Making up stuff like awards, claiming to have worked for clients you never had or simply lying about how successful you is not what I am ranting about now.
It's about embellishing the truth. I know a magician who regularly (every Monday) works at a school, teaching 10-year-olds some card tricks using a key card. He gets paid by the school and it's a fun activity for the kids. Yet this magician calls himself "lecturer at institution of education and recreation areas" (German: "Dozent an Bildungseinrichtungen und Freizeitstätten")
Sound much bigger! Right?
Well our young magicians is trying to paint himself in a way that he is not up to. His website even has an English section, although that young man doesn't even speak any of it.
Another one calls himself a "Business Mentalist" (German "Wirtschaftmentalist") which is a made up term meaning what? According to his website he teaches businessmen reading minds so they are more successful to facilitate transactions. Sounds familiar? Yeah he is just a business coach. But business mentalist sounds much more colorful... it sounds so gay.
What is happening here? Is magician or mentalist not enough anymore? Often the term "Master Magician" is brought into play. Well I do understand the need to distinguish oneself from the other crappy magicians, but not like this.
If you need to make a difference, actually point out the differences. And most of the time there are no differences. They are just like all of the other crappy magicians. No matter how much they don't believe it themselves.
I talked to quite few magicians about this. To my surprise they saw now problem with it. It is just advertisement. Everybody does it and it is normal in unfettered capitalism. Really?
I am aware that there is a line between a lie and a sugar-coated truth. But if you do it not to cover up weaknesses but to create the impression of something that isn't there, isn't that "making up" or "lying"? Am I alone with this?
You can put lipstick on a pig…
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