talkmagic.co.uk

Good day All;

Out of curiosity, since I joined this forum some years after its creation, I don't know much about its inception, first members, beginnings etc...

Would some "old timers" mind sharing how TM came to be, who it belongs to etc...

I'm curious

LP

Apparently I own the place.

Lost all the documentation a while ago though, so it's difficult to prove.

I'm still trying to figure out what happened on Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 2:25 am. There were 562 people online at that point and NOBODY ever talks about it. How many of those 562 are still alive today?

I demand to know the truth!

A J Irving wrote:I'm still trying to figure out what happened on Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 2:25 am. There were 562 people online at that point and NOBODY ever talks about it. How many of those 562 are still alive today?

I demand to know the truth!

All 562 (and their handlers) were relocated under the witness protection programme after undergoing intensive counseling to wipe out the previous 48 hours' memories. They are reported to be alive and reasonably well under the circumstances....

Sit down cross legged on the floor, children; it's story time!

The forum's first incarnation was as a help forum attached to the online magic store Abrakazam, and ran in parallel to an early video review site. I found it early in 2001 when, after a few years' break from magic I decided to get back into it and purchased and ID, TT and some IT. I was concerned by a popping noise when using the TT so joined the forum to ask advice.

Over the next few months (not quite sure of the precise timescale!) several of our other long term members, including the illustrious Mandrake himself joined the unnamed forum. It became so wonderfully popular, and the pearls of wisdom so valuable (there were about 10 of us posting regularly) that Lawrence, the owner, decided to bring forth TalkMagic; most of the posts from The Old Forum still exist in old threads under the name, oddly enough, of The Old Forum. TM was a strange place in the beginning; there was no spam, few arguments and rather more lemons and aardvarks than you would normally expect (my avatar is a leftover of those times).

Through the wonders of SEO and advertising, TM grew beyond anyone's expectations to become the premier magic forum on the net and is now inhabited by more freaks and weirdos than you could hope to avoid, most of whom seem to want to sell shoes or infect your computer with some form of virus. Fortunately, since Mandrake has made administering the forum a near full time job, most of you only see the best 3-4% of the posts that are actually made.

nickj wrote:Fortunately, since Mandrake has made administering the forum a near full time job, most of you only see the best 3-4% of the posts that are actually made.

We see the BEST 3 - 4 %? Strewth....i shudder to imagine the worst.

nickj wrote: that Lawrence, the owner,

Told you

Nick's history is spot on, especially the bit about lemons and Aardvarks! One other question people ask is exactly when TM started but that's shrouded in mists as well. According to the statistics, the current phpBB format started on 19 Apr 2003 at 21:29 so Laurence the Forum Owner was obviously working late(ish) into the night on that one - as he still does even today!

Of course, we must never ever mention the great tea trolley disaster of 2001....

Mandrake wrote:Of course, we must never ever mention the great tea trolley disaster of 2001....

Didn't we agree not to mention that?

bananafish wrote:Didn't we agree not to mention that?

I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right.

nickj wrote:now inhabited by more freaks and weirdos than you could hope to avoid

Whee! I got a mention!

People arrive people leave, I left , returned and never said anything useful, and you know I can't get in to magicians only section?

I see this going in to a what ever happened to thread, I'll start the ball rolling, what ever happened to seige and the mog?

Markdini wrote:what ever happened to seige

I was literally JUST about to mention this on another post?

im intrigued

anyone would think I am a mind reader, wait a minute....


He had a shop too you know, well two a magic one and a one for umm.