What do people here make of Chris Ramsays YTube channel?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLNZrOW......l4X7HNOI

He's got some videos I dig, but for the most part I just don't jive with VLogs. I also frequently disagree with his thoughts on magic, but that's just a difference of opinions, really.

I think I preferred it before he went full time YT, as now he has to crank out content and it seems like he's more inclined to do tutorials to get the views.

That seems like a fair response. I think I feel kinda the same way. I only discovered him recently, and I like a lot of his vlog things - some are funny, some interesting, some get to reflect. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree. He always comes across as genuine, sincere and nice, though - which is a great positive. . I notice he has some exposure tutorial stuff, but I haven't bothered with that.

I think the bigger problem with youtubers who use magic as their main vehicle is that magic is inherently about secrets. Trick reveals get the most views. So whether you're chris ramsey, evan era or russian genius eventually you'll be cranking out trick reveals for likes, subs and money!

I'm waiting to see a youtube magician that can do it without using exposure as driving force. Is it possible? I think you would have to make some sort of show format, but that would require much effort.

I've been watching his channel for a bit over a year, and overall I like it. I don't care for everything on it but at the end of the day he strikes me as pretty sincere. It seems a lot of his subs are kids just looking for tutorials so it appears he needs to do that to keep many coming back, but it also seems he's careful to teach things that are in the public domain, or things from friends of his who have granted permission. I'm not sure what it is about the channel that intrigues me but it might just be that he's a likable fellow who's pretty entertaining!

Glenn

I've never seen anyone do it on a significant level. There are channels with few videos, but it seems all the big channels (as in, the size one could make a reasonable income from) resort to exposure in some way or other.

I like the format, I like the attitude. I think its entertaining. long story short.......period.

And as you said in an earlier post, WitchDocChris, he has recently done a lot more tutorials. I think most of us are torn these days due to the nature of what social media as related to magic has become. I struggle to decide where my opinion truly lies, but I generally take the "well, everyone else is doing it" attitude. Now, some don't like that attitude, but it is becoming truer by the day. From big names to no-names, there is certainly not a shortage of tutorial videos out there. As a positive, it is creating attention to the art, and developing new magicians. The issue is that we, as a magic community, need to do a better job explaining to the viewer what is and what isn't good magic.

A guy like Ramsey, or guys like Sankey, etc are top professionals, solid and/or expert performers and what they teach is based on years, sometimes decades of experience performing and creating real world magic. They can be trusted. You are learning proper technique, psychology, etc. Then you have the 10 year old "look at the trick I just learned" or "here is how this gimmick works that I just bought". You really get nothing from these videos. THOSE videos, I feel, are the ones ruining magic on the internet.

In my opinion, guys like Sankey and Ramsay are a large part of why we have those 10 year old's exposing tricks.

Think about - someone new to magic sees these guys getting all this attention, having products published on the market, sees them seemingly making a good living. This is the model they see - dudes on YouTube exposing tricks. So how are they supposed to know any better?

The 10 year olds are just following the lead. It's not their fault. It's the ones setting the example.

I sure agree with THAT! --Thanx, Witch!!

I find reading the comments section of these youtube videos very telling. Even the magicians who never do tutorials have people badgering them to post a tutorial of what they just saw. It's almost like these kids feel they're owed a full explanation! It's gotten to the point where I've seen at least one or two magicians who were so exasperated that they posted a video on the subject of "Why I don't do tutorials!"

Update on this topic! 2 days ago Chris posted a video explaining that he would no longer be doing sleight of hand tutorials. He will still have other magicians on his channel who may wish to show tutorials of their own original material and he will also still have cardistry tutorials but that's it. I won't get into the reasons but you can see the video where he does go into detail on that.

Looks to be a little backlash from his subs and comments but most of his fans seem to be supportive.

Chris also posted a so called reaction video where he sits and mocks Harry Blackstone Jr for his 1987 performance that had some technical failures. He seems to have no respect for Harry as a fellow magician. On the contrary, he throws insult to those that came before him and picks apart everything in the video.
I think that is gross. He's not qualified to lick Harry's boots. He's an internet magician who puts others down. I saw him do it to a fellow working magician, Matthew Furman. Mocked and belittled his personality. For internet views/ cash.
What kind of thing is that to do to a fellow magician?
He's no magician in my opinion.

HeronsHorse, I've posted elsewhere on my feelings about the Ramsay reacting to Blackstone video so I won't rehash here, but I'll only add regarding Blackstone's performance itself, that it was a lot more than some technical failures. It was an outright disaster all around and as much as it hurts me to say, being a big Blackstone fan, it deserves to be mocked. Harry should have never agreed to those conditions and that pathetic, embarrassing patter that clearly was beneath him. There obviously was little to no rehearsal and that fake horse production was beyond ridiculous. I don't know if he did the thing for a paycheck or what, but I have to believe he must have regretted it immediately, and for a long time after. Having seen his live show around 1984 which was excellent and flawless, it's like watching a different magician. Ramsay is right about one thing for sure, it is hard to watch, especially knowing that Blackstone was so much better than that....

We must agree to disagree on that. I don't think he deserved to be mocked. The act, yes, but him personally, no. They ripped him apart like kids in a playground. Pathetic.
Also, I can't name anyone who would've refused such a gig. He perhaps thought he'd have more rehearsal time, who knows. Not Chris Ramsay methinks.

Hi Heron! I'll be PMing you soon. I like your attitude!

Dick

Thank you, and I look forward to it!
Paul

I don't know that we are disagreeing too much. If you re-read my post, I say it (meaning the act) deserved to be mocked. Nowhere did I say Blackstone himself should be. As far as knowing anyone who would refuse the gig, I don't know the truth of that. For "name" magicians I would imagine they might refuse if the conditions of the contract might be damaging to their reputation.

I tried watching that reaction video. And whilst I agree that the Blackstone performance was bad, it just seemed mean what they were doing. I turned it off after a minute or so. Not my cup of tea to just mock people like that, even when they perform badly.

I don't watch that much magic on YouTube, or anywhere else, any more. It's all got rather boring, IMHO. There's tons of really great magic to watch - from Fool Us,to Derren Brown specials, to AGT, to Netflix specials, etc. But it seems to me like there's too much - I actually preferred it when there was just one magic show on TV and most people didn't get to see much magic excpet done live, and even then rarely.

Magic needs, I think, at least some mystique for it to work - now it has next to none. And not just because of the hideous YouTube tutorials of which there seems to be an infinite supply. But also because of a saturation of good, but on TV, magic, and a huge amount of easily available good resources (like books, DVDs, downloads, online magic shops, and even this forum).

I'm noticing more and more phrases like, 'magic is dead' crop up online and elsewhere. Mass TV and Internet exposure was just one part of what generated that sentiment. Mass teaching was another. TV street magic was another. And TV talent show style magic was yet another. Mobile phone culture is another. There's probably a few more. But magic, as it was, does, to me, seem to be if not dying then at least morphing into something else. Whether it'll be a good or bad transformation I don't know.