talkmagic.co.uk

Ill have one of your new sets of notes.

I have no doubt the Kras COULD be something remarkable, he has a lot to work on, but what 14 year old.. or any of us for that mater, doesnt?

He needs guidance from the big players, and if they are willing to give him a little time.. then maybe, just maybe...

put it this way.. Id give anything to be as talented and somewhat creative as he is when I was 14.. my teens were spent eating cheese on toast and playing PX2. Luckily, I counter-acted that lifestyle by taking up Thai Boxing and 'gettin it on' with girls and their mothers during my late teens.

I have now had a more thorough look at this thread and am somewhat horrified at the way it is going. I am a grumpy old man and have never approved of child magicians of whom there are several thousand in Toronto.

However the savaging of this kid on here is going overboard. I can't believe how he maintains his politeness in the face of all this nasty criticism. You are lucky he is Canadian. They are brainwashed from birth never to be disrespecful to their elders even if their elders are disrespectful to them. If this had been a British kid he would have told you all to go forth and multiply and quite rightfully so.

I think he is extremely daft to send out free copies to people to give "honest comments" The comments will be criticism and I can tell that without even seeing a word of what he has come up with.

He should be encouraged with his magic not torn to pieces over his enthusiasm. I have no idea how good or how bad his stuff is and I don't care either. It is perfectly obvious he is serious about the art and I think this is commendable.

A little praise for him would not go amiss. You can ALWAYS find something to praise before you criticise even if you just like the colour of the performer's tie. You should mix in the praise with the criticism.

I think the negativity and nastiness of this thread has gone too far. As for his alleged ego I don't think I have ever met a single magician including myself who doesn't have an ego the size of a house.

He is a 14 year old kid not a usurper to the throne of Howard Thurston. Give the kid a break in the name of God.

I can no longer refrain from posting about this subject - because there's a soft spot due to the fact that you're Canadian... (although from Toronto, but I'll let that go!)

For the love of God, Michael, stop it with all this "lecture notes" garbage. Please note I'm NOT saying your notes are garbage (as I haven't read them) but I am saying that you, as a 14-year old kid, talking incessently about your "lecture notes" is garbage. It's obvious you love magic, and that's great! So PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE for the next 15 years. You'll probably be PHENOMENAL by that time if you've gotten as far as you have now at 14 years old. THEN, you can release all the lecture notes and DVD's or whatever other medium exists in the year 2022, and everybody will run to buy them and talk about you on online forums like we presently do about Jay Sankey, Daryll, Derren Brown, Daniel Garcia, Wayne Houchin, Banachek, and a host of others...

For now, all you're going to get is this flak, because nobody takes you seriously. I grew up with my parents telling me (over and over and over and over) that "everything has it's time". When I was 16 and I wanted to go out to nightclubs they said "everything has its time". When I was 18 and I wanted to go away with my buddies for a trip they said "everything has its time". When I was 18 and I wanted my girlfriend to sleep over or go on a trip with her they said the same thing... and "if you do that now, what will you do when you're older?". I didn't think much of those words then, but now that I'm grown up I see the wisdom. Based on the above, my advise to you (and please please please take it) is to be a kid right now and enjoy life, practise magic, blow your friends and family away, do a show at your school in the auditorium (that will be a GREAT venue!) and stop this nonsense about lecture notes and acting like you have so much to offer. Trust what most people are saying here.... you have WAY more to learn that to offer. Take your time!

...and when it IS the time, and the time is right, blow the world away with your material and release all the lecture notes you want. The point is that THAT TIME IS NOT NOW...

Sincerely,

I think Mike has guts, enthusiasm, determination, a bloody steel exterior to take such harsh criticism which I agree at times is a bit excessive..

I love what you are doing Mike.. hopefull you can find good points in amongst all the criticism that has been thrown your way. You seem to have taken in a lot over the last couple of weeks which is commendable.

Mr Lewis is right in one thing, most 14 year old kids would have posted some rather unpleasant comments had it been them on the receiving end of some sharp tongues.

You seem to have your head screwed on.. any advice you need has been given amongst the hundreds of replies

Michael

I think you should take a break from the notes, lectures and performing magic as a "job" I feel you should get rid of your website and anything that promotes you in that manner.

I feel you should take at the very least a year of developing new skills and the skills you already have. It is clear you have determination to become a successful magician, but success does not come over night. Look at some of your favourite bands. You will find that many of them, if not all, had been going years before they reached stardom. Work on getting all your sleights nailed so hard that they're second nature. Work on your act and style and then start thinking about writing notes and doing lectures.

Thank you to everyone for your advice! I will take the advice and will no longer lecture or call my notes lecture notes. They are now called manuscripts, and I am only sending them out to people wh will give honest feedback and will let me know if I have accidentally republished works.

Thank you!

Michael Kras

Yeh but Mike.. if you read EVERY book in existence.. then you would never re-publish works would you!!

Im just kidding.. obviously.. I think you are very creative for your age.. and there are always going to be effects similar to your creations.. thats just the nature of the beast..

LOL... That's why other magicians with more knowledge of older publications may discover something they have seen before somewhere else.

Still waiting for the following reviews:

David The Cryptic
Monker
Lady Of Mystery

Actually, EVERYBODY!! Where are you? I am not saying you HAVE to post a review, but you did make a commitment as I did too.

Michael Kras

and I am only sending them out to people wh will give honest feedback and will let me know if I have accidentally republished works.

hope i qualify.

Yes, you do!

By the way, if anyone wants the new manuscript, I need your email address!

Michael Kras

ID! I need your email address!

Michael Kras wrote:Actually, EVERYBODY!! Where are you? I am not saying you HAVE to post a review, but you did make a commitment as I did too.

Just to clarify: I said I'd send you my comments as opposed to posting them on the open forum as they were less a review and more a critique. Hope they were of some use!

As other have said - keep at it, don't loose the passion, and grow - both as a person, creator and a performer. In a few years you will look back on all of this in a whole new light - but it is important that you maintain that passion and creativity for what you do.

Yes they were Cardza and Thank you!

There may be some truth in "the time will come" stuff. Not for me though. I was utterly brilliant at 16 and of course still am. Part of my brilliance stemmed from the fact that I brooked no criticism whatever. I used to say to the magician critic no matter how eminent they were "you are like a high school science teacher criticising Einstein"

They used to jump and down in great annoyance which delighted me so enormously that I have continued the habit of upsetting magicians my entire life because I find it such an amusing activity.

Even the phrase "constructive criticism" to me is like a red rag to a bull. I inform the miscreant would be critic that I will brood no criticism whatever and that I only require unadulterated praise and glory.

I suggest Michael use me as a role model in this regard. All criticism will stop immediately.