21st December 2012 wasn’t just any other day for some magician. It was doomsday for some people (or at least a day that ATOM didn’t predict) . Viral news on Yif Magic was enough to make Yif Magic’s 21st December seem like it was doomsday.
Yif Magic or popularly known as yifartofmagic on YouTube made waves on the Internet like it was Cyril Takayama’s burger-out-of-poster performance.
Yif Magic’s first video with over 500,000 views spread across social media platforms like it was wild fire. The nearly 10 minutes video showed Yif Magic putting a solid object through another and a telekinesis effect with a soda can. Though it wasn’t anything alarming except the effect involved paid actors (or what it seems by many).
Things got a little too ambitious for the ‘rookie magician‘ (as FTV Instant News puts it) on Yif Magic 2nd episode. Yif Magic involved camera trickery in his performance. A grave mistake for professional magicians.
Not that it is morally wrong since Hollywood does it all the time; but wouldn’t that make Yif Magic more of an actor rather than an illusionist who conjures the impossible with the aid of mind-trickery without camera-trickery? I think you are starting to get my drift.
Yif Magic reputation was crushed in seconds.
On 21st December 2012, FTV Instant News touted rookie magician Yif Magic live on Taiwan’s national television and on its YouTube Channel. The whistleblowing caused Yif Magic to make an apology on his Facebook page.
“Magic has always been real, but shown differently”. Yes, “differently” with camera tricks perhaps.
這輩子不能現場表演的效果，不能以後在很大的舞台面對5000個觀眾表演的效果，就不會出現在我的紀錄片中。本來也不想太早做預告，別人曾經出現的一些錯誤我不會讓它發生在我身上。每個在我紀錄片出現的魔術都有經過慎重考量，是之後可以現場巡演上出現的。
I’m not the first and I will not be the last magician who brings to the world a TV special… but I learnt from the mistakes from the ones before me. My bottom line principle is that I will never do on TV an effect I will not be able to convert for my future live show.
In Magic nothing is impossible, it’s all about what you want, how bad you want it, and how much time and perseverance you put on it.
All is well now that Yif Magic have realized his mistake. Looks like this painful experience will be sending Yif Magic back to the drawing board to conceptualize good magic without the use of paid actors and special camera effects.
In my opinion, I was shocked that Yif Magic even used camera trickery since the effects can be achieved without the used of camera trickery. It was disappointing. Now, I am just curious what is next for Yif Magic without camera trickery.
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Yif is so good looking. Even if his tricks are debunked they are still entertaining. I enjoy watching him perform.