How do I register on The Magic Cafe?

[Sleight of Cards]

Hi all

Another great day isn't it? !!!

I was wondering how do ya register on The Magic Cafe? I tried registering, but apparently they don't accept AOL amail addresses. So no Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail. So if they don't accept free email addresses, do I have to pay or something? I'm very confused.

It'll be nice of ya to help out !!!

Thanks !!!

 

[Josh Clarke]

Check with your ISP and see if you get an email address with your service.

 

[KeoSilver]

I got a membership by doing a free trial of a payfor email address. Once registered I opted out of the pay email address and viola. Not sure if there are many companies that do that anymore, just be careful and do your research.

 

[William Draven]

Yeah you have to have a paid email account to register at the cafe, but my question is why would you want to?! The magic cafe is run by a bunch of jack asses who have no human relation skills what so ever.

They sensor posts by editing or strait up deleting anything they (as a mod team) find offensive or counter productive.
They delete any post that criticizes how they (mod team) run their forums often resulting in the banning of the person doing the criticizing.
They stubbornly won't listen to any advice given to them when it comes to forum moderation, even if the source giving the advice is a seasoned individual who knows what they are talking about. Often resulting in the mod team (and their groupies of members who worship the ground they walk on) trying to discredit the person giving the advice.
They claim that certain much needed website upgrades can not be done because they are too poor to hire a computer person (above the volunteer staff they have) to program the upgrades despite the fact that the Cafe is making money hand over fist in advertisements.
To add on to the above statement: Their search feature is and has been broken for years with no intentions to fix it proper. They found a way to put a band aid over it and they're happy with that. Also the website looks like it was made back in the early 1990's and isn't reflective of what most modern forum sites look like these days.
The forums are stocked full of arm chair magicians, weekend warriors, and over zealous collector/enthusiasts who will attempt to give you "important" advice on your performances, or how to improve them, when they themselves haven't done a live show for anyone more than their immediate family in years. Of course the counter point to this is the cafe does have a lot of working pros who regularly stalk their forums, but then again so does Ellusionist, and Theory11.
The forum layout is so fractured by all the sub-categories it makes trying to find anything useful a nightmare let alone trying to functionally join into any kind of conversation.
The community on the cafe is a bunch of jaded ass hats all trying to jockey for the same magic fan boy of the year status. You are more likely to get told "You Suck" without being told how to improve yourself.
I could go on, but why? You're better off just reading through the forums without actually trying to join it. I guarantee if you tried pulling a post about a "magician fooling card trick" there that you did here you'd be made fun of and laughed strait out of their little club.

Just my two cents

 

[Sleight of Cards]

I didn't know that they're run by jack asses? :O *Surprised* !!!

In fact, that's what I heard on this forum. I heard from one of the other members that The Magic Cafe is a respected place.

See for yourself:

Word of advice, since you have only registered here; stay away from sites like SoMF and LMT. You will only get bad advice, and if you mention those sites on reputable magic forums such as theory11, blue crown, the "magic cafe", Ellusionist, etc. you will not make many friends.

Lol !!!

P.S. I'll check with my ISP, or I'll try to get a free trial on some pay for email addresses !!!
...ONLY if The Magic Cafe is not full of jack asses

Thanks

 

[William Draven]

Are you trolling me?

 

[Sleight of Cards]

I'm telling the truth. Go read my intro thread, and you'll see that comment in there. Honestly, I'm not trolling you. I was only telling you another opinion on the same topic. Please don't take it the wrong way. Honest to god, I didn't mean it that way. If you still think that, then I'm very sorry

 

[ChrisWiens]

In my experience everything what William said about the Café is, unfortunatley, true.
The most disturbing thing I`ve ever encountered in any forum is the two-class society (and double-standard) there.

 

[veteran]

I tried to register for an account there as well. Not only is the entire site incredibly hard to navigate, but I constantly hear about people's experiences. It's always the same thing: No one knows what they're talking about, poor & biased moderation, and band-wagoning. Their only real attribute is that it's utterly huge and there's at least 3 reviews on a single product. Penguin used to be pretty big, but not anymore and sites like this one and E, although there are highly experienced people on here, don't seem to have the following the Cafe does.

 

[Craig Browning]

There is a joke within the ranks of Magic and even more so within Mentalism about having earned the honor of being booted from the Cafe because we taught something the powers that be don't agree with. . . some might even say they supported a democrat instead of a republican (not not kidding).

The cafe is everything William explained to you and more. When it first got started the whole ordeal centered on "poor Steve Brook" and how ill he was and how he needed our help. . . seems that angle hasn't just faded from everyone's mind, it was buried. Also ignored are Mr. Brooks known associations with and protection of numerous bootleggers and thieves of magic, one of whom Rick Maue and I caught red handed and yet today, he's a moderator over there. But then, the original push to get members over there involved hacking the membership lists of other forums, at least one of which I was a moderator of, but the two key sites hit were the long standing "original" on-line communities with huge followings. This in and of its own should tell you a lot about the mind-set of the founders and where their "morals & ethics" actually lay.

In my experience there are two solid forms for those getting started and that would be Ellusionist and Theory 11. . . and you can ask around, there was a very long time when I stated the exact opposite, but these two groups have grown-up significantly and tend to be inhabited by working pros and serious hobbyists that generally know what they are talking about.

The Cafe is where big names and wanna bes go to promote their stuff; eBooks, "new" Effects, etc. and little other. It is filled with people who believe they are someone special, simply because they are well known on that forum. . . but ONLY that forum!

I'll admit, the place has an amazing archive filled with fantastic information, but so does hell and frankly, I don't like making deals with the devil.

 

[Randy]

I seem to recall hearing that Richard Osterlind left site as well, because he got into an argument with somebody and the mods deleted the other person's posts, but left his. Which just made him look like a loon. I've also seen Harry Lorane nonstop try to sell his books on there. Which can be a huge pain in the ass, because nobody asks him about his damn books. He's become nothing but a snake oil salesmen and a poor one at that.


Though the MAIN problem with the site is how poorly is it designed. It looks god awful and truth be told I have seen websites designed by 12 year old's who had a Saturday and ended up making their website designed for Doctor Who look 100% better and not to mention the forums were also way easier on the eyes as well as easier to navigate.

 

[Craig Browning]

I seem to recall hearing that Richard Osterlind left site as well, because he got into an argument with somebody and the mods deleted the other person's posts, but left his. Which just made him look like a loon. I've also seen Harry Lorane nonstop try to sell his books on there. Which can be a huge pain in the ass, because nobody asks him about his damn books. He's become nothing but a snake oil salesmen and a poor one at that.


Though the MAIN problem with the site is how poorly is it designed. It looks god awful and truth be told I have seen websites designed by 12 year old's who had a Saturday and ended up making their website designed for Doctor Who look 100% better and not to mention the forums were also way easier on the eyes as well as easier to navigate.

Exploiting any forum as a marketing vehicle has to be done with class and not constant promotion. The gent that used to be known as Jonathon Royale proved this point by becoming one of the most banned jerks on the internet, with the bulk of his offerings being less than credible. . . he's now changed his name and is exploiting Facebook, while still preying on the naive and ignorant. But then we have people like Harry, who are quite aged and can't understand that they really aren't the top shelf brand any longer; I call it Prize Fighter Syndrome in that guys in this age group still think they have one more battle in them . . . one more title to be won, when they don't.

The biggest problem with the Cafe is that the management situation is far too big and inconsistent; they don't follow any standards but more or less allow each moderator to do whatever they please for whatever reason they please. Catch is, most of these moderators know little to nothing about magic, current events that affect magic, or the realities out in the world that affect the how & why of performance so they cosign some of the dumbest stuff going while condemning years of experience and know how.

Yes, the site desperately needs an overhaul but like its owner, who seems stuck in the late 1970s (look at his hair style and manner of dress), I wouldn't hold my breath that any kind of change is upon the horizon and that includes the maturity level of the brain-trust that runs things . . . sadly, I have a few friends that are part of that management team that I have great respect for. Gents that see themselves as a kind of counter-balance to things on that site, god bless them.