hate magic shows“I hate magic shows, but I loved this!” Possibly my favorite compliment to date. The funny thing is, I got this same compliment two shows in a row. When I asked why both audience members felt the way they did, they gave almost the exact same response. The gist of what was said was, “It was some of the best magic I’ve ever seen, but you weren’t arrogant about it.” One of the people went further to say that during other magic shows, they were almost scared to act amazed because they were afraid the magician might embarrass them.

Ok, get ready for a quick rant…

Seriously?? How is this even a thing? Now, I refuse to think that this is the representation of magicians as a whole or even the majority. I just have a hard time coming to terms with someone voluntarily informing me that they couldn’t relax and enjoy themselves while watching entertainment. I think the problem is that if a magician is not careful, showing a magic trick can almost come across as “Looky what I can do!” One of my favorite mindsets is the one Penn & Teller claim to have while getting onstage. Penn said in an interview, “We always write our show for people that are smarter than us.” It’s a great way to think. If I have someone in my audience that can program a computer, why would I treat them like I’m smarter than they are? Is it just because I can do a cool card trick?

The mindset I’ve adopted is, “Let’s all keep ego out of this.” I would much rather the audience feel I’m one of them, than think I’m just the performer.

To all magicians…

Forgive me for this…you’re not smarter than your audience. I don’t care if you can do something they can’t, That works both ways. Get the audience on your side from the start and they’ll stay with you till the end.

If you hate magic shows, I would ask that you give it one more chance. I would love the opportunity to change your mind. Visit our contact page to tell us about your event! If you don’t hate magic shows, you can use the same link. 🙂