Don't worry Marc. Nobody would take seriously a would be forkbender who wears nail polish of that color.


Hennessey

Didn't the bible say it somewhere...

the jerks will always be with you

the jerks will inherit...

I think that was Star Wars, "May the Jerks be with you."

I was totally thinking of that when I read the post before....look at us mentalists.

This guy is a moron. I've seen his videos before and it sent me fuming. Is there a way to shut him down off of youtube?

We've finally got a reply from Dave J Castle after an article I wrote about him on our blog magicunlimited.typepad.com

Here is what Dave J Castle has to say about his exposure of magic:

Dear Ellis & Webster,
It is very interesting that you are making allegations that my company is engaging in theft and wrong doing when both of you have directly violated copyright law by utilizing my original "magic performance" pictures from one of my commercial websites without permission. As for the complaints that site is a bad site, I do not share your viewpoint. The website helps thousands of people all over the world learn the art of magic who may have not had the opportunity otherwise. Also, it gives individuals a place to chat with each other and build friendships.

Furthermore, the website primarily just organizes magic videos (tutorials and performance) videos that are already hosted somewhere else such as youtube, metacafe, etc. If you have a serious concern about the distribution of magic videos that reveal magic you should probably contact the actual distributors, however, since teaching magic is not illegal, I am not sure that your time and effort will yield the results you would like. The world is becoming more digital everyday and there are going to be major changes in the way things happen in our world. I have tried encouraging magicians to adapt to this new wave but many want to live in the past and not change. One example that would help magicians would be to create products that Require the person to buy a gimmick this way even if the idea is out of the bag people will still have to buy something from them. I think it is very interesting the magicians think they can invent a trick and the idea will not get shared all over the world for free, they must be living in a fantasy world, whether this is right or wrong it is occuring not just in the magic niche but in many industries and the smart people will adapt to the new paradigm. Also, it is interesting that people come after me because I teach magic when several major entertainers, for example Penn and Teller reveal magic all the time and generally on TV with millions of people watching but yet many people in the magic community still respect them.
I have also seen other major names in the magic community doing tutorial videos for all to see and it seems to becoming more common.

I hope that this post has given you some information to think about and that you will begin to understand other people's viewpoint on this issue.

Dave J. Castle

I found this partial sentence very revealing:

"Also, it is interesting that people come after me because I teach magic "

which suggests he's had plenty of others come after him before...

anyway - here's to him experiencing spontanious combustion sometime soon...idiot

That is a wonderful analogy!

Here's what I don't get. Anyone with half a brain knows that Dave J. Castle isn't infringing on any copyright laws or doing anything that could lead to his site being shut down or his videos being removed from youtube.

If he or anyone else wants to reveal the secrets of magic tricks on youtube nothing legal can stop him. People have tried to hound him into stopping by leaving comments on his youtube clips mocking him, berating him and pleading with him and its clear he has no intention of stopping.

The guy clearly believes he has some kind of magic business when what he has got is a simplistic website with google adwords. To make money for 'his company' all 'president' Castle has to do is get as many people as possible onto his site. A percentage of his visitors will click on the adwords and he will make money.

Given that in order to make money Castle needs as many visitors as possible why oh why do people on magic forums keep providing links to his website and youtube clips? It is especially perplexing when people post links to exposure on the largest magic forum on the internet.

Surely the best reaction to people like Castle is to say nothing rather than send 1000s of people directly to his clips and websites?

I've said my piece and in doing so bumped this thread which will probably result in a few more people visiting Castle's site and putting a couple more dollars in his pocket.

Well so far, ignoring him for the last year he's been operating, hasn't stopped him. In fact his site has prospered because he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong.

Legally, he is not.

Ethically he is.

Look at the RULES OF MAGIC.

1. Practice
2. Never reveal a secret
3. Don't tell the spectator what you're about to do before you do it..

etc.

None of those RULES are legally binding. No one has ever been arrested for lack of practice (though I wish!!!)

My point is that the "new generation" of magicians are not being force fed ethics like we were.

We were AFRAID of revealing a secret, not because of legal repercussions, but because you just "didn't do it". It was wrong. It spoiled the magic.

Dave J "king of his own" Castle is of the opinion that we who believe in ethics are in the past. He's realised that yes, you can give away a secret. It's not illegal!!! AND you can make a buck or two doing it.

The only thing we can do as magicians WHO WISH TO RETAIN SOME TYPE OF SECRECY in the art, is to close ranks and exclude those who reveal secrets.

Isn't that what the IBM and SAM are supposed to do to? Isn't that part of their charter, to stop the exposure of secrets?

Yes, by publishing books and releasing tricks we are all at risk of JERKS like Dave J Castle blabbing to everyone how they're done, but do we put up with it when a kid in the audience jumps up and tells everyone how we just did a trick?

Or do we take him aside quietly and explain it's not the right thing to do and he's spoiling it for everyone else?

If he insists... do we try to ignore him until most of the kids in the audience are standing up and shouting our secrets to each other?

No.

We either ban them from attending our shows or we refuse to do shows for them anymore.

Taking a quick look at a couple of them on YouTube I notice a few things:

1) **** is that guy annoying. Not sure what it is but just his talking is annoying as hell.
2) With how often he says "M'kay?" does he remind anyone else of Mr. Macky from South Park?
3) I am 90% sure that the "testimony" he's got on there, is his mother who has never actually watched him do anything.
4) He really should just stop. For the sake of the human race he must stop. Not only because he needs to stop revealing things, but simply because if he -doesn't- stop talking his voice is eventually going to cause someone to climb the watchtower with that briefcase if you get my meaning.
5) Didn't the glasses and faux-fro go out of style in.... wait, was it -ever- in style? Either way, just not a good look.

Get your Dave J merchandise before it all disappears http://www.cafepress.com/MagicShirts