Mirrors vs video camera for practise -- a false dichotomy?

Last September we had the pleasure of listening to two well respected master card magicians speak.  Both of them touched on the topic of practise.  

• Magician A suggested that reviewing video recording of one's performance was optimal because among other things, magicians are unlikely to catch a poorly performed sleight in the mirror.*  
• Magician B suggested that performing in front of a mirror was the way to go, because you need to learn how to adjust in real time, if something goes wrong in the execution of a move.        

They both raised valid points.  We got to wondering how you, dear readers, practise?

In October, we asked the following on Facebook and Instagram:

What do you do when you practise?  Do you:
A. Use a mirror 
B. Video record the session 
C. Both of the above 
D. None of the above 
E. I don’t practise 

 

Seven people replied.  Two were 3-way mirror responses, two were video responses, we had two responses from those who do neither, and one of you have a very thoughtful practise involving both mirrors and video.  

The practise preference was divided along social media platforms. 

• Facebook preferred video,

• Instagram favours mirrors or neither. 

 (With N=7 it's difficult to draw meaningful inferences.  We found it interesting nonetheless.) 

From the April 27th Instagram post @CanadasMagicDotCom: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Canadas Magic (@canadasmagicdotcom)

 

 

A thought from the pro-video camp:

• Chris Yuill wrote: 
  " If you use a mirror but look down to look at the props you miss seeing what happened at that moment. Just my opinion.
  
  "PS if you video yourself to post on social media, watch the video first before posting. See too many crappy videos of crappy done magic on FB and the gram." 
  
  

 

A very thorough and insightful answer from Eric Bedard, who kindly took the time on October 2nd to write [emphasis added]:

"Mirror at home when first learning a new sleight or routine (3 mirrors one head on, two at 45 degrees on each side), also practice facing the mirror, then turn right angle to one side so you can see what people see over your shoulder or looking behind you, then repeat on the other side - when you are satisfied that you do not flash, then record at home several times while tweaking, adjusting blocking, checking script and timing, etc. and then definitely record the first time if it is a stand up routine. Close-up if you do all of the above, you should be bullet proof when you perform. However, you will continue to make adjustments and improvements once you have performed the first 100 times - in Martial arts it is said that you must do a move 10,000 times before you can start to really learn it - in Magic it is not 10,00 but definitely after you have field tested a routine, trick or sleight a minimum of 100 times, you can start to really understand the subtleties involved. Real world practice is best, just make sure you are bullet proof before you perform out in the world or you make us all look bad. Carry on......" 

 

We have nothing to add to Eric's excellent answer.  It seems that the method of practise is often presented as a false dichotomy.  One or the other.  In reality, a blend of both may be the recipe for optimal results.

In the comments, let us know whether you use mirrors or video or both in your practise!

-- 

* We have heard it said that when practising in front of a mirror, magicians are more likely to blink while performing the sleight, and therefore will be unable to see themselves flash or make a mistake.  We wondered if there was any literature to back this claim.  This is what we found: 

• From a 2022 paper by Anthony Barnhart [emphasis added]:
  "Indeed, magicians were more likely to blink when engaging in deceptive action than when not, and blinking was more prevalent when performing more difficult sleights. However, this tactical blinking was only evident in the performance setting." [1] 
  
  
• A quote from Anthony from a September 2022 article [emphasis added]:
  "'While my magician participants were more likely to blink their eyes when carrying out deceptive action than when not, this tendency was increased in a performance setting without a mirror compared to a rehearsal setting with a mirror,' Barnhart explained to PsyPost. 'This was surprising and didn’t match the predictions from the world of magic.'" [2]

 
Other thoughts about practising in front of a mirror:

• "Do not watch yourself in a mirror as you practise. You cannot perform the action naturally if you divide your attention between what you do and how it looks. Moreover, mirror watching has a tendency to cause the eyes to widen; this is not attractive and can become a fixed habit." [3]

References: 

1. Barnhart, A. S., Richardson, K., & Eric, S. (2022). Tactical blinking in magicians: A tool for self-and other-deception. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 9(3), 257. DOI:10.1037/cns0000321
   
   
2. Ellwood, B. (2022). Study suggests magicians unconsciously blink their eyes to manipulate the audience during difficult tricks.  PsyPost.
   https://www.psypost.org/study-suggests-magicians-unconsciously-blink-their-eyes-to-manipulate-the-audience-during-difficult-tricks/
   
   
3. Hugard, J, Braue, F. (1948). The Royal Road to Card Magic. pg 358