Dear Moderators of the Magic Cafe

Is there anyway to get in touch with you? Or is there anybody out there willing to get in touch with me? I'm planning a serious interview with one of you guys. It will be about the "deleting of threads" on the Magic Cafe. It will be a chance to have your side of the story be heard.

Anybody up to the task?

I'll be fair!

If you want me to your name will be changed!

Video Rant - Liquid Metal 2

Hey Stupid

Dear street magicians. It's called guerrilla style. Not gorilla style! Look it up you morons.

Random

Quote of the Week!

"I can't believe this board. Twice a review of a Halloween effect by a certain someone that rhymes with cranky was deleted from this board. They just don't want anyone to know it sucked. It's sad when you try to offer an honest opinion about a product to warn others about it and the powers that be on this board delete it to protect someone that pays for advertising on the board.

I've purposely left off the name of the product this time and the magicians name so hopefully this post will live a little longer.

There were no personal attacks and a simple explanation of the contents. I would have at least expected a private message or something explaining the deletion. 

I'm really disappointed in the magic Café."

obeytheeye

So I guess the sold out BOOYAH-kits by Jay Sankey have found the wrong customers.

A very slow W T F

What the fuck is that? Repeat after me...What the fuck is that?... Seriously... repeat: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

10 Rules to market magic!

1. The main item needs to fool magicians.

I cannot stress the point hard enough. Magicians will not buy what's practical, but what fools them. If they are fooled, they assume it must be good. 

2. Make sure the main item uses a very obscure method.

Instead of using a Double Lift, use Sticky Tape to achieve the result. Magicians love methods. Even though the audience will not be aware of that. 

3. Add filler material, preferably card tricks.

Card tricks are very easy to create. It's very simple to create a new twist on a tried and true plot. So naturally they are great filler. Magic fluff is the industry term. But of course you don't call it filler. You call it a "bonus".

4. Create a video to demonstrate the effect.

Then edit it so the method cannot be backtracked. Even if you follow rule #1, not 100% of the magicians will be fooled, because some of you are smarter or more knowledgeable than you. Some have even read the whole of the Tarbell Course. So to fool those few you need to cut the video. Otherwise you cannot sell it.

5. Start hyping the product months in advance.

By having your "friends" ask about it at the Magic Cafe. The Magic Cafe is a horrible, horrible place, but just like in a sleazy part of town magic rumor spreads like the plague. Also free snippets will work. Release them for free, if they join your newsletter. That way you have a big base of subscribers that you can market to. For free. But in order to do that make sure you have plenty of material. Not just one trick.

6. If you have more than one item, make sure you spread them out over "Volumes".

No matter if books or DVD the main principle is the same. If you have three great tricks, you need to release a 3 DVD set. If you have have two great tricks, you need to release two books. The rest of the book/DVD will be filled with magic fluff.

7. Publish a release date and offer subscribers an early bird discount.
This is crucial. You need to establish a fan base. And how do you get fans? By making them think they get something cheaper than the rest.

8. Don't sleep!
During the first days of the product's release you have to be awake 24/7. The forums will be all about your product. The better forums will be honest about it. Don't worry about it too much. But those "spoiler" forums will try to take it apart and reveal the method. You need to have a fake identity to post stuff like "Nope, that's not how it works. It uses a clever new principle." That way they buy it.

9. Have less items than the market demands.
The line "out of stock" is magical dynamite. The demand will be high. So about half a year later, you can release version 2.0.

10. Listen to critical responses...
...but forget their names. Use the suggestions how to improve on your routines and work all of that into the version 2.0. Swarm intelligence also applies to magicians. Be the collector of the goods stuff. Make the most of it. And by that I mean money.

Garrett Thomas stole my Idea

Catchy title ey? Well not really, but he released something similar to what I came up with years ago. Melting through a coin slowly with just a finger. This isn't a creative masterpiece, but much better than the karate coin I believe. It's a great finish for a longer coin routine.



I'm so fucking proud, that someone less lazy than me actually made this. I'm not biting my ass because I didn't release it. But I feel the need to add, that with a dollar sized coin the illusion would look better. So please make those in dollar sized coins, and I buy those. Actually make them in Eisenhower dollar pieces, because I use those.

But it really is a weird feeling to see something done that I have thought up (including destroying some coins in order to make a somewhat workable prototype). I don't really know what to feel. One side of my is proud  that this actually got made. One side is proud because it means that my ideas are actually good enough to hit the market. And one side feels the need to fucking claim "ownership" to the idea, even though I am 100% sure that Garrett Thomas came up with this independently. He is a creative guy and I praise most of his work anytime. And the later side makes me write these lines. Damn it! Have I become a smug bastard beyond the healthy amount? Why do I mention the fact that I came up with this too? Damn it!

Garrett, you have opened the lid of the Pandora's box that I wish didn't exist.

It's so fucking sad...

...when the Bonus Effects that you get with specific tricks are much better than the big trick you bought.

Black & White

Hey, there are some cards in there:

Nobody likes Brian Tudor

A few days ago Brian started a thread over at the Green Monster. He was advertising his new website and his new project. He put it in a section of the cafe that most trolls don't go. Yet it got deleted.

I don't know what it is, but I like the man. I love it, how he commits a blunder with almost everything he does. May it be his misunderstanding of what magic is (See the Heckler DVD) or his funny inability to teach the flourishes he comes up with. There is some adorable cuteness to what he does. Like watching a kitten trying to makes his first big jump.

So please, some more love for the Tudor

Quote of the Week!

"If you have anything, ANYTHING that is the slightest bit of a disagreement with a magician, they will quickly escalate it to the level that they will try to personally insult you, tear down your career, refuse to do business with you, and perhaps murder your family with a spoon."

magicbymccauley

Another shitty ad!

Is it so hard to do a decent advertisement video for a trick that could be interesting? Seriously... Just show the damn trick in it's full length. Otherwise I suspect some bull shit that makes the trick a piece of ass. "NO Sleight of Hand"... alright show me that! "NO Switching Decks"... alright show me that! "NO Forcing Card Selections NO Rough and Smooth, NO Misprinted Cards, NO Memorizing, NO Gimmicks of ANY kind and NOTHING is ever written down, Use ANY style deck."... alright alright SHOW me, DON'T TELL me!

Quote of the Week!

"Another thing I find interesting about bullies is that they seem to always go after someone in a group. Several against one. At least that has been my experience and in my opinion. That is why I enjoy writing a blog and I turned off the comment section. My blog is a no bully zone. "

bishthemagish

About Fictional Characters

Coming up with a fictional character has different reasons. The most common example is this "friend" you have that has experienced something totally relevant about the current discussion. The friend is not real. He is a placeholder for a story that you heard somewhere that you want to tell, because it fits the discussion. But you need to justify the story. So this is when you friend comes in handy. This is the most common example.

But the Internet has made it possible to become that fictional character. And most often that fictional character is the worst side of you. The character becomes a shield. A shield for you to dish out what really boils inside you. Too bad if that shield fails and people learn who you really are. Jerry knows.

However there is a kind of fictional character where it wouldn't matter if people find out. Obvious fictional characters. Like Barry, or Larry. It's obviously not the real person's opinion. But an overblown view from a certain angle. And that most often is funny. I don't have to agree, most often I don't but I appreciate the comic nature of it. And it doesn't have to be comical. I remember the Juliet Letters. Where a college professor answered letters from students as "Juliet". Inspired from Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. But there where tweaks to the character. His common day Juliet has served in the army and has had a rather rough life. And from that point of view he answered questions that his students where asking via letter. While this was not funny, at least the artistic value has merit.

And of course there are fictional characters where the character is actually a better person than the real person behind it. There are several reasons to do that. First: To differentiate the issues. One may be a total magic nerd, while the other one is pissed off and does a blog about bad magic. Second: to have laypeople who Google the real guy, not know that the real guy also shares his magic. Third: to protect his sanity. The real character cannot stand bad magic and will not be kind towards bad magic. However the fictional character will be much more pleasant. He can watch bad magic and make some excellent points helping others. His others side, the side grounded in reality could not do that. Imagine some sort of giant role play.

So how would other people treat this matter? They could be "in" on the joke, clearly saying that both guys are different (because in a way they are.) Or be like.... "Oh don't you get it. It's the same guy." as if to say, "Look how smart I am to have figured it all out!" I'd say that the former is the better way to go.

But you decide.

On a different note: click!