The Genii Forum

Just wondered what percentage of you folk that are Real Secrets subscribers will be renewing. On another forum it seems many won't be. Wondered what your thoughts are on if you think it's worth another year's money...

I probably won't. Still two items to receive, but most of those sent so far are not suitable for me (personally!). I don't perform the kind of magic RS peddle and I don't see any real innovation in their ideas, being re-dressing of old principles. All the material is "clever", but not necessarily "magical". Very little is of use to a professional, but all of their ideas and products are excellent for an amateur or for somebody who performs for colleagues, friends and family.

Best,

I'm renewing. The monthly envelope is a nice stimulus and another way for me to spend some time avoiding real work.

Matt Field

I renewed. I like getting a surprise each month, and one day I'll have some time to have a look at them :)

I cancelled half way through the first year. I was pretty consistently underwhelmed, and, in terms of value, I get a lot more out of each issue of Genii. (In fact, after the funds hit my PayPal account the first thing I did was add another year on my Genii subscription.) My main beef, however, is the same-ness of all the effects. There's a very specific house style to Real Secrets, and I think they should have been a little more upfront at the beginning about what that style is.

Ian Kendall wrote:I renewed. I like getting a surprise each month, ...

Never bought, won't renew. I get a surprise every month when I review my credit card statements.

Besides, I probably get more out of my yearly contribution to the Conjuring Arts Org.($95), from which I can access almost every magic periodical ever published with enough tricks to last many lifetimes.

I enjoy the child-like surprise of getting something every month. Like Marco said it's all re-hashing of old principles but I enjoy the way their take on things stimulate my creative juices. Even on months when the item is "not me" the process and re-dressing is inspiring and helps me in making non-Real Secrets items "mine". I am concerned with the sameness issue Scott mentioned but not enough to turn me off from year two. I feel at some point they will have to re-evaulate the limits of the business envelope approach to propell them beyond year 2. My only regret is not finding out about it early enough to have subscribed in time for month 1.

I would have to say no for mostly the reasons Scott and Marco listed above. The "child-like surprise" left at about issue 4-5.
I think, for the money, I could pick up a few things I would actually use.

I'm going to renew--it's not that much per month and it's kind of fun to see what they come up with.

However, there is something which I think is an even better investment if you are looking for something monthly that will greatly improve your magic:

http://carneymagic.com/store_books.html

I'm renewing. The stuff I've heard coming up for year two sounds amazing.

They would be really stupid to say the contrary...

I do not imagine they say that Year 2 will be bad ...

I will not renew. Real Secrets has been totally underwhelming.

If I miss the Real Secrets experience, I'll order a copy of Self-Working Number Magic by Karl Fulves (readily available used for $1 + postage) and light my other $140 on fire.

This is better than reading the same book already sitting on my shelf because of the child-like surprise of getting something in the mail.

I'm back in for another year. I enjoy it, and particularly appreciate the on-line extras most months.

I probably won't be renewing. BTW has anyone received the January trick yet? I haven't gotten mine yet and we usually get them by this time of the month.

Don't forget, for those who signed up for one year at the very beginning, we are supposed to received a bonus 13th item.

All the tricks that RS has to offer have three things going for them:

(1) Exclusivity
(2) Embedded story-line that allows you to open a group and transition into the trick naturally. People love being caught-up in a story and if they become an integral part of that story, you've hooked them immediately.
(3) Space Management: Packs flat & plays for an assortment of people in various natural environments that you may encounter in your day to day errands around and about town.

Most likely not renewing. I agree with a few posts above in that I haven't found the items to be very magical thus far. All have been something I might show one person at a time, but they are all quite puzzle-like IMO. Nothing so far that I would add into a close-up routine.

Also, though I haven't read anyone else on this particular nit, but many months the write-ups are poorly done. Besides being full of misspellings and grammar errors, some of them have actually had errors in the method itself.

I am also not very fond of how they post some extras or added/corrected instructions on the web site and then remove them. You must continually visit the site or miss them - no history there.

Thank you.

Jim

I will definitely be renewing. I have been told by a reliable source that there are great things coming next year.

Terry

"Great things coming next year?" Like what, a bar betcha with several piles of matchsticks?

Seriously, how does that claim differ from this year, when we were enticed with BIG NAME CONTRIBUTORS and promised MIRACLES EVERY MONTH... which mostly turned out to be very humble math puzzlers?

"Imagine never-before-seen miracles delivered every month directly to your mailbox. Imagine no further Real Secrets is here."

I gave them a $144 chance, and they had 12 months to deliver great things THIS year. They didn't.

They promised jelly beans and receipts. What did anyone expect?

If you signed up, as I did out of faith in some of the people involved, I believe you had to also sign up for "automatic renewal." Anyone know if there is going to be any notice and an alternative NOT to renew? Peace...Fred (Reisz)

I'm going to renew. I like the fact that the effects utilize more real world props that regular people can identify with. As another poster said, we can use these in our more day-to-day, natural environments. I find the creativity refreshing and challenging.

It does auto-renew, but you can then opt out and ask for a refund I believe. I think the price is very fair (a mere $15 a trick) for the 12 monthly items, and the bonus items bring the price down to $7 an item. Except for one or two items (and who could expect to enjoy every single item) I've been well-pleased with my purchase.

Definitely renewing! - I enjoy the monthly surprise in the mail and thinking about presentation ideas. It also often stimulates other ideas about the underlying principles and prompts creative thinking in general. Plus it's just plain fun!

Same here. As of today's mail I haven't received the January offering. The same thing happened in December and they were quick to send me a replacement. I hope the USPS hasn't deleted me for some reason.

I just received the latest installment today, so watch your mail in the next few days if you are still waiting. Kelly, are you waiting for January or February?

JimW I'm waiting for the January installment. They have been arriving around the 25-27th of each month. The December installment, for me, hadn't arrived by the second week of January so I emailed them and they sent a replacement by Priority Mail. The original one never arrived. I'll wait at least another week before contacting them again. I'm very glad to hear that you got yours today. That means mine should arrive any time. Thanks for the reply.

Arrived in Tucson today. Two goodies this month.

Anyone else having trouble with downloading the online portion of this month's offering? There appear to be two files to download and I can't get either to work.

I had no problem with either file Don.

I downloaded all three items (video and two pdf files) and had no problems. Are you sure you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat and you don't have any pop-up blockers turned on?

How do you download the video?

Google it.

Of course....the answer to life, the universe and everything isn't 42...it's google.
I should have known that.
Thanks.

Mark Collier wrote:Of course....the answer to life, the universe and everything isn't 42...it's google.
I should have known that.
Thanks.

There's a cool trick Re: this included with the EMC 2012 DVD's

Got the latest RS in today's mail!! Cool idea!

Just got mine today. Both the "regular" item and the bonus item are excellent. The idea of doing the Hy******* with a s****** is really clever. I'm going to order some refills for that one.

Will the refills spell the famous artist's name correctly on the prop?

Ted M: I believe that may have been done on purpose due to IP issues.

Hmm, I hadn't considered that. I know Dover press is hurting from those works (and so many others) being yanked back under copyright protection. And now I notice that these are redrawn, not the real thing. But they work fine as gestural representations.

Okay, considering it as possibly deliberate, I say: Spell it right or omit it. A misspelling in bold letters is never a wise choice. It calls attention to itself, at least among the literate.

Still, when also considering the missing period after the second initial and the larger context of RS' past history of misspellings, it looks more like editorial sloppiness than a deliberate choice.