The September 6, 2024 newsletter from Jeff Kowalk, the Erudite Magician and CFO of Vanishing Inc. discussed the evergreen taxonomy of magicians. He used the classifications of collector, family and friends performer, part-time professional, and full time professional to describe the community. The full time professional is at the top of hierarchy as they earn their living by performing magic with the part-timers with their day jobs next followed by the lowly amateur classes.
I’ve always been uncomfortable with this as the demarcation is about money – not the ability to perform entertainingly and deceptively. The term, professional, is troublesome too. I’ve defined professionalism as a manner of being – it’s how we do what we do. It has nothing to do with money.
It’s funny that we don’t know where these categories originated. However they are regularly used by the major magic organizations to segment their membership.
In an August 6, 2024 blog post, Andy of the Jerx wrote about his three performance roles: the magician, the bystander, and the enthusiast. He defines them as:
- The Magician is when “you are the all-powerful force behind the magic.”
- The Bystander is when “You don’t know how it’s happening. You don’t know why it’s happening. It’s just happening.”
- The Enthusiast is when “You are “someone with an interest in magic.” I could also call this the Dabbler, the Explorer, the Experimenter, the Aficionado, the Seeker, The Hobbyist, The Student, The Participant.”
His argument for the Enthusiast is that the first two are theatrical and while they work from the stage, they don’t work in the day-to-day world where most of us perform. I tend to agree with his assessment as becoming the all powerful magician when you’re going to do something for friends or family in a casual setting is strange.
However his first two roles feel like the place where the magic originates and more in line with the taxonomy attributed to the highly original and creative, Topas. I learned of his “murder mystery” categories second hand from a talk by Jeff McBride probably twenty years ago. I recently asked Jeff if he knew if Topas had published his taxonomy and learned that it was in his lecture notes. An internet search revealed that they aren’t readily available with the exception of questionable PDFs.
Like Andy, Topas has three categories:
- The “murderer” who commits the act. They are responsible for the act. It originates from them. It’s similar to Andy’s role of the magician. Jeff uses the Pendragons of the 80’s as an example.
- The “victim” who has the magic done to them. They don’t make it happen as it happens to them. It’s similar to Andy’s bystander. Most famous example is Cardini.
- The “witness” observes the magic occurring along with their audience. Doug Henning was often a witness to his magic.
Looking at Topas’ taxonomy is that it’s about where the magic comes from in a performance. Jeff encouraged us to use this to determine what the source of our magic is as it influences how we perform. I’ve recall reading somewhere that Fred Kaps would vary his source, perhaps unconsciously, in the context of one effect. If you watch his salt pour routine on YouTube, you’ll see he switches from “murderer” or my preference, perpetrator, to “victim” as the pour goes out of his control.
I enjoy the thought experiments of these taxonomies. Do I use them? Yes, to an extent. I believe it’s important to know where my magic originates but it’s not necessarily my role in my performance. However behind all this, it’s my goal to perform in a professional manner no matter what or if I am getting paid.
