I never ask anyone to tip there stuff. I try to come up with different versions. It is very seldom if ever that I will do a trick just like someone else. Recently a person I didn't know instant messaged to ask me if I could tell him where he could buy the ball I use for a my final hat load. It's not a huge deal but I have never seen anyone else use one (I am sure somebody must). So I message and ask him to tell me a little bit about himself and he does. Seems like a decent guy that has put some hours in so I tip it. My message box shows that it has been read but the guy hasn't given so much as a thank you. I'm not hurt or angry but a "thank you " would have been nice. I guess I'm old school but I normally don't tip my stuff. I don't have a lot stuff that I have come up with but like everybody I work on that stuff. I guess I'm making a big deal out of this but I try not to treat people the way I was treated. I don't know, what do you think?

This probably not the appropriate place to put this rant. I apologize.

I think he has poor manners. But people like that usually pay for it. Would you help him next time? No!
I have found most magicians are generous with there knowledge if you show you are working at it and appreciate them . Its like all relating . I personally don't assume a person is of good character unless I know them . I used too, but found that constant let down and abuse can make you bitter. Now I am cautious and once I know someone is a good person , I enjoy being extremely generous.

Yeah! I've been burned a few times! I've become a lot more cautious.

At the SHOWMEN'S LEAGUE CLUB ROOM in Chicago, there is a sign on the wall. It says, simply: "YOU CANNOT SMARTEN UP A CHUMP!"

I have been taken multiple times here on the Café by members, mostly kind of new. There was this on guy who just needed to know how Channing Pollock did his double dove productions. He would not stop posting or PM-ing me. He sounded like he was a dove worker, and lied out his ***. Anyway, I finally gave in, and like a shot, he disappeared. Never to return again. That is all he wanted to know is the method. He worked hard at lying and giving some things, so he sounded like he was into dove magic.

These guys go to no lengths it seems.

I used to want to know all the secrets. Part of me still does. But I find that what I now really want is the little hints and tips that only come from the guys who have been doing this for ages. Five years ago, I would have gotten very little from a lot of what Dick and Bill have to say. Now, I look forward to their posts because there are times when one sentence makes a little light go on over my head and I get a better idea of what performing is.

I think I have always thanked anyone who gave me information via PM, but I know I have not adequately thanked people for their open posts. So, here goes:

Dick and Bill (only in that order because that is the order in which you posted above), thank you both for participating here. You both make a difference. You both can come across as grouchy at times, but I have learned to actually appreciate that in my own odd little way because it means you are trying to say something and others in a thread are not getting it. I have learned from both of you, though I can't really describe what I have learned. I just get a better sense of how a real performer thinks. And that's much more valuable than any of the "secrets" of magic. Thank you both.

-Patrick

Hey Patrick!

You (and your comments just above) are "why" I joined this "motley crew", a few years ago!

I was fortunate, as a teenager, to become friends with several "old pro's" who became mentors. That word wasn't used much, back in the '40s, but, "it" happened, and, I would never have progressed, as far, and as fast, without their counsel!

C. Thomas Magrum (Clem)was an old bachelor who had grown up in a somewhat dysfunctional family. He started on the road during the Great Depression, working C.C.C. Camps (like the "Job Corps" today). He was highly skilled, and, shared "stuff" with me, that he shared with no one else.

Roy and Bernice Mayer had two sons about my age. (They became my "second parents"!) Roy was also a "sleights" guy. I learned a lot of subtle techniques from him!

Both were on the road, playing school assemblies. We communicated with hand written letters. It would take a month for their letters to be received (3 cent stamps)and my answer, ditto! (The internet didn't exist in the '40s, and '50s.)

Learning from them, I've tried, over the years, to help deserving young lads. As I wrote above, there have been a couple disappointments, but, a number of them are now full timers, and, doing well. Others are avid amateurs, who are "passing it along"!

I (and, I'm sure that Bill, also) appreciate(s) your kind thoughts. It's always good to hear nice things about oneself!