Cyber,
I could watch Fosters f.b. all day. Man what a clean routine.

I'm with Funkytek. I don't like having all the exposure on YouTube because it cheapens it all. Takes away the mystery.

That said, I love seeing good performances and YouTube is a great venue for that. Tommy Wonder was a consummate performer. I also love Master Payne, Whit Haydn, and Larry Jennings. I enjoy looking for performances of particular tricks, not exposure vids. Why? The secret is not all that important. The performance is key. Why do we love a particular magician and not another? Because one of them can perform well and the other can't. Just that simple.

I absolutely hate to do a trick for someone and later be told that he knows how I did it because he looked it up on YouTube. The secret of the trick should remain secret, people! Your ego can get stroked better by performing the trick for the cyber-universe and having people unable to figure out how you did it than by telling all to people who are mostly not going to put in the time to learn how to do a simple sleight in the first place.

Watch good performances and learn good audience interaction from them. Perform your magic for your audiences. But don't share everyone else's secrets with the whole world, okay?

-Patrick

This is very true. Also tips on focusing in on who you want to become as a magician.

I never thought of searching for a quality channel on YouTube and have always used the search function to find what I am looking for.

Sometimes it takes about an hour to dig to the correct video. I think I am too lazy for that and like/content with the way things are going at the moment.

lol I haven't subscribed to anyone either, I just search for my people!!!!

I would say Michael Vincent he has such a wonderful way about him. Another who post here on Magic Café and on you tube is Kent Gunn. Both of these men are excellent magicians and always give credit where credit is due

David

I'm a lousy computer person so can't tell you how to find any of my things - which I didn't put there, others did. But, I don't teach - they're just demos. HL.

Oh I can't resist the chance to help Harry!

Here are some nice videos of Harry on YouTUbe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeaTzZO8jTU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Poq29tIrs&feature=related

And a play on magicians' expectations...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywSJW7FDjIc&feature=related

There's lots more. You can find them with this search:

http://tinyurl.com/475hhdl

(I used lmgtfy in this case just cause it was easy, I'm not being snide. As opposed to most OTHER times I use it, when I AM being snide.
Harry gets a free pass for being old enough to remember when the only computers were things called "Tabulators" that you had to rent from IBM )

Thanks for the links, it's great to find the better moovies on youtube

I rather pretend YouTube for learning magic does not exist. For the most part, it is too hacky for me. I'm sticking with my books, dvds and lectures and my local magic shop owner.

Gems!

Again, right on the money. I'm beginning to sound like I'm here just to echo of Cyber...lol But Harry and his squares (numbers) is another influence in my life. Its hard to make me suspend disbelief, I'm one of those strange guys that seem to have been born with a tiny belief engine -its there, but it just makes me not believe unless there is proof-. that's how I gauge a performer if the performer bypassed non belief engine I am sold! And BTW I do not care to ask how it was done. Thank you Harry.

I forgot to give my opinion on youtube for learning magic. Its like any other tool. You get what you pay for. Instruction on youtube is free...so draw your own conclusion from that.

Im not saying you cant learn to do "The Magical snake eyes double dip card shuffle" from a teen on youtube but I stand firm on the idea that you can learn waaaaay more, and way faster, from the card workers that have taken their experience, and time, and money, and invested in creating an instructional BOOK, and DVD. Just the opinion of -The AMAZING Shamsiel- (a fumbling magician that at this time uses his friends during cookouts in order to be bad at magic in the hopes to one day be good. They laugh at me and go -beers in hand- "Cool.. another bad trick"...)

Stay with me for a second. If I want advice about my 88 jeep, I go to an expert. Im sure there are plenty instructions on how to fix my engine troubles on youtube but I don't have the skills, the right tools, nor the experience to do most of it. Id rather pay some money to a Master Mechanic than mess with my engine. Same with magic. Im doing coins at this time -getting better, thank you very much-. My patter is so good my friends say that the stories behind the illusions are better than the trick (OUCH!). They state that I hypnotize them with words. But I get my moves from masters; Bobo's -Modern Coin Magic- and the first few minutes of a video by Eric Jones.

Youtube? I use it all the time. I just rely on it as a reference. I look for the move that I am having problems with and see about 40 videos of ppl doing it. That way I understand the move and can criticize who sucks and who has the move nailed. If I where to use only youtube to improve my magic it would be too long of a process. I think that books and DVD's win. Sitting down to compare the same move from 60 fellows in order to learn just sucks balls.

Respects,
Shamsiel.