magicians were nothing more than crooks out to deceive people and would think less of the art of magic in general.
On the opposite side of the scale, magicians Penn and Teller also made a reputation from exposing their tricks, however they did so in a very different way. Many routines they developed were created specifically for the purpose of being exposed. They would often perform a trick and get an applause from the audience then show an exposed view of the same trick and perform it again to achieve a second round of applause. Instead of portraying magic as the art of deception, they made the audience appreciate the skill, thought and effort that it took to perform it. The audience would come away not feeling deceived but they would appreciate the skill and thinking behind the methods.
Many people have become magicians after watching magicians on TV, went looking to discover the secrets themselves and developed a keen interest in the subject from there. So is exposure wrong? Well, it depends entirely on the context that it is done. You have to expose magic in order to teach magic. Without teaching magic, the art would die out. At the opposite end of the scale, if the audience is aware of how a trick is performed, they will not be interested in the magic aspect of the performance.
Give people a mystery, not a useless piece of knowledge
The general consensus among magicians these days is that it is okay to teach magic to someone who wishes to perform but exposing magic for the sake of doing so is not. Revealing how a trick is done can take the fun out of magic. People enjoy having a mystery. People love to be fooled. When you reveal how a trick is done to someone, they gain a piece of useless knowledge but they lose something a lot more valuable. They lose a mystery.
Yours Magically
Solomon
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