Is it just me or did anyone else buy the "rose napkins" and dvd, only to find out that 90% of the DVD info. is on this guys website? Ouch...to top it off... This months magic magazine has a few sample napkins, and the instructional photos off of the website. I realize it is marketing, but the DVD offers nothing more than the information that anyone can get for free!! Buy the napkins from this guy and nothing else....if you wait he may just give it away.

An unsatisfied customer

Posted: Feb 9, 2006 10:48am
Ok, I was incorrect, there are a few other ideas on the DVD, but why would anyone just give away inforamtion that they have sold to others? I really like the napkins and his directions, I just feel a little burned. Does anyone else?

Your thoughts crossed my mind, because I also do have the DVD, however, the Napkin to rose "how to" has been on the internet for years.

The Magic Magazine allows one to try a slightly different method of doing it ang gave a three different napkins to try it.

Look at it from a marketing aspect. It is not the napkin and rose DVD that will line the pockets, it is the refills!. The more who do this effect, the more napkins that will be sold!

I think it is an ingenious marketing method. My guess, the DVD ran it's course, and slowed way down in sales. To increase sales is to get more magicians to try making the rose.

Now if the routine was addicting like cigarettes, he'd be a millionaire over night.

Magicmind,


First off, thank you for buying my Napkin Rose DVD and Napkin Rose Refills. I'm glad that you're enjoying the Napkin Roses but I'm sorry that you feel "a little burned" by purchasing the DVD. There were additional ideas on the DVD that aren't on my website.
Let me try to clear things up a bit...

I was selling the napkins before I came out with the DVD. I had the Basic Napkin Rose twist (with accompanying pictures) on my website so people could learn how to twist the roses. Quite a few people requested more detailed instruction so I decided to produce a DVD. I realized that I had a bunch of ideas to share that weren't on the website (Glowing Rose, Scented Rose, A Rose By Any Other Name (how to print your name on the roses, Torn and Rose-Tored, A Rose and a Kiss, Tea Rose (miniature rose) and a few thoughts about how to give the roses away. None of these things were on the website then or now.

I thought I'd sell a few hundred DVDs and that would be the end of it. Well, to my surprise, I've sold over three thousand in a year! I've had tons of positive feedback but never received a negative comment about the DVD until now. I really appreciate anybody who supports me and my products and that's why I'm responding to your post. I consider my customers to be more like friends and don't want anyone to feel burned.

I priced my DVD at $19.99 with 12 free napkins. I think this price is more than fair. I put a lot of time into creating the material and don't think it's just a mirror of napinrose.com . I still keep the Basic Napkin Rose Twist on my website because I don't want people to feel they have to pay for the basics. The information on the DVD goes above and beyond the instruction on my website and that's why I charge for it.

After the DVD came out, people came up with even more ideas for the napkins. A lot of people told me I'd be stupid if I didn't put a Napkin Rose DVD Volume 2 on the market. Well, I think different. I don't want to put out a DVD with a few new ideas just to get another $20 from some loyal customers.<p> One of the best ideas was the Napkin Rose twist that's featured in this month's MAGIC Magazine. It's not on the DVD and I wanted everybody to be able to learn it for free - MAGIC Magazine proved to be the best way to accomplish that. Sales of the DVD are stronger than ever but this information is not on the DVD.

There are a few more ideas that will be coming out in the near future. All of these ideas will be on my website and will be offered for free. Some of them will only be accessible to people who purchased the DVD. People who join my e mail list will learn how to access a secret code that I built into the DVD for this purpose.

Again, I'm sorry if you feel burned. I try to be extremely fair and strive to market quality products. I hope this information clears things up a bit. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. I do appreciate any input.

Sincerely,

Michael Mode

For those of you who do not know…
Michael Mode’s Napkin Roses are one of the best kept secrets in magic today.
I always found it strange that close-up workers who are excellent slight of hand technicians and marvelous performers spend their valuable time blowing up and sculpting balloon animals. Why do they do this? Because they have found out that this is what their customers want: a keepsake from a magical encounter with a magical performer.

I despise making balloon animals, for the same reasons that I don’t like performing for children. For this reason I choose to only perform at business oriented events. However, to my surprise I have found that adult audiences appreciate magical giveaways as much, and sometimes even more so, then children do.

Enter the napkin rose. It is true most magicians know how to fold a napkin into a rose. Many performed this trick all through college in smokey bars to meet women. But if you only think of the napkin rose as a bar trick or a mere portion of Kevin James’ floating rose effect you are passing over one of the true crowd pleasers available to the working performer today.

Listen to me now, If you perform walk around close-up magic and you do not have Michael Mode’s Napkin Roses in your close-up case you are truly missing out on not only a lasting memento to present to your audiences, but also true piece of material with countless presentations capable of making your performance memorable.

The napkin rose is a cool piece of magic and origami in its own rite but Michael Mode’s specially designed roses truly make the experience of receiving a napkin rose special.

What Mr. Mode provides on his DVD are real word performance suggestions that come from years of experience. I now utilize these roses successfully with big-money corporate clients both in magic effects as suggested on Mr. Mode’s DVD, and also as giveaways. The response is surprising. Whether you are teaching a small table of spectators how to make the roses (which by the way can kill countless minute of time if you are running out of other material to perform) or simply sculpting and presenting them to volunteers that assist you during your routine everyone loves these roses.

I have found that adults love to receive these flowers as much as children love to receive balloon animals - and therein lies their secret. You are giving your audience a piece of your magical performance to take home with them. With that they will not soon forget you or your magic, and that is (as the MasterCard commercial says) Priceless.

If you perform walk-around, buy the napkins and the DVD - I couldn’t recommend them higher. I only wish that I had thought to market these colored napkin roses myself.

I meant no harm in this post, just wanted somethings cleared up. I have owned this DVD for quite sometime and never posted, until the magazine came out. Thank you for clarifying Michael.


Best to all

Posted: Feb 13, 2006 5:54pm
To get back to the subject....

I do use these regularly at cocktail parties! Others I had talked to who also owned manuscript on the rose also wanted to know about the dvd vs. website.

Michael,
Are you planning on coming out with any other colors?

I love Michael Mode's napkin rose!!
When I brought the napkins and the dvd,I received a free meal at TGI Fridays. WOW!!!
Thanks Mike

I like the Napkin Rose. Used it yesterday for Valentines Day. Gave one to my wife and one to my daughter. They both loved them. I think I'll order the DVD and some napkin refills.

Magicmind,

I didn't feel that way about your post at all. As I said, everyone is entitled to comment, good or bad.

I'm glad I was able to clear things up a bit.

Michael Mode

I'm not fond of Michael Mode's variation, but that's just that is just my opinion...

However, the paper rose in general has potential for ANY occasion. The reactions and rewards for "just a folded napkin", geatly outweigh the small effort put into each one.

I would highly recommend learning at least one variation. I would, but I am a little too selfish...

I love the DVD and my kid even watche dit and was churning out roses for her Mom after the first viewing. Still playing with the new version and the jury is still out for me on that one. I though the DVD was well worth the price. I've also got Michael's "Nun" and it never fails to get a good reaction. the thing that these two items have in common is VERY precise, easy to follow instructions PLUS fairly priced. Thanks Michael..keep up the good work.

Seth well put....I decline further comment on the clearing up post..."rip-off" should have had a question mark behind it...that was what I had intended, but never noticed until your post. I too, only wish there was more color. How about a sangria color. Make a bunch in red, pink, and yellow...it begs for another color. Possible a two-toned top?

As for the question of new colors... Nothing planned for the near future but I have thought about it. I'm working on some other products right now so it might happen after that. I'll keep all of you posted.

Thanks again!

Michael Mode

Posted: Feb 19, 2006 10:30am
Quote:
On 2006-02-16 14:58, keeper wrote:
I love the DVD and my kid even watched it and was churning out roses for her Mom after the first viewing. Still playing with the new version and the jury is still out for me on that one.

This brings up a good question.
What do you guys think of the new version of the Napkin Rose that appears in the February issue of MAGIC Magazine? For those of you that make the other versions of the roses on my DVD, which version do you like the best?

Do you make the new one in MAGIC Magazine or one of the other Napkin Rose versions?

Posted: Feb 19, 2006 10:37am
One more thing...

the new website is live as of last night:

http://www.napkinrose.com

Michael Mode

Does anyone else pre-separate the white ply from the color ply before going out to perform? Or do you split them in front of the customers?

Although I don't use the colored rose papers (my "sell" is all about creating a non-scented white rose) I always split multi layered napkins down to just a single layer. The thinner the layer the slimmer the stalk of the rose will be and, to me, that's one of the big secrets of making the rose look prettier.

These days I use a napkin that I found in a Boston Diner. The owner was so pleased with the rose that I made for his wife and the fact that I loved his humble napkins so much that he gave me a case of them (that's quite a few thousand) so I'm set for a while. It is a single layer and makes a great long stemmed rose. Rather than risk having to split napkins in front of people (although I will if need be) I just have a pocket full of these puppies when working!

Just my ten cents worth,

Simon

I agree with Simon that the one-ply roses look better. They're also easier to twist. However, I always use the colored Napkin Roses because I'm a little biased I usually split a bunch of the napkins and then stack them up and fold them in half. It's easier to carry them in your jacket pocket (or back pants pocket) this way.

Sometimes the napkins can be a little tough to separate. I find they separate a lot better if you "rough 'em up" a bit before separating. Just take them out of the original plastic wrap and leave them loose in your case or in a larger Ziploc bag. After getting moved a round a bit the layers usually start to separate themselves quite a bit.

Another trick that sometimes helps is to take the stack of napkins out of the wrapper and hit the corner of the stack on the table a bunch of times. Almost like someone who "packs" their cigarettes. Do this on the corners where you would normally start the separation process. This seems to help a bit.


Michael Mode

Michael,

Also dampening your finger and thumb and lightly rubbing not at the corner (at the actual join) but about an inch in and down can separate the layers well too.

By the way I do like your napkins but they just don't fit my routine. I'm sure you'll sell a gazzilion of them though and well deservedly so. Many years ago I did a one off colored napkin but covered the red area with green colored flash paper (so the whole napkin looked green). After the twist I put a lit cigaratte to the head (where the flash paper was) and it flared to instantly turn red. It looked good but was just a lot of effort (I can be very lazy!) ... have you tried anything like that?

All the best,

Simon

Simon,

The dampening of the finger and thumb is a good suggestion - thanks. I have another friend who also "scrapes" the corner of the napkin with his thumb nail. He does this on a hard surface starting about an inch in from the corner and pressing out towards the pointed corner of the napkin.

I also like the flash paper idea on the napkin rose. I've played around with a few things but never tried green flash paper. I tried to use white flash paper and switched the finished rose for the flash paper covered napkin rose. It was a lot of work so I never did it much. Ron Jaxon has a very clever idea where he turns the white napkin rose into a colored napkin rose using a cloth napkin. It's a variation of the old fork to spoon trick.

Anyway, I think your version of the white rose sounds great. I've heard lots of great reviews of it. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never seen you do it. I have to pick up a copy of your DVD to check it out. The routine is on there, right?

Talk to you soon.


Michael Mode

Michael,

Actually I have several presentations depending on the situation but you can see the rose that I make along with one set of patter on the Madness Behind the Methods DVD's.

Or, of course, travel to NYC and see it live as part of my Strange and Unusual Hobbies one-man off-Broadway show!

Stay well!

Simon

Up till now other than performing the KJ's floating rose making a rose napkin never crossed my mind. I tried one of the sample one's in magic mag an man what a response I got when I handed it out to a female talent agent. It's true poeple love things they can take with them. I'll be honest I probally won't buy the dvd. I create & perform most of my own effects and market them. But I will be buying a ton of napkins off of Michael Mode and since I have friend who is a chemist that makes the majority of my flash paper ( I guess you can see where this is going floating rose wise ). Basically isI did'nt see this in Magic Mag I wouldnt know about it. I'm glad he ran this ad THANK"S Michael Mode for bringing this wonderful lil item to my attention

Later, Anton

Not to be controversial but I've never understood it when a magician takes the paper rose and turns it into a real one to give to the helper. In my opinion all you've done is take a piece of art that you have indidually crafted for them and turned it into something that they can buy for $2.00 down the road which is going to die in a couple of days!

Sometimes it's better to have a magical effect upon somebody emotionally than to actually do a magic trick!

Simon