Exposure (magic)
Exposure in magic refers to the practice of making magical methods (the "secrets" of how magic tricks are performed) available to those who are not magicians (usually defined as "those who have not demonstrated some commitment to magic as a performance art", but occasionally further refined to "those who are not members of a magic club or society").
Exposures are performed by both professional and amateur magicians and members of the public, and may be performed as part of stage shows, or in other public media including the Internet.
Exposures as such should also be carefully distinguished from apparent exposures performed by magicians during an act; these 'exposures' invariably turn out to be illusions in their own right, usually compounded in mystery by their apparent similarity to a previous trick. Since a primary rule of magic is Never perform the same trick twice, if a magician appears to be doing so, a surprise ending will almost assuredly follow.
Arguments
- Devaluation of tricks: Opponents argue that exposure devalues magic tricks by removing their potential to surprise or amaze audiences. Advocates counter by pointing out that many magic tricks which have been exposed publicly in the past, such as the Chinese linking rings, have not depreciated in popularity; furthermore, those magic acts that do include exposures, such as Penn and Teller and the Masked Magician, have proved most popular in recent years. Furthermore, they believe that many members of the public are indifferent to exposures and will not seek them out nor remember them for long periods.
- Intellectual property: Opponents argue that exposure violates the intellectual property of the original creators of the trick. Although in many cases magic methods are not protected by IP law (see Copyright of magic methods), many magicians behave as if they were, out of respect for the work put into creating them (and in anticipation of reciprocal treatment for any tricks they invent).
- Potential for disruption: Opponents argue that exposures provide ammunition for hecklers and saboteurs to attack magicians at the point of performance. Advocates argue that these individuals will damage performances either way.
- Innovation: Advocates (including the Masked Magician) argue that exposure of old tricks forces magicians to innovate new ones and keeps the field moving. Opponents argue that innovating new magic tricks is a difficult process, whereas exposing them is a very easy process, meaning that the rate of innovation could be overwhelmed.
- New magicians: Opponents argue that exposure harms new magicians, since it is the simpler and cheaper tricks that new magicians depend on which are most likely to be exposed; it also encourages existing magicians to "bunker up" and avoid discussing methods with newcomers for fear that they may be exposed. Advocates claim that, since they do not believe exposure to devalue tricks (see above), exposure aids new magicians by providing them with an easy and cheap source of new tricks.
- Appreciation of skill: Advocates argue that exposure enables spectators to fully appreciate the range of different skills involved in performing different magic tricks. If the method for a trick is unknown to the audience, then they cannot know what skills are involved; furthermore, the outcome of every trick becomes the same ("hey, how'd he/she do that?") leading to the variety of tricks becoming meaningless. Opponents argue that spectators still appreciate that different skills are being used even if they do not know what they are.
See also
- Intellectual rights to magic methods
- List of magic tricks for several tricks exposed on Wikipedia
- Pages that use the "Magic-spoiler" template