Sometimes when I browse through the forum, I wonder if there is not a large element among us who have the idea that by calling oneself a magician, one becomes exempt from the law and/or from the general rules of society.

A case in point -- shocking chairs. One dealer recently had an ad for a shocking chair, which mentioned using it in kid shows. What a concept! Torturing children. Does this remind anyone of a fellow in Chicago some years ago? The idea of using a chair to shock a spectator is really beyond the pale anyway. But to even suggest doing it to a child is reprehensible. This would be grounds for a lawsuit.

Another case in point -- fire wallets. I saw a post a couple of years ago by a fellow who was surprised that he was accosted by security guards when he used his fire wallet in a bank. This fellow was not a professional magician, just one of those magigeeks who give the rest of us a bad name. Short of using an electric chair on a child, can anyone think of anything more stupid to do than to start a fire in a bank -- even if it is inside a wallet? It's illegal. It's a violation of almost every fire code in the US. To quote Bill Engvall -- "Here's your sign!"

Another pet peeve -- people who use big magnets to stop watches. If you have harbored any thoughts of doing so, consider this. Many people wear very expensive watches. If you put the whammy on someone's Rolex, and it stops, then it fails to keep accurate time, you may be in for some serious monetary damages. Let's say that you are at a party, and one of the guests has a nice Rolex or an antique Omega watch. You do the watch stopping routine on it. The next day, the owner of the watch realizes something is wrong with the watch, so he takes it to his jeweler. The jeweler looks at it and determines that it has been exposed to a strong magnetic field. It won't take long for him or her to connect you with the incident. If you have given out a business card, then you will be busted for sure. If not, the owner of the watch is certain to track you back through the hostess of the party. In any event, prepare to shell out some bucks to fix the watch.

Finally, do you have liability insurance? If you perform for money, you'd better. The IBM and the SAM both offer liability insurance. It's worth looking into.