It was on this date, September 10, 2001, that Tricky Business was born here on the new Magic Café.

I have spent the better part of this past year reviewing threads and posts of Tricky Business all the way back to day one. It was a great way to gain a true perspective of Tricky Business from a greater vantage point and how it has served and changed over the years.

I still contend that Tricky Business is the one forum on TMC that offers the most significant and vital information for those who perform magic and the related entertainment arts for pay, income, as either part-time or full-time. It has also been a godsend to those that want to make their magic more than just a casual interest, hobby, or being an amateur and wanting to take this to the next level of performing for pay and/or profit. Many have continuously been interested in making the leap from part-time to full-time, or perhaps changing markets, learning about the many different performance markets that are available to performers, and of course learning about the business side of being a magician, performer, or entertainer (three different things).

The two things that were most apparent to me in going through every single thread since the beginning is 1.) how there was and still is such a need for information on the business side of performing (in all aspects, not just the show and then marketing) including all facets of entertainment business and operations, and how there was so much misinformed, uneducated, and often incorrect information on being a part or full-time professional performer.

I remember when I was asked to come here, I was told that there was much misinformation in Tricky Business (TB) and it was welcoming someone with my level of experience in the 8 main positions I had held in the entertainment industry. I had spent many years working with comedians, bands, DJs, variety acts, and of course celebrities of all types, including some magicians, so I gladly accepted coming here and at first just observing and understanding the lay of the land, the players, the mindset and mentalities of magicians and the magic community, and the sources of the misinformation.

Next, 2.) Is that there was much more interest in being a magician, learning sacred secrets, and wanting to do this as a paid profession, career, or at least a part-time job. This has drastically changed as these days there are many fewer guys and gals interested in magic as a business, career, or even self-employed job.

Watching this forum evolve and the topics change through the years and decades has also been very telling. Of course, the addition and evolvement of the internet has changed both magic and TB.

So many of the members that were spewing poor advice and, almost all of them, today are nowhere to be found. Guys that boasted about how great they were and how successful they were in magic, simply “disappeared” never to be seen or heard from again.

‘It was interesting to see how the internet gave people a voice, and quickly seeing that it is not always a good thing. It was easy to see the progress it made but also the many problems it has created. This was just a microcosm in the magic community of the greater picture of our new world.

I saw many bandwagon jumpers through the years and related hot topics of their time – promotional materials, video demos, webpages and websites, SEO, Facebook and social media, and so many other things in between. Only a handful remain here as many have left the business, and now some 23 later some have left this life.

Some of the most boasted, promoted, and supported courses and programs are gone, out of business, never to be heard from again including http://www.sixfiguremagic.com/ and http://showbizsuccesssecrets.com/store/p......ive-now/ among many, many others.

It has been a very interesting journey. However there have been some great consistents too. Members who have shared their actual knowledge and experience to correct incorrect info being passed off as factual industry information. It was interesting to see the ”hot topics” of the day for each different 5-year period or decade. There were so many interested in helping others (although many had a different idea or expectation of what that was or should be), even when it meant calling out poor information or misinformation, while offering such valuable insights and information that anyone here who visited could immediately take and apply to their business often resulting in great change, progress, and advancement, and in many cases directly relating to income, profits and their bottom line.

The amount of people here who have often posted about how TB or the info provided has changed their performing careers and even their lives are also included throughout these pages which can shed a true light on the real results and impact TB has made.

The depth of topics, the specifics of questions asked, and most of all the progression of information of interest and the effect of how all of this was impacted by the internet, social media, mainstream media, new resources, and all of the different mindsets and mentalities of all of these aspects was well-represented.

It was also interesting to see the amount of passion and pride of some of the contributing members throughout the years. While many were just casual or personal interests, others were truly here to help and serve others based on knowledge, facts, and experience. Although many members interests were often about kid’s performers and also the corporate markets, so many other things were covered and included that have made TB such a valuable business resource for those who use and enjoyed it as it was intended to be.

Unlike other forums that are about specific topics or sub-types in the magic community, TB has really been quite all-encompassing. Many other forums are about discussions, opinions, and shooting the breeze about their interests and beliefs, TB often was on a level far above these other forums o TMC.

Reviewing every post in TBt has all really been such a valuable experience while being an entertainment business time capsule. While I won’t encourage everyone to go back to day one and share this experience as I’ve have with this as it at times was very frustrating, anger-inducing, and quite trying with different people, on different levels and time-periods here, but what I have complied are what I thought were some very valuable highlight threads that exemplify the essence and proper purpose of TB and what it was intended to be. I am proud to have been part of many of these threads in some capacity over the years. This includes the many dynamics, good and bad, that are part of TB. As I said, it provides such valuable information.

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I would like to hear from others to share what Tricky Business has meant to them, their business, and career in magic. Also, any threads that you found helpful or valuable or groundbreaking, impactful, or memorable to you.

So anyways, I just wanted to take note of this anniversary of Tricky Business, and although it does not have the participation and sizzle it once did (for several key reasons), it is still a great resource and offers more valuable information than can be found almost anywhere on the internet.

Thanks to the many contributors to TB here over the years. So many were able to learn and profit so much from their participation and experience shared here. Happy Anniversary!

The 'Publicity Pay Off' thread had an interesting twist, proving that not ALL publicity is good publicity.

I’m amazed at how business changes throughout the years. Remember the Yellow Pages? The importance of the toll-free number?

Its hard to know what new business methods will be good and which will be a waste of time. I thought cell phones were going to be a passing fad, and I was late to the web site party.

The greatest value of Tricky Business to me is willingness of real workers posting their experiences. And the sometimes not-so-honest postings (advertisements) are immediately struck down.

I think that’s the main reason I post sometimes. When wrong or uninformed information is posted. Or more often, the ‘my way is the only way’ posts.

I don’t post often because I’m not a business major. But, sometimes you need more than business theory. Sometimes you need real world experience. I hope I have been able to provide that from time to time.

I’ve been in hostage situations that lasted less time than that first post!

No magician would be where they are today without being inspired in some way by another magician. For some, it’s good to have a home to come to where they can find family, friends, and like-minded people to support them. Much like "It takes a village to raise a child" It takes a magic community of people to grow a successful magician/businessperson. It’s not always just the ‘knowledge’ from one individual that causes the person to take the needed action. True, many come here to learn, but what is more important for some is that they want to be inspired to use the information they acquire. The truth is, knowledge without a desire to put it to use has little value. It’s good communities, such as this one, that inspire others not just to learn but to ‘use’ information. A community teaches the ‘why’ which is often more helpful than the ‘how’

Happy Anniversary

Tom

I've probably learned more here than any other sub-forum on The Café.

Both what to do, and what NOT to do!

What not to do. Being smart enough to learn that is an absolute gift.

Thanks for posting Ken. As I was reviewing all of the threads in TB I had all of the same thoughts. The Yellow Pages ruled for so long there was a time when I couldn't imagine my business without it. I also had fantastic results with faxing. Broadcast faxes generated so much business and you could control and target market so easy with it. If created and designed properly they nearly always were received and read. I remember doing a fax blast and then sitting and waiting for the phone to ring, sometimes as soon as only 7 minutes later. And the calls just kept coming in for 3 or 4 days pretty solidly.

I was one of the first people to get a cell phone in my car in my new 1985 Grand Prix. I thought it would be good for business. It was expensive, crazy expensive and took years to come down and actually become the business asset I had hoped for it to be. I think it was like $10 or $15 per minute when it came out and I had it installed. The problem was it usually took me 18-22 minutes to convert a sales phone call which was quite expensive at the time.

Web sites were also a big thing when they started to appear. Everyone thought the phone would just ring crazy off the hook from prospects around the world, not just locally, just because we were now on the world wide web (www - its funny how so many young people do not know what www stands for, lol). Of course this never happened and no one realized that we would have to drive traffic to our web pages and sites (they never told us that).

Between you and me Ken I think cell phones and web sites may be around for a while!

I also found so many interesting things, intentional and unintentional from so many threads. The "Publicity Pay Off Thread" was one of those threads. So much was said in that thread, but more so there was so much to be learned and gained on a variety of topics, including people pretending to be something they are not and getting called out for it here. This is some of the most valuable content and benefit here in TB.

I also feel you are right in that there was so much to be learned and gained by real workers discussing real-world experiences. Keeping it real and identifying the not-so-honest, puffery, of just blatant incorrect information being passed of as fact and knowledge are among the greatest takeaways here. Theory is good in perhaps other forums, but here it can be detrimental and costly. Nothing trumps those willing to share their real-world, directly applicable entertainment industry experience. These are the best threads of the forums.

I also am glad several mentioned the learning what not-to-do experience that often came out in certain topics and threads. This is the stuff that only comes from direct experience and is not usually found in books, courses, videos, etc. This too can be among the most valuable information from TB.

It was also interesting to see how "passive" many here were towards all aspects of business, including marketing, understanding additional performance markets, and the lack of understanding the availability of different business models. Many performers were so uninformed, intimidated by, and simply not versed to entertainment business operations. Taking action and being "active" or more aggressive in their business operations was very much absent and unexplored. This was interesting to see over the years.