Have you ever heard of the Hippocratic Oath? No, it is not a promise that hippos make to each other. The Hippocratic Oath is a solemn vow taken by physicians and other healthcare specialists. They swear to uphold their professional ethical standards and practice medicine honestly. The Hippocratic Oath is perhaps the most well-known oath taken by new workers, but it is not the only one of its kind. Many workers take their own oaths to protect the values of their profession when they first start practicing their trades. This is true for magicians.
Magicians who want to be part of a professional magicians' organization are often required to swear to the Magician's Oath. The wording in the oath may vary, but the general principle is simple: a professional magician must promise to never divulge the secret of any illusion to a non-magician. There are exceptions to this rule as sometimes exposure of a magic trick is necessary. After all, it is only by learning the secrets of an illusion that a new magician can begin to build their craft.
Traditionally, many magicians learned their skills by becoming apprentices to professional and well-established illusionists. These illusionists reveal increasingly valuable and lesser known secrets to their apprentices, building the new magician's repertoire of skills. Some magicians argue that exposing tricks and revealing secrets forces magicians to develop new illusions. They suggest that illusionists who rely on a set series of tricks and fail to innovate do a disservice to the industry. These tricks can seem stale when done over and over in the same manner.
As the proverb goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Many magicians, however, balk at the idea of exposing their secrets. They believe it devalues the tricks, and removes the element of surprise for audiences. It also serves to cheapen the art of magic, giving the impression that anyone can easily enact these tricks. Becoming an expert illusionist requires hard work and practice. All this effort can be sabotaged if the audience already knows the secrets behind every trick. If everyone knows how the trick works you can shatter the magic of the moment.
Some magicians even argue that in the wrong hands, magic can become a tool for harm instead of amusement. Exposing magic secrets may allow criminals to gain vital tools that they can use to harm and deceive the public. It can also be argued, though, that the opposite could be true. After all, famous illusionist David Copperfield was once mugged by a stranger, but managed to hide all of his valuables from the mugger by using his sleight-of-hand skills. It appears that the art of magic can be used cunningly by criminals and victims alike!
Some magicians go to extremes to keep their tricks a secret. There are some magicians who, although sworn to secrecy, have exposed the secrets of their trade. Val Valentino was one such magician. He was known as the "Masked Magician" in a TV series where he exposed the truth behind magic tricks. The magic community was quick to criticize his actions and said that he had betrayed his oath. Valentino has stated that he wanted to get magicians talking about the future of their craft as the Internet was bringing about many changes.
Regardless of which side of these arguments you agree with, many people see that modern technology makes the exposure of magic tricks almost impossible to avoid. Some older tricks have ceased to be used as many already know how they work. Some tricks have been given modern upgrades to fool a more skeptical audience.
Perhaps it is now up to you, as a viewer, to decide whether you wish to ruin the illusion for yourself. Do you wish to watch the show and simply experience the illusion or do you wish to know how it's done? Does sharing the secrets of a magic trick create more complex tricks? Does knowing how an illusion works lessen the illusion? Do you think a magician betrays their oath by teaching others? It's up to you to make up your own mind on these points.