What is your opinion on ellusionist.com material?

I bought ninj1&2 and crash course and how to do street magic as my first ever magic videos.I soon discovered that you can find all the effects in other magic videos for half the cost so now I'm not pleased with them

I hate ellusionist with all my heart. I hope Brad and his business fails misserably. Just my oppinion.

Why? It sounds like ellusionist was an introduction to the wonderful world of magic and because of them you now know more about the magic community.

They only charge what the customer is willing to pay so don't worry about having buyers remorse.

Good luck!

They don't give credits and misname effects.

mmG Roland

Yes, I know, they actually give credits, but you have to search hard to find them.

Now that topic opens a pandora box...

They ship fast and the teaching on the DVD's is first rate. I believe they now credit everything they do.

Chris

Haha,

I gotta love these posts....you either love or hate ellusionist.....except me. I think there's good and bad things about the place.

On one hand they introduce lots of people to magic, young and old.
They provide good basic teaching to beginners.
The forums are friendly and people do their best to help each other out.

however, there are some bad things too:
They actually sell a version of coin to sugar packet for $10 which I discovered myself when I was 3.

The forums are sometimes full of people asking stupid, irritating questions such as: Q. I've got street magic, inside magic, CC1 and CC2, ninja 1 and 2, what do I get next. A. get any other ellusionist product cos they're all great. That really irritates me on there, and I do my best to get people to actually mention what standard they're at etc. Tho most don't listen, so I'm slowly giving up.

And everyone has exactly the same stuff too! there's no variety, and everyone says the same thing to every question.

Finally, some people just don't have a clue when it comes to things like actually performing, and want everyone to tell them exactly what to do, and don't want to think for themselves which I find very irritating!

anyway, there's my opinions. so like I said, I'm not for or against ellusionist overall, I just think there are some things that could be improved! and some people could do with listening to advice too! someone who can just about do a pass is NOT an expert!!! so don't act like one! (i'm not claiming I'm an expert either)

________
Ben

I never bought anything from them so cant really comment. I like some of their demo vids though. adn mr. christian is a very good magi.

Yeah mr. christian has a pretty good performance style. I like the way he puts emphasis on using casualnes as misdirection and by going slow.

however most or some of his vids have very few material.

and yes, in stuff like the street package, and ninja 1 he does *not* credit the moves. and he always misnames them.

in street magic:

chance zero (out of this world)
glass stinger (vanishing glass?)
sick aces (poker player's picnic)

and et cetera.

however I think he has made up for that in his recent maetrial such as Crash 2: AmbitiouXs and Kard Klub. from what I know, he tells us the origin of "2 card monte" in Kard Klub.

InsideMagic? I'm sure its good. first rate. teaches superior misdirection and showmanship. but once again, tricks are too few for the price. but I dunno, maybe all the teachings he puts into it will make up for just having 12 tricks in 2 hours.

but like what I've said, the material on his vids might be solid, yet too few....

you be the judge. I don't have any ellusionist products.

its quite easy to criticize like this based on reviews...my negative comments here are also based on other reviews and my own observations.

-loved their freebie called MindReach though they took it off now an its in one of the dvd's they sell.
hope they have more freebies like it.

They do an awesomem job on their videos as far as production and quality and advertising. They have also really expanded what they do from before. If you look at their website, they now offer commercial videos from many people, and magic gadgets from everyone. It's not just Ellusionist products anymore. And more recently, they signed an exclusive deal with De'vo for his flourish products.

I think they are changing greatly and for the better.

Oh! you can find most of the sleights and moves they teach at:

http://e-magictrick.com

the tutorial vids talk to you like you've already been into magic for awhile. and I've learned a lotta ways to do lotsa card sleights correctly in this site.

most of them are the ones that ellusionist sells for 39 plus dollars. and with e-magic? it only takes your highest grade in the exam

I admit that I am a loyal E purchaser and user. Before you jump on me I do have things from other sites. Just like Chiz I'm in between, I like the videos and his teaching method. The forums are full of people asking the same question over and over again.

With the renaming of tricks ive seen twisted aces as several diffrent names. Its a great site for begginers and intermediates.

Paul

I don't like them, but I don't HATE them. I don't aproove of the crediting job. There is NO crediting on the videos and there is a tiny link down at the bottom of the site that credits most of it. They are overpriced, the teaching is ok, not worth the money. They are also a little over-hyped on their website. I think that there are a lot of better things to spend your money on. ETMCM and On the Loose and On the Spot to start with.

I agree completely...to pay 40 bucks to learn 2 card monte is absolutely ridiculous

I have some ellusionist stuff, and to be very honest - I know its not the best stuff around. But at the time, it was all I knew. I had no information on the magic community and had absolutely know idea that there were other magic videos out there. It's the only reason I even pursued magic initially. So if I knew then what I know now, I probably would have gone for Ammar's stuff or some Daryl vid's to get started, but I had no idea they existed. All I knew what this Brad guy was selling videos on late night TV so I gave it a shot. Now I'm hooked on Magic - I probably wouldnt get another Ellusionist video, but I have to give credit where credit is due. It turned me on to magic, so if it did that for others too then more power to him.
Just my two cents

Well, I think ellusionist does a very job at what they are supposed to do, that is, SELLING. They also have a GREAT customer service. However, selling to much in magic is bad exposure. I mean, doing a commercial on TV for selling their vids and saying all is easy, is bad. Most people because of that think that magic is all easy stuff and magic is only about secrets. That takes off the respect for great magicians that put hard work in everything they do. It also takes out the magic, by putting in the mind of people that its all about money and buying tricks. So, I don't HATE them , because they are doing a good job, but I don't LIKE them because of the exposure part.

I feel that their "learn magic quickly and easily"approach cheapens our art and belittles the effort we put into it.

It opened many eyes to the world of magic and if it wasn't for them probably many of the newer people to magic wouldn't be here. I do aggree that they are priced very high but buyer beware.

It's a fun site. I like that Brad guy. I think this is one of the sites that introduced many people to magic. And it's becoming more and more serious now, with all the new De'vo release and all.

I admit that I fell victim to Ellusionist. The forums are full of very young performers that have little experience and some of the moderators are high schoolers. Yeah Brad isn't bad but I had never heard of him before his site started advertising. Not to mention I'm sure there's a reason he chose to market magic instead of doing it. Everyone's trying to make a buck.

-Christian