The Difference Between "Can You Explain a Trick?" and "Can You Reveal the Secret?"

@Zeta:

This really highlights a crazy trend among many magicians (especially beginners) to want to know everything before they've even assimilated what they've just learned.

Spot on!

And for what it's worth, here's my experience on this topic:

I consider myself a beginner magician, and I often felt that urge to learn more tricks and techniques. But thankfully, I managed to silence that "demon" because I don't want to be a mediocre magician who has a superficial understanding of everything but executes it all poorly.

Up until now, I'd only performed for friends, family, and a few strangers on the street. But a few days ago, I turned 40, and at my party, I decided to put on a small show (for about 50 people). I used some foundational card magic effects from Vicente Canuto. And that doesn't mean they're bad tricks just because they're relatively technique-free, so to speak; far from it – the reactions were incredible! For a couple of friends who've been into magic for a while, I did the double prediction (twin cards) with a presentation about destiny and finding each other. And for others, the Coincidence for two spectators (the one where the cards are torn into two pieces, and each spectator ends up choosing a piece of the same card)... The reactions, honestly, were absolutely mind-blowing!

I also performed Out of This World from the 'How to be a Magician 2.0' course, and Shim Lim's 'Impossible Coincidence,' which Julio had taught. And of course, Hopping Half and 4 Coin Across using the Street Magic kit.

What I mean is, with just those 6 effects, I entertained and amazed people for half an hour. And those tricks have so much mileage! Why try to learn 100 more tricks all at once? It's much better to perform a few well-constructed routines flawlessly than many mediocre ones.

Currently, I'm taking the Pocket Card Magic course (which, by the way, my friends gave me as a gift, hehehe). It covers a ton of techniques and effects, but for instance, I don't plan on performing any effect that uses a Double Lift until I've completely mastered the Pinky count and the necessary technique for a clean turnover.

That's why, since I still have so, so much to learn and a lot of material to develop, I prefer to focus on refining what I already know and have in front of me, rather than trying to mediocrely learn a thousand new techniques and tricks. And I think it's great to ask other magicians for advice on what you're working on, but it's important not to bite off more than you can or should chew.

To draw a parallel, I also play music. If I have a repertoire of 14 songs, do I just play them once? No, I'll have to stretch them out across different venues and for various audiences, and really make the most of them. And then, over time, I'll prepare and rehearse another repertoire before attempting a concert with songs I've only just learned. So, a journey begins with a single step, not by trying to pole vault.

Totally agree!

Some words open doors, and others close them.

In magic, we always highly value the presentation of our effects; the words we use truly create the atmosphere.

Let's fine-tune our phrasing when making requests and giving instructions, finding a healthy balance among all parties.

I think this is relevant to the topic:

https://dontasktoask.com/
https://nohello.net/
https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask

I'm a bit lost trying to figure out where the group chats are here. I'm new, lol.