Do people REALLY want to know how tricks are done?

[Ashles]

Everyone always professes a desire to know "Well how did they do THAT?", but if you tell them they are really disappointed.

I personally love the ingenuity that is behind most tricks and have strangely found it to be a useful tool in real life. Just as Mr Randi uses his experience to analyse the charlatans who claim paranormal abilities, I find the whole concept of critical thinking useful in trying to unravel subjects as varied as 'what really is going on in the political world' to 'just who is likely to get a pay rise at work next'.

It's all to do with the complexity of life and trying to fathom what is going on that you cannot immediately see, but might be happening due to logical assumptions.

So, with this in mind, is it wrong to explain tricks to people if it might make them think more critically about the world in general, or is the concept of the mysterious so much fun in principle that it's better to not explain the tricks.
Or should we decide based on the person who wants to know the answer?

[Darat]

I love knowing how tricks are done - it doesn't spoil the entertainment for me. Just knowing how it is done doesn't even mean I can spot it being done in the "real" trick.

I've noticed a very strange reaction from some people (and even on this forum) when they learn that something a magician does is "just" a trick. (If you want to have a read do a search on Derren Brown .)

[Ashles]

(If you want to have a read do a search on Derren Brown .)
Ah Derren Brown. I actually wrote to Randi one time after I had just seen Mr Brown for the first time. I thought he was a great example of what someone could do by using solely psychological tricks. Derren Brown freely admits he doesn't use 'magic' just the power of psycholgy and suggestion.

Randi replied with an extremely short e-mail to the effect that, no, Derren Brown used mostly tricks too. I rewatched Derren Brown and basically slapped my hand to my forehead. Of course!

Pretending to use psychology to perform basic card and coin tricks looks so impressive, but it is, of course, much easier to use the basic methods. His pretence of psychological mastery is a great new gimmick (well not new exactly, but you know what I mean).

Derren Brown is a brilliant example of someone who can fool a skeptical audience by claiming, not magical skills, but the shadowy skills of psychological manipulation. Some of them are true and some are false and by blurring the line he creates a great new act.

I enjoy doing one of David Blaine's best tricks - write someone's name on a piece of paper and I will suddenly have it written on my arm. It's a fun trick, but instead of saying 'Oh it's all a trick' I should say 'Well I knew you would pick someone you knew well and certain names correspond to certain body positions..." etc. and they would utterly believe me.

Plus Derren Brown is such a likeable chap. He's got a great patter.

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by Ashles
Everyone always professes a desire to know "Well how did they do THAT?", but if you tell them they are really disappointed.

That is not a question, it is a compliment.

[Rutegaard]

Holy thread resurrection.

I really like to know. I'm appealed by the ingenuity that's behind the few tricks I know how they're done.

[rossminster]

As a long-time amateur magician, my experience is that *most* people *think* they want to know, but when they find out they are usually disappointed and rather wish they hadn't.

A good friend of mine refuses to be entertained by my magic, airily dismissing it as "just sleight of hand". To which I can reply, "Yes, and it has "just" taken me twenty years to learn it!"

There are people as well who are amazed at the ingenuity of a magician's secret device, or the skill of some sleight of hand, or the boldness of some misdirection, and love to discover the "how" of a conjuring trick. These people, I find, are in the minority.

Most go, "Aww! Is that all it is?"

Yup - a false cut (say) that is virtually invisible and took hours of knuckle-bleeding practice is *all* it is!

[Dr Adequate]

Originally posted by Ashles
I enjoy doing one of David Blaine's best tricks - write someone's name on a piece of paper and I will suddenly have it written on my arm. It's a fun trick, but instead of saying 'Oh it's all a trick' I should say 'Well I knew you would pick someone you knew well and certain names correspond to certain body positions..." etc. and they would utterly believe me.
I do want to know how that one's done. Can you PM me?