talkmagic.co.uk

This is a ten part course which come with DVDs, printed books or ebooks and optional tricks.

Price £127 to £277

http://www.the-magic-store.com/p1temp.asp?pid=4&page=1

The rating for the tricks easy all self working.

The Books and DVDs easy to follow and impliment

This course covers all you could want to know as a beginner. The tricks a very basic, but some are very effective. for example the disapearing pen.

The content is broken down into very easy to follow step and will take you from knowing nothing about being a proffessional magician to being in work. Being relativley new to magic I can't comment on the use to established magicians, but I would say there is something in there for every one.

The course can be bought in different packages combining different elements of the course. So you wont get stuff you don't want or need.

My overall view of this is it is great value for money.

This sounds very expensive for what it is. Maybe the method he has for making money with magic is just to sell this course?

From your description it sounds merely like a collection of some fairly entry level effects. What I would have liked more from a course with this title would be some good advice for someone who already is more than a beginner but is ready to try and start earning a living through magic, be it kids shows or restaurants or whatever.

I'm honestly sorry that you bought this course, Hypnonic. I'm not trying to sound like some curmudgeon here (even though that is much of what I am!), but you've really wasted a huge sum of money that could have been far better spent.

First, as a beginning magician, you don't need a course in how to make money. In fact, you should be working on your material for 1 to 2 years before you ever even try such a thing. The fact of the matter is, on completion of this course, if you go out and sell your show, you'll do more to lose jobs for fellow magicians (and yourself) than you will to become a money making operation.

Next, with the money that you paid for that course, you could have gotten several necessary books, a couple of specialty books and several gaffed products or items that would go a long way to making you a good magician. Your time would be spent in working on your sleights, but, more importantly, your presentation and entertainment skills.

Even further, when you're ready to market yourself and your show, just go down to your local library and pick up some books on marketing. The simple fact here is that marketing yourself as a magician is the exact same as marketing ANY product.

Lastly, if I were to publish a course to magicians on how to make money as a magician, it would only be a few sentences long. Basically, it would say, go to the library, compile a marketing program and sell it to magicians.

Mike.

Pretty surprising to see Paul Daniels put his name to this.

...the secret of how to become an extremely well paid magician, in less than 3 months!

Very sad indeed....

Pretty surprising to see Paul Daniels put his name to this.

Not really surprising as Paul designed, developed and wrote the course. It's based on his very successful seminars which he does all over the world and are usually very well received. OK, the cost is significant but it includes 12 sections and each one contains a trick or effect so there's physical value as well as the intellectual knowledge.

Having said all that, the main point being missed here is that the course is designed and specifically offered for those who wish to move on from amateur to professional - it's not intended for beginners at all so would only be applicable to skilled amateurs who want to progress to being full time professionals. (Which excludes me and many other guys I know! )

Having said all that, the main point being missed here is that the course is designed and specifically offered for those who wish to move on from amateur to professional - it's not intended for beginners at all so would only be applicable to skilled amateurs who want to progress to being full time professionals

Well that makes a lot more sense. It would have been really nice to attend those seminars that Paul D. did.

Mandrake wrote:Having said all that, the main point being missed here is that the course is designed and specifically offered for those who wish to move on from amateur to professional - it's not intended for beginners at all so would only be applicable to skilled amateurs who want to progress to being full time professionals.

Not quite.
It does say:

Are you fairly new to magic, and desperate to get up and running?

Just after the bit about becoming "an extremely well paid magician, in less than 3 months"!

Good point - those words certainly appear and are confusing but there's an awful lot more which indicates that this isn't for the beginner. Not having seen the course or the content I wouldn't like to guess how much a beginner would benefit but I'd be surprised if it covered the basics such as card and coin sleights which an amateur wishing to progress to professional status would more than likely know very well indeed. Perhaps we could ask anyone who has seen the course to let us know, without divulging and copyright or secret material of course, if the general content assumes a lot of prior knowledge?

I'm sorry but I just don't agree with any publication that comes out and starts with, 'How to make money'! As it has been said before it is a very big surprise that Paul has put his name on this.
Judging by the price, you can literally see how the producers are making money from magic... by duping the unsuspecting people that fork out money to buy the course!!

Any good magician can make money from magic providing he/she has the bottle to get out there and do it. Even if you haven't and want to give it a go but nerves are holding you back, there are some very good books out there on how to conquer your fears.

Once you've done this, get a showreel together (about 15 minutes of you performing) get it to a reputable agent and wait for the work to come in. make sure you send the agent his commision for finding you the work and build up a good reputation.

Hope this makes sense... Oh and by the way, once you've read this, if you can then send a cheque for £120:00 to Cap Fantastic Productions, that would be wonderfull!!

There's another angle to all this. As far as I understand it, the main idea of the course is to improve your chances of earning more money as a professional and it has as much, if not more, to do with business and promotional activities than magic techniques. In addition, the course has been on sale for a long time now and isn't a recent get rich quick idea. I can't agree that there is any duping going on at all. If it were a dupe then it would be offered to a much wider potential market. As it is, it's only offered within the magic community and only via one source. I don't see that such folks can be described as unsuspecting - nobody is forcing them to buy the course and, if all the website promotional details are read, it is very clear who this is aimed at. Bottom line, Paul would be very ill-advised to sell something which was not a worthwhile item. Not only does he have an enviable reputation to preserve, he really doesn't need the money that badly!

I'm quite sure that, as you say, good magicians can go out there, get bookings and earn money - the course is supposed to give you tips, techniques and methods of increasing the amount you earn during that process and it has nothing to do with overcoming fear or the lack of bottle. I think we need to be very careful that we don't criticise something without knowing exactly what we're talking about. The original posting suggested it was OK as something for a beginner but that isn't the case. Can I suggest we now wait for someone who actually has the course and knows for sure to tell us more?

Mandrake... er, Hi by the way... This believe it or not is offered to a much wider market than you would think. There is a company in Rotherham (Yorkshire I think) called 'Streetwise'. This company has a reputation for junkmailing 'get rich quick' schemes using a number of mailing lists. this course has been offered to my father-in-law, brother-in-law and mother and they have never had anything to do with any form of magic!!

There website is here... Have a look around, it makes quite informative reading!!

http://www.streetwisepublications.co.uk

Howdy! I share your opinion of get rich quick schemes and I'll spare you the usual Mandrake two hour torrent on the evils of junk mail – my family have heard it many times and they all hide when another load drops through the letterbox at Mandrake Mansions! Have you had a word with MagicStore about this unsolicited marketing? It seems stupid to tout a magic course to all and sundry and would be about as welcome as offering a bald man (like me!) free hair dressing for life so I’m sure PD and Co would like to hear about it.