Craig Petty... again!

Why can't a month go by without a fucking screw up by Craig Petty.
RED was a dangerous move. But this is stepping right into the hypocrisy.

As you may know Craig Petty is part of a group called "Slightly Unusual - The Comedy Illusionists".
I fail to understand the unusual aspect of the groups work, but it's a name that creates interest. I'm not judging.

The group has found a way to make money. By exposing magic to laypeople. Craig Petty is an outspoken opponent of exposure of magic secrets so this seems like an odd move.

Of course they don't expose it for the sake of exposing it. They hide the fact a bit and call it "team building". Basically they sell the members of a company magic secrets and disguise it as a team building exercise.

You can't polish a turd, it's still a pig... or however the saying goes.

Episode 10 "RED"

Click here for a more detailed review

As usual if you have something you want reviewed, then let me know. Are you a creator of a cool magic trick and you want and honest review? Do you have some weird prop lying around and you want people to know about it? Shoot me an email! I will review everything I get.

Man I was smoking crack or something!

Did I really claim that the issue is taken seriously and discussed behind closed doors? Boy was I wrong. I got some interesting screen shots telling me that one order was accepted AND send out yesterday AFTER the debacle was well on its way. So they recouped the money by have no moral integrity to stop the selling!

I further assume that I was wrong claiming that they pulled RED off the shelves. I assume furthermore they are sold out.

And now for something completely different!

At least they have taken RED out of the store shelves. And the Facebook page banner of the World Magic Shop has been reset as well. But still no statement and no mention at all. That at least is a good indicator that it is taken seriously and discussed behind closed doors.

Will it change anything? Nope! I assume they will give out a big appology, Bob King will get some of the money, after the production cost have been taken. And life will go on. People will forget. The Internet will forget.

I will not. So my watch begins!

WMF Craig Petty and RED

I was busy so I missed the whole RED issue. If you have been busy as well, here is the short version:

Craig Petty (the better half of the Wizard Product review show) released a card trick named RED. In theory the effect should appear like this: In a blue backed deck of cards a red backed card is shown. The spectator is asked to think of a card. The red backed card is removes turned over and turns out to be the thought of card. At least that is what the trailer suggests. This is not what is happening and the trick is not as clean as hoped and has a multitude of problems and requires conditions over conditions. It requires a mathematical procedure, a thought-of card force stack and some rough and smooth.

So the trick has been out and it was pointed out by several people that this is exactly like Bob King's New Wave Prediction. Exactly the same. The "same mathematical procedure, the same thought-of card ranging force stack, the same rough and smooth stack."

So one could argue in Craig Petty's defense that sometimes great minds think alike. But a screen shot from the Magic Bunny Forum from 2005 surfaced where Craig Petty clearly states his favorite gimmicked card tricks. The very first item is New Wave Prediction.

So one could argue in Craig Petty's defense that Craig has no moral issue about copying other's work and claiming it as their own. But is this is untrue either, as watchers of the Wizard Product Review will know. Craig Petty has a sense of moral and ethics. And he clearly was against this sort of conduct of business. (Hat tip to the Smiling Mule)

So one could argue in Craig Petty's defense that he may have bought the rights to Bob Kings trick. And doing so would allow him to republish the routine with a new name and a new face. Petty's face! So far I know nothing of it. And if it were true, would it morally be true to omit the creator's name in the credit? I think not.

So it comes down to this. Craig Petty has released a known trick under his name. Craig clearly has a moral agenda when it comes down to theft, and it obviously doesn't apply to him. There is a professional term for this: Fucking hypocrite!