What's wrong with having high-schoolers as mods if they're mature and knowledgeable in magic (which they are)? There are plenty of knowledgeable people in the E. forums, more than most people would expect. Not everyone there is trying to be the next David Blaine.

Brad is a good performer in my opinion. Perhaps the slightest bit bland in presentation but still a good performer. I like the E. vids because I don't look at the prices of the videos but rather the quality and production and what the vids have to offer and I am pleased and thoroughly satisfied with their vids.

Different people have different opinions though. It's subjective and that's my opinion.

Don't like the website
Don't like their DVDs
Don't like them period.

http://geniimagazine.com/forum/cgi-bin/u......2#000000

Yea, but most of the people are trying to be the next David Blaine. The mods aren't very knowledgable the last time I looked. Compared to the Magic Café, they are horrible. Even though a lot of the people here are a same age, do you ever notice how much more mature and helpful everybody is here?

Ellusionist videos are targeted to laypeople. They target "dreamers", not magicians.

They're sold a dream. Learning magic is quick and easy - just watch the videos. "You'll be performing miracles in hours". Amaze your friends. Became the talk of your office. Became the talk of your school. People will think you're god. You'll get invited to all the best parties. Hot woman will want to jump into bed with you. etc, etc, etc.

These dreamers are going to watch the videos, learn all the secrets, and then do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING the information! They won't lift a finger. And guess what? Some will buy more vidoes...and they'll do absolutely nothing with those as well!

A few months later they'll lose interest with magic, and move onto something else.

A fool and his money are easily parted. Good luck to ellusionist.

Yeah, and I wonder what was so great about it with this guy:

"I busted open the packaging, and shoved it into the VCR. To be honest, I was skeptical at first because I didn’t know what to expect. But after watching the first trick, I knew I was into something good... very good. And it only got better.

"Then, I had to find my “dummy.” Someone that was willing to sit through attempt after attempt, until I was ready for the “real world”. I know that I won't ever forget when the glass on the dinner table disappeared. My dad’s eyes were almost as big as the half dollar that was in my pocket, ready to be used for my next move. I soon found out that this look was common.

"Anyone who purchases the video should be prepared for heads slamming on tables, and the funniest response I’ve had so far, seeing peoples back as they RUN AWAY! I couldn't believe it.

"If only they knew how easy it was to do with a little practice...


"Then I rose off the ground, about 3 inches. I stumbled, almost falling over. “It took all the energy out of me” I replied. They watched, amazed, and the teacher (an educated man of PHYSICS), stumbled just as I did. “I think I may have broken some of Newton’s laws,” I said softly. The teacher looked at me with eyes like those of my father’s.

"Throughout that day, I performed several tricks I had learned and received similar looks. Those huge, bugged-eyed looks are scary at first, but take my word, you get used to them.

"The one thing I can’t forget to mention is the green, and I’m not talking about the dollar I made float in thin air.

"People still offer me cash in exchange for the secrets. It is SO VERY HARD to say no! But that is what makes it fun. Knowing that I know something that others are so crazy about gives you a rush, and once you start, you will not be able to stop. And what is most amazing is that you can do it anytime, with any cards, or any coin.

"Imagine what it can do for you, just as I did. I promise you that it will fulfill those hopes, and then some. Listen to them talk, as your name is tossed around with respect. They love you, and you in turn love this video. I know I do, and am so grateful I bought it. It has changed me, and will change you too!"



I dunno. but some or lots of the tricks in SMP are already "public knowledge" to laymen. some are quite easy to figure out, and most of them are what Mac King would teach the World's Greatest Magic home audience

so go Mac!

hey, since *sob* Mr. Ritter's gone who's gonna be the host of the next WGM?? *sob*

and how many WGM's are there now? 5? 6? 7?

RedStreak: It's nice to have an opinion, however, it's even nicer to have an INFORMED opinion. The latest release of the Kard Klub DVD contains information on Two Card Monte in it credits that even I didn't know. There are also credits in the other videos as well. Very nice of you to make a blanket statement like that without actually knowing how big your blanket should have been.

Everyone else:

Now, since this topic comes up once a year I feel that I should throw my two cents in.

In the beginning there were issues. Those issues have been addressed, and corrected and are now no longer issues with each new release. Yes, a mistake was made, and the mistake has been corrected. Get over it, time to start griping about something else.

Now here we are currently... let's fill you in on some stuff.

1. Ellusionist isn't about being a magic store, it's about supplying you with magic that is hard hitting, and stunning. By expanding the line to only a select group of items, it has done many magicians, (young/old/new/experienced) a favour. They have sorted through the glut of what is on the market, and selected what they thought was quality material. (and if you haven't seen the Brainstorm DVD's, good lord, what are you waiting for!). Ellusionist doesn't want to like every other magic store. There are enough of those, it's time for something different.

2. Ellusionist is doing more to protect the rights magicians than even those freaking magicians themselves. Because of the internet more magicians are losing money because of stupid morons that think magic should be available for free. Ellusionist has people who regularily scout these places, and do their best to put an end to online trading. We've recently shut down an asian server that had almost 500 freaking videos on it. Yes, they had ours, and we always like to look out for ourselves, but whenever there is anything illegal going on, we report it to the people being wronged, and do what we can to right that wrong. (Remember we have no legal rights to attempt to shut a server down that doesn't violate OUR copyrights) How many of you people out there have purchased 100% of what they currently own? And be honest with yourselves.

3. Some sites are copying ellusionist approach to distribution. Flattery at it's best I say.

The teaching is good, the quality is good, and the effects are good. Sounds good to me.

Regarding price.

There are people that will spend $200 on a pair of shoes, and think that they are getting a deal. There are people who look at those people and think they are crazy. Shoes are shoes right?

Same thing applies with everything else in life. Your values should not be thrust onto me, simply because you feel otherwise about something. I think that some of the ellusionist videos were the best buys I've ever made, and I'd do it again if I had the choice. I choose to put a value on something, do me a favour and keep the name calling to a minimum when you realize that I don't think like you. Reviews are one thing, statements like "I hate him" etc... are completely out of line.

So there you go.

This years addition to the "Trash Topic"

David.

And just so everyone knows... I DO work for ellusionist, but I am also allowed to have an opinion of my own.

Okay I’m sick and tired of reading on each and every magic-related forum bogus reasons why people hate Ellusionist.com. If people don’t like them, fine, I respect that, in fact I don’t either, but very few people actually have any valid points explaining why.

Here are the facts:
-Let’s face it, Brad is a likable guy.
-The videos are more pleasant to watch, funny, stylish and more professionally shot than most material out there. He actually goes out; the back settings are different, raw, and cool. Unlike most of the “usual” boring-ish videos out there, which shows some old guy (no offence intended, most of those people are incredibly brilliant) doing tricks to the same audience over and over in one single fake looking room or worse in front of a blue wall. It’s just not a motivating learning atmosphere…at least for me. Think what you may but this is MY opinion.
-You have very easy access to the videos. Meaning that anybody with a fast internet connection is able to view the video the very second they buy it, thus bypassing any possible taxes, shipping cost, customs fees…
-The guy is a marketing mastermind. Everywhere you look on magic sites, every magic-hour special on TV demonstrating street magic, there’s a good chance you’ll see a commercial of the website, and so on. The guy has the right commercials/banners/advertisements at the exact right places. Do you have any idea how it feels when your watching some guy doing the most mind blowing things you’ve ever seen, and then right after seeing a commercial telling you “I’ll teach you how to do everything you’ve just seen by buying my video by calling at this toll free number”. HOLLY COW, WHERE’S MY PHONE?

So why do people hate him so much?

Let me tell you why. Magic has been a secretly guarded art-form for centuries, secrets were only past on to a very select few. Although those days are gone, it is still a pretty “secret” society. The magic shops are usually not very advertised and they’re usually small shops on small streets (at least this is the case here in my area). Tricks are usually also incredibly expensive for what they are, which pushes away a lot of newbies, which is good for us. What’s worse than doing a cool trick, if people are like “Ah yeah I know that one!” or worse “Ah yeah I own that gimmick too”. We want our art form to still be “underground”, we don’t want any Joe-six-pack to have access to many of the best guarded secrets of magic by the click of a button. We’re frustrated because he makes our passion, and for some us, what we do for a living, mainstream, he renders it obsolete bringing it to the mass population. Have any of you ever been to the forums there? I have. I’m not kidding you the average age is 12 maybe 13. There was a poll at one point about people’s age there, and last time I checked 12-13 was the average age. You know how hard it was for me to keep a secret at that age? I don’t want what I’m so passionate about, to be taught to any little kid, and him in return teaching it to his friend, and then being spread like a disease, IT JUST PLAIN SUCKS.

So to sum up, these are the reasons why I don’t like Ellusionist: IT MAKES MAGIC WAY TOO FRIGGIN' ACCESSIBLE AND THAT TO ANYONE. The more people know about magic, the less impressive it becomes. After all, once you learn the principle of many moves, you have a much better shot of finding out how A LOT of tricks are done (double lift, the pass, the force…).

Cheers,
Hawky

Okay! okay! I'm sorry! I should think before I judge SMP next time!

Kronos,

which one's better Crash 2: AmbitiouXs Card
or Kard Klub? or would it be preposterous to compare because they are 2 entirely different products.

:bg:

just asking for your own opinion there.



I wouldn't worry about that. maybe its because there are other sites that make it far too easy to access the "exposure" of magic.
think about Card Trick Central or Ultmate Magic. and worst, they're free at that!
Ellusionist exposes magic, but mostly it targets magis who wanna improve and advance in this art, but they do sell it for a price.
but in my opinion? no difference. exposure is exposure.

:)

and only someone motivated enough to learn magic will be 'exposed' to this art... I mean, think about it, you're given handouts for your History quiz. all the answers are in those handouts, yet you think History is boring and isn't for you. therefore you won't be "exposed" to the knowledge those handouts have to offer even if you can read them any time.

instead we should blame FOX for those M.B.S.R. specials, but I guess that's another story

I admit that I don't have Kard Klub, but I have ( or had) most of their other videos, and none of them did any crediting. The Ninjas, SMP, Crash Course, inside magic (a little bit here, but not much). Overall, they don't credit a lot more than they do.

Another thing, a pair of shoes CAN be worth $200. Because they have special materials .etc. Ellusionist sells a lot of stuff (even "laymen" tricks and already published tricks) for much more than the place that they were first published.

When I was a beginner, I had this idea. I would go and take tons of tricks from people's videos and sell them as downloads to people could pick and choose what they wanted. Then I realised that if I did that, people would hate me.

How would you like it if I went and made a video of King Rising. I would make up my own name for it and sell it as a downloadable video for only $13. I COULD do that you know. How would you like it? There is nothing to stop me. I know the legal stuff, you can't copywrite and action. I could claim that I had made it up years ago, before Ellusionist. I personally think that somebody should do this, just to teach Ellusionist a lesson. DON'T SELL SOMEBODY ELSE'S TRICKS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION!!!

I was a big critic of Christian's after the Ninja vids because of the lack of crediting. At the time, I was a mod on another fourm and I spoke out strongly about it. Brad registered and posted a response, saying that he had come to realize he had made a mistake regarding credits. While I don't own the later videos, I have seen some of them, and he did, in fact, do quite a good job of crediting on them. This speaks volumes to me; the man saw that he made a mistake and then made a real effort to correct it on future projects. He went up considerably in my esteem because of that.

The videos are well-produced and work for their target market. he can charge whatever he wants for them. If you think they're too expensive, don't buy them!