AIBU to dislike magicians?

[Mysterian]

There is no such thing as magic. Magicians just do stuff that they know how to do and refuse to tell anybody how to do it.

If I knew how to set the central heating but nobody else in the house did, I would tell them. I wouldn't get all fucking mystical about it, put on a funny hat, get a lady in sparkly swimming costume to stand next to me, refuse to tell anybody else how to do it and claim I was a central heating magician. That is exactly how magicians operate when they pretend to pull a playing card out somebody's anus or whatever! It's annoying and rude.

They should do the trick, explain how it was done, apologise, then go home.

Ugh yes nothing screams 'cliche wedding' more than a magician. Leave me alone I'm trying to eat!

They're like cats - always gravitate towards the person who most dislikes them.

I'm not for a moment suggesting that I want it to happen. All I'm saying is that....

If the lady did ever actually get properly sawn in half;
If the expensive watch borrowed from the audience member did actually get irreparably smashed by the hammer;
If, instead of blowing it out on entry, the fire really did get 'eaten', resulting in a panicked, gasping performer stampeding and screaming around the stage and propelling powerful jets of flaming farty fire that ignited their spangly gold leotard.

....A LOT more people would be interested in watching magicians

Derren Brown doing that predicting the lottery numbers trick really made it crystal clear that it's all a big con.

If he really did have a way of knowing (which would probably have rendered the lottery illegal anyway), why wouldn't he just buy the ticket and shut up about it?

What use would it have been even if he did have a foolproof way of predicting? Everybody watching would have bought a ticket with the same numbers and then all shared the jackpot, each winning back their stake money if they were lucky.

Same as British Gas. Magic Circle = Corgi Registration. You have to join

No, you don't. "Applicants must qualify for membership, either through a performance exam or by a written thesis on a branch of magic, after which they will be designated Member of the Magic Circle (M.M.C.)."

OP am sat up in bed shaking with laughter at 'Apologise, then go home'

It's the NLP thing that pisses me off about Brown, it's creepy gaslighting and sounds weird: 'YOUaregoingtoFORgetthisEVERhappened'

A lot of magicians, like James Randy and Penn and Teller, are the first ones that openly admit that they are performing tricks, and have made it their life's purpose to debunk people who claim to have actual supernatural abilities.

I also like seeing things I can't understand. Then I like to be told how it works so I then understand it.

Go see Penn and Teller

If how a trick is done is more interesting than the trick, they show how it's done.

Sparkling

Agree with that, but mainly because the magicians they are impressed with are the crap ones. The guy with the rubik's cube. A rubik's cube that solves itself can be bought for less than £20.

But a magician who produced a kitten on your doorstep, you would turn on a dime.

I really don't like them even though I find them quite entertaining. I wouldn't trust one in real life though slippery gits

I like the programme that explains how the tricks are done, is it the Masked Magician, or the Secret Magician? Something like that.

And I'll make an exception for Dynamo.

But amateur magicians, ughh, no thanks. Was standing in a long queue at a festival thing a while back and a magician came along to entertain the children. How I laughed when the three year old in front of me announced loudly 'but what about that card up your sleeve? That one there...' and pointed to it.

I'm not that bothered by magicians either way, or I wasn't until they were compared to British Gas and now I'm on board with this thread.

I'd also like to give a special mention to all the terrible children's entertainers in the guise of magicians that I've had to sit through over the years at kid's parties.

Thanks for this thread, OP. It's given me a much-needed laugh this morning!

(Although, I disagree about Sooty - he's marvellous.)

For the rest, YANBU.

I like a proper magician. Men with bouncy 80s hair and flouncy white unbuttoned shirts tucked into tight black pants and women in sparkly bodysuits doing big fancy tricks. The Pendragons, Magic Babe Ning, Lance Burton, Simon Drake etc. I like the Masked Magician too. They're in a different league from the average kids' entertainer though.

My mother was rejected as a contestant on a Paul Daniels game show due to producer concerns she would have a “personality clash” with Paul. My mother is literally the nicest funniest person as her hundreds of friends will attest. Told me all I needed to know...

I once burst into tears in a restaurant because my friend's dad who had taken us out did a magic trick on me. I hate them, they make me feel uneasy to the point of panicking. The waiter laughed at me Im not bothered by heights, the dark, snakes, spiders, mice but magic/card tricks freak me out

They call us Muggles.

Must confess to having a bit of a crush on Troy!

I like it. It's clever sleight of hand and entertainment like anything else. Everyone knows it's not real, just very good planning.

But each to their own. You're unimpressed with magicians I'm unimpressed with sports people. All that fuss over a fraction of a second or half a cm - meh!

The phase “sleight of hand” sets my teeth on edge.

Jesus who called the fun police? They’re not deceptive, its just a bit of skilful fun and mystery. Unless of course you know how the trick is performed which I bet you don’t?! And why would you want to? There’s be no point in it otherwise.

Jesus who called the fun police? They’re not deceptive, its just a bit of skilful fun and mystery
I completely agree, WillowPeach
Who knew there were so many people who dislike magicians?
Perhaps I should start a thread to pretend to dislike jugglers, or acrobats, or something.
Would that make as many people come out of the woodwork with their weird dislikes?

And Sooty.

That really made me chuckle

There’s no point anyway WillowPeach! You know they're going to guess the right fucking card!

I’m not the slightest bit interested in televised ‘magic’, or that performed on a stage, but when it’s done a few feet in front of you, by a charming expert, even though you know he’s using misdirection and are on guard for it, but are still hoodwinked, it can be quite something.