I apologize in advance if the title is misleading, this post is not sharing a magic tutorial or anything like that. However, it is dropping the news that I will be starting magic tutorials!
But wait Geoff, you've already posted magic tutorials here on your website. How are you going to "start" them?
Excellent question! I actually mean I'll be starting magic tutorials on YouTube.
I have always planned to do tutorials there, but until now I've only posted reviews of playing cards, and a few books and tricks. This has been entirely on purpose, trying to get a feel for how the platform works, how to film and edit videos, and if I'd be able to build an audience naturally. Well, it's worked! I mentioned once that when I hit 500 subscribers on YouTube I would start doing tutorials. I haven't crossed the 500-subscriber mark yet, but by the time I film and edit a video, I should have!
What Kind of Tutorials?
Card magic! I've been planning a lot of content, so there's going to be no shortage of videos for a long time (pending I actually film them all). The things I have in mind are everything from the fundamentals of sleight of hand to trick breakdowns, and even performance theory. I likely won't focus directly on mentalism itself, but there are plenty of "mentalism" style card magic tricks that may be taught too.
Magic is my primary hobby, and has been for years. I'll never be a professional magician -- by choice -- but that doesn't mean I don't want to be as skilled as one. In my actual career, I teach a lot. Teaching, as I discovered a very long time ago, has the reverse effect of leading me down a path of creativity, skill expansion, and better understanding of the topics I'm discussing. By me teaching you, I'll become a better magician myself!
Respect and Ethics
I want it to be clear, I will not be premiering magic tutorials on YouTube by teaching Clip Shift. No, everything I teach will fall into these categories:
- Public domain
- Personal creation
- Collaboration with the original creator (including permission from the original creator)
As I mentioned above, I'm not a professional magician -- but those who are rely on discretion in magic for their livelihood. I have a deep respect for the art, and while I do feel that the "never reveal your secret" motto is taken a little too strictly sometimes, I won't violate someone else's.
Attribution and acknowledgement for content that's not originally mine, even the use of a sleight or idea in a trick that I've created, will be shared. Doing full due diligence for everything would be quite a daunting task, especially since I wouldn't have full access to all of the necessary resources the majority of the time, so I can only promise that I'll do my best. I think that, for "credits", these would be shared both in the video itself, and the video's description. All of it would be self-contained on YouTube too, that way the person learning wouldn't have to jump to too many other sources.
Also, and this is more about "respect for the art" and less about ethics (though maybe it's both?), I want to focus on the education value of what I teach. Yes, some of the fundamentals and tricks I'll go into may be basic, or may already have two dozen other tutorials on YouTube, but I won't be churning out content just to post a new video every other day.
What About Your Other Platforms & Media?
This blog's not going anywhere anytime soon. I'll still be posting regularly, and I was actually thinking that once I get a few tutorials posted, I can start organizing them here in a new "Learning" section on the site. That might make it more accessible and easier to find what you're looking for, pending I actually teach what you're looking for!
I've kind of slowed down on the other platforms (i.e., Instagram) as it is. I still go there, almost daily, and view others' posts, but it's been a little while since I've posted myself. Since I started focusing on YouTube videos, I've lost interest in photography a bit. I still like it, I just don't have the time to split between so many things.
Speaking of Instagram and YouTube though, I will be doing more Reels and Shorts! I had a really fun idea recently. I was flipping through all three volumes of The Definitive Sankey and in the first one, there's a quote that says that it would be impossible for anyone to master and perform all of the tricks in the volumes. Well, challenge accepted! I'm going to learn and perform all of them, and do them as short-form video.
The caveat here is, not all of them can be performed in under 60 seconds. And, some of them require props or materials that I simply don't have, and won't be able to acquire. So, I'll either need to modify the trick, or -- and this is very likely to happen a few times -- skip the trick. My kids actually suggested that, for the tricks that take longer than 60 seconds, to film a few of them together as a longer "magic show" episode to share on YouTube. Definitely an idea!
Oh, and I'll still keep doing deck and book reviews. I was actually thinking of changing up my book review format a little too and making it more of a "magic book club" type of thing. More to come on that though!