Real Magic, No Crap

The magic blogging community is, to put it mildly, very interesting and very eccentric. It's not very difficult to set off a veritable blogging war by mentioning anything that in someway criticizes someone or something in the magic community.

Take Steve Pellegrino and his match with Magic Whack, for example. By the end of this battle, it was like East Coast vs. West Coast, anonymous bloggers vs. public bloggers. Much (dare I say, too much?) digital ink was spilled over the issue across countless blogs.

There does, however, exist some a few bloggers who know how to write constructive criticism and ever fewer who know how to respond to it. There was a post on this blog concerning Real Magic Reviews that addressed some of its flaws and an invitation for the blogger to respond in kind.

He (or she?) did. And he did it in a positive and respectable fashion.

Hold on. Read that again.

Someone in the magic community responded to criticism by maintaining his cool and fixing his errors. Better start developing popsicles for demons because Hell just friggin' froze over.

The blogger behind Real Magic Reviews publicly addressed the criticism, acknowledged it himself, and strove to better his blog for it. I applaud him for it.

Here's the e-mail he sent me:

Hello Pagliacci, this is the blogger behind Real Magic Reviews. Thanks for bringing attention regarding my posts. There are a few points I wish to make. Feel free to post them on your blog:

1. The term "if-I'm-....-done" yes, I agree it sounds wrong. Further rereading it makes it sound kind-a-stupid and uneducated on my part. A wrong choice of words on second thoughts. If any of the guys who read that thinks I am a bastard that disrespects magical creativity and likes thrashing people's idea let me apologise first. That is not the case. I love magic and I respect individuals who spent labour and time inventing new concepts. Why did I wrote that phrase then in the first place? At that time I guess I was really sick with some of the stuff I got - dealer hype, overspent, etc. But I am sure most will agree; sometimes you get so worked up getting junk out of your hard earned money you feel like doing a favor telling all the magicians you know not to get conned.

2. Yes, my blogs are biased and will be biased. Maybe biased is a strong word. My intention is to bring out the negative (not weakness) aspects of items out there. Those who want to read the good stuff can go somewhere else or read the effect out of the dealers' ad. A negative or positive opinion is individual. While some or rather most would agree that Kenton Knepper's stuff sucks he has his loyal supporters too. In this particular example don't expect to see good reviews on Kenton's stuff, because personally I dislike them, not that I have anything personal against him.

3. You're right again. Maybe the term "Real Magic Reviews" is not that appropriate for the reviews I made so far. It should be something like "Bad Reviews" or "Bad Points of It" etc. Something to consider - maybe readers of my blog will benefit more if I highlight some positive side of the effects as well as to reach an informed decision (but as I said they can read the good stuff from full script on a dealers ad so don't expect too much).

Verdict: I'll continue to post my reviews as it is, and yes I'll take up your suggestion to incorporate the good side of it (if there is and if I think it deserves it). Coincidentally I posted Midori by Phil Goldstein (before I read your post) and I did mention some good stuff about it. As to an ocaasional 'real' good review,...hmmm why not.

Thanks again.

Cheers

See guys? There are people out there who realize that criticism, when framed constructively, is a useful tool. Too many people in the magic community don't recognize that not all criticsm represents a personal attack.





Jeez, I sound like fucking Escamoteurettes. My bad. Here are some boobies:



Ah... much better. By the way, swing over to Real Magic Reviews - it's worth your attention (that is, if your attention is still not on those breasts).

[NOTE: Hey, that naked woman is Shawnee Cates - another star of Little Magicians. In fact, she's the one with the wizard's hat on the video and DVD covers. What a coinky-dink!]