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Hi, Sorry if this is posted in the wrong area, but I cannot access the relevant area. I have created a 4 out mentalism routine and a Magic manufacture has offered to produce it. I am also talking to others. I would be interested to take advice from anybody who has also created routines as to the copyright issues, pitfalls, costs etc before I make a decision.
Thanks in anticipation.

Can you describe the routine to us? (effect, not method obviously).

Basically the premise is that a lady arrives home and believes that her house has been Burgled. She can't work out what has been stolen but she narrows it down to 4 rooms in which she believes something has been taken. She then realises what has been taken.
The Routine plays like this:
Four photos of four different rooms in the house are shown. An audience member is asked to take on the role of the lady...to home in on her thoughts to see if they can correctly work out what was taken.
They, without fail, correctly work out what was taken.

That basically is the Routine.

from my limited experience in publishing mentalism routines and things, i can only say this...

it's going to boil down to what you want out of it...

if you sell it to a magic shop as an item - then you'll probably get a one off payment, and that'll be that...sometimes only money to be spent "in store"...

if you sell it yourself - then you've gotta set up the appropriate e-shop or whatever, and obviously produce everything yourself to a high standard...whether that be including the photos in hi-res jpg along with an ebook or whatever...that bits up to you...

egg sucking moment over...

there is another deal, one that i have for something, is a 50/50 split with a magic shop, they promote it, the advertise it and deal with the selling side...i just sit on my *rse and get paid once a month...and its a non-exclusive deal too...so you can still sell it elsewhere...very nice people to work with...http://www.magicshop.co.uk/ are the fellas i have that with...nice guys too...

as for copyright, make sure you've sent yourself a copy of the effect by recorded delivery to your own address...at least then you have some "proof" that the idea/method/presentational angle was yours at a certain date..

as its a four way out, its not a new technique, but the presentation may well be...

furthermore - there's the research - it can be as simple as asking someone in the know, about a certain method...or even send them the entire routine for an opinion...i've done it a few times over the past couple of years...most people are decent and nice and honest...

there's also the balance of what you want out of it all? if it wont cost much to produce, do you have the time to post it all out and print the needed objects yourself? do you just want to get "it out there", and dont care about the money? do you want to make a certain figure in your head? do you want to start releasing more things in the next year?

there's good and bad for each choice - bit like a 4 way out effect i suppose!

Well I don't know the method your using, but I do know that there are hundreds of effects like this out there, you might have 'reinventing the wheel syndrome.'

I advice you share your method with bannanafish (the mentalist moderator). I shared the method to a routine I was working on with him, and his advice has been very helpful.

You might have to be prepared for the fact that you haven't made anything new here, and while you still might be able to sell it, doing so could damage your credibility in the magic community.

However I'm not damming it, as I don't know the method (I know methods that can achieve the same effect) and either way, it's brilliant that your working on thinking creatively to make your own stuff. keep at it however this turns out.

i think its fine to release an effect based on a technique, which is what i'd class this as...there's loads of effects out that have "way outs", loads that use "one ahead"...there's no problem in that...

well, unless you say "brand new invented principle invented by me!" of course...

Thanks for the sound advice. Very helpful. It is not about the money but I could always do with it...I just don't want the routine to be sold short. I will try and seek advice from Bannafish, that is a fantastic starting point.

Many thanks.

jomarchan wrote:Basically the premise is that a lady arrives home and believes that her house has been Burgled. She can't work out what has been stolen but she narrows it down to 4 rooms in which she believes something has been taken. She then realises what has been taken.
The Routine plays like this:

I'm sure the advice you have received will be helpful, but I would like to comment that I really loved your story! Personally, I would rather have a first rate story with a second rate trick, then a second rate story with a first rate trick. (This is one of the luxuries of being a hobbyist!)

Thank you for your kind comments.