Dear Friends in Magic,
We are heading into my favorite time of year, with the leaves changing color and Halloween not far away. This year, October 31 is a special day for us at Theory and Art of Magic Press, but first, here is…
A BIG IDEA
Last issue I mentioned my upcoming presentation in Las Vegas on some of Max Maven’s big ideas. As part of my research, I have been studying Parallax—the recent collection of Max’s pathbreaking, hilarious, and sometimes provocative essays that ran in MAGIC Magazine for its first five years.
Reading the installments in a book makes it easier to discern some of Max’s persistent themes. Here I want to focus on one I won’t have time to discuss in my keynote: Max’s deep concern about two ongoing ethical mistakes magicians often make.
The first of these is plagiarism, which simply means presenting someone else’s ideas or work as one’s own. I was still an academic when I came to magic thirty years ago, so you might imagine my shock at the time to discover how common and blatant this was in our field. I don’t need to name names because every magician reading this will be able to form a list of magic authors who habitually appropriated the work of others without giving proper or any credit.
Just as with college student papers, there are different degrees of plagiarism in our field, ranging from fully conscious, intentional acts to largely unconscious ones. And no one—I stress no one—is immune to it. When we are in the excited throes of writing or creating something, it is relatively easy to channel someone else’s ideas or words from some hidden recess in our brains.
The good news is that plagiarism is quite simple to address. Here is the mantra I remind myself of and share with magicians who ask me about these issues: “Do the necessary research and give proper credit.” We can’t typically give credit when we are performing, but nothing should go on a video or in a book, magazine, or lecture without research and crediting.
Now, magicians have learned to do better at this over the past thirty years—likely because of Max’s frequent reminders. But let’s not get cocky: plagiarism is a subtle, sneaky thing; it can happen to anyone.
Max’s other concern is the tendency he sees for magicians to see or hear something they like in someone else’s show—a trick, line, or bit—and simply take it for their own. Of course, the theft of intellectual property in magic is a very old story, but that doesn’t make it right. And it, too, can happen along a spectrum of intentionality and awareness.
Again, we have a simple mantra to guide us: “When in doubt, ask for permission.” That’s it! It is very, very simple. One of the excellent things about the magic subculture is that magicians of every stature are relatively easy to contact for permission, through email, social media, or telephone.
In my experience, I have found most magicians to be very generous in granting permission, if they are asked in advance and asked respectfully. Even so, we need to be prepared to hear and heed the words, “No, but thanks for asking.” Alternately, as we teach at the Mystery School, we might be asked to make a trade or be given a price, which is a great outcome. But again, we often will hear the delightful word, “Yes.”
I realize the subject of fraud and theft in our field is a “feel bad.” And I have no interest in being a scold; after all, no one is immune. So, let me put it this way: it’s about doing our best to honor our colleagues and to create magic with integrity. Who doesn’t want to do those things? Let’s constructively help each other aim for them! |
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