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The purpose of the present investigation was to analyse interviews of highly regarded
Finnish magicians. Social network analysis (N = 120) was used to identify Finland’s most
highly regarded magicians (N = 16). The selected participants’ careers in professional
magic and various aspects of their professional conduct were examined by relying on
semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that cultivation of professional level
competence in magic usually requires an extensive period of time compared with other
domains of expertise. Magic is a unique performing art and it differs from other professions
focusing on deceiving the audience. A distinctive feature of magical expertise is that
the process takes place entirely through informal training supported by communities of
magical practitioners. Three interrelated aspects of magical activity were distinguished:
magic tricks, performance, and audience. Although magic tricks constitute a central aspect
of magic activity, the participants did not talk about their tricks extensively; this is in
accordance with the secretive nature of magic culture. The interviews revealed that
a core aspect of the magicians’ activity is performance in front of an audience that
repeatedly validates competence cultivated through years of practice. The interviewees
reported investing a great deal of effort in planning, orchestrating, and reflecting on
their performances. Close interaction with the audience plays an important role in most
interviewees’ activity. Many participants put a great deal of effort in developing novel
magic tricks. It is common to borrow magic effects from fellow magicians and develop
novel methods of implementation. Because magic tricks or programs are not copyrighted,
many interviewees considered “stealing” an unacceptable and unethical aspect of magical
activity. The interviewees highlighted the importance of personality and charisma in the
successful pursuit of magic activity.

The purpose of the present study was to examine expertise in magic by
interviewing 16 prominent Finnish magicians who were identified earlier through a
social network analysis of 120 Finnish magicians. A semi-structured interview was
administered that addressed the participants’ histories; their relationship to magic, the
nature of their expertise, the networked development of expertise, their engagement
with magical expertise and their motivation for cultivating such expertise. The results
indicated that expertise in magic is cultivated, to a great extent, by informal networks
of expertise without formal training. The participants had become excited about
magic as children and started to pursue an expertise in the field from a relatively
early age (4 to 14 years). In accordance with other domains of expertise, it had taken
about 10 years of cultivating skills and competencies before becoming professional in
the field, with a few exceptions. Ego-centric network analyses revealed that there
were three or four magicians who had significantly shaped the Finnish field of magic
and affected most of the participants’ development and career. Most of the partic-
ipants were clustered, forming a core of Finnish magicians, and those magicians
working abroad and collaborating with international magicians were located at the
periphery of the Finnish network or formed an isolated network of clusters within it.