KORBINIAN - Waste of words...

Hello, you spell weavers and magic makers.

Today I'll revive an age old topic, probably one of the oldest topics in magic history. Critics and their opinions.

Most of you are probably part of a magic club or have at least attended one of their meetings. So surely everyone knows the kind of talk, which goes on after the presentation of your favorite routine.
You spend a lot of time in studying details, learning sleights, inventing pattern and all these other stuff, we like to think about, and then the first point of critique is: Why do you use a black-backed deck, or maybe, you should use red balls instead of the brown ones.

I'm thinking, where lies the point of these critics. Why do they do this? I remember vividly a meeting, in which a young magician showed this thread from eye-effect. Okay it's probably not on the same level as an award-winning manipulation act, but it was cleanly shown and without flaws. An the critic was, that it was oral magic, so untrue, since it is ocular magic, and as such unworthy of a magician. WTF.

Okay, it is not an effect for a restaurant magician, but this critic is just shit. Especially in the context of the next performer, who is a graduate-student of the magic-school in our city. Oh I almost forgot, that the previous critic was the former owner of this school.
So this nice-looking fellow, maybe a little bit overweight, clumsy and insecure, not to insult him personally, showed us a wonderful silk production.

I fucking hate silk production, especially out of a soap bubble, with lousy steals and without context or sense. Why on earth would anyone like to see this. Where lies the wonder, where mystery, anything. But no critics, nobody stood up, nobody shot this fella down. There maybe truly wonderful silk effects, but this was certainly not one of them.

So why got the first one criticized and the second not. I'll tell you two reasons. First one, he was a student of the school and no ones dares to criticize someone, who has a diploma on his wall or maybe won a competition somewhere, which is really not that difficult, thinking about the sheer amount of competition, which are taking place all over the world.
And second, because his magic is fucking old-school, no threat to the images of the old geezers, who despise real magic. And that is because they hate to be fooled, they hate it when they have to feel like real persons. And they feel humiliated, when they have to ask how it works.

And one must think, that most of them don't perform regularly, especially those with the biggest mouth, they usually perform never, expect for the mirror and even then only self-working Tenyo replicas.

So the only advice I can give you, stick to your buddies, listen to them or even better listen to none, who says how things should be. Think for yourself and believe your audience, but not a single magician.

And one last thing, someone once said to me, critics are only angry, because they are unable to produce art, that's why they became critics.