Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgW3gc8BuDQ

He is meant to have 3 cards in his hand, and does an Elmsley (for a change) showing 4 cards.

Here's the question: did he not realise there was meant to be three, filmed it, edited and didn't catch it or did he realise and do it on purpose. if the latter, WHY?

Never seen this one .. :-D


I guess we don't need any more evidence about the fact that Paul Gordon isn't the great magician he likes to think he is ...

:-)

Mark

For anyone who knows Paul Gordon’s material…

This is classic Paul Gordon.

Exactly ...
For the series ... how to ruin a perfect trick by "improving" it ...

Mark

That was funny. This does seem like a step backwards from "improving". I like Paul Gordon's stuff. I have some of his tricks, and I think they are well produced. The companion teaching videos are also well done.

Haha good catch! Pauls so used to doing elmsley counts he can't help himself

The man has made a 30+ year living - with just a pack of cards.

The guy has lectured to magic clubs and at conventions, all over the World.

He's written and sold thousands of magic books since the 1980's.

What's your 'claim to fame' within the Magic Community exactly?

To everyone else whinging - if you know the modus operandi here, you'd be aware that there are alternatives other than an E.C. Then again, if you actually worked professionally for the paying public, you'd be aware that such discrepancies fly under the radar anyway. There is a world of difference between performing something live for spectators; and a clip on Youtube that can be rewatched countless times.

To this end, instead of finding fault with a working professional, maybe your time could be more meaningfully spent assessing your own performances on camera?

By all means share the links - I'd love to see what you can do.

Sorry for side tracking a bit, but I really do hate when magician says "These thing fly by with spectator".

I don't care if you are working professional, amateur or just want to "entertain" the audience, if you overlook the detail like this, I will not be comfortable having you handle the more difficult tasks.

sure, things do fly by with spectator, so as a odd stroke of paint on a near perfect painting, and a inharmonious note in a harmonious orchestra.

No wonder layman has bad impression on Magic as a whole.

This whole thread makes me laugh. hahhahahha. Paul Gordon isn't crying. If you are a pro, you can throw some junk out of the trunk, or let it slip.......
as if the spectators are going to notice? rarely. hehe.

It definitely seems like a case of Elmsley autopilot. Sure minor discrepancies go unnoticed by most spectators, but there’s absolutely no reason to intentionally count 4 cards when there are supposed to be 3. It adds nothing to the effect. It seems he made an honest mistake, at least I hope. I’m sure we’ve all done something similar at some point in our lives. Vernon said it best - “What is the effect?”

Here in the UK a while back the supermarket Sainsburys had signs saying "Open everyday". It should be "every day". This is unprofessional - no matter how good their products, prices, and service may be.

I like Paul Gordon (i.e. his persona) and I like a lot of his material. I've got no interest in bashing him. But he does himself a disservice by posting a video with a silly mistake in it, no matter how successful a magician he is.

If the benchmarks are grammar and spelling, not many “pros” seem to frequent the Café.
If a person’s character and body of work are to be judged by one small slip, we’re all in trouble.
It’s just a card trick, let’s lighten up a little.
Heck, he may have done it just to screw with you guys.

This is not the first thread I've seen bashing Paul. There seems to be a subculture of folks here on the Café who really dislike him. Serious question: why is that?

Are some of his tricks derivative? Yes, but you can say that about most magicians.

I have one or two of his DVDs. They show performances for real people. Some of his tricks are quite good. In fact, The Gordon Diary has garnered praise from respected professionals as has his Corner of Piccadilly. He does come across as a bit arrogant in some of his live performances, but so do other magicians.

Really, why all the hate?

CardGuyMike said...

"This is not the first thread I've seen bashing Paul. There seems to be a subculture of folks here on the Café who really dislike him. Serious question: why is that?"

Lots of reasons, none of which I care to even guess at. The short answer is simply because they can.

It happens to several other magicians, some of which are still active here and others who aren't.

And it is a shame.

In Pauls defence he has said in the past that there is a discrepency but its not noticed when performed live.

Course it flies, YES, you are meant to have 3 cards and YES you count 4, but while your busy ENTERTAINING people with funny patter and stuff, they just don't notice.

Hater's gonna hate! LOL

Oh wow. I wish I had the intellect to mock the man with more books on the market than I have ever even managed to read on the subject I am pretending to be a genius on.
Pair of witless goons.
Paul Gordon will no doubt be throwing in the towel immediately when he hears about this indictment!

Things in this thread cooled down. No need to stir the coals.

Without wishing to further stir things, does anyone know anything about Jamy Ian Swiss's beef with PG? In a more recent adjunct to his originally pretty decent review of Nocturnal Creations, he wrote this (referring specifically to words he wrote about The Gordon Diary):

"NOTE 2020: One of the worst errors of my reviewing career were these words, "superb solution," which not only have this supremely talentless performer widely and repeatedly recycled to be forever attached to my name and his product, without my permission, but in fact it has since come to light that the method was unarguably the creation of Simon Aronson."

How can this not stir things up again? You are just laying out bait for Gordon haters. Personally I couldn't care less who Mr. Swiss likes or dislikes. What does that matter to me?