I just wanted to add a few extra points about my previous statements about the circle. Bits and pieces that didn’t fit the flow of the points I was making but do have a little relevance.
Quirky side avenues like the few people who really do want to abolish the exposure rule, some examples of what happens if you break the rule, what joining the circle is like, and reasons you might want to.
After all, I’m a member of the magic circle, surely it can’t be all that bad?
Abolitionists
There are those who wish the exposure rule didn’t exist at all. As I understand their reasons fall into three categories:
- Exposure pays
As in there are lots of opportunities to make serious bank if you’re willing to give away magic secrets, just look at the Masked Magician¹. In fact the most famous expulsion from the circle for breaking the exposure rule was one of the founding members, David Devant² when he published the secrets of several tricks in a magazine for what he probably thought was going to be an easy paycheck. - Secrets are a total bummer
Anyone who has had to keep a secret will know for a fact that it sucks. Now multiply that by a thousand and every time you’re with a group of friends watching a show, they start asking questions. The questions usually go in the order of “How did he³ do that?” “Do you know how he³ did that?” “Can you do that?” And while you respect the rules it would be so much easier to just be able to say the magic on TV is either heavily augmented or entirely fabricated by camera work. - Penn and Teller fans
Penn and Teller have a curious relationship with the circle. In their early career they set up the notion that they were in a huge rivalry with the circle because they give away the secrets of tricks and the circle want to stop them. The magical duo are so famous however that they are pretty much always welcome at the circle. This situation is a delicately balanced kayfabe⁴ where both parties can amicably raise their profile by maintaining the illusion of an intense animosity. Some clueless members of the circle don’t understand this and think it’s real. They want the exposure rule destroyed so that Penn and Teller can join the circle and everyone can be happy together. The fucking morons.
Breaking the law
As I mentioned a moment ago with regards to the fate of David Devant, if you break the exposure rule, you’re kicked out of the Circle. Immediate disgrace, right? Well not quite. There have been a number of high profile expulsions under the exposure rule and in many cases it has had zero impact on the careers of those involved. David Devant has a bronze bust on a revolving platform in a room at the circle named after him. It’s the room where the examinations for new members are performed and the walls are covered in glass cases with exhibits dedicated to famous magicians, one of whom is Devant himself.
Indeed it seems the usual path of a person expelled from the circle is that they rejoin later, often having achieved more on the outside than they ever did as a member. Just look at John Lenahan, expelled from the circle for revealing the techniques used by 3 card monte scammers (and a few card magicians) on television and went on to host Stuff the White Rabbit and be the voice of Tally the Talking Toaster on the sci-fi show Red Dwarf. As I often say, the only thing more impressive to muggles than being in the magic circle is getting kicked out of it. Since rejoining the circle he has now been promoted to associate of the inner magic circle and writes fantasy novels.
Facing the exam
It’s a common misconception that the magic circle exam is a gruelling test, whereupon expert magicians coldly scrutinise a novice for the smallest flaw in their sleight of hand technique, all the while judging the complexity of their chosen routine, quality of props and suavity of presentation.
This is utter nonsense but much like many aspects of the circle, the public belief in this fiction serves the Circle’s reputation very well.
In reality a Magic Circle exam audience is the friendliest audience you could ever hope to get. Unless your career reaches the kind of heights where you get invited to perform at a convention gala show, it is literally the largest audience of pure magic lovers you will ever get. Polite applause at every revelation, a giggle at the weakest gags, zero heckling and, if you can string together 10 minutes of simple tricks together with no catastrophic fuckups, you’ll probably get membership at the end of it.
The exam is not there to accept only the cream of the crop, it is there to keep the insect legs per kilo at acceptable levels. Or to use a less weird metaphor, the exam exists to prevent the Circle’s nightmare scenario of someone using their membership as a weird flex and then being shit at the actual magic. This is even more of a problem in the modern world where such an interaction may find it’s way into a million eyeballs on YouTube through the conduit of a teenager’s smartphone⁵.
What exactly is The Magic Circle anyway
As I have previously stated The Magic Circle is one of several London based magic clubs. So why would you want to join if you don’t live in London?
I joined the magic circle to make my parents proud of me⁶ because of all the historical significance the circle has in the UK because of its position in the media landscape during my childhood. However, as Master Payne said in one of his fantastic Mystery School PEP talks, in order to develop as a magician you must get over the reason you became a magician in the first place. So why did I stay in the magic circle? I actually quite like the people there, although I don’t get to visit very often I do quite like the notion that I could drop in on a Monday night, check out the video archives, read from the library, and so forth. Also since they made their Monday night lectures available over live stream, the benefit of membership for non Londoners has really skyrocketed.
There is one odd other notion that people join for and I think it’s quite flawed.
I’ve met people who say they want to join The Magic Circle because they have encountered clients who still hold onto that media significance in the 80s and 90s demand that the magician they’re hiring is a member of The Magic Circle. This, in my opinion, is a bad reason to join The Magic Circle, and if this is your only reason for joining, basically… I would say don’t.
The Magic Circle’s logo is a copyrighted design and non members cannot include it on their websites or promotional material. However, the members guidelines are very restrictive about the way members can use it⁷ so often it’s inclusion on publicity is minimal at best. I’d go so far as to say that if a magician includes it prominently in their promotional material, it’s because they have run out of other things to say about themselves. This copyright on the logo is the only legal limitation that the Circle has over non-members, so lying about membership is something they have no real recourse for. Frankly if you did with sufficient volume, and frequency to make them have to officially state that you are not a member, that would be an amazing PR win just in terms of the added visibility of your brand.
In other words, my advice to non members is this:
If someone asks whether you are a member of The Magic Circle… Just say yes.
¹ Magic’s biggest secrets revealed
² I love that when you type David Devant into a phone keyboard it tries to autocorrect it to David Deviant.
³ The sad truth is, in the modern world it’s usually going to be “he”.
⁴ Kayfabe is the rule to which pro wrestlers adhere, maintaining the outward perception that not only are the carefully choreographed fights genuine spur of the moment acts of uncoordinated violence, but also the story of their rivalries, victories and characters are 100% genuine, kind of like The Only Way is Essex or Jersey Shore.
⁵ When the Instagram generation reaches retirement age I fully expect the circle to implement a policy of membership renewal similar to octogenarians being forced to repeat their driving tests in light of their cataracts, poor reaction times, and inexplicably worsening racism.
⁶ The jury is still out on whether this actually worked, but my parents voted leave in the Brexit referendum so I place far less significance on their opinions these days.
⁷ It can’t be altered, recoloured, rotated, mirrored, overlapped, stretched, modified, or incorporated into a larger design without sufficient white space around it, rules which the circle itself regularly break in all their own promotional material.