As I write, I am beginning to see ads surface online for new products coming out at this year’s Blackpool Magic Convention, the largest such event in the world. I can’t help but feel that so much has changed.
When I first attended the convention back in 2013, I expected to spend my time moving between lectures and shows. Instead, I spent almost all of it in the dealers’ hall, watching magic creators hurriedly demo their latest creations. I loved it. I wanted to see every trick, even though many magic dealers seemed absolutely livid, presumably having already performed each effect hundreds of times. There’s something magical about the whole experience, even while figuring out how best to simultaneously say “I enjoyed the trick” but was “just having a look around.” I genuinely enjoyed something about everything I saw, whether I was fooled by an innovative way a piece of cardboard has been cut, or mildly disappointed by what turned out to be essentially a sawn-off piece of tubing selling for £30.
These days, if the WiFi went down in the Blackpool dealers’ hall, many of the dealers wouldn’t have anything to demonstrate. Things are definitely changing, and I worry we may be losing something along the way.