Magic, Videotape and the Truth
29th, November 2024
They say that the camera never lies.
One of the best ways to improve as a magician is to film yourself while performing.
Be it an iPhone nested against a plant next to a window, or a crappy camera standing on a cheap Chinese tripod in the corner.
There's no excuse not to film yourself.
The unforgiving eye — the digital sensor that gathers light onto it through the lens will reveal your weaknesses. Gladly, it will also highlight the good bits too.
But before you go and record yourself, if you haven't done it before, be prepared for an agonizing and embarrassing experience when you play it back.
Yet at the same time, I'd like to remind everybody that not every effect is designed to be performed for the audience at home, distant from the action itself. It's completely different thing to witness magic live, especially close-up and parlor magic, than it is to judge the recording of the show as a TV-special.
It's OK to perform effects that are more complex than the tricks designed to grab the attention of the laity sitting on their couches channel surfing.
- Max Arcanie