Okay, I'll throw another one in here...

A lot of props (boxes, tubes, tables, etc.) are still made and decorated in styles that date back to the 30s and 40s, and more and more in no style at all. Yet performers still buy them and too often present them as demonstrations of one-trick-pony miracles. And, in many cases, several of these props are used in the same show with no visual connection or context. Hey, I did that for years when I started out as a kid until the light finally came on.

But there's no reason to think that you have to use something as it comes. The magic police won't break down somebody's door if they re-paint something or alter it a bit to look more modern, or in a specific period or style. And with the internet nowadays, there's no reason to think, "geez, I can't think of what to do with it." All it takes is a little research, which is what professional designers in many fields do: they use research for inspiration and then come up with something fresh.

So yeah, I find it annoying that so many performers don't or can't see their props as the audience sees them, or maybe are just too lazy to put some effort into improving how their props (their shows) look.

On trips to the US I've been struck how magical apparatus and "prop" magic still endures. Even in NYC I saw a slick double act that included mutilated parasol and Die box. In the UK that has been swept aside by "natural" props -probably triggered by the rise of mentalism. That does give some great opportunities to rework the classics over here. I think props should either look "at a stretch believably natural" or "obviously a magic prop", if the latter you can glorify it!