Hi,
I'm not sure if I'm in the right place to ask this, or even the right place to post this for help
but I have a new effect I'm releasing, and I have afew concerns over the effect before I release it

1st worry :-
though my trick is very versitile ( I use this loosely, as its not my trick, and just the gimmick is mine ),
my trick ( gimmick ) can be used with silks, coins, and just about anything else you can think to use it with in magic
I'm using 1 perticular trick that I watched in a dvd ( sadly I don't own the Dvd now ) and the magician in the Dvd credited I think some 1 else, or the magician couldn't even remember who to credit, as its one of those tricks that seem to have no origen of who thought of it
my point being is this :-
his trick had a great ending in the Dvd, and wasnt his idea officially, but I'm using a totally different ending, and have made a gimmick that's both a suprise, and shock to all spectators that see it
also my trick ( gimmick ) can be used in say coin productions, balls, silks, and many other things we use for magic
I guess my effect, trick , or gimmick is an add on to other magic effects for a great suprise ending, and is totally new, and never been used before by anyone
ive credited the magician in my movie for his great trick in the Dvd, and told others to buy it if they would like to know his great ending in the Dvd
BOTTEM LINE :-
can I do this without getting told off by the magic community???
am i, or is my effect copying others work, because I'm showing a trick, but with a different ending???

2nd worry :-
I'm advertising my trick here by a banner, and I'm also going to be sending steve brooks a copy for a review on the Café, and Lawrence O a courtesy copy for his help
I'm also going with iTricks with there ad campaign too, well after steve gives it a look over 1st, and tells me its 100% ok
but my concern is how much of a price do I put on my product to be fair with all magicians, and everyone who buys it, is there a kind of ratio, or percentage% I should look at to add??
meaning if its took me say $20 to make the final product, how much on top of this should I add for profit to myself???

3d worry :-
though I'm releasing this on my own steam, I really want a shop to take over, and sell it all for me, also rather than them buy the rights to the effect, I would like them to keep selling it for all time with a share of the profits going to my kids in the future, as its an effect that will sell time, and again in years to come ( I hope I'm not bashing my own drum here )
BOTTEM LINE :-
who would be the best wholesaler, or magic shop to invest in my trick for the future, a magic shop whos going to give me the best customer service for my magic effects that I want to release
I'm not on about just this one perticular trick niether, as I have afew in the pipe line, and there all very good, and unique, but I want the best customer service for my magic, and well into the future too, so who comes to your mind please???
anyway watch this space to see if I flop lol

seriously though any help with the above would be greatly appreciated thanks
infact does anyone actually invest in new magic this way by sharing the profits well into the future???

Ok let me say what the trick is that I'm using, and explain abit more how I got to this effect ending
the trick I'm using is Fancy a Pot of Jam
The effect takes a simple coin trick and gives it an ending that is so surreal that it will be remembered for a very long time, and that's a fact for those who know, and perform Fancy a Pot of Jam
James begins with The World Famous 11p Trick & ends it with a mind blowing production of a pot of jam, and of course theres his final where he vanishes the pot of jam that is totally brilliant;)

now we have all types of endings on this 11p trick already ie :- Vaseline, crab paste, baby belle cheese etc, etc
my prop, or gimmick matches that mind blowing production ending, and is even more of a total suprise than a pot of jam, or other props ive heard used like above, but this prop has an extra kicker ending that allows you room to manouver, and branch off on 3 = 4 different killer endings just on the 11p trick
another thing my gimmick does is that lets say at the 1st table you do the vanish, well at the next table you can have another totally different finish that just as great, and then on the 3d table a totally different finish yet again, and all from my 1 prop
you could of even stopped at the 2nd table & repeated the effect as a let me show you how I did it scenario, so its very adaptable, and can be used in most magic enviroments, I love it when some 1 comes up and say show him that trick please, and then blow the spec out again with a totally new ending

also apart from that as I said above my prop can be used with silks, coins, balls, and many other effect in magic that you can put your mind too for a suprising shock ending that does get good reactions, and is tried and tested by me over, and over again since the pot of jam Dvd came out

anyway back on subject, if I use this trick, or effect in my video, am I copying??
if I am copying, how do I go about releasing this to the magic community please???
is the 11p trick something that's copyrighted???

BTW :-
the prop will last a life time, and is well made by me, so just thought id just mention that

There are two more people you can contact for this ... Bill Palmer and Pete Biro. PM them and you would be surprised at their helpful comments. I believe there are many things you cannot reveal in an open forum but with PM, confidential things can be discussed.

Since you were inspired by James Brown ( Fancy a Pot of Jam) I would contact James and run it past him.

As far as percent of mark up? Keep in mind that if you going to market it through a distributor they need to take a cut of the profit. You have to take into consideration your cost of materials, time to construct etc. as well as hidden costs you don't even think about. I know in my business (outside of magic) I have to have at least a 40% average mark up to keep the wheels turning. You'll just have to do the math and if the final price to the customer base is acceptable and worth it to them- BINGO !!

JamesTong :-
thanks for the advice, but I cant seem to find Bill Palmer, or Pete Biro, do they own magic shops??
also thanks to davidpaul$ for your help too, and ive email james to see what he has to say about me using the effect, and hopefully it will be good news for me
if not I may just have to show the effect with coins produced from a silk with my gimmick ending, though james ending is the kiddie, and one id like to use
though as I said above even if that fails, I can use it with another great age old work horse we all love that been around since the 1800s, so I'm really not limited for choice on what this gimmick can accompany in magic

Cheekychap, you can find Bill Palmer and Pete Biro at the "Ever so sleightly" section that has a lot of cups and balls discussions. You can find them posting there frequently. And the link to that section of the Magic Café is right here -

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewf......15&48742

Find their username and PM them from there.

Once agian thanks a lot

So far from your descrptions I have NO IDEA what this is. I don't know anything about the Pot of Jam.

Is there a brick and mortar magic shop near you? If so go in and visit and talk to the boss.

Or, package all the information, gimmicks, etc. and send to someone like Joe Stevens at http://www.stevensmagic.com

Hi pete,
heres james brown fancy a pot of jam promo video here :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ovtfnFWlp0

hes a uk magician, so you may not of heard of him, so heres his website :-
http://www.jamesbrownmagic.com

he also did the workaroo, and advertised it here on the Café, and he now has a dvd coming out called James Brown Professional Opportunist
theres a topic on the Café here :-
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=111

I showed Bill Palmer on webcam the effect, or trick, and I'm sure he will leave a comment here soon to clear things up abit
thanks for your time, nice 1