To Be Or Not To Be A Professional Or An Amateur Magician
An amateur magician is anyone who has a minimum amount of
talent, skill and knowledge when it comes to performing magic
tricks. He or she may be anyone who knows one magic trick or at
least three magic tricks.
But basically, a more technical definition of an amateur
magician is anyone who does not in any way practice magic as
their trade, even if he or she knows four, five, six or more
than a number of magic tricks. This is regardless of how good,
better or excellent he or she may be in performing flourishes,
sleight of hand or optical illusions.
However, there are those amateur magicians who try their very
best to expand their current knowledge as well as repertoire and
still practice magic as their primary source of income. People
who do this are usually called hedge magicians. This is in order
to differentiate them from authentic professional magicians who
make practicing and performing magic as a trade and make an
actual living doing so.
Meanwhile a professional magician is anyone who has a little bit
more knowledge and talent compared to an amateur magician. These
professional magicians know sufficient magic that makes it
enough for them to use it as their primary source of trade and
income, as well as not using magic to assist them in a trade
other than magic.
So technically, even if a barber performs his job using magic
and no matter how many tricks he or she knows and is capable of,
that barber is still not considered as a professional magician
because his primary trade is cutting hairs and not necessarily
being a magician. Another way to differentiate a professional
magician from an amateur is by the way he or she does
flourishes.
According to the Online Encylopedia of Magic, a flourish is any
sleight that is performed for the purpose of entertaining an
audience and does not in any way contain any moves that are
hidden. Most sleights that are performed are done so in order to
deceive a captive audience and to do something that can not be
detected. Meanwhile, a flourish is any trick that is done to
draw the audience's attention away from where an actual sleight
is simultaneously being performed.
There are some magicians who consider the performance of a
flourish as simply a finger exercise and not really actual
pieces of performance. But those magicians who do put in and
include flourishes in their act are considered by some of their
fellow magicians as a seriously skilled performer.
If a performance consists of a card trick wherein the cards are
spread out on the table and when a performer does a pressure
card fan, the image that that performer projects is one of
professionalism and experience. But a performer of magic who
simply holds the cards and then spreads them slightly, may then
be considered more as an amateur. Although this may or may not
be true or this may not be considered as a hard fact, this is
the perception and the impression that a performing magician
usually gives to an audience.
Flourishes are done not just as a form of show-off to the
audience, a flourish is also done for the purpose of presenting
just how a performer is truly dedicated to the magic act. It
also shows the degree of professionalism one has for the
performance.
When a flourish is done, it makes it easier to know the
difference between a magic trick performed by an expert magician
and your friendly neighborhood Jim who is doing a card trick.
A skilled performer comes off as a natural and will ultimately
receive more credit for his or her performance as well as
recognition, not to mention that good old respect for the skills
he or she has.
When a spectator is looking at a magic trick where the
occasional flourish is done, that performer is also seen as more
than a magician but a person who is passionate at what he or she
is doing. It is therefore so much easier to hire a magician who
has more skills and experience than one who needs to practice
his or her craft more.