Here's an article that asks the musical question, "Is the Internet transforming — or destroying — the magic of magic?" I'll write more on this topic when I don't have such a busy day…but I think the answer is a little of each. And one of the interesting aspects to all of this is this odd situation: People write websites and post YouTube videos that purport to "expose" how David Copperfield does this trick or Criss Angel does that trick and at least half the time it seems, the explanations are bogus…but they satisfy the curious.
Years ago, I went to see Penn & Teller back when they were at Bally's and Penn did a rather basic (but still impressive) fire-eating trick. As my companion and I were exiting, we overheard a conversation between two other audience members — a blonde in her twenties and a guy desperately wanted to impress her. She wondered aloud how Penn did that trick with the fire.
The gent said, "Oh, that's easy. They use a thing called Cold Fire. It's like dry ice…you know, ice that isn't really cold. Cold Fire flames like real fire but it's harmless and not at all hot. It's a chemical you can buy in any magic shop. I used to play around with it when I was a kid." And then he told this story of how he once set himself seemingly on fire and ran into his mother's tea party screaming and caused everyone to pass out and/or spill their orange pekoe. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?