This is such a food for thought topic, and I was curious to see where everyone else rings in on this one.

Since the Easy To Master series, Michael Ammar, has caught a bunch of flak. I have heard mentions of this and that, stolen this and ripped off that. But, all in all, I think what Ammar did was an overall good thing despite ticking off a lot of people in the process.

Now, fast forward to the DVD age and Brad Christiansen from Ellusionist. Is it honestly right to charge $40 for a DVD that teaches some trick called 'Two Card Monte' (appropriately named 'Be Honest, What is it?')? Is it right to charge that much money to learn the Shapeshifter change by DeSousa? Single effects on a DVD.

What I really mean is that Ammar handled it with care and a deserved amount of crediting, and put lots of things on one tape/now DVD, that it was worth the price. Seems like the ellusionist crew is really about milking every effect in every possible way.

So, my questions to you are

What do you feel are the differences between Mr. Christiansen and Mr. Ammar are?

What are the differences, ethically, between Ellusionists out-put, and the Easy to Master series?

and lastly

How do you think these things will impact magic in the long run?

Mike Ammar credits EVERYONE on his Easy To master series. He's "Mr. Research" and has the highest integrity.

Kard Klub is an excellent DVD and chock full of info, so you're getting more info than just one trick.

Chris

Differences? ok...
Michael Ammar won the Gold Medal in close up at FISM. That alone is incredible.
From Michael's web site: