Its apparent who Vlad was referring to in his response and it wasn't Mark Lewis.

I'll sign of on the Terrible Wizzard

Yes, it was immediately obvious to whom Vlad was referring to. It's just plain bad to "rob" creators of their inventions.

Pet Peeves - I'll try initially to keep this card magic related, as it's in 'The Workers' section.

- younger magicians that think card flourishes are entertainment

- magicians that use these apparently new 'coooooool' designs of flashy designed playing cards

- the people that design and sell them; obviously solely for financial gain as they add nothing whatsoever to our art (check your PM's regularly for some prime examples guys)

- multi-phase oil & water monstrosities

- idiots that recommend Erdnase to newbies

- most 'packet tricks' (the majority of which appear to have cards turn face up/face down/face up/face down Zzzzzzzzzzz, and end with 4 Aces with different coloured backs.........Why?)

- magicians(?) who turn up for a show, carrying a little case full of about 30 different set-up/gaffed decks - seen recently in utter disbelief

- people that simply can't be bothered to learn the Classic Force, seemingly because they believe that riffling with your thumb and asking the spectator to say "stop" is more convincing?

- long, drawn out gambling monstrosities - performed for people that couldn't care less about card games

- in a similar vein, card magicians, particularly in the UK, that decry all counting tricks, yet perform Poker routines!

- ambitious card, with a card to wallet finale

- poor/unconvincing handling of The Hamman Count

- poor/unconvincing handling of just about every other sleight too!


And onto some other general gripes:

- people who are not prepared to learn from books

- magicians that decry the use of sponge balls; maybe it's just coincidental that these are often the people that can't do a false transfer/vanish of one convincingly

- edited, and often downright dishonest demos on YouTube and/or dealer websites

- the rapidly declining number of bricks and mortar REAL magic shops

- people that don't speak their mind, nor have the gonads to tell fellow magicians where they are going wrong/performing something badly

- magicians that don't ever consider using the many aspects of misdirection, and can't even be bothered to realise that it actually drives the vast majority of magical effects

- close-up mats (they should all be doused in petrol and thrown onto a bonfire)

- one-trick DVD's

- modern expressions related to magic tricks such as "kills", "blows them away", "flies past them" to name but three that spring instantly to mind; oh, and let's add to that list the annoying, pathetic, new expression - "My Bad"

- and my major dislike...........about 99% of 'new' (???!!!) magic seemingly being produced, on a daily basis

Oh, should have added, miserable old gits like me!

Agreed on one trick DVDs. They used to be ok, as the routine was usually way too involved to put on a multi trick release, and the only reason for it being put out as a single item was it was usually too long to do otherwise! I bought the very limited 'the reformation' video from mr Hollingworth at a lecture, and that was definitely justified as it filled the whole tape! of course we all have different tastes, but am I alone in thinking that a lot of stuff being released on its own , mostly by the newer companys, would barely stand out on a multi trick DVD? Saw one today actually, usual black and white shaky filming,'cool' scruffy performer in a car park or somewhere, fast cuts, bit of a jump where the 'business' happened,and a pretty short routine.
Maybe I'm wrong and this is just modern magic that thousands of people enjoy? And let's be honest, a skateboarding teenage buck twins fan probably ain't gonna find much excitement watching david, Scotty and the rest of the L&L gang watching micheal Ammar do business card magic.
K

I guess Juan Tamariz has got it all wrong then. (The 5 Points in Magic)

Just come up with a few more..

Magicians who talk to much and don't let the moment of astonishment breathe.
Magicians who are wearing a suit with their sleeves rolled up,i understand why they do it but it looks funny to me.
Magicians/inventors who pop up on certain threads to plug their own products when what they're trying to sell you has nothing to do with what the thread is talking about.
Not getting my grubby hands on Jerry's Crimp Magazines.


Greig Ewen.

ps... Happy Birthday Brandon.x

Just to note, I think Al Scheider goes with the 'don't look at them' theory contra Tamariz.

There is a very famous magician that has a nasty habit that goes like this:

He says something like: now I will do a trick with the 4 aces, he goes on to take the pack in his hand and look for the 4 aces, while he does that he talks and says uh uh ok uh uh ok ok uh, you can see the audience looking at him almost upset etc.

If you need to locate just the 4 aces ask someone to do it, don't stand there like a fool especially given you showed them earlier how you can in a few seconds locate the aces using fancy cuts

Magicians who watch magicians endlessly and don't understand that their perspective is completely different than a real audience.

Magicians who don't realize that their pet peeve jumps out at them BECAUSE it is their pet peeve but that it actually doesn't matter to a real audience.

Magicians who are quick to suggest that the latest trick is rip off without actually having the trick. (They seem to think it's a contest and that making the insinuation first will protect their win if it is later proven)

The other pet peeve is the magicians that wait for applause and sometimes demand it

I find totally ridiculous 'magic' presentations in card magic usually a little irritating, but I don't think most do. Woofle dust and the such like.

That's a good one MuscleMagic, watched a few penguin lectures (which are awesome)where the guest lecturer gives a gesture to the audience to give him an applause after a joke or every effect.
Magic Streaming.....Just let me download it already,i paid for it.
The T.G Murphy deck flip because I still cant do it.
Torrent sites.
Not using Mnemonica for a week and have to re learn the darn thing again
Cutting to a natural break,for me its not that natural lol.

Greig Ewen

Magicians (term used very loosely) who watch the latest DVD and go out the next day performing what they just watched. Maybe they "ran through it once or twice" but that's all. No practice, no dedication -- they just can't wait to show off their latest acquisition and 'their' newest, greatest trick. And the sad thing is, they don't even see how poorly they present themselves. No self-awareness, but they sure do know how the latest trick is done.

Two biggest pet peeves:

1. Magicians who use the patter and presentation exactly as it appears in the published effect. Make it your own, people!

2. Magicians and mentalists who feel they need to educate the public about rational atheism before, during, and after any mental effect. "I'm not a psychic, because there's no such thing as psychic powers, but this is what it might look like if I was..."

That stupid look some magicians give after doing a trick. It seems they are waiting for a reaction but the trick just really sucked!

"Magicians and mentalists who feel they need to educate the public about rational atheism before..."

Some do that because you have guys like Penn who get so excited and angry everytime someone suggests they have psychic powers etc. I never seen such nonsense in my life but it is what it is.

Here is one old example of him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcJ7PxULOQY

So yeah, magicians / mentalists are so scared now that they make these stupid disclaimers. The thing is for the people who believe in this, the disclaimer makes em even believe more

My biggest pet peeve is when a magician refers to a card trick as an "experiment." "I need a volunteer to assist me with an experiment." UGH. This is the one thing that can turn me off of watching even truly good performers. It's not an experiment, it's a trick, and we know you're going to pull it off or we wouldn't be watching, there is no chance that this "experiment" is going to fail and even the ugly little incessantly-yapping poodle in my neighbor's yard knows it, and if there WERE a chance that the "experiment" was going to fail, then why should you get the credit when it works? Gee, shouldn't we run through the "experiment" about 500 times just to make sure that the one time your "experiment" worked it wasn't just a fluke?

I used to be somewhat turned off by gambling demonstrations, but now I'm fine with them because of my overriding thought: "At least (s)he isn't referring to this as an 'experiment'."

My secondary pet peeve is unnecessary flourishes during a trick. I forget how it was phrased, but someone in the early part of this thread said or implied that such flourishes make it obvious you're a card sharp and it takes away from the magic. However it was phrased, I agree with it completely.

This is something that was raised in Maskelyne's Our Magic. There's a line of thought (which I agree with) that believes that the words we use to describe things affect how we think about them. So, refering to them as 'experiments' is what the writes suggest, partly because it was that era where science was all 'wonders of nature and science' and this was a perfectly legitimate presention, and partly becuase it reinforces a more 'positive' thinking about magic. To me, 'experiment' is much better 'trick'. 'Trick' sounds too much like we're getting one over the audience, and more like a challenge, which is a stupid way to present magic. Admitedly, I try to refer to 'effects', rather than experiments', since it reinforces what magic should be about.
Just something to think about.