At the risk of starting a turf war...

[leighelkins]

I'll preface my question with these statements. I love theory11 and the theory11 forums. The people here are brilliant, the community is brilliant. If I have a question or want to discuss something I know I can come here and get a whole range of answers and insights.

I have learnt a lot about magic from stumbling across things online, and I have learnt even more about learning magic by stumbling across things online. As the saying goes, "you don't know what you don't know", so it is great to be able to observe those that do know, you know..?

I have checked out a few other magic forums over the last year or so and none have really seemed like they are worth the hassle of joining, most seem either inactive, highly cliquey or full of one time posters wanting to know how this cool trick that they saw was done, and then there is the wealth of forums that forget to KISS and are just a complete mess. So, what other magic forums do you use where the conversation is at least half decent?

Cheers!

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

all right, here we go!

I'm heavily into Tenyo, so I'm always on the Funstuffonly forums and asking a million questions.

Ellusionist is also great for getting into more in depth magic discussions.

I get SOME information from Magiccafe, even though I'm not a user.
When I first got into magic last year, I needed to dip my feet in the water by 'lurking' there. But as time goes on, I feel less of a need to do that altogether as I get all the information elsewhere.

I'm on the Genii forums as well, but i only post on the Tenyo part of the forum, as Richard Kaufman usually posts a lot of information about upcoming Tenyo products being released. But the Tenyo forums are virtually dead there other than Kaufman posting and some people trying to sell things every now and again.

Ellusionist, and the Tenyo forums, and here

 

[Bryant_Tsu]

The only other forums that I think look decent are Magic Cafe and Ellusionist but there are some issues I have with each.

Magic Cafe setup looks a little amateur (or outdated) and there are way too many forums that you may get lost until you use it often, and another annoying factor is that it is littered with ads which I'm not particularly fond of.

Ellusionist is kind of quiet (but still active) but the hassle is much greater when signing up (probably to prevent spammers). Ellusionist has a more organized (updated/modern) feel to it than Magic Cafe but I hate their red on black text as it is hard to read. (note that Ellusionist also has a whole lot of forums but is a little easier to navigate than Magic Cafe).

 

[MagicallyKatie]

Beware not to rely too heavily on forums, for many of the great minds of magic, both present and future, are not on here (but rather too busy at FISM currently or whatever else may be going on at any given time). Having the support of a community becomes the most valuable thing. I've participated in the Ellusionist forums for almost 9 years and was even a moderator there for a while. For the thousand posts I made, the thing I learned was the culture to this art and that I did in fact belong. No piece of insight or advice, no essay, review or debate, has even come close to being as valuable. If you need that, than any community that makes you happy (whether forums, club, Facebook group) will achieve the same thing. I'm here now because I do not have a support system "in real life" but rather friends across the world and this is what works for me.

 

[WyattSB]

The only other forums that I think look decent are Magic Cafe...

I get SOME information from Magiccafe, even though I'm not a user.

Dear god.

As for me Magicians: The Gathering is the only other magic forum I use, it may only get a post a month or so, but great people.

 

[RealityOne]

I hang around here and at Ellusionist where I"m a moderator. Both of these forums are a lot quieter than when I joined back in 2009. I suspect because a lot of forum traffic is now directed toward Facebook (hence the fewer what is your favorite trick/deck/move threads).

I have enough posts at the Cafe to be in the Secret Sessions forum and to have access to the "For Sale" forums. There really aren't a lot of secrets in the secret sessions forums - mostly stuff that is common knowledge for magicians. The Cafe has a lot of information there and is a useful research tool. However. for me the Cafe has too many personalities and egos to make it worth participating. Did I mention the egos?

The Genii forums are great. There are a lot of top notch folks there and there is a wealth of knowledge. However, they do not suffer fools lightly. There is a lot less traffic there then the cafe, but the overall level of knowledge is much higher and it is much more professional in that a lot of the Genii columnists post there.

 

[leighelkins]

Haha, pretty much as diversified as I expected.

I visit Ellusionist from time to time, but I can never stay long because the design bugs me and the fact that it doesn't have a mobile template really lets it down.

David hit the nail on the head as far as my impression of the Cafe, some useful information but way too many egos to be enjoyable participating. Plus the site structure and design genuinely hurts my brain.

I'll admit that I overlooked the Genii forums so I'll definitely take the time to check them out.

The one thing that bugs me above all else is that in 2015 there are still websites that are so poorly designed and are not mobile compatible. Long gone are the days that I would spend 5+ hours of my free time sat at a desktop computer, 99% of that is now on mobile.

Thanks for taking the time to make your suggestions, it's really appreciated guys and gals.

Cheers!