Hi ppl,

I am new to this forum.
Juz wanna tell u ppl never to buy from ellusionist.con
Do not waste your money at this con site.
Everything is overpriced.

For eg.
A simple tenkai move is sold at 14.95 US dollars.

Brad Christian is damn gay. He and his team can't think of any good effects.
They just steal from others and change their names without giving due credit.
Check out Brad he puts on so much makeup u think he's some ah gua performing at Changi village.

hahahahh tenkai for 14????? thats crazy.. glad ive never bought a single thing from there :lol:

I only get de'co stuff from E hahaha Ellusionist to us is is cheap but to our singaporean its expensive... hahhahaha. :D

Normally for people who are "kanchong" to buy a product without really research on the subject will always get burnt. The best way to learn magic is to read from books and watch dvd from the "real" pro who are in the industry for more than 10 years. Learn the basic skill rather than short cut of the fancy moves. This is because whatever the fancy move they invent atleast from the basic moves u get a kind of idea of how they do it! In this forum a lot of guy can give u the reference on the books and dvds. From what I see they are good in it too. Well guys keep it up! :lol: :lol:

Big whoopie.

C.

lol... if u read ellusionist FAQ, they explained why their product are expensive :) Actually i have most of their product..lol ;) i dun noe wheather they are good. but i have kard klub which i dunnoe why they features entirely on 2 card monte which is very long(main). Overall ellusionist stuff are for beginners as they dun use magic terms.

I started magic from E. I find that if you are just starting out on magic, Ellusionist video is quiet good. I like the way they present the video.

And yes... I find that they have overpriced their items.

I believe many people (including me) was affected by their marketing gimmik. They tend to link all their videos together. If you got their Crash Course video, you will surely want to get their Ninja video. They will indirectly introduce you their next video.

I've got Kard Klub too. Yes... the whole video is base on the 2 card monte trick. What I like about this video is the teaching of psychology behind magic. Showmanship and stuff.

That is why I prefer their teaching video over penguin's "Born to perform" video.

Their video's are strickly for beginners only. Especially those Blaine wannebe.

-------------------------------------------------

In terms of pricing of their own DVD, I do feel that it is much higher than other dealers...however, after buying their products, one gets the opportunity to gain access into their protective forum....

I have participated in their forum and noted that the people there are very friendly and will try to help you as much as they can...they respond quick and they help to solve your magic problem as best as they can...

Again, in terms of pricing...it is higher comparatively. But I think we should look into the other side of the coin because the prices have actually factored in the forum access which is really helpful...

B)

Hey man I don't think you're allowed to bad mouth ellusionist like that? I dunno man its ok to express opinion but I think telling us not to buy from ellusionist is a bit overkill? Heck anyway here's my opinion on ellusionist products:

The spin change and king rising are the only stuff that I think is really good. The other stuff are kinda... eeeee......you know. And yes I think it is true that ellusionist gets stuff from other dealers and they change the name and sell it off. Example: Turnover pass became Brad Christian 360 pass? Hmmm...... fishy eh? Its exactly the same move.

ya i totally regret buying from ellusionist.com

i feel like i have been cheated of my money, learning tricks that are so basic, they should not need to be taught. also he tries to make the dvd longer in time by talking alot about hjow u should present, how it is a good trick, how u should practise and basically a lot of other crap....


avoid buying from ellusionist.com.. that is my opinion

ok ok...

i think i was a bit frustrated back there...

what i want to say is that if you wawnt to buy dvds do not buy the beginners ones as they teach i feel like too simple tricks. i mean i expected it to be more of a challenge. as for kard klub, half the dvd was spent on 2 card monte which i felt like it was quite unnecessary. i wanted to learn more tricks. i am not saying that 2 card monte is lousy but i think there is too much emphasis in that dvd, that i got a little bored after watching the whole thing.

Ok i tink it is pretty true ellusionist is sort of tricking others out of their money. Darkmagician also told me. On the website he makes everything sound SO impctful and strong... but in the end you will get disappointed (most of the time)

Buy if u must. Remember, it is your choice. Some may say it is all a con. True or not, his tricks are mostly basic, made to look good.

im sorry, but i have to say this (again?)

books are still the way to go! classic, timeless and with a wealth of knowledge. its well worth every cent as u learn much stuff for relatively cheaper prices.

while ellusionist may be overcharging their products (and i agree, and dun have any of their stuff), i think its generally such that videos are ex.

dun be lazy, read magic books!

Gordie, I totally agree with you.

For that reason, PLEASE don't refer others to books. Then we can keep the good stuff for ourselves.

I'm serious.

i dun expect many to take the advice anyway, but for those willing to, they deserve all the knowledge they will get.

but, i assure all concerned that this will be the last time im promoting books as THE learning and reference source for magic. :)

and the irony is u produced a VCD... o.O
i can understand as it is mainly a commercial thing anyway... i wud probably do DVDs over Books (if i do) anyway.

ellusionist.com is for people who are rich and anxious, and wanted to learn magic. i bought the street magic package online when i was small and was a great disappointment after i learn more tricks, haiz. bt some other products like the spongeballs are cheap in ellusionist, as they come in a package, so if you ant to buy from ellusionist, compare the prices with penguin magic first before you order!

ellusionist's videos teach simple things, for a high price. but it is good for beginners to really master the basics, cause they emphasize alot on one pathetic move. but still, it is not really necessary...

also, if you read the description they give for their products, you WILL be tempted to buy them... even a simple move like throw-vanish can be described like god.

their advertising was to the extreme,and i think that is why it gets to most people out there

"EXTREEEMMMMMMMMEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

- skateboard punk from Harold and Kumar

C.

I still find it outrageous to charge 12 US for a Throw Vanish Which is a T***** P***.

Weird ppl who wear eyeliners ... ;)

if it was not because of Ellusionist, i may not have the chance to wanna learn magic so much. they are really good in terms of advertising and marketing their products. brad's teaching is also good. easy to understand :). it may be expensive but it thumbs up from me. i dont like magic to be too complicated.

I guess ellusionist is alright. I only like King Rising and the Spin Change. The rest are average tricks and performances. Something I really hate about Brad is that he exposes the pass to laymen! After he exposes the pass, he does the one handed pass which is a simple < censored >

Damn I feel like running all the way to America with a machete right now. :angry:

huh? when did he expose the pass to laymen? how do u know he exposes the pass to laymen?

He demo the pass during his routine for the las vegas routine. And he show in slow motion how he get the card to the top that fast.

Actually he demo to show the difficulty of the move and then he do a simple move to show the impossible one hand pass.

His purpose is to make the last move a killer move. I feel that it is onli half expose because even if laymen saw the pass, they cant learn it well unless they are guided through the pass.

laypeople do not want to learn how to do it, all they wanna know is how it is done.

but once they even have an idea of how the magic is accomplished, its no longer magic but rather some feat of juggling.

such exposure can not be justified nor defended.

Actually such presentations are not uncommon.
Magician apparently tells the spectator the "method", then proceed to achieve the effect using a completely different method.
Daryl (the magician's magician) does something like that too i think for his ACR. Somewhere along the presentation he shows the spec the classic pass in slow motion, then proceed to use a completely different method to do it. (Don't quote me on this thou, i haven't actually seen him do this but read this in an interview from ultimatemagic.com)

Johnny Thompson also does something like that with his egg bag routine, supposedly teaching the spec how a magician palms the egg away from the bag, before using the real method to make the egg repeatedly disappear and re-appear.

Think it's difficult to say if this is "right" or "wrong".

Brad Christian exposes his pass during his Las Vegas routines.
I feel that magician's who expose their magic before they do it, are trying to show the audience how skilled they are at cards. They might also want to prove that they have practised very hard or something like that. When you expose a move, you're no longer a magician. You're just a card cheat.

Oh and Aloy I don't think Daryl exposes the classic pass/hop in his ACR. I've watched his vid several times and he tricks the spectator by alternating between the 'top change' and 'double lifts'. Thats all I think.

Nick.

BUT, brat (and thats intentional) exposes it so that people will think "wow, this guy is vely pro, can do the move so quickly". what brat does is definitely exposure as it does not even fall into the grey area which u suggested.

on the otherhand, if a sleight is "exposed" to faciliate a sucker/suprise ending, that to me is not really exposure. this is cos the audience go away thinking, "the first method the guy showed was fake, and i was fooled into thinking it was the real one, and i got caught by the ending, hahaha".

but there is a line to draw though. say someone reveals IT and he does an effect that doesnt use it, then its considered exposure.

my (i stress its personal) criteria for non-exposure when a method is revealed:
1. ppl dun go away thinking its the real secret
2. the secret must be either widely known or basic (eg. palming and french drop respectively)

I personally feel that he teach too little as in there is too little content and talk too much...

Some of the things he say i admit is pretty useful, but other than that, it is quite extra and a waste of time... Well thats my opinion.

My opinion is that this site is a good starting point. However, DVDs are much expensive, but it comes with a plus of protective forum...this is the trade off lor...we can't have the best of both worlds

give the site if you hate it, and you may be hurting his feeling.

ps. brad has been doing it for 25 years.... more than the 10 year u said....
i agree that is over price.... but u cant stop ppl from buying... how do u feel if i told
ppl not to buy from ur shop?? if thats the way they make a living... let them be....

He wont feel anything because the thread have been long still for a FEW Months.

And not bad for u bringing back all the old topics.

Y dun u try to post a note into every topic and u can update everything with ur single post.

umm..it seems like that most of the post are out dated
this forums is alittle quite... i guess...
cmon weres the life!!

Mod's note: You have been told to use proper English in your posts and you did not follow the rules. Here's another 10% warning. At this rate you're going, you will easily get banned here, but if you are nice enough to follow the rules, we'll be nice to reduce the warning level.

For goodness sake you don't expect every single topic to stay active forever right? So a dead topic means the forum has no life anymore? I think it is seriously time for you to reconsider your purpose here. Is it just to spam junk posting or are you a walking punching bag for the angry mob here?

If you think that this forum is dead, then do something abt it. But bringing back topic is not going to help it.

Write something useful. Read up a theory and tell us something interesting abt it.

Or tell us ur experience. Ask relevent questions. That should be how u should be learning. Not digging out stuffs.

Oh my.

It pains me to read all the threads.
And while my comments may offend anyone, I 'm hoping it does not.
If it does, I assure you I'm just making a general and personal opinion.

First of all, while the price of their products may be steep...
I believe the newer content they've been producing with others are very well worth the money.

Unlike other DVDs on effects, they usually give a very detailed explanations and added subtleties that most magicians miss out on!

However the reason why they can actually have 1 whole DVD on just the 2CM,
is simply because their focus (and I believe Brad's focus) is on showmanship and presentation.

They're really very particular about how the effect is presented,
and are merely emphasizing how the most effective method would give the best reactions.

And they do give credit to all the creators.
If you have watched the video and not seen any credits to pass creators (eg. in Ninja 1 or CC1) then I'm quite certain you've got it illegally or have a pirated video.

In all the videos I purchased, at each credit they give credit when its due.

I'm in no way a particular supporter of Ellusionist, but i'm just making these comments based on the material i purchase from other providers and publishings...
Be it from Penguin, L&L or whatever...

R™

I actually like ellusionist produced DVDs as I agree that they are well made with good tips on presentation. It is pricy though, and as such I seldom buy from them. But personally, I find the service good- unlike penguin which has given me tons of problems (though they are relatively cheaper).

Ah yes, penguin magic :)

They have more variety and have definitely cheaper DVDs!

I'm more impressed with Ellusionist's customer service actually.
They really go all out to make sure stuff works for ya.

Usually I'd avoid distributers and go straight to the producer's website.
Sometimes you get to know them and befriend them,
and more often than not when they drop by in SG they'll discuss stuff with ya.

R™

Hmm... so whom you have actually chat with?

For me, I have only chat with the most famous on-line dealer in Singapore, owner of The Little Magic Shop----- Ning. She is not too bad, looks pretty and I heard she's quite a famous performer too. :P :lol: