Think about it! Not purposely, but through his popularity he has done more to expose magic than any other magician. His blue collar, on the street performing style has become so popular that every budding magician and their little brothers are buying up thousands of the tricks that he has made popular via his TV specials, therefore creating a very high degree of exposure. While he is not directly responsible for exposing the tricks, his popularity has made it so. Other than the Masked Magician, in this respect, Blaine has indirectly exposed more magic than any other magician in history. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing I guess is a matter of opinion. Food for thought?

I see your point, but thats not his fault. The masked magician also exposed alot of stage ellusions that copperifeld does. Does that make it his fault too?

I wasn't placing fault. I said NOT PURPOSELY, NOT DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE didn't I? I'm not placing blame on either of them, just making an observation. It just happened to turn out that way.

i think you got it right frijid when you point out that blaine has certinally popularize magic more than in the past. i can even credit my intrest in seeing his speicals. however, in his day houdini did the same thing. the difference now is accessability to magic. videos, websites, and certian retail stores have made it easier for lay people to get their hands on magic and its secrets than ever before. it used to be only someone with a serious intrest who took the time to find information could learn magic; a process that quickly weeded out those with moderate interest. now you can get bobo's modern coin magic on the shelves of barnes and noble. while i think it's good that the art is being passed on to a new generation (including myself), i also think that it makes it easier for less committed to learn and possibally expose. it's kind of a catch 22 in terms of growth of the art. your thoughts?

My thoughts. I think you pretty much summed it up better than I could. It's nice to see that there's someone who understands what I was trying to say. Like you said, back in the day, magic was pretty much kept a secret. It's the accessability of this day and age, and shows like Blaine's and the Masked Magician that has contribited a lot to the exposure of magic. I yearn for the old days when our magic secrets were sacred.

nothing exposes magic like an unperpared performer. that's why some of the posts i read here scare me so much. NFW is a great example. there are so many posts about how horrible this trick is and such. for me it's a great effect that packs a powerful punch. i just hope that it doesn't loose it's power beacuse of other magicians who don't take the time to learn and perform it properly. i'm sure you have effects like that too. magic can only be sacred when those who know (regardless of how many there are) treat it that way.

Thats why I hate these newbies that buy like 6 or 7 videos at a time that are totally different, there is no way they are going to discipline themselves to learn 1 trick at a time and try to master it, they go out, mess up, expose, and give up.