We all know there is a dark side to the internet. Whether it is an anonymous poster making fun of us or a hacker trying to steal all of our money, we have all had to deal with someone trying to hurt us. And unfortunately, in many cases, we have little recourse. It’s not like we are going to track down the individuals and travel all over the world to try to stop them, right? Right?
For several years, audiences at conventions and conferences have heard Andi Gladwin recount what initially seemed an impossible story: a determined effort to identify and confront the individuals behind one of magic’s most notorious piracy operations. Yet Stealing Magic, a new documentary that recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, offers something distinct from those presentations. Rather than serving as a simple retelling of events or an exposé with a definitive conclusion, the film captures a moment within a much larger process. A moment that is important not only to magicians but, arguably, to all artists around the world.
To view Stealing Magic merely as a film about piracy would be to misunderstand its goal. It is ultimately a reflection on the responsibilities that we all have as part of the magic community. The question at the core of the film is one that we should all be asking ourselves: What obligations do magicians have toward preserving an art form whose value depends almost entirely upon originality, trust, and respect for creativity?