Hope for the Puppies

A glimmer of hope raised it's head the other day and I just had to share.

A new kid appeared on the forums I have been watching lately. He states flat out "I'm 15 years old and don't have much money" so we know where he is coming from. He then talks about what he's interested in and asks that dreaded questions: "What DVD's should I buy?"

Okay, why is this a "dreaded" question? Because DVD's and Videos do not teach new magicians to think. They teach them to repeat. Yes, I do indeed have a fair number of DVD's and Videos in my own library, but when I'm working out something new I always turn to my books first. Most often my Tartbell collection. And truth be told, I haven't purchased a new Instructional Magic DVD or Video in a long time.

But books! Ah, the books are there and every time I read them they are wonderful and I learn something new.

But I digress.

I responded to this young magician with the comment that if he was so short of cash he would be better served buying a couple of books (and I recommended a couple focusing on the areas he is interested in) and pointed out that for the same amount of money he could get five times as much useful material and be learning skills rather then repeating things that are being fed to him.

No real response from him.

But here is where the hope comes in.....

Other kids, the same age, jumped in and said "Yeah, what he said." There are kids out there, new magicians, who are starting off learning the value of books and basic skills. Who recognize that what they get from a book is ultimately better for their development as magicians then learning the "hot new tricks" being poured out of the magic marketing machine.

A bright bit of hope indeed.