When serious spectators question the reality of magic...?

[Lord Magic]

Say, you just have a reputation for being a good magician among your colleagues, friends, relatives, etc...

You HAVEN'T performed a single trick for them, but are just hanging out, you know, talking, joking, and stuff.

Somehow...maybe a recent tweet of Rowling's, maybe a Sherlock Holmes' story with magic as its theme...somehow, the topic of magic opens up.

You are the only link for your lay-friends and magic. You are prolly the only magician they know personally. So of course, they ask you a question that's very deeply embedded in their minds,

"Is magic real?"

Bear in mind, you haven't performed any magic for them AT THAT MOMENT. That question has come out of the blue for you. This means you MAY go into a deeper discussion about the reality of magic.

So what would you do? Would you engage in a deeper conversation, which seems obvious since you guys are just hanging out and chatting...

Would you point-blank claim magic is real? Would you say magic is real but yours is not? Would you say something which I'd prolly say myself (how magic in my hands isn't real, but in their heads, it is...)...or would you just deny the existence of magic?

What would you do?
How would you handle the situation?

Eager to know what you guys think!

 

[obrienmagic]

Sure. I would tell them the trueth, that what I do is create the illusion of inpossiblity by performing that which they csnnot explain. The idea is to give them this feeling of wonder. It takes several years to perfect this art.

I would not lie to them and say it is real. That will only cause trouble later down the road for 1. If they dont believe you now they are going to make you perform under impossible conditions (look up James Randy.) or 2. They do believe you and are now buying into supersticious noncence that may effect their actions later down the road in a negative way.

 

[Mattxdfa]

I've never been asked in a serious manner if magic was real. (I've heard the usual comments about being Criss Angel or Harry Potter or "Stop doing witchcraft in my house please.")
I think that my answer would be that what I do is sleight of hand, but the magic that they think is happening is really from the fact that they are being entertained. The impossible is happening right in front of their eyes

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

I have always liked what was written almost two centuries ago by the French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (when pronounced correctly, it rhymes). He wrote, and I am sure many of my colleagues on here are familiar with it, "A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician." That always stuck with me. On those fairly rare occasions when I am asked if magic is real, I say that quote to them and explain that just like the character an actor is playing is not real, the actor creates the illusion that the character is real and can thereby fascinate the audience and and stir their emotions, and those emotions are real. I explain that this is what I am seeking to do in playing the part of a magician - to create the illusion of magic and to move people.

Other times, I use a gag that I like to do, to deal with it. I smile and say, "Yes, absolutely, how do you think I got your wallet" (patting my pocket as I say it). LOL, they will usually check their pocket or purse for their wallet, and as they do I say, "But of course I put it back."

 

[RealityOne]

Do people really ever ask that question? I've never gotten that question.

My answer, "The magic I perform is theatrical magic but I hope how you feel when watching it reminds you of the real magic that is within our lives."