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Snail Regular user UK 163 Posts |
Dear Mr. Osterlind,
Firstly, thank you for your extraordinary generosity and time. I would like to ask you about taking someone else's previous creation or concept, putting a new or different twist, and then claiming this new effect as your own. I personally like to create my own material these days, either from scratch or based on something I've seen or read. What are your views on this? |
Richard Osterlind V.I.P. 2213 Posts |
Snail,
In one way or another, all new material is derivative. It is very seldom these days that someone will come up with a totally new principle or method. How much you change something is really the factor that counts if you are marketing something. As far as your own use, I always advise magicians to try to come up with their own slants, or their own material. Also, just changing the apparatus so that it is your own can be great. I know when I started doing all my own stuff, I had a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. Let me give you a way to work out your own stuff that I have found to be really beneficial. (I put this in a book, but I will condense the idea here.) When you get a new effect or read one in a book, play around with it and do it EXACTLY AS THE INSTRUCTION SAY. Make sure you completely understand the thinking of the inventor and why he says to do every move as is written. Then - put away the effect for awhile. Forget about it. After a few days, a week or a month, go back to it, BUT PRETEND YOU INVENTED IT YOURSELF. Then work on it the same way you would have if you HAD INVENTED IT. You will automatically personalize it for your own needs and make it your own. By the end, what you may have is something entirely different than what you started out with! Hope this all helps. Richard |
Mike Brezler Inner circle Waynesboro, Pa. 1114 Posts |
Dear Richard,
Thank you for participating and all the input you have given fellow magicians and mentalists. I have 6 of your DVD's and I really enjoy them... especially the breakthrough card system. What a wonderful idea on developing your own material. I have a question regarding a trick I developed from a couple of different routines. Can I call it my own, or do I need to change it more? Ricky Jay does a trick where an audience member selects a card and Ricky uses several wind-up toys to find his card. None of the toys work... so he opens up a lippencot box with a key to find it. Andrew Mayne has a trick where an audience member selects a card and he uses a plastic cockroach placed on a board and asks "Bob the physic cockroach" to find the card. Bob finds the suit but fails to find the number of the card. Andrew folds the board in half in disgust because Bob failed. He goes uh oh... what did I do.... he opens the board and Bob is squished and his blood and guts spell out the card and suit. In my version I have an audience member pick a card and I have several wind-up toys try to find the card spread out on the table... "Terance the telepathic tranasouras rex (with sparks flying out his mouth), Chompers the extrasensory teeth with plaque fighters, and Clancy the clarvioant crab. They all fail and I bring out Phil the physic cockroach to finish the trick. The ending is the same as Andrew Maynes. This is a trick that is well received everytime I perform it. Can I call this my own or do I need to change it more? I don't want to make anyone mad... but I enjoy combining parts of different tricks to make them more interesting and fun for the audience. I really appreciate your input. Thanks, Mike |
Richard Osterlind V.I.P. 2213 Posts |
Mike,
That sounds very entertaining! I guess my question would be, do you mean can you call it your own to perform it or to market it? If you mean just to do it in your shows, then I would say sure. Whenever someone puts out an effect either in a book or on video (or does so in a lecture) he is essentially giving the buyer the right to use that effect in their performances. I would hope that most people would change the presentation to suit their own style and make it their own. On the other hand if one takes an existing effect, changes it somewhat and wants to market it, then it depends on how new and different the effect is. As an example, when we put out "Digital Feedback" the routine was brand new, but the gimmicking of the Calculator was an idea by John Cornelius. We called him and agreed to pay him for using his idea when we marketed our version. So, I would say if you planned to publish or market your version, I think it would be prudent to contact Ricky Jay and Andrew Mayne and get their feedback. Most magicians are very generous that way. Sincerely, Richard |
Mike Brezler Inner circle Waynesboro, Pa. 1114 Posts |
Richard,
I have no intention of marketing it. I just wanted to know if it's PC to combine two tricks into one, change the story and call it my own when I perform. I do try to put my personal twist on the majority of my magic. Afterall, anyone can perform magic, but having an interesting story, entertaining, and mystifying is my goal. Thanks again for you input, Mike |
Richard Osterlind V.I.P. 2213 Posts |
Mike,
I sure see nothing wrong with calling it your own. As I mentioned already, if someone puts something on the market, they are giving the rights to others to perform it. Now, if you change things around and personalize it, it is really yours! Good luck with that. Richard |
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