Mister Toad: We all appreciate how important support from our family is when we endeavour to achieve some target.

In your very earliest days, when you were first considering a move into the field of public entertainment, what was the feedback from your parents? Did they support you from the first instance or was there a phase during which you had to prove to them that this was the route that you wanted to take?

Michael Vincent: I had full support from my family right from the word go. My parents were happy because studying magic kept me off the streets and out of trouble and getting into bad company.

they didn't realize how good I was until I was invited to appear at my first convention which was a Tannen’s Jubilee in New York. From that moment on everything changed.

To have the support from ones parents is so important. This helps one to build confidence an self esteem.

In return, my success has made my parents proud.

Here is a topic for all magic bunny members:

In my opinion, the art of magic is suffering to up hold its heritage and dignity. Times have changed and magic being more accessible now than when I first started is part of the problem. There was a time when secrets had to be traded, now magic secrets are as common place as any other subject.

How can we restore the mystery and respect and take magic further into this new century?

Graham: How? By treating magic with respect ourselves. Currently, many treat it as a commodity, or worse still trivialize it via their performance. Magic is not something you can purchase, it comes from within. It is only the props, or methods, which are purchased from a shop. If we don't treat magic with the respect that it deserves than neither will an audience.

We must also accept that there is no "Holy Grail" of effects which will instantly make us an international star. It does not exist. While some flit from effect to effect (sometimes only giving an effect a measly couple of months practice prior to public performance) hoping to alight upon that one effect which will set them on their way. By doing this we present 'tricks' not magic and accustom modern audiences to perceive the poor quality they are presented with as the norm. Only when they witness a performer like yourself do they realize that they have been duped by their previous experiences, and how strong magic can actually be in the hands of a dedicated artist.

Ring any bells?

Mike: This is quite possibly the most difficult question that we, as magicians, need to answer. And, I don't think the answer is going to be one, simple solution.

We are now in the information age. The fact of the matter is that the pros are out there selling their material and, in order to keep up with the competition, it is almost required. On your own web site, Mr. Vincent, is an area for magicians with a simple question for entrance (possibly the most simple I've ever seen to access a restricted area of a site) and, in that area, you have your own material for sale. Please understand this is not an indictment, just a point which is directly related to the question.

So, how do we, from the amateur who studies for the love of the art up to the highest paid of pros, keep with the tradition of this art and honor this art, without making the blanket statement that the selling of secrets, or even the sharing of secrets, is completely wrong? You have to start learning magic somewhere, don't you?

And, this idea of selling secrets is certainly not new to the 21st century. Books on magic, available to the general public (and more exacting manuals available only to magicians) has been going on since the turn of the last century. Houdini took heat for publishing his manuscripts which were exposure. J.B. Bobo did the same, but was hailed as a pioneer for his work. More recently, Ammar took an effect that was a closely guarded secret and made droves of money off of selling it, even though at that point, it was becoming much more common place amongst magicians (Crazy Man's Handcuffs, specifically). In fact, Ammar's publications on the cups and balls gives the most comprehensive study of this particular effect that I've ever seen (how many kids get this in their beginner's sets and a quick explanation of the cups and balls but never realize just what they have their hands on until many years later?).

In fact, many beginners sets have secrets published that you simply don't realize the depth of the information that you're being given. I learned to do ashes on the arm effects when I was about 8 years old from a beginners set that I got as a present (that's 30 years ago, just for your understanding of the time line that I'm speaking of). I paid it little attention and had completely forgotten that it even existed only to see David Blaine do exactly that to accolades the world over. Wow - there I was thinking, "Damn, if I'd have had the insight that Blaine had, I would be the world class performer and not him!" So, where, exactly, do we set the limit on what is acceptable exposure and what is not? Kid's sets of magic have been around for how long? The 1930s maybe? Now, almost 80 years later, here we are talking about exposure and what it is doing to ruin our acts.

So, where do we draw the line? Let's face it, anyone of a mind to learn our secrets is going to. Conventions are accessible to everyone, magicians to laymen. Of course, it's ludicrous to consider that the average layman is going to go to a convention and pay to glean these secrets (which is why they love the masked magician) but that is not the point. The point is, it is being given away and the trade off is cash - cold, hard cash. But that is what it's all about, isn't it? This is a capitalistic society that we've built for ourselves.

Conversely, go to India or China and see how many secrets of the shamans and fakirs you can purchase. They won't let go of it for any price and the traditions of the magician are strongly up-held. They pass this information down from father to son, or from mentor to student, but they don't go out in the market place selling it. Of course, their society is not set up as a capitalistic society, so the value of what they know to the value of cash is very, very different. And, in India in particular, the caste system plays strongly into this.

I teach a very small class on magic. My students are very young, 9 and 10 year olds. So, I do what I can to instill in their minds that what they are learning is special, and it is privileged. I do my utmost to ensure that they understand the depth of what I'm teaching them, even if it is nothing but a simple false transfer. I endeavor to instill in their forming minds that we, as magicians, must keep our secrets safe for many reasons on many levels: The fact that the spectator doesn't really want to know the secret, the fact that knowing the secret makes them feel dumb, the fact that without the secret you are doing nothing special, the fact that being a magician means keeping secrets because it is part of the mystique....

Funny thing, there are those magicians who would consider what I'm doing to be unreasonable exposure. They feel that these students of mine have no right to this privileged information. Even though what I am teaching is just the simple basics of magic and pay more attention to misdirection, entertainment and psychology I am still bastardizing magic in some magicians eyes. So, how do we even reconcile these differences of opinion when it comes to exposure of any kind?

Yes, sir, difficult question this one...

As a side note, I particularly like Graham's answer!

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