talkmagic.co.uk

I'll miss Blammo...

This is the most succinct write up about the whole debacle Ive read

http://sleightly.com/blog/2012/02/07/wizard-product-reviews-calamity

Maybe Wayne and Jeff can take it over?

Surely that would be taking a good, original idea & copying it?

I'm now also up to speed & hope that once everything has blown over that the show can come back in some form. Maybe a format change would be best but a few months to let everyone catch their breathe is a good idea. There are aspects from all sides which seem to have been done in the wrong way but no one has died, it doesn't make a difference in the grander scheme of things. I would liked to have seen the outcome if it had been an unknown using the routine though & not a) Someone of Jeff's stature & b) Someone who Wayne wasn't mates with.

Roll on Blackpool.

I am renowned for my tact and diplomacy in these matters so I will comment on one thing only. I did see just now the videos of both Dobson and Mc'Bride doing that routine. It does look a trifle similar but that is not what concerns me. As a thief and vagabond of long standing magical ethics are of very little significance to me as long as nobody is stealing MY stuff.

No. What concerns me is how badly Mc'Bride is performing that sequence. If you are going to steal something at least do a good job of it. I was shocked to see an artist of Jeff's calibre performing in that manner. He should stick to his wonderful silent act and not venture into fields for which he is not suited. It really was excruciatingly bad. On the other hand Wayne Dobson did a remarkably good job of it.

I have rarely seen, if ever, a silent performer do a good talking act. They are almost always bloody awful. They should stick to what they know.

I have found the entire episode pretty interesting, but not because this has anything to do with magic. It's because what we seem to have here are people who are operating in the media as amateurs. I don't mean that in a derogatory sense. It's a bit like amateur bloggers calling themselves journalists, even though they have never received any journalistic training.

There is, as ever, a lot more to working in the media than owning a decent video camera or being able to string a sentence together.

What we have here are people 'broadcasting' their thoughts on artistic works, in much the same way as the BBC or any other television broadcaster would when producing a film/book/other review show. The difference between the WPR and the BBC is that the BBC is staffed with professional journalists, editors, producers, lawyers and so on. They are acutely aware of the libel laws, which is why they may savage a book/film/whatever in a review, but they are careful to do their research first. For example, they might read it first If they find what they think is plagiarism (about the closest thing I can think of that relates to this episode), they would triple check this before making an accusation in public.

It seems to me that in this case the reviewers on the WPR failed to check both sides of the story and then made an inaccurate criticism. If they were my staff, I would point out to them that libel can occur in a number of situations. You don't have to have malicious intent - you can commit libel simply by failing to do your research properly.

I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes at the WPR but if a lawyer pointed this detail of the law out to me after the fact I would certainly apologise as sincerely as possible - because that could divert a libel action.

The media is a powerful thing, and with great power comes great responsibility.

Personally I've enjoyed the shows but always felt that as the reviewers also sold the items the reviews could never be 100% unbiased. Maybe they are/were, but the fact that the WPR is part of a magic supply business definitely damages the reviewers' credibility. This latest scenario has not helped, of course!

T.

Well said, Ted! You can't just say what you like about whomever. There are laws ...and revenge

I was talking to someone from MagicBox this morning and even he brought up the subject of this affair. It seems that the global magic community is chattering about it.

I think it should be sorted out in the same way as every other argument in Britain...i'll call Jeremy Kyle.

It does seem to be a big talking point, maybe they built up the momentum of the show so it outgrew itself. I had reservations too about someone reviewing things they sold especially when the Worker Of The Week section of the shop popped up on their site. The catchphrases & over the top-ness annoyed me more & more but it was still a good watch. I can almost hear the sound of the ball being picked up by Peter Nardi (also a good show).

In other news I downloaded lots of magic podcasts last month & stumbled across this one by Tyas Frantz interviewing Jeff McBride a couple of years ago where, 10 minutes in, Jeff basically says you shouldn't get uptight about holding onto routines you create & shouldn't be jealous of someone nicking it.
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/new- ... d305926227

I would imagine both Wayne Dobson & Jeff McBride could both do without this. I hope for their sake it can be resolved to their satisfaction.

Wayne's just posted this to Facebook: "Jeff's new dvd squeek tecnique is avalible from my stand at blackpool convention"

He also posted a picture of them both with the words "Good Friends" underneath.

Pretty unequivocal, really!

Well here is something I neglected to tell you all. That ventriloquism nonsense of using human beings is as old as the hills. Wayne Dobson didn't invent it in the first place or if he did he thought of it independently. I remember seeing it done by Dennis Spicer before Wayne was even born. Dennis was a fantastic ventriloquist who died in a car crash. I suspect he was the inventor.

I did see Wayne explain his magic on a DVD once. He was a sterling performer but I couldn't help laughing when he introduced each trick saying that he was "inspired" by so and so's work with the effect. In other words he pinched it. Quite right too. Just what I would do. I expect he was "inspired" by Dennis Spicer too. And in his turn Jeff Mc'Bride was "inspired" by Wayne Dobson.

Thieving is a fact of life in the magic business. Poor old Robert Harbin had his Zig Zag ripped off and now everyone and his mother is doing it. Burling Hull invented the svengali deck and I guarantee wicked people like me have made more money out of it than he ever did. Kellar was a notorious thief. And I still remember the time I met Dante's road manager who said he was fed up with Murray coming in every night to see what ideas he could steal.

It really does no good screaming about it. You have to realise in advance that it IS going to happen and do your best to avoid it happening to you. Or at the very least see what you can steal from someone else to make up for the pain.

This is a tough business and you have to protect your ideas as best you can. After all you wouldn't leave your house door unlocked, would you?

I still think that the show should continue regardless of the situation, IE: The show must go on.

Randy wrote:I still think that the show should continue regardless of the situation, IE: The show must go on.

I suspect you've made your point, Randy - thanks, but it now doesn't need repeating

Humans eh. Seems like a lot of upset for very little real reason at all, I hope they can sort it out to a happy conclusion. I expect all concerned are feeling quite low at the moment.