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All of us have had an experience where someone has seen a cool trick on TV and wants to know either one of two things. They want to know how it was done or they want to know if you can do it.

Sometimes this creates a problem as the trick that someone like Chris Angel did can not be duplicated in a real world situation without camera edits or carefully selected spectators. Sometimes you may know how it was done but you do not perform it. How you answer these questions will say more about you then it will about the performers on TV.

When someone asks how David Copperfield made the airplane vanish or how David Blaine floated off the ground there is a tendency to answer in a way where you may come across as condescending or as a know it all. You may come across as if the person asking the question is stupid or a dumb rube that doesn't know something.

Here are some suggested responses that I feel would take the edge off the responses you give when they ask how a television magician did something or if you can do it too:

"We magicians don't always share our secrets with each other. Would you like to see some magic I have created on my own that I do not share with other magicians?"

This response lets the spectator know that you are in the same field as those guys on table and lets them know that every magician does their own thing.

"It looked like real magic, didn't it? Would you like to see something different?"

This doesn't answer that question but it lets them know that you like cool magic too and that you have something neat to offer them too.

"I saw that too! It was awesome. We magicians train many years to do something like that so we feel it is important to keep secrets."

This lets the spectator know that they were not stupid for liking something on TV. I think I mentioned it here before how appalled I was years ago when David Blaine first came out and I heard magicians dissing him when spectators were telling them something they liked that Blaine did. They would say things like, "He buys his magic from a magic shop" or "He was real sloppy." This made the spectator feel stupid for liking him and also made the magician come across as a jealous jerk.

"I can do something similar. Would you like to see my version of that trick?"

Only do this response if you have something similar to what the spectator says a magician did. Someone once asked me if I could do a trick they saw on TV where a magician made a chosen card appear on the other side of a sheet of glass. I did a whole card under the ashtray routine and they loved it.

I think it is important for us to realize that we are ambassadors of magic and every time we step into the real world we represent magic. We should be humble when we need to and put our own egos on hold. We should encourage our audiences to enjoy the wonder they felt while watching our fellow entertainers who have made it to TV. We should show them that magic could be even more magical when they see it in person.

Magic is an art form that creates very personal feelings in the minds and hearts of our spectators. How we answer these types of questions may determine if they want to see magicians in person or if they would rather watch them from the safety of their TV. Many people hate going to see stand-up comics in person because they are scared that they are going to make fun of them. Let us not fall in the same trap by answering questions in a snotty way.

Handle your responses to spectators' questions with care.

Rich