Not really an essay, just a thought that popped into my head.
In reading here for the last few weeks I see exposure is now the big watch word, Can't do this It's exposure, better not say that it's exposure, can't talk to him because he's an exposer, i hear that other site focuses on expositions.

Just throwing it out here as a thought but we're living in the information age, more specifically the information sharing age. Remember Napster. What was it other than exposure? It was the taking of something you've purchased and making it available for others to partake of. Information is free and everywhere. People have been exposing magic for centuries and now more than ever they have the venue to do it. Personally it never occured to me to look for an effect or an exposure on Youtube or other sources until I came here...

That's something else you may want to remember, even discussing the exposures and pointing out where they are taking place, is exposure.... Think about it. That's what we as magicians do, sharing our knowledge with others of our cut of cloth is what we do. In one form or another. we want to say check out my double under cut, watch how I handle my balls, and then cups. Look how good I am. It's part of being a showman i think. Not necissiarialy exposure directly but to gather together when we're all off and share what we've learned so we can all improve.

I think the urge to show off and share is part of the age we live in today. I personally see a natural progression in our development as people, this generation is possibly the most well documented generation that ever existed and it's easy to see how things have evolved. Myspace and Youtube have made us all celebrities and when it comes to exposure someone is always willing to do it just for spite and someone somewhere is always willing to watch, especially when it's free ...

'

It's very true, i agree that magicians should share tricks (and intellectual property ) IF and only IF they are sure that the fellow magician will keep the secret within society of magicians. Even Penguin magic states this is ok
"and even teaches it to one of his friends who is just getting interested in magic"

HOWEVER sharing tricks on p2p is sharing tricks to the LAY which is destroying the art completely.

Many magicians have an ethical believe that learning from people on youtube is unethical as the person exposing it is unethical as he is making it available to the public.

The art must be protected as it's foundation is the intellectual property of its creators.

Actually it's not for one simple reason. The vast majority of people who take the time to download a trick of a p2p site are people who are already interested in magic. The reason behind this is because a normal lay person will not care about finding the secrets. They won't waste their time trying to find explanations if they aren't going make an effort to at least learn the effects. It's simply too much of a hassle, and too much time for lay people to do the research to find the explanations.

The vast majority of people who look for magic exposure are people who are interested in magic. The next group are people who have been shown magic in a way that it turns out to be more of a puzzle. And then yes, a lay person may go home and search for the explanation. But for the most part, they won't do much research, because they simply aren't interested enough in learning magic to do so.

Now, I'm not defending sharing magic on p2p sites. I find it to be horrible; because you are taking from people who have generally put a lot of time and effort into giving the magic community a quality product. And we, as magicians, should support them. This way they feel like they are appreciated, aren't being taken advantage of, and that they feel safe to release new effects. As well as it's the ethical thing to do.

I think a lot of magicians (typically younger ones/newer ones) are too worried about exposure. Yes, it can suck. However, for the most part, it should never really effect your performances. I've never had a problem with exposure. I am there to entertain my audiences. And that's what happens. I know some people at my shows probably know how I did different effects. I mean I do a simple silk vanish, the most exposed effect there is. Yet, people are still entertained with it.

As magicians, we should focus on entertaining our audiences, not tricking them.

Dustin Boyd White

What gets me are the people who are not trying to expose...they just buy a trick..don't practice it...then want to be a "youtube-star" and show the trick...but SUCK so bad they expose it.

KC

this is actually how i started.