talkmagic.co.uk

Hello Brad.

I haven't seen you for about 20 or so years. And I first met you around 30 years ago. I must say that I am aghast and agape at how you have changed. At one time you wouldn't have dreamed of all this money making activity. You were far too interested in "the art" I am pleased to see how you have come on in the world and have finally realised the great wisdom of "art for art's sake and money for God's sake"

Sophie and Harry Smith would be turning in their graves now if they knew what you were up to. In their shop you had to submit to a 30 page questionaire, then supply your blood type and DNA before they would consent to sell you anything. However once you had passed the test they would consent to sell you the ball and vase.

You were a great follower of that philosophy and I am delighted to see that you have given it up to make a bit of money. Quite right too. You couldn't continue starving all your life. Very sensible decision if I may say so.

I well remember you watching me and Terry pitching svengali decks in Simpson's department store and you seemed aghast and agape at the contempt we had for the undeserving public. I well remember the horror you expressed when you saw Terry belching all over the customers in the way they richly deserved.

I explained that to be a svengali pitchman it is essential to learn to belch all over people and treat them with as much disrespect as possible. You seemed sceptical at the time.

I am glad to see that you have learned the wisdom of foregoing all that art stuff and gravitating to the "grab the money" school of magic philosophy.

I congratulate you on it and I have a secret hope that I influenced you a trifle in the wicked ways of the world.

Good luck and keep on taking their money. I am quite proud of you.

The Last Deck on the Left wrote:Hi there,

I know what you mean, and after reading some of the recent posts here about the XTC deck, De'vo's response and the way Ellusionist has closed and deleted all references to that topic just fuel my concerns.

Something else that I was wondering about the other day is Mr Brad Christian himself. Prior to Ellusionist how successful was he? Has he invented any routines / effects himself? I've never seen any material for sale, or read a review of a live show or TV special that he has done.

We dealt with De'vo privately and also issued a statement on the site. That thing got blown way out of proportion. As we pointed out to De'vo, we hooked up links to his XCM products from that page as we always do (related products to the one you are looking at) and also made a point to state De'vo's trademark on the term XCM. No other store did that. However, when he mentioned it we immediately took all reference to his products and trademark off the page. We shut down repeated threads about it because it didn't serve any purpose except to ignite the conversation again which had already been handled with De'vo directly. End of story.

Your second question....

I did magic professionally off and on for 25 years. Studied 8-10 hours a day with the 'oldtimers' including Slydini (best ones to learn magic from). Before I started Ellusionist I never tried to invent anything, just did good magic that I liked and that worked for me to create a living. I studied acting in New York, dance, mime and other arts while I performed magic on the street every night and in clubs to support myself.

One of the things I've created that I feel is superb is the 360 Turnover pass shown in Ninja-2. Note, not a 180 but a full rotation. It really has it's uses and I perform it all the time.

I've created many ways to make the products we produce better. While directing Daniel Garcia with Wayne Houchin this past week I came up with many things for Danny that he used in his teaching to make the effect better. Because I see so much magic come across my desk each day my knowledge grows more and more and I am able to push myself to create (moreso than I ever did in the past).

To see other things I did in New York, and why I started Ellusionist in the first place, check this site:

http://www.bradchristian.com/

mark lewis wrote:Hello Brad.

I haven't seen you for about 20 or so years. And I first met you around 30 years ago. I must say that I am aghast and agape at how you have changed. At one time you wouldn't have dreamed of all this money making activity. You were far too interested in "the art" I am pleased to see how you have come on in the world and have finally realised the great wisdom of "art for art's sake and money for God's sake"

Sophie and Harry Smith would be turning in their graves now if they knew what you were up to. In their shop you had to submit to a 30 page questionaire, then supply your blood type and DNA before they would consent to sell you anything. However once you had passed the test they would consent to sell you the ball and vase.

You were a great follower of that philosophy and I am delighted to see that you have given it up to make a bit of money. Quite right too. You couldn't continue starving all your life. Very sensible decision if I may say so.

I well remember you watching me and Terry pitching svengali decks in Simpson's department store and you seemed aghast and agape at the contempt we had for the undeserving public. I well remember the horror you expressed when you saw Terry belching all over the customers in the way they richly deserved.

I explained that to be a svengali pitchman it is essential to learn to belch all over people and treat them with as much disrespect as possible. You seemed sceptical at the time.

I am glad to see that you have learned the wisdom of foregoing all that art stuff and gravitating to the "grab the money" school of magic philosophy.

I congratulate you on it and I have a secret hope that I influenced you a trifle in the wicked ways of the world.

Good luck and keep on taking their money. I am quite proud of you.

Hi Mark,

Yep, I loved watching you in Simpsons Department Store, you were a master and no doubt still are. Your Svengali routine was superb and your magic is excellent also.

Magic is different and I'm different than the Harry and Sophie days, but perhaps not quite the way that you think.

All the best,

Brad.

I am indeed still somewhat superb and in addition to that you are of course quite correct that I was indeed a master magician and naturally still am. Since you last saw me I have also become a psychic reverend and a stage hypnotist.

Terry is still a pitchman but not doing the svengali deck. I taught him to lie cheat and steal and he continues to defraud the public in the way they all deserve. He can be found in the markets of East Anglia (especially Yarmouth market) ripping off the great British public and I must say that I am very proud of him. Ever since he left school he has never done any job except as a pitchman. When you met him he was new in the business but now he has worked every product from vegetable slicers to glass cutters. Naturally he has given up magic since he wasn't daft enough to think there was any money in showbusiness.

I am not quite sure what your critics are chattering about but I can tell the young man who was wondering about your past history what I know about you.

When I knew Brad he was (and I suspect still is) in love with magic. It was his passion and he treated it like an art form. I suspect he still does. I do not believe he would do anything whatever to hurt the art of magic and I quite believe his fans when they say he is a great teacher. He seems to be putting quite a bit of effort into his business and unlike me really wants to keep his customers happy.

I do know that he was a professional magician for many years and I do know that he took lessons from Slydini. I also know that anything he tells you comes from bitter experience.

I knew him as sincere and honest and I always have considered this a great failing of his. However I expect he will find it a useful asset in his business. I keep hearing that there is controversy about his business but I am not sure why. I don't really know exactly how he makes his living except that he sells magic tricks on the internet and is no longer starving doing street magic.

He works hard for his money so good luck to him. He is a nice guy and I believe you can trust anything he says which I have always found a very odd concept in people.

He tells me that he is different than he used to be but not in the way I think. I am not sure what he means. It would be wonderful if he would enlighten us all.

I expect he means that he is not as unscrupulous as he thinks that I think he is. Actually I don't believe he is unscrupulous at all. He was always an honest sincere fellow and I consider that he deserves more of your money.

He is now thinking that with friends like me he doesn't need enemies. Serves him right for consorting with the devil when he was young.

Reverend Mark Lewis
Free Spiritualist Church of Canada
www.marklewisentertainment.com

Hello Brad

Thank you for taking the time to reply to our comments

I have now purchased around 4/5 of your DVD’s and i have found them all to be very good it was only Ninja 1 that was my concern regarding The Pass. initially when i purchased it i was hoping it would go through the whole move very slow and taking a bit more time explaining the move in greater detail but unfortunately that wasn’t the case so i didn’t learn much from it however it was still good watching you perform it

Regards

Sky,

I understand completely. N1 was our second video, and although a lot of people got a lot out of it I wish I had taken more time. At that stage I was concerned with download times and bandwidth. I've gone back and added advice to the newer DVD version that came out last year of Ninja-1. If you don't have it I'm happy to send it to you at no charge, just let me know.

Brad.

...That what Ellusionist is all about. Its all fine and well reading it on the site, but when it comes like that, you know it for real.

Thanks for taking the time with Mercury and Infusion Brad. Bothe effects have served me well and i have gained alot of experience and respect performing them

Cheers.

Ben

We're busted..

Brad Christian wrote:GaMeR,

I'm glad you found that section. There have been some incredible threads in the last year or two and we have moved them all into that (VIP) section. A lot of changes to our forums have taken place over the last couple of weeks, with many more coming.

How can I miss?? It's on the main page of the forums.. (Yeah I missed many great topics along with the other questions in the past but..) I think this kind of changes are very good instead of releasing new tricks every two months. And will help the beginners there, in the future more than the former. I kow I didn't read those kind of threads when I first started magic, (as I said before I started with CC's) but now I know I need more to read. And I learn pass from the old ninja too, I don't know how many times I played that part to get the moves right.

I want to ask you something rather different. I don't know if you know about the Wikipedia exposures with some E products & magic (I know K. Rising); will you do something about them? We mailed them regarding this situation, but they didn't do anything. We deleted the exposures, they threaten us with baning usernames because of vandalism. I couldn't ask this in the E forums, so there it is.

Our lawyers have been in touch with them many times, and drafted two letters threatening them. Unfortunately they have a legal loophole and they know it. They don't care about magic and they're going to go with the loophole.

Brad.

So Brad, you busted us! Now that was one hell of an appearing act! Where can we purchase that one? I knew I should have covered my tracks! I even used the same damn username I use on the ellusionist forums! What a flip-head I am! ! Please don’t cancel my membership - at least not before I make some vital purchases on your site! Which reminds me, I have a loaded cart over at ellusionist.com, which is SO full it is leaking at the seams. All I have to do is acquire the confidence to stamp that “Secure Checkout” button! If you could throw in a pair of steak knives that might just push me over the edge!

On a serious note, I appreciate you coming onto this forum to respond to our comments and meeting us commoners on neutral ground Judging by your responses, I am pleased to see that you viewed this thread as just a candid discussion between fellow members and not a spiteful attack on your site. And thanks for not taking my warped sense of humour to heart.

I resuscitated this thread after stumbling on the comments made by “The Last Deck on the Left” (Man! I tell you, that is one long name! But a cool one at that! ), and the replies that followed it last September. I felt like I could personally relate to a few of the comments made, because they raised particular points that I had considered myself. Also, all the posts I read through seemed to be made by members with a neutral agenda and not some unhappy soul with a huge chip on their shoulder.

I do not have any qualms regarding your responses to the posts and I am sure ellusionist.com would not be what it is today if the service and products offered there were not of good quality.

As for you Mr Lewis, you sound like one twisted chap! I had a look at your website and thought your routine with the svengali deck was brilliant! But the way you have just promoted yourself as a cheater and a thief of the general public; there is no way in hell my credit card details are going anywhere near those deceitful hands of yours! (I saw what you did with that Seven of Clubs!)

Anyway, this is Costas calling it a Night here in Australia and a Good Afternoon to those of you in Europe & Africa, a Good Evening to those in Asia and a Good Morning to those in America!

mark lewis wrote:Terry is still a pitchman but not doing the svengali deck. I taught him to lie cheat and steal and he continues to defraud the public in the way they all deserve. He can be found in the markets of East Anglia (especially Yarmouth market) ripping off the great British public and I must say that I am very proud of him. Ever since he left school he has never done any job except as a pitchman. When you met him he was new in the business but now he has worked every product from vegetable slicers to glass cutters. Naturally he has given up magic since he wasn't daft enough to think there was any money in showbusiness.

The world is indeed small... One of the most fantastic salesmen I have ever met!! We worked in Debenhams for a while together (he sold the aforementioned veg slicers to the adults and I flogged puppets to the kids) Last time I saw him was on a market in Diss, Suffolk... I never knew he was a closet Magician (explains that silver tongue) Blimey!!!

edit] By the way Brad, I love the ghost deck/gaff deck... nice work!

I was browsing these forums when i came across this topic and i thought it was only fair to e mail Brad the link so he would have a chance to respond

I don’t think its fair to talk about someone if they are not given the chance to reply

Rob

It ill behooves the gentleman from Australia to chatter about the wickedness of cheating and ripping off the public when I note that he hails from Australia which is populated by the descendants of convicts of whom his great great grandfather was undoubtedly one.

Furthermore the only thing I sell on my website apart from a couple of hypnosis tapes to people who wish to give up smoking and lose weight is a measly little book which details the greatest svengali routine in history.
One little book. That is all. I am no Brad Christian.

It is true that I rip off normal human beings with great enthusiasm but it surely must be obvious that magicians are not normal human beings. Therefore it is not necessary to rip them off. However my literary masterpiece is being sold at magic shops all over the world so if you are a trifle nervous about dealing with the devil himself you can purchase it at your local magic shop at a much more expensive price and it will not be autographed.

As for Flash I have just spoken on the phone to Terry and he is in mortal fear and trepidation after I read out my post to him. He was terrified that he was going to be accosted by thousands of dissatisfied customers from all over the world. He does not understand the internet and I explained to him that only magicians read this site. He calmed down when he heard that.

He remembers the Flash personage very well as he does Brad Christian. He informs me that the person's name is Rupert and he was interested in escapology and worked in a circus.

Terry knows more about magic than most magicians but he is no longer a magician himself. He would therefore be very apt not to tell the ones he comes into contact that he knows all about it. He is also one of the greatest svengali demonstrators in the UK but he hasn't worked the cards for years.

Those of you who have led sheltered lives and live in East Anglia should make yourself known to Terry on Yarmouth market and let him tell you all about the wicked ways of the world. Bring a svengali deck with you and if he is in the mood and not too busy he will blow your mind with it.

I took him to Canada to work svengali decks when he was 16 years old. He is my star graduate from the university I run known as the University of Evil. He now knows exactly how to extract money from the undeserving public. However he tells me that he no longer belches over the punters in the way that he used to. I rather think he has lost his touch a trifle.

mark lewis wrote:He remembers the Flash personage very well as he does Brad Christian. He informs me that the person's name is Rupert and he was interested in escapology and worked in a circus.

Hey that's dangerously close to exposure!

Don't believe him about the belching though...

Did he belch in Debenhams?