This thread actually has a small probability of becoming controversial, but I think the guys at T11 are a reasonable group, so here goes.
Anyway, this is not a thread complaining about exposure. This is certainly not a thread aimed at starting a witch hunt, even though I will name one person in the thread. This is a different kind of story.
Does anyone here know about the expertvillage magic videos? I'm not providing any links, but if you go to youtube and search for them, you will find a number of videos that explain some basic and some not so basic magic secrets. There are also some gaffs which are explained in detail. Technically, these videos are exposing magic (even though a lot of these are secrets you could find in a public library).
One of the guys demonstrating these techniques is Wayne Phelps. Does the name ring a bell to anyone here?
Recently Wayne Phelps was featured on Roland Henning's blog as a Weekly Magic Failure. Roland is a German magician who has this blog where he nominates magic failures regularly. He mainly nominates people who either expose magic gratuitously to laymen or perform so poorly that they give magic a bad name.
Before I go any further, check out this blog post where Roland angrily rips into Wayne Phelps for his involvement in the expertvillage videos.
http://weeklymagicfailure.blogspot.com/2010/05/wayne-phelps.html
Were you surprised to learn that Wayne Phelps was none other than William Draven? I know I was. But fear not, because Roland posted this the very next day.
http://weeklymagicfailure.blogspot.com/2010/05/did-you-know-i-sure-didnt.html
If you have read this far and read both the blog posts (and I hope you did), you can see that this story has a somewhat happy ending.
So is there really a lesson for the rest of us in this episode? I think there are a couple of things.
1) Even if some magicians think exposure is a cardinal sin, a person who repents and learns from his mistake deserves a second chance.
2) Be very careful about putting videos on sites like youtube. You often don't have control over who sees the videos. Exposure on youtube is definitely worse than exposure in print (say in a magazine or newspaper).
In this episode, both William Draven and Roland Henning acted in a classy way that is commendable. Draven was ready to admit his mistakes and accept responsibility for them in his email to Roland. Roland was also gracious enough to apologize for jumping the gun on this one. It is also nice that he is looking for constructive solutions instead of merely demonizing Draven for his earlier mistake. I think that is something positive to take away from this.
Anyway, this is not a thread complaining about exposure. This is certainly not a thread aimed at starting a witch hunt, even though I will name one person in the thread. This is a different kind of story.
Does anyone here know about the expertvillage magic videos? I'm not providing any links, but if you go to youtube and search for them, you will find a number of videos that explain some basic and some not so basic magic secrets. There are also some gaffs which are explained in detail. Technically, these videos are exposing magic (even though a lot of these are secrets you could find in a public library).
One of the guys demonstrating these techniques is Wayne Phelps. Does the name ring a bell to anyone here?
Recently Wayne Phelps was featured on Roland Henning's blog as a Weekly Magic Failure. Roland is a German magician who has this blog where he nominates magic failures regularly. He mainly nominates people who either expose magic gratuitously to laymen or perform so poorly that they give magic a bad name.
Before I go any further, check out this blog post where Roland angrily rips into Wayne Phelps for his involvement in the expertvillage videos.
http://weeklymagicfailure.blogspot.com/2010/05/wayne-phelps.html
Were you surprised to learn that Wayne Phelps was none other than William Draven? I know I was. But fear not, because Roland posted this the very next day.
http://weeklymagicfailure.blogspot.com/2010/05/did-you-know-i-sure-didnt.html
If you have read this far and read both the blog posts (and I hope you did), you can see that this story has a somewhat happy ending.
So is there really a lesson for the rest of us in this episode? I think there are a couple of things.
1) Even if some magicians think exposure is a cardinal sin, a person who repents and learns from his mistake deserves a second chance.
2) Be very careful about putting videos on sites like youtube. You often don't have control over who sees the videos. Exposure on youtube is definitely worse than exposure in print (say in a magazine or newspaper).
In this episode, both William Draven and Roland Henning acted in a classy way that is commendable. Draven was ready to admit his mistakes and accept responsibility for them in his email to Roland. Roland was also gracious enough to apologize for jumping the gun on this one. It is also nice that he is looking for constructive solutions instead of merely demonizing Draven for his earlier mistake. I think that is something positive to take away from this.
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