Why Do Magicians Keep Secrets?

Everybody knows that magicians keep secrets. What isn't understood is why magicians keep secrets. Some people think magicians do it to make it seem like they are smarter, that they have some special knowledge that most people don't have. In a sense that is true and there are some magicians who walk around deluding themselves that they are somehow better for possessing this knowledge.

The simple truth is that without secrets there would be no magic. Let me explain...

Magicians do tricks; most of the times with physical objects and sometimes with your thoughts. These tricks create an illusion. I describe an illusion as where your eyes tell you one thing but your brain tells you another. You see it happening with your eyes but your mind tells you it can't be real but you are still seeing it with your eyes. A terrific magician named Whit Hayden describes this as being hoisted on the horns of a dilemma.

When you are in this sudden state of confusion between your eyes and your mind, this is what I describe as magic. Magic to me is a feeling, that moment you let out a little gasp when your world has just for a second been turned upside down, that moment you think to yourself, 'how is that possible?'

The reality is that the trick you are witnessing is most times achieved by a few simple methods and techniques put together and presented by someone who knows how to decieve you with a smile on their face. Magic tricks as you know them are not created by some secret law of physics that only magicians and NASA scientists know about. Most people are so let down when they find out how a trick is done. "You're kidding me, is that all there is to it?!' is a common response.

So do you see that telling people how it is done you are destroying the magic that exists in their minds. I always hear stories from people that for years they have been wanting to find out how a trick was done and when they eventually do find out they almost always wish that they had never been told. The magic has disappeared.

That other reason magicians keep secrets is that magic demands that there is the element of surprise. You are not sure where the trick is leading and then voila! It is the same as jokes; the first time they are funny because the punch line comes as a surprise. Rarely do we get to laugh at a joke the second time around.

So if a magician is keeping their work secret from you, then quietly thank them because they are doing you a big favour. If you have magic knowledge, keep most of it to yourself. I say most because you'll find in Julian's Magician School that I promote the sharing of magic. I don't give away the big secrets but there is plenty that is easy to do. These are the tricks that are nice to share because you are giving someone something they can invisibly carry around with them to put a smile on someone else's face. This is getting closer to the true meaning of magic for me.

Magicians keep secrets, some of which can be found at Julian's Magician School