I have just seen something today that has got me miffed. I shan't say what in case I'm off the mark but I don't think I am. For a while now we have had this one trick DVD format. This is all well & good for the guy releasing it but how many of you feel a little ripped off? Essentially you can have one idea, often based on an old principle that isn't yours, slightly update it & boom - sell it for £20. Not all leave you feeling hard done by but plenty do. And then today I see what I believe to be someone selling a DVD for £24 which as far as I can gather is the teaching of one sleight. Just one. Not a new one either! How do people feel about this? It strikes me as greedy & lazy.

I think there are aa few one-trick DVDs that are underpriced and deliver much more than DVD's with lots of tricks. These are the ones with useable professional material for your act that you can drop in and be assured of success. These are worth their weight in gold because the material is tried and true and helps put food on the table. A few that spring to mind: 5 Minutes with a Pocket Handkerchief, Levent's Half Dyed Hank, Confessions of a Needle Swallower.

It goes both ways. Some of those 1 trick DVD's are an utter rip-off and some are pure gold.

I was totally against them at 1st, but I must admit I've bought and been satisfied with a few.

Ultimately it's a "Buyer Beware" market out there...

I reviewed DVD's for MUM for a few years.

I would rather see a one trick DVD with one really good trick than to see a 15 trick DVD that had nothing worth performing on it. Unfortunately, I saw more crap than I did good material in both fields. Read the reviews on the forums. Read the reviews in the magic magazines.

These will educate you as to what to beware and what to buy.

I do think that many of the DVD's that are being foisted off on the magic public are not only re-hashed material, they are items that are done on DVD because the person who kludged the material together was either too unskilled or didn't care enough to write out their script first. I have even seen DVD's that were performed by people other than the person who invented the trick because he couldn't do the trick, himself. That's a big red flag as far as I am concerned.

I'm with you, Bill.

They must have sent you some of the same, er, natural fertilizer.

And I bought some of that XXXX..

Yes agreed, there is good & bad out there. I suppose buying rubbish is a pitfall we'll have to continue to endure. Thankfully the reviews here help us avoid most of the crap.

Once again, another true benefit of a Brick & Mortar Magic Shop owner who knows and respects his customers. Jon at Raleigh's Magic Corner points us towards the worthy products and consistently steers us all away from the crap...sometimes at his expense. I always ask him first and buy through him whenever possible. It's nice to know that he has our back. Thanks, Jon!

As with the pro's above, I don't mind the one-effect DVD's if the effect is truly remarkable, original, presentable and adaptable. Frankly, if I'm disappointed by any DVD or product, I'll never buy anything put out by that "magician" again and I make sure to spread the word.

By the way, another excellent source for product reviews is http://www.mylovelyassistant.com

One thing that I have mentioned before is this: if you cultivate a relationship with a good bricks and mortar dealer, you can call him, explain your performing conditions to him and ask if a particular trick, DVD, book, etc., has anything in it that would be of value or interest to you, or whether it would be usable in your situation.

I have saved thousands of dollars using that principle.

" I have even seen DVD's that were performed by people other than the person who invented the trick because he couldn't do the trick, himself. That's a big red flag as far as I am concerned."

Unfortunately you will only know that after you have purchased the DVD.

Buy a book. Usually can't go wrong there and then you'll have material very few people do because they'd rather watch the DVD!

Don't post much but I see a trend here...

I perform Extreme Burn by Richard Sanders (great DVD and a fantastic twist on a classic) and it has great responses... sometimes I get asked to reveal the secret. Usually I lift my eyebrow and the spectator acknowledges the fact that I can't, magicians code etc.

If the audience member presses me, and shows a real interest, I may offer to sell them the secret (link to some magic shop online). They are astounded that you can buy these secrets at all. They think that you must be "in the know" from birth and that you are selected by a greater power. They think that many years of apprenticeship are required and not just a grubby kid with 29.95 in his hand or daddy's credit card number.

We (magicians) are the only people in the world who worry about what is on offer, and have an opinion about it...

Ignore people and products you don't need or want. But respect there is a market for these things or people wouldn't buy them... one born every minute... pretty lucrative don't you think?

Unless, as Bill and others have suggested, you cultivate a solid relationship with a RELIABLE brick & mortar shop. Unfortunately not all are reliable and the "virtual" shops on the Internet have put many of them out of business. I'm fortunate that one of the two I have relied on for years is still around. If the relationship is to be mutually rewarding, the shop needs to know you, your skill level, style of performing and the type of audiences for which you perform.

What's the difference between a one trick DVD and a one trick trick?

I never hear the argument "I just paid 50 bucks for a Pom-Pon pole and it only came with the one routine"

As long as the DVD isn't claiming to have more than one trick on it and the price is what your willing to pay for such a trick then what's the issue?

One problem is that many of us don't have access to a brick and mortar shop. Back in the day, when I lived in Tacoma, I had Mickey Hades in Seattle. But in Star, ID, well... there hasn't been a REAL magic shop anywhere around here since I owned one briefly in the early 90s. There's a novelty store with a magic counter--mostly "slum magic" and D'Lights, and nobody there knows anything about the products or can demo them.

I also agree that books are better and in some ways wish magic wasn't so easily accessible via DVD. I spent years putting together a magic library, finding out of print classic, gleaning out classic effects. Then Ammar put out his "Easy to Master" series with some of the best card routines of all time, available to any spoiled 12 walking past a mall kiosk for less than $30. That still kinda bugs me, and I HATE that "EASY TO MASTER" title--like there's nothing to it--just watch this video, and you're a magician, too! Don't get me wrong, I respect Ammar and those are some great DVDs. They just made years of study and thousands of dollars avaialabe to the general public for $299.95. That's always been a bur in my saddle. Had that been put out in book form rather than video, 99% of those kids would've walked right by it.

One more thing: I'd have no problem at all with someone exposing his OWN creations on TV, no matter what they paid him. If you come up with some new illusions or a cutting-edge new sleight and you want to expose it on TV because you'll make vastly more money doing that then by selling your creation to magicians--more power to you, as far as I'm concerned. It's the guys who have done nothing making a profit off the guys who did everything that I see as wrong.