Here are some of my biggest pet peeves:
1. Non-professional/inexperienced magicians referring to themselves in the 3rd person on their freewebs.com websites.
2. Magicians who think they became magicians when they got a magic set for their 6th birthday.
3. Magicians who purchase exclusively from one source.
4. Magicians who use Linkin Park as background music for their dimly-lit webcam YouTube videos.
5. Magicians who try to create/sell material via PDF/Instant Download video 14 hours after coming up with said material
6. Magicians who think it is punishable by death to discuss methodology with fellow magicians.
7. Magicians who buy products because they have the money.
8. Magicians who are too lazy to read a book.
9. Old-school magicians that think all material taught via electronic media is inferior to that material found in print regardless of what is actually taught.
10. Arrogant magicians.
11. Magicians who think all of their creations are worthy to be sold independently for $20.
What are yours?
Before saying mine... I'll comment on all of yours first.
1. It is kind of funny/pathetic when one person runs a site, but tries to sound professional by saying "We will get back to you soon." or "We look forward to talking to you." Most professionals don't even do that.
2. Well it is how most people that become magicians start out. I didn't start that way. However, I believe 95% of the people on this forum (myself included) can't even call themselves magicians. I'll type up my essay on that either in a few minutes or another time.... (You can ask me on AIM if you are really curious.)
3. These people are immature. It's like Ellusionist. "ELLUSIONIST IS AN EVIL COMPANY!" Ummm... Please people you are bad mouthing then artists that you basically worship who used to work for these guys. Even Wayne Houchin said in an interview he was shocked at how dedicated those guys really are. Again... fanboyism is immature and I'll have another essay on that soon as well.
4. LOL! Well that goes along with what makes a magician a magician in my opinion. I'll save that for my essay. The correct term for this one would not be magician... but wannabe.
5. I see it a lot on Theory 11.... If you make an effect you wish to sell, wait a few years. Perform it and make it evolve. Come up with new variations. When an artist releases an effect, how do you think they have so many variations? Did they come up with all of them at once? No, it evolved over time. Make them work, make tips, blah blah... You give me a new idea for an essay. Haha, this is now 3 essay I want to write.
6. I'm not even gonna comment.
7. We see quite often people saying "I have money. What should I buy?" I could make this into an essay, but I won't.
People should perfect what they are working on and save their money. Maybe something un-magic related, more expensive, or something you really want will come up in the future. Perfect what you have and wait until you really want something. Don't spend money because you have it. Of course...
http://www.magicfordarfur.org is a great place to spend money if you just happen to have some!
8. I won't lie. I find books boring. I get tired while reading magic books, however I feel they are the best source of learning. DVDs are great, but books will take you far as well. They are also cheaper and will have a wealth of information.
9. I said in number 8 that books were the best for learning in my opinion, but I will say that DVDs are great. I use more DVDs than I do books. I won't lie... DVDs are great and one advantage DVDs have over books is that you see what things are supposed to look like. You can look at the magicians hands and really get into what they want you to do.
10. I think this also goes back into the fanboyism I spoke of earlier.
11. tsk...tsk....tsk....
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Well now for my pet peeves.
1. WEB CAM! WEB CAM! WEB CAM! You see all of these videos of people calling themselves magicians. UGH! I hate this! Magic is meant to be performed for people, not web cams. When performing in front of a web cam you are practicing for a camera lens, not performing. So to all of you people out there who were about to film themselves doing a trick for the camera: DITCH THE WEB CAM, USE YOUR CAMERA (don't have one? borrow one!) AND GO OUT AND PERFORM FOR REAL PEOPLE! SPREAD THE MAGIC!
2. Exposure... that goes without saying....
3. well.... you can consider number 3 everything you said above because I have to agree with everything you said.
Well... I hope you enjoyed reading this.
-Doug
-EDIT-
Thought of another pet peeve! I do have a number 3!
3. People who spend more time on a magic forum than actually practicing magic! Ok.. done....
