Thank you Marty for this essay. It matters so much how we treat our spectators and assistants - particularly our ladies. Some very helpful insights for me to ponder.
Magic that moves emotions well is far and away the best and most impactful to perform.
Just been to the Christian Magicians UK Conference and both styles were on display. Sometimes it is unconscious and if the person is willing to learn then can be confronted easily and gently.
Thanks, Simon. I'm pleased you found the essay thought-provoking. It's one of those topics you'd expect to be discussed more by magicians. It's also important to me because I have three daughters—my youngest is named after Adelaide Herrmann—and I dislike the thought that they might be treated so carelessly by a magician. I also hope that if they ever become interested in magic, some of the damaging stereotypes of women in magic, both as performers and participants, will no longer be so prominent. The pessimist in me often sees a stubborn culture within magic that has changed little since Vernon's heyday. But I do have hope that attitudes are slowly improving for the better!
That's exactly right, isn't it? It's telling that many of your magician friends made that particular assumption about your wife. It also says a lot that they felt they needed to confront her on the topic! This is one of the reasons I haven't attended a magic convention in years; most of the magic is simply dull, and I don't always appreciate the male-dominated atmosphere. Hopefully, things are gradually changing.
From Vernon's comments on the subject, it was clear that he believed, at least at some point in his life, that all wives of magicians learn to hate magic, which I also don't think is true. They are subjected to far too much poor, meaningless magic and, like your wife, hate bad magic.
My partner also enjoys magic but prefers a more traditional style of prestidigitation that you don't often encounter these days. A Rubik's Cube routine would bore her to tears. She doesn't share my obsessive interest in the magical arts, but that doesn't mean she hates magic.
Thank you Marty for this essay. It matters so much how we treat our spectators and assistants - particularly our ladies. Some very helpful insights for me to ponder.
Magic that moves emotions well is far and away the best and most impactful to perform.
Just been to the Christian Magicians UK Conference and both styles were on display. Sometimes it is unconscious and if the person is willing to learn then can be confronted easily and gently.
As I said - much to think about .....
Thanks, Simon. I'm pleased you found the essay thought-provoking. It's one of those topics you'd expect to be discussed more by magicians. It's also important to me because I have three daughters—my youngest is named after Adelaide Herrmann—and I dislike the thought that they might be treated so carelessly by a magician. I also hope that if they ever become interested in magic, some of the damaging stereotypes of women in magic, both as performers and participants, will no longer be so prominent. The pessimist in me often sees a stubborn culture within magic that has changed little since Vernon's heyday. But I do have hope that attitudes are slowly improving for the better!
Many of my magician friends think that my wife hates magic. One of them decided to confront her head-on at a dinner party.
“You don’t come to our events very often. Is because you hate magic?”
She paused for a moment and said, “I don’t hate magic; I hate BAD MAGIC!”
That's exactly right, isn't it? It's telling that many of your magician friends made that particular assumption about your wife. It also says a lot that they felt they needed to confront her on the topic! This is one of the reasons I haven't attended a magic convention in years; most of the magic is simply dull, and I don't always appreciate the male-dominated atmosphere. Hopefully, things are gradually changing.
From Vernon's comments on the subject, it was clear that he believed, at least at some point in his life, that all wives of magicians learn to hate magic, which I also don't think is true. They are subjected to far too much poor, meaningless magic and, like your wife, hate bad magic.
My partner also enjoys magic but prefers a more traditional style of prestidigitation that you don't often encounter these days. A Rubik's Cube routine would bore her to tears. She doesn't share my obsessive interest in the magical arts, but that doesn't mean she hates magic.