Comment by stavros
18 hours ago
Eh I kind of feel like you can't say that. If something is magical before you learn how it's done, it should be magical after. The magical part isn't "it's actually impossible", but "it's so far from what I could come up on my own", which still holds after you know the secret.
Yes, some excellent magic tricks work even better when you know how they work, especially if they’re the kind that’s based on putting in ridiculous amounts of work or skill/practice.
Penn and Teller play a lot with that idea, for example.
I think I respect Penn and Teller as magicians more since they reveal how some of their tricks work, and yeah the sheer amount of skill required is for some of their tricks is impressive.
I also liked watching The Masked Magician share some behind the scenes of tricks, and even knowing how it's done doesn't make the trick any less impressive.
You should hide the secret if it’s ugly, but you can expose if it’s beautiful (and it’s your trick!)