The magic community and youtube have a very complicated relationship.
Youtube is where most people start learning magic nowadays. It is free, it has a lot of content and is a platform we already know and use.
While many magicians hate magic’s presence on youtube other’s embrace it and feel it is very beneficial for the art. This is for a number of reasons we will discuss.
First of all, should I learn Magic from Youtube?
Depends on what you want to learn! For sleights, effects and etc we would recommend to restrain it to very few youtubers you trust are experienced and good teachers. For inspiration, theory, watching performances, it is a wonderful source! We suggest you search for performances from your favourite magicians (or find new ones! Dai Vernon, Edward Marlo, Lance Burton and Steve Roth are good names if you don’t know where to start and want “classic” magic for new performers search for street magic videos). When watching the performances, enjoy but be very critical. Try to understand what you like/dislike about each performance and don’t focus on a single performer.
Although the very first steps into learning magic are many times done through youtube you won’t find a complete “education” in there.
The problem with youtube is that there are many channels that will have teachers who have barely started their own journey in magic and will teach you very poorly.
There are also good teachers who will help you improve but they are hard to find and you are confined to learning the few techniques they are teaching. You also run the risk of just watching tutorial after tutorial without mastering anything. This happens because creators want you to watch their other videos and youtube itself is made you to keep watching different videos.
In short:
It’s fine to pick up a few tutorial’s now and then but try to focus on one at a time! Youtube shouldn’t be your primary source for learning for long. Don’t get lost trying to learn everything and ending up with nothing. For inspiration, branding as magician and criticising performances… go ahead
One problem you might find after you start performing for people is hearing something along the lines of “It’s fine if you don’t tell me how you do it, I will search for it on Youtube”.
This is the main reason many magicians hate magic exposed on youtube. How should you approach this? Don’t watch simple “exposure”, “reveals” and etc on youtube. Yes you might learn a secret or two but by itself the secret is worth almost nothing. Most videos that fall onto this category include people who know nothing about magic. Without getting the insight from the performer you will take very little from the secret and you will be helping the spread of such videos that clearly harm the art you love.
In-depth tutorials are fine as long as the teacher is someone trusted and doesn’t teach effects that are not his to teach.
It is important that marketed effects are not being taught. This is a topic that will probably be covered in articles but besides the ethics there are other reasons not to support such kind of activity.
The original the creator of the content you want to learn is being harmed, and it will demotivate him from creating more content you love.
The person teaching you will always be worse at the effect than the creator who has developed and perfected it.
There are literally thousands of effects that are free for the public, great effects that belong to no one and have been developed by many great magicians. There is no need to learn in a un-ethical way when there are so many free, ethical and great options out there!
If you find a good youtube teacher you trust, stick with him. Just don’t spend all day browsing youtube for new tutorials, you will just lose time.
A few recommendations we have are:
-Chris Ramsay
He works at Ellusionist (one of the major magic retailers) but the branding is subtle and understandable. All of his videos are well taught. We specially recommend his content on branding and approaching people. Chris is a modern magician that didn’t get stuck in the last decades like many have, his insight will usually make you a better and more confident performer whether it is in the streets, school, work or bar.
-52Kards
The 52Kards brand has grown and now has it’s own store and playing cards. You will find two teachers in this channel, Asad and Vin. They give detailed explanations and usually point you out in the right directions when it comes to books. Vin also has a few very good videos on presenting magic and his passion for the art is undeniable. Here you will find a lot of tutorials, keep focused and one or two videos at a time, no more than that.
-Michael Vincent
Michael is one of the most recognised magician’s within the community. His channel is recent and he does not have the modern approach that the previous channels have. His shorts videos will provide you info from a very experienced mind that excels when doing magic.