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A purist is someone more concerned with his own pleasure than that of his audience. Brad Henderson

(Mod's if this is not allowed, please delete) I have a new Electric Touch I would happily sell. I set it up to test it, and reviewed it for Magic Magazine. Other than one tiny piece of the foil tape having been used (and still in the box) it is in new condition. PM if interested. Brad...

Put contact paper on the back of the mirror tiles to protect the silvering. Brad Henderson

If you were the creator of an effect, and your livelihood depended in part on the sales of that effect, how would you feel if people did what you suggest? My goal in adding to this discussion was to make people aware that there are issues bigger than exposure - namely how our choices affect...

It's a different type of content. Magic is about information. Specifically it is about secret information. That information has value - as evidenced by the fact people sell it. When you give that information away, are you not diluting the value? If you use that information without paying for...

The very point of debating is questioning. The reason we have discussions of ethics is because there are issues that fall not in the black and not in the white. There are even people who see white as black. For example, one notorious magic manufacturer believes that he has the right to copy...

That is an EXCELLENT question. And one that has an answer in practice, but not in rule. In fact, this has been the cause of most of the heated controversy's when it comes to "stolen" material released by others. Here is the simple answer as it applies to re-publishing. If you created it, then...

Ah, the "do we pay Erdnase" or "get permission for the double lift" arguments. The double lift has been around for a very, very long time. It is part of our lexicon. It is not proprietary. One need not get permission to perform it or use it. Lennert Green invented the Angle Separation. Not...

For the record, I am not nor was I pissed off. Just found something that did not jive with what we know about the history of magic, or a lot of current thought. People take things WAY too personally. Ideas are ideas. People are people. Different things altogether. Brad

Thrall, You bring up an often used argument, so let me ask: Are all magicians created equal? Let's say some guy came up to you at a party and said, "You can tell me, I'm a magician too." He owns a Dlite and a pack of invisible thread. Should you "share" everything with him? And what about the...

Random, I never said people can't say wrong things - I said that when wrong things are said, they should be pointed out. If no one points them out, then no one learns. Sometimes the nature of the thing said requires a counter argument. It is the nature of discourse. And should my...

I first encountered the Neural Lag concept in Daniel Dennet's Consciousness Explained. It is an interesting theory and is responsible for some amazing phenomena. But as the writer above me pointed out, it is not responsible for ALL optical illusions. As to the Cornsweet illusion (the gray...

It is not the hurricane change. It is a standard color change. The deck vanish is taught on some of his commercial products. Brad Henderson

Let's put the shoe on the other foot: You are a magician who has spent a lifetime developing some amazing material. You finally decide to release it in a series of books. You are at a convention and two guys walk up to you. They ask about the price and walk away. Later, one comes up and...

Ender, so are you saying that anyone should be able to say anything they want, even if others know it not to be true - or not to be based on the actual history of ideas? Where would that put us as an art? How would that help people who truly want to learn? Truth within ourselves? So, if I...

Ok, here goes: This tells me Steer believes these things to follow to be the definitive argument against these ideas. Nothing wrong with passion, but this is a tall order. If there are any flaws in his arguments, then these myths have not been "put down." Second, and this is just a fun...

Aris, Thanks for the kind words, but just because I write for Genii and Magic is no reason to take my experiences as privileged. I am NOT right about everything. However, I do try to back everything I say up with evidence that comes from many years of performing experience, many years of...

Steer is passionate, and I respect that. However, he is offering up theories that have little basis in the history of ideas as we know them. This is unfair to those who are trying to learn. When someone writes something that is - to be blunt- wrong, that needs to be called to attention. For...

And some people confuse making a living performing for other magicians with making a living performing for real people. Two entirely different creatures. B

Sour, That approach may work in the short term, but when it comes to building a clientèle of wealthy adults with disposable income who are willing to pay you to play - there are other approaches which may serve you better over time. In fact, perhaps the most financially succesful magician of...