So this is a big picture question that I think becomes timely when you look at it through the different illusion plan libraries.

Are we in the midst of a generational handoff where, if we're not diligent, entire swaths of the 1960s-1980s generation of illusion know-how will be lost? I question, not in alarm, but to ensure nothing gets majorly lost, if so. With the passing of Micky Hades and the closing of Owen, what happens to our ability to aggregate the knowledge base of the Thayer, Owens, Tanen, Wels, etc. plans as the people who compiled entire sets of them leave them to kids who don't have the capacity to keep up with them or worse know their value?

Many of the threads on illusion plans lead to, now, dead ends. Who are the people keeping the illusion plan legacy alive and intact?

How do we -- as an industry -- handle that transition so that that specific legacy doesn't get so lost that a Jim Steinmeyer has to come along in the next century and reconstruct pieces and parts of it one book or conference at a time? Jim's legacy of documenting previous generations of magic seems like a LOT to ask of a future generation, if it's all just not to be lost.

Good point, although I am not sure how to answer. I have always purchased any lost instruction sheets from Micky Hades. Wondering if anyone has taken over this task of providing these PDFs to magicians who need instructions.

This is something of a task that I would love to provide for magicians, but where do you start? How do you get ahold of whom ever has this information (the family) and offer to purchase and keep this magic alive.

Any thoughts?

Very sad. As there does not seem to be a large demand for material on illusions these days, there is no real incentive for creators to put pen to paper and describer their creations. 90% will be lost.

Blair

Chicken & egg? There’s not much new material because there’s no demand, and there’s no demand because there’s no new material. I’d love to understand what’s really in play here.

There is plenty new material/illusions out there, just no demand for printed works. the original poster is also speaking of material developed in the past couple of decades.

Blair