Other Visions

The Real Golden Rule in Magic
by Harapan Santoso Ong

As magicians, I believe we are all bound by the rule of "non-exposure" meaning we must never disclose the secrets of our magic tricks to anyone, even to our closest friends or family members.

The thing is not every laymen audience out there knows it. Inevitably, we are met with the questions "How did you do that? Can you teach me?". And you have to go through the torturous, uneasy process of refusing because of a "magician's code of conduct".

The question I would like to ask is: why non-exposure?

What would you tell your audience if they ask why are you not able to expose your secrets to them?

Being a student and performer of magic for 6-7 years, I have realized over time that even though people ask me "How did you do that!?" or even pester me for the secret, ultimately, 90% of them aren't serious about it. This was discovered when I once actually offered (on purpose) to expose a secret. After I did my usual card magic effects, my friends were all with the "Can you teach me that?". Instead of refusing, I went ahead and said "Sure, no problem, I can teach you all my secrets!" They were so shocked at my unconventional response they backed off, and refused to let me continue with the exposure.

They actually told me that they wanted to keep the amazement there, and refuse to know the secret. This means that laymen are not stupid. They understand these principles.

So, coming back to the question: Why non-exposure? My answer to this question is an important principle that I have lived by ever since I realized it: the reason, the real reason behind why magicians never reveal their secrets (the golden rule of all magicians) is not so much because we are afraid of exposure. It's not about the ethics of magic, either. In no way is that even true. Honestly, if someone were to really come up to me and sincerely ask for the methods behind my magic effects, I would give it to them. Honestly.

The real reason -- listen carefully -- is because the magician respects the audience's right to entertainment. As far as modern magic is concerned, magicians are performers. Entertainers. Artists. And a crucial, crucial part of any performer's agenda is to ensure their audience gets maximum entertainment. Any performer who wishes their audiences to not enjoy themselves when watching their performances is not qualified and not fit to be up there, "entertaining" the crowd. Similarly, a magician who wishes their audience to be bored with his magic is, in my opinion, not even a performer, let alone a magician.

By revealing the secrets of magic to the audience, the magician is not only killing the magic world, but also killing the audience. The magician is making their audience bored with magic. Because the crux of magic is "Entertainment through amazement", and the fact is that once amazement is gone, entertainment is gone too. Admit it, audiences like watching magic because they are amazed by it. They have no idea how it can be done. That's why they enjoy that mysterious feeling! So why destroy it for them by happily revealing our secrets to them? In fact, you would be doing a huge disfavor to your audience.

Magicians, tell your next pestering audience this: The secrets of magic are often less impressive than what most imagine to be. So why kill your amazement, kill your love for magic performances, kill your RIGHT to entertainment of magic tricks by knowing how it is all done?

In fact, dare them. Dare them to come up and ask for your secrets. Just remind them that they are killing themselves.

Wouldn't we be more pleased to have one more heckler die of boredom when they watch magic performances next time?

Remember: Be careful of what you wish for.

Harapan Santoso Ong