talkmagic.co.uk

I have never met Mr Lever but I must admit that I have been getting great amusement from the fuss on the Genii Forum. Have a gander at this:
http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubb ... er=201618#

Derek sounds as if he is a most horrific monster and would rival Genghis Khan. Is he really as bad as he is painted? I bet he has some good points.

I must say things have livened up at the Blackpool Magicians Club since I used to be a member. I bet the members are still as incompetent as ever but it does seem that Mr Lever has brought a little colour to the club.

Na. He isnt any where near as bad as some people paint him.
Like Bobby Bernard, and our dear ols Craig Browning, he is one of those characters that can be taken one of two ways.

I have a great deal of time for him, when it comes to his magical brain. his ability to recall names of tricks, methods, and dates is very impressive.

Yes, he can be oppinionated at times, but that is in now way, shape or form a bad thing.
Its what makes him one of Magics characters, and lord knows, there are few of them around these days..

Present company accepted.

When he was British Ring President he kindly sent me a copy of his "Encyclopedia of Magic with Crocodiles" as thanks for a contribution to the 1998 British Ring Parade. Priceless.

Barry

The link doesn't work for me although it is directing me to Genii - just says that there's a problem finding the post in the database.

what was the story about this time?

there's still no excuse for being [edited] though, no matter what your knowledge is...

I do see that there is a problem linking to the genii forum. However when you get there click onto the "active topics" section and top of the list will be the fuss about people getting banned from the Blackpool Convention.

Hi Mark. I have had dealings with Derek Lever. He is as bad as they say, and then some. He is a graceless and unpleasant man, and one of the reasons I rarely go to the Blackpool convention. Obviously this is a public forum so I must be restrained in my comments, and I will say no more.
Tony.

Quentin likes him which is a good reason for me not to. On the other hand Quentin is notorious for sucking up to people that might do him a bit of good.

However I have had strong endorsements of Derek from Jolly Roger and Kimmo (who are both members here). They think he is wonderful.

I have heard that he charges an agent's commission every time he books an act for Blackpool. However if you resist you can get out of it. And an American performer I know was furious when Derek tried to renege on his fee telling him that it was dollars instead of pounds!

He sounds a dreadful shark as well as an ogre. I think I rather like him. I spent my best years in Blackpool full of all the sharks and suchlike beings. I am well used to them.

Old Murray once told me, "If you can go through life never dealing with a crook you will never get anything done"

Murray also told me "Talk about me good, talk about me bad, it doesn't matter as long as you talk about me."

That seems to apply to Mr Lever as well.

Hi Mark. Some people are characters - we love them despite their grumpiness and their odd characteristics. But Lever is not one of these. He is just pig-ignorant. And I have done enough reading around various forums to know I am not alone in thinking that. An autocrat who would be dangerous if he was in any field more relavent to the real world than magic.

I suppose Mr Lever is a prime example of the old saying "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

Come on guys, be nice. It's not fair since he's not here to defend himself

I am hoping he'll show up. Besides he does have defenders on this forum anyway.
Kimmo and Jolly Roger think he is marvellous.

mark lewis wrote:Kimmo and Jolly Roger think he is marvellous.

I think these guys tend to post on Magic Bunny, Mark. Discussions by people who've been banned from Blackpool tend to get locked pretty quickly over there too.

I may be wrong.

I am locking this thread now before it gets even more out of hand. As Kolm said - he isn't here to defend himself so the views are too one sided to make a proper discussion.