This is quite a good saying that someone reminded me of some time ago. I have been thinking about it really hard. I’m talking about what to do in magic in these times, and what to publish and share with the magic community and how to do that.
After seeing what’s going on at the Blackpool convention this year I was sort of horrified. Horrified from the fact that everything expanded to such a degree and horrified from seeing what kind of people are running around at this convention. Of course, everybody has the right to attend almost everything on this planet. But then I was thinking how it were if I were to share all my secrets with all of them. And this is where I radically changed my attitude.
I realize that an estimated 70% of the people attending the biggest magic convention ever are not the kind of magician I would want to share my knowledge and ideas with. What I saw on all the pictures from the dealer’s hall in Blackpool convinced me again not to attend this anymore.
I’m fully aware of the fact that magic has changed a lot and that in these days the commercial aspect is predominant. I see pictures of dealers selling their stuff to anybody who is interested in. Even to obvious laymen of magic (at least, it appears from judging the pictures). Look at the various pictures from the dealer’s hall and you will see all this has changed into a huge industry, similar to the toy industry. Gimmicks for grown-up kids, prices, selling and customers are important. But not the secrets. Reading some of the quotes here made me think .…
Good magic has always been dependent on how well the secrets are protected. There have been times where really important stuff was kept and handled in the underground. That means that only a selected few people, who were considered worthy of it and could handle those secrets, had access to this knowledge. Nowadays everybody can know everything he wants; even stuff he cannot handle properly.
I fully agree with Jim Steinmeyer’s opinion that magicians are guarding an empty safe (concerning secrets). So probably I’m not going to change anything. But what I can do is to limit the access to my own material.
I don’t want to say that it is a good idea to keep an interested person away from some of the secrets he wants to know. We live in a free world and information is flowing freely as well. But I don’t think it is reasonable to make it too easy for anybody to access certain stuff. One thing to make sure this happens is to do advertising in the big magic magazines, on the Internet in the social media, and so on. Another way to make sure to distribute the secrets is the price. All this price dumping, all that the bargain packages the dealers are offering only helps in distributing secrets on a big scale, consequently catering to people who are only interested in the know-how and in getting a good price.
Concerning my most important work, THE DE COVA FILES, I will change the procedure. These books are not going to be advertised on the official magical market. They will not be available from any dealer (except me). You will get information on it only if you are really interested and into magic. Only then you will have the knowledge where and when to get the books. Otherwise, you probably won’t even know they exist. And they will surely not be offered cheaply or with that usual discount, package deals and bargain stuff.
Love it: yes, I do love magic and I do love the secrets.
Leave it: no way!
Change it: I just set what I’m going to change.
“A secret’s worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept.” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
“The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn’t one.” ― Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
Pass it on!