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Vick Inner circle It's taken me 10+ years to make 1120 Posts |
Am posting this here as some of the other sections may by read by more experienced people in the art so they know this already
.... hopefully this will give you some perspective. Or at least something for consideration. This was spurred by an email I received this evening from the best Magic shop I've been privileged to frequent and about how that shop may have to consider closing. These thoughts has been playing around my mind for a bit now so .... Lately I've been thinking one of the biggest challenges magic faces is money How some will sell out, sell knock off, blatant rip offs of known better quality materiel. Only selling poor quality material at the cheapest price. Selling out of Mom's basement or their garage, with an auction site storefornt They can't give you the real scoop on anything or anyone in the industry. What is was like back then or what the future is going to be like Because they don't have the real world experience, they've never worked a stage in Vegas, on Broadway, in clubs large or small, for Fortune 500 Corporations or schlepped through an entire tour Without that, they can't tell you how an effect will play on stage, any cues on presentation or blocking or who to watch do the effect They can't share with you what the best book is .... ... because they have never had to read it, learn the material and take the show live. Not having that experience and trying to sell magic is criminal and if that's what you are going to buy from your magic will never be the best it can Do you think that is how art is created? In a basement with an auctionsite store front What's worst is the buyer who only cares about price and doesn't consider quality and supporting the hard workers, the inventors and innovators in the industry. When you don't ... you lose the hard workers, the inventors and innovators in the industry (read "Atlas Shrugged") Your act will never be the best if you only buy the cheapest. Buying the cheapest can cost you more, much, much more! When you have to buy the better quality item after the cheaply made in China, India or wherever brakes and you get no service When your show doesn't get booked because it looks cheap..... because you bought cheap When your don't get return bookings because your equipment failed at critical moment ... because you bought cheap The worst is when you lose access to great minds with an amazing amount of experience only they have and are willing to share......... because you bought cheap ... HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST?!
Unique, Thought Provoking & Amazing Magical Entertainment Experiences
Illusions By Vick Blog of a real world working magician Magic would be great, if not for magicians |
gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3526 Posts |
Couldn't have put it better myself, Vick. As a performer blessed to have access to a world class magic shop less than 3 miles from my home, I would never even consider choosing to shop at one of the discount online stores unless there was no way that Joe (at http://www.misdirections.com ) could get something specific for me...
I see people at the local club who always buy their stuff online, and who, consequently, get no advice or support for their performances -and it shows. Make the effort, seek out the nearest magic shop. Even if it's a long drive, it'll be worth it. Even if the tricks cost a little more, it'll be worth it.
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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Vick Inner circle It's taken me 10+ years to make 1120 Posts |
Spot on Gaddy and thanks
I live about 20 miles from Denny's here in Maryland and am extremely luckly Fortunately everyone can share that luck because most days Denny himself answers the phone at the shop and is there to help http://www.dennymagic.com Have read good things about Misdirections, think I was checking their site recently in search of a rare book
Unique, Thought Provoking & Amazing Magical Entertainment Experiences
Illusions By Vick Blog of a real world working magician Magic would be great, if not for magicians |
octave Regular user 172 Posts |
I would really love to have a store like Denny in India. I'm forced to buy online and have never experienced a brick and mortar magic shop so far in my life. I admit I look for deals the cheaper the better, all kinds of coupon codes cause I need to save every cent I can.
But I have never bought a knock off or counterfeit product in my life as well. Most of my book/dvd purchases have been after a few days of research wading through the table of contents and reviews/posts and one cannot trust testimonials these days. Most of the products released these are updated handling of the same old classic effects. Had I gone to Denny's he would have just handed me the Tarbell course and sent me off and I would not have needed to spend a single penny for the next few years . In the end those who know what they are missing will be saddened by the current trend, others like me are plain ignorant. -octave |
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Well, the one B & M magic shop in Maine is listed as:
The Magic Shop 8 Green Street, #2 Augusta, ME And they are no longer. Yet, there are plenty of magicians in Maine! I.B.M. Ring 362, is right here in Bangor! I believe the closest brick & mortar magic shop is Boston. Great city, but I have not managed to travel that far, these days. Hank Lee's was the shop I used to visit when in Boston. I believe Phil Goldstein was one of the magicians who worked there. The last time I visited them, they were on Lincoln St. They're now in Medford. Long time ago! I miss those days. Doug |
QED New user Alexandria, VA 74 Posts |
Vick, I too use Denny... I live in northern Virginia and will gladly drive the 70 plus miles to his shop. If I need to buy something, I will wait the couple of weeks until I can make it there or have him ship it to me. He is a top shelf straight dealer with the best advice. He has never given me bad advice just for the sake of making the sale. Ultimately he has saved me a ton of money by steering me to the right thing for ME, often at the loss of a larger sale. I will continue to support him as long as he is in business, which will hopefully be for a looong time to come.
Hope to bump into you there sometime... and talk about "whatever". can't do THAT at an online shop ;-)
David Quidas
Alexandria, VA I'm here to tell ya, and I don't mind tellin' ya, but I ain't sayin' nothin', if ya know what I'm sayin'... |
UnderYourNose New user 14 Posts |
@gaddy - I'm jealous. I love Misdirections, but I'm 65 miles away. I used to have Steve Dawson's Magic Touch in Milpitas, but those doors closed up long ago. *sigh* Still, I will be striving to make more regular pilgrimages up that way whenever I can. I don't yet have a rapport with Joe, but I feel lucky that the resource is there, even if it's 65 miles away.
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diehards2080 Loyal user Brooklyn, New York 256 Posts |
That's why I support my local magic shops Fantasma and Tannens or any store that is brick and motar. I go there every week on wed to puchase items.
The internet for every business has been either a curse or a blessing. For most a curse. I have seen tons of local shops close due to the internet store fronts having cheaper prices and not just the magic community. I recently was discussing this with my mentor. You cannot beat the first hand exp with a person. You cant put a value on that. I remember being at Tannens a few weeks ago and I ask about a card wallet. I was there for 30 min talking about card wallets and the sales person trying to find a wallet to fit what I needed even though I wasnt going to purchase it that day. I bought RCT from Fantasma and I stood there with David Roth and Simon Lovell going through the book before and after I purchase it. The 10- 20 dollars I could save going on the net is no way near worth the time spent with these people. I forgot who said it I think it was Marlo but he said if you want to be a great magician you must surround yourself with great magicians. Cant do that on the internet. |
UnderYourNose New user 14 Posts |
Quote:
I forgot who said it I think it was Marlo but he said if you want to be a great magician you must surround yourself with great magicians. Isn't that the beauty of the Café? |
diehards2080 Loyal user Brooklyn, New York 256 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-09-29 18:17, UnderYourNose wrote: Yes that is the beauty part of the Café. There are tons of great magicians on here who give great info and their exp but IMO there is no exp than first hand one on one exp with that person. Kind regards, Mike |
UnderYourNose New user 14 Posts |
I totally agree with you, Mike. There's no replacement for physical interaction, and there never will be. I think that both this forum and a B & M shop have their own unique merits, though. A shop gives you real world feedback on technique, etc, but even on a good day, you won't have more than, what, 10-12 helpers/critics? And I think that's generous. Whereas, here on the Internets, we have instant collaboration with thousands of people across the world.
And that's all. I'm not trying to minimize the value of either, I'm just sensitive to seeing the Internet cut down because it variates from the what the norm is in the magic world. My 2 pennies, and no more. |
Cyberqat Inner circle You can tell I work on the net from my 2209 Posts |
The Café and the interent have given me a far wider access to both advice and stores then I would otherwise have. And I think the internet has been a blessing to at least soem brick and mortar who have adapted to it.
Really, to my mind, internet sales is just the latest version of catalog sales which have been a mainstay of the industry for a long time. So while I DO wish I had a "Flosso/Hornman" to visit and hang out at again, I will be the maverick and say that I see nothing inherently wrong with internet sales.
It is always darkest just before you are eaten by a grue.
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DWRackley Inner circle Chattanooga, TN 1909 Posts |
I do my "shopping" on the Internet, because it's easy to find specifically what I'm looking for, and usually find some things I didn't know about. But I want my local shop to stay around, because it offers a value beyond simple price.
On the Internet, I can't handle it before I buy it. I can't look at it from all sides. Can't really even tell how big it is. I can't bring in my stuff from home to see if it fits together like I hope. I also can't get live feedback in the forms of "Am I doing this right?" or "How does that work again?" So I'll keep paying higher prices for items I could get from China, because of the one thing I can't get from China, the personal touch. I still have to buy much of my stuff online, because Barry doesn't have it or can't get it in time, but he always gets first shot at my business.
...what if I could read your mind?
Chattanooga's Premier Mentalist Donatelli and Company at ChattanoogaPerformers.com also on FaceBook |
StephenP Regular user 103 Posts |
Thanks, Vick! I will definitely take that advice. Starting from square one it can be hard to figure out what is original and what is a knock-off, but absent a store I can get to more often, the words of wisdom and advice I've found here in the past weeks have been invaluable.
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