I don’t know this trick, or the guy who produced it, but would anyone ever buy this based on the trailer? I have NO IDEA what it looks like. None!

If you have read this blog for very long, you know that I’m not a huge fan of DVDs published by Big Blind Media . Frankly, they are generally a little to artsy fartsy for me. I just don’t get performing card tricks on a curling bench in a gym somewhere, like on one of the Bannon videos, I believe. The last time I reviewed one of their DVDs some douche bag commented that I was way too old, uncool and out of touch for him to read my reviews. I don’t miss him .

The current release that I am reviewing is called Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks. They can be forgiven for overstating what’s inside of the box. Who doesn’t! Certainly, the ultimate self working trick would be to throw a pack of cards on the table, step back and watch it perform a miracle. That’s not on the DVD.

I’ll take this directly from their ad copy. Here’s what’s included :

Contact Colors (Aldo Colombini)
Impossible (Mike Austin)
Shuffling Lesson (Chad Long)
Henry Sugar (Liam Montier)
Pre-Prefiguration (Larry Jennings / Mark Elsdon)
Your Aces Are Marked (Terry Lagerould)
Shufflebored (Simon Aronson)
The 7/16 Club (Alex Elmsley)
Impossible (Larry Jennings)
4,5,6 (Al Thatcher)
Unbelievable (By Shields, F. Michael And Bascom Jones, Jr)

Interviews with Paul Zenon, Scott Thomson (XCMer), Iain Moran & Liam Montier
Tutorials on Charlier Shuffle, Jay Ose Cut, Breather Crimp, Bobby Bernard False Cut & Riffle Shuffle (for those who want to take the tricks to the next level of deceptiveness).

I don’t think anyone can really argue with the choices – pretty standard stuff and, at least, they didn’t throw in Koran’s Lazy Man’s Card Trick, which seems to be a requirement since HL published it in 1962.

There’s a couple of excuse me I’ve got to run to the bathroom and set up the whole deck procedural monstrosities, but there are, also, several items which could be added to anyone’s arsenal for those times you are handed a deck and asked to do a trick or two. Both of the Impossible routines and Pre-Prefiguration fall into this category.

Mercifully the explanations are devoid of lame jokes and the performances are tolerable. Working in a studio with a single female spectator is TOUGH. I still recall feeling embarrassed for Larry Jennings while watching one of his DVDs in a similar situation. You would have to be a total moron to not understand the very well done explanations.

Obviously, when we read that there are explanations for false cuts, crimps and shuffles, the concept of “self working” has left the building, but these are very easy, while needing some presentational skills to sell them.

I’m glad I bought it.

I wrote a long preamble pointing out all that was wrong with this – morally, ethically and technically, but he’s just not worth it. Still, it needs to be recorded for posterity. With that said, I give you, His Holiness, Steven Youell.

An Apology and Some Apologetics

Please read this entire article before you react.  It’s a bit rambling because I just don’t have the gumption to seriously edit it.

I do not expect sympathy and I do expect that some people will vilify and hate me for the rest of their lives. So be it.

Time to play Joaquin Phoenix.

Anyone who knows anything about WordPress and Blogger could pretty much tell I’m Jerry Lukins. I knew that both of those sites log IP Addresses. There were ways to hide that, but frankly I just didn’t care if people eventually found out.

For over six years the same people have been hounding me all over the internet. But Andrew Musgrave was the worst. He did not “critique” my work, he disparaged it and was not even able to write a post that mentioned me without calling me names or insulting me.  He posted things like this not only on his blog, but on several others as well. At one time, he wrote something like “The thing about Youell is that he doesn’t understand that when I call him a moron, I literally mean he’s a moron.” That’s a paraphrase, but you should be able to find the exact quote on the net.

Time and time again, searches on Google brought up these comments, which Roland can confirm because he actually reduced them for me by making a few of the pages private. Now let’s say I’m trying to get a gig and someone looks me up on Google. The conclusion they would probably draw is that I suck as a magician. In fact, I actually lost a few prospective clients because of this and that’s one of the reasons Roland helped me out. So although I still have some issues with Roland, at least he is willing to consider the consequences of his actions and make some adjustments when he feels he’s crossed the line.  The Smiling Mule has no line, but his attacks are much less frequent.I’ve literaly been called a thief, a scam artist, a hack and yes, even a pedophile on a now defunct blog. (NOT Andrew’s blog.)

Andrew, though, is different. His behavior towards me was so vicious and so predictable that for the last two years when I made a post that I knew he’d react to, I’d PM someone and predict not only that he’d respond, but how quickly he’d respond. Sometimes I even could tell the person I was sending PM’s to how soon he’d post. The closest I got was within 15 minutes. That was fairly easy because I’d just make the post when he was online.

I’ve never been very good at ignoring bullies. Most other people are. I tried for long periods of time, however I always failed. It’s probably not in my genetic makeup.  So after six years I just snapped and made a choice:  I became a bully in order to combat a bully. And after waiting and dealing with this for six years, I am convinced that it was, in fact, a street fight.

Now I think most would agree that in a street fight there are no rules and I’ve always believed and acted on that. So I held nothing back. But the post titled “I LOVE Children” was way over the line because I did not consider the possible consequences of my actions. I just saw that picture that was in the post and thought it looked pretty psychotic and funny so I posted what I did.

I was wrong. For that post I apologize.

Here is the official public apology to Andrew:

Andrew, I apologize for making that post. It was way over the line and I did not consider the possible consequences.  If for any reason it affects your employment, I will hand write a letter to your employer stating emphatically that it was just a thoughtless post with no factual basis.

For the record, after making the post I did check on the requirements for Andrew’s job and found that a background check is required so I assumed they had already made one and found nothing. So I left it up for a week or so. Let me emphasize this:  I should not have made the post and I should not have left it up. I make no excuses for this one post. It was thoughtless.

My intention was not to get Andrew to leave the internet. I made my intentions clear to him via email from JL. In fact, I believe I posted a screenshot of that email in order to demonstrate that fact. I believe I (JL) said something like “All I want is for you to stop acting like an asshole.” And seriously?  That’s all I wanted.

Regarding the intent of these blogs? Just look at which blogs they link to and then follow the links while taking note of the contentof the blogs. It’s clear that on every one of these blogs, insults and vitriol are predominant. The pattern will also demonstrate that the blogs have almost the same exact targets. Harry Lorayne is the primary target, but I’m a close second.Hiding under the shield of satire, in my opinion, does not excuse calling people a “cunt” and “fucking moron”. Satire is clever and most often subtle. That behavior is not.

I do not regret using brutality to combat brutality. I deeply regret that one post. The blog is down and the domain will be removed today.

A friend once told me “You know what’s weird about this thing between you and Musgrave? You both appear to be quite reasonable when you’re not around each other.” I know for a fact that I am often abrasive, rude and challenging on the internet. But as many who have met me in person or have Skyped with me have told me, I’m not nearly the bastard I appear to be online. Maybe now I am.

I seriously doubt that Andrew and I will ever mend fences.  If I was a better man, I’d let go of the hate I have for him. But unfortunately, I have not yet been able to do that. Fortunately, Roland and I have been trying to work things out and I hope that fence will eventually be mended.

What will the final results be? I’m sure that it will increase the amount of negative hits I take on the internet. I knew that when I started. But after six years of this stuff, I don’t see that as having anymore effect than the previous six years.

I expect a huge backlash from this and if anyone wants to send hate mail, I’ll read all of it without argument. And, of course, I expect all sorts of vitriol on the blogs in question… some of it probably deserved. Most people who have expressed written opinions of this matter agree that with the exception of that one post, everything else was fair game. I hope they remember that I have admitted how horrible it was and that I apologized profusely for that one post.

Other than that, I regret nothing. I waited for six years and then decided to combat attackers with the very same tactics they use.I’m not sure if I regret lowering myself to their level, but I’m sure I will eventually regret it.

The innuendo I made in that post was reprehensible and I expect that I will be deservedly crucified for posting it.

But you know what?

As bad as it may sound, right now it brings a smile to my face to know that Andrew Musgrave was beaten into submission by someone he seriously believes is a moron and an idiot. Someone he believes is far below his own level of intelligence. And it’s even funnier that he didn’t have the smarts to check the IP’s before he took action.

And Andrew? For the record, my membership number in Mensa is 1061061, so I don’t really qualify as a moron or idiot.

I’ve posted a link to this on various blogs and the Café but since I’m consistently accused of having posts/threads deleted, there’s a link below that will give those who care a PDF of this entire article.

If you want to comment, please do so somewhere other than the Cafe. I’m sure they’ve had enough of this. I give permission for people to post this message on their blogs as long as it’s reprinted entirely and without editing.

P.S. There’s supposed to be a signature, but I’m having problems getting it to show up. If that’s important to you, check back later.

As often happens, Ye Olde Magick Blogge got me thinking this morning. In the last paragraph Andrew talks about the time he spends on each trick or routine. He says that to fill the allotted time he needs each trick to run about 6 minutes, but he finds 3 to 4 minutes more comfortable. I have to agree, even though he certainly doesn’t need my approval.

In a recent issue of one of the magic magazines there was a picture of some old goat and the story talked about how he could ring out 20 minutes of solid entertainment from a single lame trick. Whoopee do. I’ll guarantee you that it wasn’t magic entertainment, even if it was entertainment at all. How often have all of us sat and watched one of these entertaining routines, filled with lame jokes and humorous insults drag on and on and on and on.

Offhand, I can’t think of a single long routine (and by that I mean 6 minutes or more) which was magically entertainment. Even people like David Williamson, probably my favorite magician, quits becoming a magician and becomes the foole. He does this better than anyone, but it’s not magic. (Note – I don’t consider illusionists magicians – they are dancers – pure and simple)

If you need to fill time and haven’t got enough material do something between the tricks. Dance, tell jokes, do imitations or strip if you have to. Just don’t add unnecessary crap to stretch out a magic trick.

I suppose that I could be accused, again, of thinking like a magician. Believe me, today’s audiences are much more aware than the drooling idiots we frequently think our audiences are.

Take care………

I doubt anyone reading this blog (Hi Mom!) is unaware of what’s been going on with Hank Lee’s Magic Factory:

Harry P. Levy, the owner of Hank Lee’s Magic Factory, admitted he made 134 false transactions between 2009 to 2011 on a customer’s American Express card totaling $561,927, according to a stipulation of facts signed by Levy and prosecutors. The document was filed in Federal Court in Boston Friday.

Certainly the obligatory pundits on the Café and Genii have beat this to death. Just reading through the threads shows a lot about this hobby. I would assume that there has been plenty of “editing” and deletions on the Café. Kaufman, to his credit, is much slower with the delete key and he certainly has as high a percentage of maroons and ass holes as Brooks.

The business practices of Hank Lee’s Magic Factory have been sketchy for a number of years. Many years, in fact, before George F. Bush’s recession and the Internet decimated the local magic shops. Thread after thread has been deleted by the folks running the Café – supposedly for legal reasons. I wonder if there was money lost by people that might not have been if they had been warned. We’ll never know.

I have a credit voucher somewhere that I FINALLY received after failing to get “in stock” merchandise I ordered. Not an unusual story. I generally feel sorry when a small business closes, but not this time. I’m sure there are employees that are being unjustly punished, but also those that knew customers were being gored. To those with clean hands, I hope you recover quickly.

PS Feel free to make your own conclave jokes. That fruit hangs a little low for i/m!

this year that one of the most important things to happen to close-up magic occurred. Harry Lorayne published Close-Up Card Magic. This was closely followed by two small paperbacks Personal Secrets and My Favorite Card Tricks. I've always considered the threesome to be a single event.

Like many others I cut my teeth on this book. There are items in there that I continue to see performed with great regularity. Harry also brought a new informal style of writing to the forefront and his afterthoughts were I think, a stroke of genius. Just this week, I took the book out again and some of the thrill returned that I experienced many, many years ago. I suggest that anyone that has the book on their shelves do the same.

Those of us that admired Harry certainly regret to see what has happened to him over the past few years. He has become mean and just plain cruel to anyone that dares to question anything he has done. A lot of the douche bags on the Café want to excuse him and I would like to do the same, but this has been going on too long to blame it on age. The fact is, has never again achieved the level he first reached 50 years ago and his last overpriced book was an embarrassment.

He will always have Close-Up Card Magic as a monument to be enjoyed by future generations. Time will gradually heal the many wounds he has opened among his former admirers.