Books!

John Bannon raised an interesting issue in yesterday's interview, which I'd like to take a moment to riff on here on the FUNblog.

There's been a fair amount of banter on this blog about learning magic via DVDs. These days, most magic manufacturers produce instructional DVDs to accompany their products. FUN Inc. is one of those manufacturers. The contention is that it's often easier to understand a sleight, a move or a subtlety via video than through the printed page.

Maybe.

While it may be easier to see a move happen on screen than read about it, I would attribute 80% of my knowledge about magic: its moves, specific tricks, credits and the history of the art to what I've absorbed from the written word.

Don't get me wrong; videos (in whatever format you consume them) can be instructional, informative and entertaining. But to me, the way they deliver content to me is much more ephemeral and short lived (I find it harder to retain information delivered via video) than what I take in from textual media. If I want to be entertained, perhaps I will watch a DVD and see what a specific performer has to offer. But if I want to learn something, chances are, I'm going to read about it. And chances are that if I'm looking for a specific piece of information, I'm far more likely to find it in print than on screen.

Perhaps this makes me old fashioned or backward-thinking. Perhaps I'm biased because I'm a book-type guy (shameless commercial plug: I operate, independently of FUN Inc., Squash Publishing, which has released a line of titles distributed by FUN, including David Ben's acclaimed biography of Dai Vernon).

But re-read Bannon's interview above and note that he calls out reading as much as you can as a method whereby your creativity can be heightened and expanded.

No single blog entry will settle the print vs. video debate, and that has not been my intent in the previous few paragraphs. But before casting off my comments and navigating back toward YouTube, consider the way you learn magic and what else you want to learn about it. Whatever you're looking for from the art might be found on video. But I can guarantee that you'll find it in print.