More Magic Crapé

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Apparently kissdadookie has responded to my last post on the Magic Cafe. I haven’t read it because… well… because I don’t really give a shit. There are a ton of people on the Cafe I disagree with, but I don't have the time to argue back and forth with them. And besides, that style of performance that he is advocating—a style predicated on you assuming your audience is too stupid to put two and two together—is not even worthy of debate, in my opinion. It's really a mindset that has held back magic for a century. Out-of-touch performers, underestimating the people they perform for, and alienating their audiences. It doesn't bother me that kissdadookie or anyone else wants to perform in this way. I think it's great. It makes me look so much better by comparison. Keep doing what you're doing.

Regarding Decibel. Like most every other trick it has flaws. That doesn’t mean it's bad. But it’s hard to address those flaws when you have your head in the sand. Or—as is apropos in the case of kissdadookie, someone whose screen-name glorifies the fecal-oral route— your head up your ass. 

Speaking of Classic Cafe, the Cafe has been deleting posts and entire threads in order to protect someone they deem above the usual riffraff on that site… just like the good old days!

Here is one of the emails I received on the subject:

Bob Cassidy (I’m still a fan) has written, or so he claims, an ebook on drawing dupes. Only 50 copies available. They would be sent 5 days after he received payment because he had to encode some security measures into each book. In a couple of days, the book was sold out, but up until now no one has received it.

His excuses: a flood in his apartment, an abduction, and a cold. Multiple times he promised to deliver in a couple of days. Some buyers became unhappy (including me) and we posted our thoughts in the thread where he posted the first announcement. It was already 5 pages long. This thread is now gone (but still in Google’s archives), just as our questions on his facebookpage.

So, legendary mentalist, Bob Cassidy says he has already written an ebook on drawing dupes. 50 are available and they’ll be sent out a few days after those 50 are sold. The 50 then get sold and now it’s weeks later and there’s no sign of the ebook anywhere and any questions about it on the Cafe are immediately deleted. 

Now look, I have no problem with the Cafe deleting threads about this site. I like it. They’re doing me a favor. They’re just reinforcing my brand. Those goofballs. It would be like if I worked for Gatorade and some fan of the drink left a bunch of bottles of Gatorade on a table at the mall. And then the people at the mall were like, “Haha, we’ll show you! We’re going to go out and quench a bunch of people’s thirst with this Gatorade!” It’s like, yeah, that’s the point. The fact that the Cafe still deletes threads about this site is a point of pride for me. Keep at it dumdums. 

The Bob Cassidy ebook release is probably completely legit. And he has probably just had some unforeseen setbacks. That’s all fine. But what makes it not seem fine is when there is a policy in place on the Cafe to delete any posts/threads that question what’s going on. Then it seems sketchy as fuck. And it boggles my mind that Bob Cassidy, whose career is theoretically based on understanding how people think, doesn’t get this. Asking the Cafe to delete threads that might raise some concerns or put you in a not-so-great light is one guaranteed way to be seen as being not on the up and up. 

The correct way to deal with this situation—the correct way to deal with any situation where you fuck up—is to just mea culpa all the way and then go about making it right. To try and cover your tracks and delete any evidence of your transgressions, those are the actions of a scumbag. (Which I don’t believe Bob is. And he is certainly free to clarify the situation with me if he wants and I’ll post it here.)

The Cafe certainly has the ability to control the narrative in these sorts of situations. They can delete posts to make it seem like certain things never took place and certain promises never were made. But that seems like a monumentally douchey thing to do for a site that claims to be about "magicians helping magicians." 

I would like to encourage people in Bob's situation to take corrective actions rather than evasive ones in these types of situations, so I have a new policy here. Any time the Cafe chooses to delete a thread to cover for someone, rather than let the details of the situation remain for all to see, I will make a post about the situation on my site. So, if you’re going to petition the Cafe to remove any posts that make you look bad, you’ll be rewarded with a post here talking about how you’re getting the Cafe to remove posts that make you look bad. And guess what… this site has more readers than any given Cafe thread. And the posts have more longevity. So you’re shooting yourself in the dick if that’s the route you take.

I'm just a magician helping magicians.

Do any of you who have paid for a “Broadcast Message” on the Cafe remember how much it costs to have Steve send out your ad copy in order for it to be immediately deleted by every member of the Cafe? I’ve always been curious about that.