In this essay I will give my 2 cents worth on camera tricks. I do not want to offend anyone, and I do not want people getting into big arguments.

Argument 1:
"Everything we do in magic is a trick anyway. What's the difference between that and camera tricks?"

My take:
What people find so fascinating about magic is that they know that there has to be a logical explanation, but they can't figure out any way it's possible. However, people don't freak out when Superman flies. Why? Because there is an out. They know it's fake. The allure is gone. With magic, even if there are no tricks involved, when people see it on TV, there is always that subconsious out. "Oh, he just faked it." My friends have seen Penguin demo videos and been like "Oh, that's cool." but when I do the trick for them in person, they flip out. The point of magic is "Guess what? I bet you can't figure out how I do THIS!" With televised magic, it just becomes a special effect.

Argument 2:
(Stress mine)

My take:
Absolutely not! Firstly, people expect ALL magicians to be able to do that type of stuff. Now we look incompetent because we can't levitate from building to building or climb through a closed window.

They don't think it's impossible when they see it on TV. There is always the "he faked it" subconsious psychological out there that dulls the effect.


I'm gonna get down off my soap box now. Tell me what you think!