Sum up what today's magic industry seems like to you.. in 3 words

[The_Logical_Magician]

Mind-blowing -- that's basically the 1% of magic that I'm interested in at the moment.

Obvious -- that's the 99% that remains which is just boring and which can be figured out at first glance by a practised magician.

Hecklers -- because I've been having problems at school with the latter for the entire year (damn those hecklers!!!!! *points finger at the sky*)

[Fin]

Originally Posted by The_Logical_Magician

Mind-blowing -- that's basically the 1% of magic that I'm interested in at the moment.

Obvious -- that's the 99% that remains which is just boring and which can be figured out at first glance by a practised magician.

Hecklers -- because I've been having problems at school with the latter for the entire year (damn those hecklers!!!!! *points finger at the sky*)

I think you missed the point of Kelan's question. It's about what do you think of the magic INDUSTRY, not what do you think about magic in general and performing it. By "the magic industry" we are talking the business of magic and how it is being run. It's about the companies and the main players who are helping create the bulk of the new tricks we see being advertised constantly, and in turn helping to steer the general direction in which magic could go.

I'm relatively new to magic compared to most people here I think, so here's what comes to mind when I think of "the magic industry".

PROFIT - The magic industry would not exist if it didn't make profit, of course. I think that although there are some great companies out there who seem to be trying hard to make money but are also clearly concerned for the well-being of magic as a whole, there are also companies out there who are only interested in profit. I think we should be realistic and accept that this is part of life in general. Magic never was, and never will be able to somehow manage to escape the problem that blights nearly everything that is linked to money i.e. greed, profiteering, corruption. When I think of "industry" I think of profit, which equals greed and corruption, but I am under no illusions.. This is what makes the world go around. It's why I want to move back to Mars.

PROGRESS - Without a doubt, having an "industry" rather than just a lot of people doing magic, means that magic is more likely to evolve/progress, because with the desire for profit comes the need to innovate. With the next "Worlds Greatest ACAAN" you are more likely to make a ton of money than just re-releasing a dvd of "The Old Classic ACAAN". So with the magic industry and all its negative, we also get many positives, the most obvious of which being ACCELERATED PROGRESS, reinvention, and more motivation to innovate. The desire for profit means there is more pressure to create new things. This will mean a ton of crap, but it will also include great new ideas and inventions.

COMMUNITY - The magic industry is relatively small. I feel lucky to be living at such a time in history with the internet gaining so much ground so quickly. It has meant that I can pretty confidently write an email to a famous magician and actually expect a reply! This is one of my favourite things about magic; the feeling of community, and the help that you will often get, if you just ask, even from some of the top names in the industry, guys who actually run some of these companies we're talking about. So although with profit comes corruption, there are still many honest, hard working, good people in the magic industry who, overall, help make it a pretty cool industry, at least when compared to most others!

[The_Logical_Magician]

Oooooh oops. my bad. well then I just hate the lot of it. I'm the kind of person who would've liked to have a personal, wise mentor (with a long white beard if possible) who would've taught me all the secrets of card magic so that the art may be preserved when he dies. The magic industry is all about business so: To hell with it!

ps: this last comment naturally excludes this here site, duuhhh.