How many people have used these products in the past week?

[praetoritevong]

Hey guys,

I just had kinda a weird thought so I wanted to try something. I'll explain after a few responses have been made, but for the time being, please answer this question:


How many of you have performed an effect you have purchased from Theory11 or Ellusionist in the past week, and which effect was it? If you have not done this, please also say so (regardless of if you have performed non-T11/E effects - i.e. if you performed Vernon's Twisting the Aces, please respond in the negative to this survey)


By "performing in the past week", I mean, you have gone out and performed it well to someone outside of family and magic buddies, on the street or in a stage show, for example, in the past seven days. I'd make a poll, which would be answered by more people, but there are too few option slots for my liking.

I will keep a running tally and I'll talk about this later, if my thoughts work out.

 

[tally-ho]

my guess is that you're trying to prove that most people don't perform these tricks for others.

 

[praetoritevong]

Actually, that's not exactly it. Although I do realise that that will be a byproduct of this survey. Incidentally, if you read this, could you also post if you haven't performed any of these?

 

[tally-ho]

I've been away and have not performed much magic. All I had was some coins, mindpower deck and a deck of cards. So, no I have not.

 

[dragon521]

I don't perform magic anymore, if that answers your question. I still don't see why you put so much weight into when a trick was created when you're choosing what to perform...

 

[sabrefox61]

I have not performed anything i purchased from e or here... i have performed stuff that i ahve purchased from penguin...

 

[praetoritevong]

I don't perform magic anymore, if that answers your question. I still don't see why you put so much weight into when a trick was created when you're choosing what to perform...

Sorry, would you mind explaining what you mean by 'weight into when a trick was created when you're choosing what to perform...'?

 

[visualartist]

The only thing I have purchased from theory11 is Exile and Dangerous.
I perform exile twice a week since I have a limited supply of gimmicks.
And The Dangerous material about every other day

 

[dragon521]

Well this obviously has something to do with proving why classics are better, probably because less people use them. My question is, why does the amaount of people who perform them, make the classics that much better?

 

[visualartist]

Well this obviously has something to do with proving why classics are better, probably because less people use them. My question is, why does the amaount of people who perform them, make the classics that much better?

Jumping to conclusions too quick there son.

 

[bd]

Let's see, as for the tricks I've purchased via Theory11:

Strike change: I use this from time to time when doing a color change.
Bluff pass: Used a few times after purchasing the trick. Not a whole lot at all.
Shifty: I use this as the usual end phase in my ACR; I prefer it over Braue's popup simply because it does not bend the card and is very visual. Performed regularly.
TnR: Purchased for knowledge and for an idea bank of TNRs; never performed, never planned to and never will.
Angle Zero: Performed on a sort of semi-regular basis. Not too often, but I do use it.
andthensome: Have not even looked at any of the tricks yet. I played the DVD once after getting it- I've been low on time.
Pressure: obviously, not once so far. Just purchased it.

 

[ninja]

he probably jumped to that conclusion because that is what praetoritevong's post usually kind of relate to.

 

[Steerpike]

A lot of projection going on in this thread.

I perform the Biddle trick at least once a week, though whether or not that counts is debatable. I did Nathan Kranzo's variant on the haunted pack the other day and... that's about it actually since I doubt the ACR moves I learned on Crash Course 2 count. Only Theory 11 product I ever bought was Control and I don't do that very often for reasons that should be obvious to those with an IQ higher than my bar tab.

 

[AndrewJ]

I'm still at a practicing stage, but where I should be going out and starting to perform. I am also in a situation where I primarily go to work as a webmaster in a small office, come home to spend time with the wife and kids, and rarely have the opportunity for social gatherings or showing off.

Most of what I have bought from both mentioned sights is centered on learning classic techniques.

I currently am focused on two techniques -- a good double lift, and the classic pass. Learning the pass is a purely personal goal. All of my videos and books for this one came from outside of E and T11.

The double lift is applicable to a large number of effects from both sites. I will more than frequently break into one of them in order to flesh out the technique, or just have a moment of fun. To the extent that I can be found working with cards, it's regular enough for me.

Er, and I just bought a deck of Guardians to play with at work. Does that count?

 

[mini magician]

Hey guys,

I just had kinda a weird thought so I wanted to try something. I'll explain after a few responses have been made, but for the time being, please answer this question:


How many of you have performed an effect you have purchased from Theory11 or Ellusionist in the past week, and which effect was it? If you have not done this, please also say so (regardless of if you have performed non-T11/E effects - i.e. if you performed Vernon's Twisting the Aces, please respond in the negative to this survey)


By "performing in the past week", I mean, you have gone out and performed it well to someone outside of family and magic buddies, on the street or in a stage show, for example, in the past seven days. I'd make a poll, which would be answered by more people, but there are too few option slots for my liking.

I will keep a running tally and I'll talk about this later, if my thoughts work out.

Is the idea that some people buy the effects to learn the secrets but they acually don't go out and perform.

And yes i acually performed at a Party last night for the Football.
Performed some TA stuff, Compression i think Bad influence, Fizz master, Sinful ( yes there were alot of drinks involved) I tried to do tricks without a deck as much as possible but i still used my deck a fair bit but i had amazing fun and so many funny stories.

 

[ZacEckstein]

I Did Missing Link Yesterday, One of My Most Used Effects that I Do

 

[The Tumbleweed]

I've been performing Carney lately dude!
But T11 and E?
Um... Stigmata, Angle Zero, Invisible Reverse and Indecent.

 

[speedypetey64]

I have been performing biddle trick since before it came out so I dont think that counts. I have not purchased anything ever yet but I do know how a lot of tricks are done. I perform stigmata maybe three or four times every month, but thats it. Normally, I resort to impromptu hard hitting tricks.

 

[praetoritevong]

Well this obviously has something to do with proving why classics are better, probably because less people use them. My question is, why does the amaount of people who perform them, make the classics that much better?

Incorrect, though I can understand where you're coming from. Incidentally, I do post a note about numbers below.

Most people who see my posts know I do indeed prefer the classics. But that's not what this thread was about, although it could I suppose be applied to that.

No, the reason I posted this was as following: How much do performers make of the material they have? In a conversation that came up today, I was thinking about the trend and the demand for up and coming material. How good is it actually, and what do we make of it? I don't mean in relation to the classics (though again - obviously this could be applied to that), but rather I wanted just to make a value judgment about this on its own.

Every time a new product comes out, there's a massive fuss. Hype like you wouldn't believe (the fault of consumers rather than companies). In the first week, a dozen reviews come out.

Then, in the second week, one review comes out.

In the third, none come out at all.

Where do they go? Look at any one of the topics about "What's your favourite impromptu trick?". In any such topic, about a third to half of those posts will be "Stigmata! It rocks!".

So far, one person has answered that they've performed it recently.

Don't get me wrong - numbers are not everything. But in a proportional sense, they can reveal a lot. The number of people performing the classics on T11 is probably lower than the number of people performing the new stuff, for example. That doesn't really mean anything. But if 2% of magicians who buy a product still perform it a few months or a year after it is released, what does that say about the product and the magician?

But what happened anyway? Did Stigmata suddenly not become worth performing?

The thing is, new products come out all the time. Some of them good, some of them not so good. But it's so easy to get caught up in the newest thing that comes out (a company can rarely afford to simply ride the wave for long, it has to continue to come up with effects to market), and forget about what we already have. From memory, Steerpike makes brilliant use of the Biddle Trick - patter about William Tell, if I remember correctly? - or something along those lines. How many people have made that much out of the potential of the Biddle Trick? How many people have actually worked on these effects and made full use of them, and how many people, by contrast, have watched the DVD, copied everything exactly, and used it badly for two weeks before raving on about the next product? And for those who actually did well with the effects, what happened? Is the desire to get the latest "greatest, hard-hitting impromptu" secret stronger than working on what already works and what does well? If so, why are you into magic?

I must say, on a slightly unrelated note, I hate the phrase hard-hitting. What does it mean anyway? To me, it's been crucified in overuse by magicians who don't know much about magic. It generally shows a lack of any theoretical concept of magic.

And one other thing - if people give a product rave reviews, it must be good, right?

If certain people give a product rave reviews for one week and then everyone forgets about it, how good is it actually? What does it say about the trick?

Just putting some tihngs into a different perspective.

 

[dragon521]

Just to clarify, no harm was meant by my statement, I was just basing my assumption off of prior posts of praetoritevong. I apologize and will wait until prae's response before any further peanut gallery comments...