talkmagic.co.uk

I just got an email from a well known UK magic supplier about a "new and exciting" card effect that I'm assuming they were hoping I'd rush to buy. It has a lovely, artisticly designed front cover and a snazzy, zappy name.

Then I watched the demo video. It's totally obvious to anyone who studies card magic how it is done, and it's not even performed particularly elegantly by the creator in his own demo! Infact, it was performed so clumsily I seriously wonder if the performer really is a card magician or an actor they'd shown the trick to 5 minutes beforehand.

They want £5.99 for it!!

It prompts the question: is there too much rubbish out there? I sort of know the answer already, and I know I'm not the first person to be annoyed at this sort of thing, but I really had to have this rant to get it off my chest!

I know what you mean. In fact, I believe I have received the same email. Like anything else, magic is a business at the end of the day and good or otherwise, effects will continue to be created and sold. There are creators out there who consistently bring out quality products and who are known for this; Paul Brook springs to mind, but he is just one of many. On the other hand, some people will come up with any old piece of c*** (not the best) just to make money; they have no qualms with compromising their values to make a quick buck. Just look at Ellusionist.

To answer your question, there is undoubtedly a lot of rubbish out there. This is one reason why the newcomer to magic can quickly be disheartened and disappointed, not to mention lighter of wallet. As a long time sufferer of CUPS in the past (and a smidgen of a sufferer now), I spent hundreds and hundreds of pounds on magic paraphernalia that was simply cast aside, never to see the light of day again. (Until I sold it all, that is).

As ever, as with most things in life, it comes down to money. It's always about money.

There is alot of c*** (not the best) out there, i sould know cause i bought alot of it in my starting weeks.

Greetings from Belgium

I've always had a fairly good eye for rubbish tricks - I think the best I ever saw was this:

http://www.ellusionist.com/revolution-coin-vanish.html

"Revolution is the greatest coin vanish ever imagined. No threads, no pulls, no loops, no magnets. No sleeves. Whatever you're thinking it is, it isn't that."

See if you can get the method from watching the video. Go on, just try and work out the greatest coin vanish ever imagined. Perhaps it really is based on some absolutely dynamite principle of metaphysics that science has so far overlooked, but that rather bizarre hand placement gives me a clue as to the method - a method that I'm not sure is worth twenty bucks. It certainly undermines its greatness that I first saw it in 1994 when my uncle did it at Christmas after dinner.

The reason for all this stuff being on the market is that some people are stupid. Enough people to warrant sites like Ellusionist being in business. I've often wondered how much you'd make if you broke Royal Road... down into individual tricks and uploaded them all at $20 a go. Which, in some cases, is more or less what Ellusionist have done.

madvillainy wrote:"Revolution is the greatest coin vanish ever imagined. No threads, no pulls, no loops, no magnets. No sleeves. Whatever you're thinking it is, it isn't that."

He's definitely not just twonking it into his jeans then...

madvillainy wrote:I've often wondered how much you'd make if you broke Royal Road... down into individual tricks and uploaded them all at $20 a go. Which, in some cases, is more or less what Ellusionist have done.

You've just given me an idea. well... see ya later! I'm off to become a millionairre!!!

madvillainy wrote:I've always had a fairly good eye for rubbish tricks - I think the best I ever saw was this:

http://www.ellusionist.com/revolution-coin-vanish.html

"Revolution is the greatest coin vanish ever imagined. No threads, no pulls, no loops, no magnets. No sleeves. Whatever you're thinking it is, it isn't that."

See if you can get the method from watching the video. Go on, just try and work out the greatest coin vanish ever imagined. Perhaps it really is based on some absolutely dynamite principle of metaphysics that science has so far overlooked, but that rather bizarre hand placement gives me a clue as to the method - a method that I'm not sure is worth twenty bucks. It certainly undermines its greatness that I first saw it in 1994 when my uncle did it at Christmas after dinner.

The reason for all this stuff being on the market is that some people are stupid. Enough people to warrant sites like Ellusionist being in business. I've often wondered how much you'd make if you broke Royal Road... down into individual tricks and uploaded them all at $20 a go. Which, in some cases, is more or less what Ellusionist have done.

I know that trick, i learned it from a friend. Actualy the method is to simple and at first i tought it was rubbish. But if your practise the right angle 'n stuff it is a verry good trick.

Greetings from Belgium

Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely little vanish, but presenting it as this paradigm-shattering shift in the very foundations of magic - and asking $20 for a video showing you how to slide a coin into your pocket behind your hand - is possibly a bit much, non?

I don't know, they sell an effect, and the effect is great. It doesn't realy matter to me how it's done. That's the KISS ting man. It's the effect that matters, not the 'how to'. And the effect blows people away

greetings from belgium