... Fake Magicians? (Jubilee video)

[MohanaMisra]

I was really excited when I started to watch the video .

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For those who are unaware about the idea of the video I'll be referencing:- A You Tube channel named Jubilee makes videos with pretty interesting premises and one of the concepts they have is to put a group of people together sharing a quality, interest or other characteristic. One person PRETENDS to be one of the group. Everybody has to guess, through various discussions in different rounds, who the impostor is. At the end of every round, one person is eliminated by a secret vote. If the impostor is caught out by the end of all rounds, the prize is shared by everybody. If the impostor isn't detected, then (only) the impostor wins the prize.

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Lo and behold, they decide to do one of these videos regarding magicians! And they uploaded it today. Here is the video:-

I'm going to try and not spoil it for those who don't watch it (and I hope nobody does it in any subsequent replies), but I'd recommend watching it first. It's pretty fun, and depending on whether you yourself guess correctly or not, it might get you thinking more closely on this topic without bias.

My QUESTION is, how is somebody a 'fake' magician?

The ''impostor'' here still manages to do a magic trick. They still seem to be a magician. We have no idea if they will go on to learn more magic, or if they already know more magic or not and are simply not confident enough to call themselves a magician.

One You Tube comment puts it very well:-

All of them are impostors. Some officially, some unofficially.

The above is true. We aren't really magicians, if you define magicians as those being able to do legitimate magical feats which themselves clearly and explicitly defy the laws of Science. But we are all magicians if it means playing the part of somebody who can do real magic (concept courtesy of Robert Houdin). Everybody performing any art at all well enough is a magician if it means being able to evoke feelings of magic in people or creating a situation which is magic-like (Michael Jackson's moonwalk looks like magic to the uninitiated). We certainly shouldn't define a magician as somebody who does magic as an art (or craft) professionally, otherwise arguably the largest section of the magic community, the non-professional magicians, will not be called magicians at all! It's also weird however if somebody who just knows the 21 card trick calls themselves a magician. The uncle at that party who did a fake cut-thumb gag isn't a magician (?).

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Here are some comparable examples in non-magic activities to help you follow my line of thought:-

1) Imagine today is your birthday! One of your friends is nice enough to bake a cake for you. That friend is probably not a baker.

But even complete laymen in baking can usually tell who is a baker and who is not (even though both of them have baked cakes). The knowledge levels differ, the technique differs, the polish in their skills differ, in fact, even the quality of the cake might differ. Imagine your friend however, baking an absolutely delicious cake, knowing a lot about different techniques in baking, knowing the small differences and paying attention to details which a layman won't notice. Can you call them a baker now?

Now imagine somebody running a bakery, but what they make tastes truly atrocious. Are they a baker?

2) Somebody who has zero knowledge about dancing, isn't aware of the legends in their art form, and isn't attentive to details, but still takes dance classes and calls themselves a dancer, are they a dancer? Simply because they choose to identify as one?

Then is somebody else who similarly has zero knowledge about dancing, isn't aware of the legends in their art form, isn't attentive to minute details, doesn't take dance classes but dances beautifully. Are they a dancer?

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So in the above video, was there really anybody who is a fake magician?

And even if we consider the impostor to really be a 'fake magician', non-magicians (laymen) watching this probably won't think them to be a 'fake magician' in any sense of the word. Does that mean only the magic community gets to decide who is a 'magician' and who is not? Does it depend on the person, on whether they consider themselves a magician? Or is the term a whole ball of smudged, messy grey lines, like everything else in magic which we try to define?

 

[WorkerBee]

magic is a skill. You wouldn't call somebody who makes scrambled eggs on a sunday morning a chef. similarly just doing a magic trick doesn't make you a magician. in my opinion, the imposter here, was not a magician.

 

[Antonio Diavolo]

This is a really interesting point and I'm not really sure what to say on it tbh.

I generally try not to gatekeep who is and isn't a magician based on knowledge or skill level because we are all all over the place when it comes to what we do and do not know. Plus, we all have to start somewhere.

Plus, none of us are actually "magicians". Like Robert-Houdin said, we are "actors playing the part of a magician".

And magic is one of the few hobbies where you can technically buy your abilities. A person with no desire or intention to actively pursue magic as a hobby or career can purchase an invisible deck, learn it in a day, and perform it sufficiently enough for their friends or family to be impressed.

In the eyes of the audience, they may consider their friend to be a "magician". For the performer, he may not consider himself a magician at all or maybe they think of themselves as "the magician" just for the context of that trick.

I think the term is somewhat situational. Many people know some sort of simple magic trick and in the moment of performing it, they may be "the magician" in their own eyes or the eyes of their audience, but they wouldn't call themselves that outside of the context of that trick.

Personally, if you consider yourself a magician, then you are a magician.
In the case of this video, the "imposter" may know a few tricks like a "real magician" would, but they do not consider themselves to be a magician and thus that makes them the imposter.

I hope this makes sense. I'm still trying to sort of gather my thoughts on the subject.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Plus, none of us are actually "magicians". Like Robert-Houdin said, we are "actors playing the part of a magician".

We aren't really magicians, if you define magicians as those being able to do legitimate magical feats which themselves clearly and explicitly defy the laws of Science.

Psh. Speak for yourselves.

Actually - the trouble there is that the word "magician" has too many meanings, and some of them contradict. That's why folks who practice ceremonial magick started using that "K" at the end, to differentiate.

As Antonio said, I'm not one for gate keeping. I keep it simple - if someone performs magic tricks, and is interested in developing that knowledge/skill, then they are a magician.

If someone knows a trick or two but has no interest in developing it further - not a magician.

There is also the differentiation between "Professional" and "Hobbyist" or "Amateur".

An Amateur baker is still a baker, they just don't make their living from it. If they do a lot of baking and understand the how's and why's behind the process of baking, they are a baker. One of my friends is an amazing baker who creates professional grade baked goods on a regular basis but it's only a hobby for her.

I know how to juggle, but I have no interest in developing that skill further - I am not a juggler.

Now imagine somebody running a bakery, but what they make tastes truly atrocious. Are they a baker?

Yes, a terrible one.

2) Somebody who has zero knowledge about dancing, isn't aware of the legends in their art form, and isn't attentive to details, but still takes dance classes and calls themselves a dancer, are they a dancer? Simply because they choose to identify as one?

Yes - if they are actively passionate about the thing, and they are striving to learn more and integrate it into their lives, they are that thing. Just because someone is bad at it doesn't mean they're not a dancer.

Then is somebody else who similarly has zero knowledge about dancing, isn't aware of the legends in their art form, isn't attentive to minute details, doesn't take dance classes but dances beautifully. Are they a dancer?

This one I think is slightly flawed. If someone dances beautifully, they will be innately aware of minute details, and will innately have significant knowledge of how their body moves. Knowledge of the history of a thing isn't required to be good at the thing. It helps - standing on the shoulders of giants and all that - but it's not required. It's like watching those Parkour folks on YouTube - those folks know exactly how their bodies move and what they can do, and most likely have never taken classes on it.

One can be a good magician, a bad magician, a mediocre magician, a professional magician, an amateur magician - still a magician.