It’s a question I get asked a lot. It’s a question I think all of us spend a surprising amount of time considering. What exactly is the future of magic? Is there a future of magic? I think we think about it because magic changes a lot. It wasn’t long ago when magic was defined by sparkly dancers and big fancy stage illusions being wheeled onto TV studio floors. What causes the world of magic to change? How will it keep adapting?
You can learn a lot about the future by looking at the past. Magic is often called the second oldest profession. We have this way of surviving everything, even pandemics. The truth is that external factors have always defined magic. Were sparkly dresses and big stage illusions popular long ago because people loved them, or was it because TV cameras were too big and heavy to wheel onto the streets for close up magic specials?
Then there’s the sudden rise of street magic, which feels catalysed by the sudden availability of cheaper, more mobile, HD cameras. Yes, suddenly, TV producers could shoot magic outside the studio in a logistical sense. But, when I talk to executive producers about their switch from studio productions to street magic shows, they’ll tell me the main driving factor was the smaller production budgets. With more channels and each dishing out less money, sending out one magician to the streets with a camera was far cheaper than building a giant studio set filled with cameras and a studio audience.
