Do you care about the history and proper crediting of magic effects? How about straight-up rip-offs (without any alteration whatsoever) being sold under new titles?

I've written warnings about this "creator" before on the cafe and I feel compelled to do so once again as it appears to be the only effective way to tackle this problem.

A few years ago, Geni released Nick Trost's Cards and Dice Prediction (from his book, The Card Magic of Nick Trost) with ZERO alterations but under a new title. I was able to get Penguin Magic to remove it from their site. However, about a year later, he re-marketed it again through Penguin under another new title so that it would fly under the radar. I caught this deception immediately and after posting about it here on the cafe, it was removed from Penguin once again. This deception demonstrates that this person knowingly and brazenly proceeded to attempt to fleece both Penguin Magic and their fellow Magicians once again. Yet he is still allowed to continue flogging his "creations" for sale at Penguin.

And now he is back at it again.

This time he is rebranding Alex Elmsley's Sum Talk of Alexander, (from his book, The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Volume 2 - pg. 171) as "Manumber". Elmsley's title is a tip of the hat to Alexander F. Kraus who contributed an effect in Ibidem #12, December 1957 - titled Sum Total. Later additions to Kraus's effect were added in Ibidem #13 by Tom Ransom and Max Katz. Elmsley doesn't give a timestamp for the creation of his effect, but given the fact that he was a Mathematician and also contributing work to Ibidem at the time (his famous 1002nd Aces appears in the same issue as Kraus's effect), I am willing to bet that he likely conceived his routine shortly after. Here is Elmsley's description of the effect:

Someone is asked to write down any number between one and ten. The performer writes a second digit beside this, forming a two-digit number. This done, the spectator cuts roughly half the cards from a shuffled deck. Both spectator and performer shuffle their halves; then the spectator pulls any card he likes from his half and lays it face-up on the table.

The performer reunites the halves of the pack and, without altering the order of the cards, deals onto the table a number of cards equal to the value of the selection. The last card of the count is turned up and placed with the spectator's card. Then the value of this new card is counted off and the last card of the count turned up. This card is placed with the first two cards, and its value is used to count down in the pack. The procedure is continued until the entire pack has been exhausted.

Now the spectator is instructed to add up the values of the random cards turned up during the deal. That value, strange as it seems, exactly matches the two-digit number chosen in the beginning.

And here is Geni's "Manumber": https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/20467

As one can easily see for themselves, it is exactly the same trick without alteration.

I've not had the energy to go through all of Geni's advertised effects, but I'm sure I could easily find countless other examples of outright theft. Other dealers are also carrying his downloadable "creations". How long is this going to be allowed to continue? This is the third one I've caught from this person and I'm sure there's far more to still be found. If you care even a little about this art, please boycott his "creations" and contact these dealers (especially Penguin) and let your concerns be known; this has to stop and allowing such behaviour only encourages others to follow suit.

Kudos, Sudo!

A quick search on Penguin brings up 83 effects from Geni. He's either a brilliant creator, more prolific than someone like Max Maven...or not.

Whilst Penguin aren't likely knowingly supporting theft, they are, in fact, inadvertently complicit and profiting from it due to a lack of vetting. It's a serious problem which needs to be addressed and I believe this issue is going to become even more common with the passage of time.

I know it's not always an easy task, but when you have an unknown young person with 83 effects released in just a few years and who has already been caught trying to "game the system" twice previously (now a third time), well, it should be obvious how to fix the problem in this situation.

83 released effects in such a short period should be a MASSIVE red flag that something needs closer inspection.

Penguin is in the business to sell and not respect. They are selling a packet trick titled Perfect Wave by Emanuel Sutter, $30 for the cards and his routine... according to the trick description, a B'Wave routine he has been performing for 10 years.

Penguin is no longer one of my go to shops.

If you are going to rip something off, rip off something good. That was one of
the worst trick descriptions I've read.

Geni and Penguin are now on my blacklist. Disgusting.

It looks like they removed the download. Too bad they don't do that with each one offered by him, until they are found to be an original creation or with proper crediting.