New Resource

From my perspective, one of the good guys in magic was / is Brad Burt. I assume Brad’s shop was one of the casualties of the Internet onslaught. His teaching tapes were known for their usefulness and quality.

Anyway, Brad’s been sending out a periodic news letter and recently has been dealing with subjects such as practice and fear in performing. They’re not long, but the advice is excellent. The newsletter is a way of hawking his DVDs, which, I believe, are reissues of his tapes. Probably a good investment.

Brad hasn’t quite grasped this Internet stuff and his web designer should be whipped, but he’s not alone there. I couldn’t find a way to sign up for his newsletter, but his email address is bradburtmagic@yahoo.com and I would assume a brief note would put you on the list.

Take care………

Drivel & Drool

Two New Destinations

I see two of our most active bloggers have hopped into the forum operation business.

Glenn Bishop has started Experts At The Card Table and Steve Pellegrino has opened The Mentalist Sanctum. I wish them both the best.

I think they’ve both made mistakes that will hurt them, especially in the beginning. Number one, and I’ve seen this over and over – too damn many categories. When you don’t have a lot of members, spreading the few among 20 categories, or so,  is a great way to dilute the discussions into total  atrophy. I think Glenn, for instance, would be better off starting with 2 categories – routines and sleights, for example. As the forum gained momentum, categories could be added, as needed. I know Haydn has a bajillion topics at his forum, but his name is a draw and I think even there posts are declining.

Steve, also, has too many categories, but he has made a much more serious mistake, in my opinion. The Mentalist Sanctum has 2 levels of membership – basically, the blessed and the unwashed. Those in category one are by invitation only, as I understand it. The rest of us will be standing in line, behind the ropes, hoping to get a glimpse of the chosen few. One thing the Round Mound of Pomposity did right at the Cafe was creating a second level of membership after 50 posts. After the 50th post you could go behind the curtain and see all the super secret shit that was going on. Never mind that it was worthless, it creates a stir and a desire to participate. The only way to get on the inside at The Mentalist Sanctum is to sit on the bar stool and hope Steve notices our legs….. Not me!

Anyway, Glenn and Steve – I wish you the best and remember how many successful forums I’ve started when reading my suggestions.