WMF Johnnie Gentle

I guess you readers know how I feel about bullshit marketing techniques and about selling old stuff that little was done to, to make it worthy of reselling it.

Now put both together and you got Johnnie Gentle who runs a website called Magictouches. Near the bottom of that page it says:

Take a look at this Simple Magic Card Trick - The Four Ace Trick and
See How Just a Bit of Practice and a Great Presentation can Turn a
Very Simple Card Trick into an Amazing Miracle!.. Watch The Video...

Followed by a video of David Copperfield doing that card trick with the aces.

Now that is hyperbole, but it lures the beginner into the trap... And I am stupid that way, so I signed up for the free ebooks that are promised. This is what I got. The The Health & Vitality eBook. Yeah...

But a window popped up and I actually got free magic ebooks. Both of them explaining several things David Blaine did on TV. And for 7 dollars I can get more. More of the stuff that the writer did not make his own. When you read these ebooks you'll see that those were not made with the intent of teaching, but just of exposure.

So I assume Johnnie Gentle never read those.

But there is more. Johnnie Gentle also has another website, were he offers to teach magic. LearnRealMagic is the name and for as little as 12 dollars per month, less than the monthly subscription for World of Warcraft, all the magic can be yours.

What magic you ask. Well mainly stuff you have in Tarbell and all of the other old books. So why is Johnnie Gentle doing this? He seems like a nice guy. And two of the demo videos he put out have a nice rhyming patter. Sure his handling of cards is as crappy as mine, but he is in magic way longer than I am. And age is no excuse. The late Pat Page could still do excellent sleight of hand.

I can think of two reasons. First: He really needs the money and is willing to go through his magic library and sell out. Second: He just loves magic so much, that he wants to teach is so bad. And he is just covering the costs for video, server and all of that stuff.

My personal guess is somewhere in the middle. Less bullshit marketing and more transparency and he will be off my list.