Hi Everyone,

I got frustrated trying to search YouTube for good magic videos. You have to wade through the thousands of bedroom magicians doing awful card tricks.

So I put together a website that allows people to post their favorite YouTube (and Google) magic videos. They are categorized and searchable.

My hope is that magicians will post their favorite YouTube videos and we will build a collection of videos that will be a great resource. Imagine you are working on a C&B routine. You do a search for "Cups and Balls" and in one place you get to see every good C&B routine.

By opening it up to allow everyone to register and post their favorite videos, I'm hoping to quickly build this into a great resource. There are already a bunch of great videos that folks have posted that I hadn't seen before.

So please check it out and I would love to hear any comments or suggestions you have to help make it better.

Oh, yes, perhaps I should give you the link:
http://www.abratube.com

Best regards,
James

This sounds like a great idea! In fact great is an understatement! I really hope this grows into something big!
Sh3ldon

It's looks like an awesome site. It has a nice, simple layout. It's easy to watch and add videos. If enough people contribute, this could turn out to be very useful.

I've added one video and will add more when I get the chance.

Having a special page with quality magic videos from YouTube is a great idea! I've already registered which was very easy to do. I hope the site really takes off! What sort of quality control plan do you have to ensure the quality of the videos?

John

Thank you for the nice comments everyone.

I'm hoping the community will moderate itself, but ultimately I have the power to delete videos and banish members who abuse the place.

We'll see how it goes. I certainly don't want to be in the position of trying to judge whether a video is worthy enough to stay! But I think we all know poo when we see it.

I'm just not interested in any headless videos of teenagers doing card tricks in front of their bedroom webcam!

I know exactly what you mean. = ) But what if its a really good card trick even though the production quality is poor? It may be hard to make these sorts of judgements. Just having a different site for magic videos will help sort the good from the bad, especially at first, but if the page really takes off you might want some sort of quality control plan just in case. Maybe the first month a new video is on the site could be a probational period and after this time if its average rating is not above a certain amount it is automatically deleted from the site otherwise it is allowed to stay permanently. Not sure how this would work, but it's an idea.

John

Great idea! I would say let the registered voters decide what videos should stay and what videos should go. Maybe a thumbs up versus a thumbs down vote.
Just a thought.

I appreciate the suggestions, but I think I have the opposite problem.

I've had lots of people sign up and register, but very few have linked any videos.
I wonder if there is anything I can do to encourage people to take a few moments to reference a few videos.

It will only get better with more videos. Any ideas?

I just added a few of my favorite Tommy Wonder Videos from YouTube. Is it ok for me to add any videos from YouTube or should I just be adding my own? I have only one video of myself on YouTube. It is my solution to the Progressive Ace plot. I'm afraid it is a headless video done in my basement (not my bedroom, thank goodness) on a cheap web cam, but I'm not a teenager and it is a great trick! = ) I think I'll put it on the site and take my chances. = )

John Neely

John,

Thanks so much for posting the Tommy Wonder videos - great stuff.

Unfortunately, within 5 minutes of you posting your own video it was flagged by two other members!

I'm afraid the people have spoken and it has been removed. If you look at all the other videos on there, I think you'll agree your one did stand out as looking suspiciously like a bedroom magician video! Sorry about that. Please keep posting though!

I'm amazed at the speed of the response. Obviously, folks are really keen to keep the place clear of anything that looks like a webcam video. I suppose that is a good thing.

Best,
James

Wow! And I was worried about how you were going to maintain quality control! Knowing my routine was removed five minutes after I posted it makes me feel much better! Well sort of... At least I know all the videos on the webpage will look nice. But as I said in an earlier post some people may have some very good magic to share even if the production quality is poor. Did you even watch the video?!? Here is the link in case you didn't:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nNq893mmf8

It is actually an amazing routine! It is a very beautiful solution to the Progressive Aces, one of the more difficult card plots to solve. I've put hundreds of hours into it (the routine, not the video). It is actually the only Progressive Ace routine I've been able to find on YouTube (and I've spent time looking for them). It is a shame that it couldn't be shared with other magicians who are serious about card magic through AbraTube. AbraTube becomes a webpage full of "pretty" magic videos, but not a tool for serious magicians to share their work with others (unless they hire a production crew to film their routines). Sorry, but I'm quickly losing interest...

What a great idea!This would help us find good quailty magic.

Correction...

It will help us find good quality magic videos.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

John

Great Site, James. I've uploaded a few clips and will upload some more that I consider of interest.

Thanks for this idea,

What a wonderful idea! Just became a member and look forward to uploading some clips soon!

Wonderful idea, James! I've also registered. Now for the long process of putting my own collection up there (and I've got "just a few"!). Give me some time, though, as I've been hospitalized for a deep inner ear infection and just got home. I'm still having dizzy spells and for some reason looking at a computer screen sets off my vertigo.

Excellent site, James. I hope more children's entertainer videos will soon be posted, as there seems like a shortage of good ones in that department.

John,

Please don't take it personally. This is very much a work in progress and it is the very early stages, so let's have a think about how to incorporate your suggestions.

Perhaps one way to avoid people having their feelings hurt is to ask members NOT to post their own videos. That way everyone can be more objective.

And I think you have misunderstood slightly the point of the site. The intention is not for it to be "a tool for serious magicians to share their work with others" as you say.

I want to be able to spend some time with Flosso and Vernon and Cooper. I want to see originality and entertainment and an understanding of audience management. I'm personally not interested in seeing "tricks." I'm more interested in seeing "acts."

But it is a community site - so let's see where it goes!

Please don't give up on it after one day!

Best,
James

James,

Thanks for responding to my comments above. I was very disappointed my video was removed from the site, especialy after only 5 minutes. I guess I did misunderstand your purpose for AbraTube. I still do think there is a place on the site for videos like the one I submited, ones which contain good solid magic but are not necessarily actual performances. I think many magicians would be interested in this. In fact, it is these sorts of videos on YouTube which are so hard to find because there are so many videos like these that contain bad magic. You can locate videos of Tommy Wonder or Fred Kapps on YouTube without any problems. But type in "card tricks" and you are flooded with so much garbage that it is next to impossible to find good magic! This is the problem I was hoping your site could solve. Do you forsee any possibilities of this or is it just not what you were thinking of when you had the idea for the site? Thanks again for your response.

John

I think I can see (although I don't want to assume) where James is going with this. It's almost like a library of sorts. For me, I spend a lot of time "youtubing" to see different ideas. Granted, I'm pretty extreme about not "borrowing" or "stealing" an act. If you aren't an original artist, they why are you doing this? But as far as INSPIRATION, I think seeing these little films helps open up the brain to creating one's own ideas and possibilities. For me, I love to listen to "timing" in comedic performances, and a library like this helps me compare and contrast. I also love to see stage management as well....
Even today I was watching Harry Anderson and listening to his timing and line delivery and learning from it.