Expose the Frauds
I’ve been a magician for over 40 years and one of the biggest problems in magic has always been someone repackaging and reselling an effect as though it were their own, or magicians who add a single prop to a very common effect and then sell it as though it were entirely new. Magic is about secrets but unfortunately it’s been not-so-secretly overrun by frauds, some of them quite famous. Some might think I merely have an axe to grind for these magicians but some of the biggest violators are also some of my favorite magicians which saddens me even more.
The Rules
We’re only here to give bad reviews…
if a magician is selling a trick that can be found in a book or video, no matter how obscure that book/video is claimed to be.
if a magician is essentially selling a well-known effect that’s simply packaged with a prop, or worse, just a different name.
We don’t care if you are performing it on television without credit/”permission”(that’s another subject altogether), only if you are selling the trick as your own without crediting the creator in your sales pitch, ads, etc.
We are not going to give a bad review simply because we don’t like an effect or a magician. Nor will we avoid a bad review if we like a magician.
We are not going to judge merely because a magician uses a certain principle a bit differently. There will have to be other factors involved for these.
We are not planning on exposing any secrets outright but we will point you to effects with either the same or similar secrets whenever possible.
We do understand that sometimes people can create the same effect/move separate from one another without any spying, etc.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to Mitchell Leary from Usenet. Mitch exposed a ton of magic for exactly what it was and without his insight(and apparent endless bank account), a good portion of this information wouldn’t be here. Wherever you are Mitch, I’d like to thank you.