Jeff Busby Passes Away

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 21st, 2014, 11:58 am

Busby's effect was a torn and restored card trick, in the middle of which he had an effect similar to Card Warp--the card was torn the same way, however no exterior card was used. I believe he pushed the card through his fist. Roy Walton took the basic idea and turned it into one of the most popular effects in magic.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 21st, 2014, 12:32 pm

his routine was to patter about the fourth dimension - take a card, fold it then do the warp display a couple of times then tear it to show half one way and half the other way. The halves are torn again and a restoration phase done first using tape and then "magic". Not a fan of the tape and handkerchief aspects of the trick but the "warp" is there at the start.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 21st, 2014, 1:20 pm

Yes, it's a Torn and Restored card trick, as I wrote.

And it uses the torn half and half card, as I wrote.

It does not use the cover card and was, and has been, generally ignored except as the inspiration for Roy Walton's "Card Warp."

Does Busby use the word "warp"? If not, then the "warp" was not there from the beginning.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Jeff Pierce Magic » February 21st, 2014, 2:41 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:It does not use the cover card and was, and has been, generally ignored except as the inspiration for Roy Walton's "Card Warp."

Does Busby use the word "warp"? If not, then the "warp" was not there from the beginning.


Richard, any proof that it was generally ignored by the magic community, or is that just your obvious hatred for the man talking? Any idea if the reviews were positive or negative?

All I can say is thank God at least one person did not ignore it.

I'll check my copy when I get home about the "warp" reference in the manuscript.

Jeff Pierce

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 21st, 2014, 4:02 pm

The proof that it was generally ignored is that I never heard anyone discuss the routine, or saw anyone perform it, until after Roy Walton's CardWarp came out, when the routine started to be referenced as the inspiration for Walton's idea.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Jeff Pierce Magic » February 21st, 2014, 4:34 pm

But it's still in print and being being sold today, that must account for something.

http://midwestmagic.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=400

Jeff

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bill Mullins » February 21st, 2014, 5:01 pm

Maybe that supply exceeds demand?

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Marco Pusterla » February 21st, 2014, 5:12 pm

"Into the 4th Dimension" was published by Lloyd E. Jones in 1973 and required four duplicate cards to perform the whole routine. The first phase of the routine was the "card warp" effect, where a card folded in half and slid behind the fingers, turned inside-out for half of its length.

Of it, Busby said:
The first effect in the routine is an original and embodies a new principle in magic. Nowhere have I ever seen or heard of a card turning itself inside out. It certainly has puzzled every magician that I have shown it to. The necessity of getting rid of the gaff made the second effect follow naturally after the first.


The second effect is - I assume - the torn and restored card, which got rid of the gaff. The card that "turned itself inside out" would be stroked again and turned again "the right way out" - another effect, but I don't think it's what Busby intended as "the second" one.

Walton published a full routine using a second card in place of the hand, the same effect as Busby's first phase (two "turns") and a (very clever) finale, but Busby had stated in the pamphlet:
...the first phase can be used successfully as a trick on its own if the card (which is of no use anyway, having been folded) is torn into pieces for "souvenirs" to hide the gaff. The trick can be done impromptu by tearing a card neatly but secretly as in instructions.


Walton's idea was to use a second card, folded along the long edges, to give the trick greater visibility (rather than hiding the card behind the hand as Busby explained) and to create a logical and powerful display at the end. I've got somewhere Davenport's original instructions for Card Warp (where???) but I can't find them now: I don't remember if Walton credited Busby for it (he may have, but without checking, don't take my word for it).

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Joe Pecore » February 21st, 2014, 5:59 pm

Marco Pusterla wrote: I've got somewhere Davenport's original instructions for Card Warp (where???) but I can't find them now: I don't remember if Walton credited Busby for it (he may have, but without checking, don't take my word for it).
-- Marco


From the original manuscript:

NOTE:
This effect uses a principle originated by Jeff Busby and described in his manuscript "Into the 4-th Dimension... .and Beyond". I would also like to thank Mr.Gordon Bruce for his excellent line drawings, which I am sure will allow anyone to easily learn the sequence of actions without difficulty.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Alan Bursky » February 27th, 2014, 7:18 am

The truth is the truth, dead or alive.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Kendrix » March 28th, 2014, 6:00 pm

Well, it didn't take long after I posted my problems with Mr. Busby and agreeing 100% with Richard that the haters on the Green Forum started to attack. I love it when people chime in when they have no idea of what they are talking about. Also, I was scolded that I wasn't asked to comment. That's really rich. I guess a Discussion forum isn't what it used to be.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bill Marquardt » March 29th, 2014, 1:09 pm

And the funny part is that the guy who insulted Richard is now asking everyone to just let the topic rest. Don't you just love open forums?

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » March 29th, 2014, 5:41 pm

I posted some stuff on the Magic Cafe about what a low life scoundrel and crook Busby was, and boy did those bastards pile on me quick. Ha!
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Brad Henderson » March 30th, 2014, 2:24 pm

link?

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Jonathan Townsend » March 30th, 2014, 5:33 pm

Brad Henderson wrote:link?


Is that an invisible thread magic cafe joke?
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Brad Henderson » March 30th, 2014, 7:31 pm

it is now

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bill Marquardt » March 30th, 2014, 8:39 pm

Link:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view ... &forum=188

There really is not a whole lot to see there.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » March 30th, 2014, 9:46 pm

I just threw a little more dirt on his grave.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bill Mullins » June 12th, 2017, 3:16 pm

Ever since Busby died, I've been wondering what would become of his book collection, which had a number of very interesting items (although some apparently were of dubious provenance . . .). I even tracked down his widow's work phone number to ask about it, but never got as far as making the call.

Potter & Potter recently released a catalog of (mostly non-magic) books and manuscripts, and near the end is an advertisement for an Aug. 19 auction of "The Collection of Jeff Busby".

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 12th, 2017, 3:59 pm

Yes, all of Busby's stuff will be for sale.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Chris Aguilar » June 12th, 2017, 4:06 pm

Jeff Pierce Magic wrote:...

All I can say is thank God at least one person did not ignore it.

I'll check my copy when I get home about the "warp" reference in the manuscript.

Jeff Pierce

It looks like Jay Sankey had some fun with his "one card" Busby inspired variant ("Definitely Warped" 100% Sankey, p.9, 1990)

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bob Farmer » June 12th, 2017, 4:16 pm

I'll have to publish my Cardwarp routine at some point. Part of it is a single card version and the handling is smooth and angle-proof.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 12th, 2017, 4:40 pm

Sankey's idea was an interesting one: he uses a rubber band around the center of the card, which has been folded in quarters lengthwise. This lets him use a Paddle Move.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Chris Aguilar » June 12th, 2017, 4:52 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:Sankey's idea was an interesting one: he uses a rubber band around the center of the card, which has been folded in quarters lengthwise. This lets him use a Paddle Move.

His use of a similar method for a card based version of "Jumping Gems" (also in 100% Sankey) is also pretty clever.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Ted M » June 12th, 2017, 5:30 pm

Bob Farmer wrote:I'll have to publish my Cardwarp routine at some point. Part of it is a single card version and the handling is smooth and angle-proof.


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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby erdnasephile » June 12th, 2017, 8:57 pm

Bill Mullins wrote:Ever since Busby died, I've been wondering what would become of his book collection, which had a number of very interesting items (although some apparently were of dubious provenance . . .). I even tracked down his widow's work phone number to ask about it, but never got as far as making the call.

Potter & Potter recently released a catalog of (mostly non-magic) books and manuscripts, and near the end is an advertisement for an Aug. 19 auction of "The Collection of Jeff Busby".


It will be very interesting to watch the auction--Busby used to talk about rare manuscripts and such in his Epoptica and short sheets (I wonder if all of the Fred Braue and Frank Csuri stuff he mentioned will be in there). Should be an interesting cup collection as well.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 12th, 2017, 11:10 pm

The Frank Csuri stuff has been floating around in Xerox copy form for years. Most of it has been long published.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Q. Kumber » June 16th, 2017, 4:34 pm

Bob Farmer wrote:I'll have to publish my Cardwarp routine at some point. Part of it is a single card version and the handling is smooth and angle-proof.


I'll have to publish mine too. It has the best ending of any such routine to date.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Jonathan Townsend » June 16th, 2017, 4:49 pm

Didn't we go through this a few years ago with the Cardwarp Tour book?
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 16th, 2017, 11:33 pm

I have the most incredible, fabulous, and devastating Card Warp routine ever created by man.
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby erdnasephile » June 17th, 2017, 8:24 am

I do not wish to open old wounds, but has Michael Weber ever officially published his Card Warp ending?

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Leonard Hevia » June 17th, 2017, 11:21 am

A few years ago I acquired from Busby's widow a Michael Skinner business card from his days as the house magician at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. I guess she has now decided to sell the rest of the collection at Potter & Potter. Glad I got that business card early.

Farmer should publish his version of Card Warp, a trick that the late Mike Rogers considered more of a puzzle.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Jonathan Townsend » June 17th, 2017, 6:37 pm

erdnasephile wrote:I do not wish to open old wounds, but has Michael Weber ever officially published his Card Warp ending?


:(
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bob Farmer » June 18th, 2017, 12:52 pm

Richard is correct but only if he's doing my routine.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 18th, 2017, 1:01 pm




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bob Farmer » June 19th, 2017, 9:58 am

The Statute of Limitations limits any legal claim, but you'd think that the Busby estate might offer to reimburse the 300 subscribers to the Braue Notebooks who got ripped off (including me). We should start a list. Keep in mind that Busby never had the right to publish any of the Braue material (I asked Braue's daughter), so by rights all that stuff, if it's in the Potter & Potter auction should be returned to the family and left unsold.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bob Farmer » June 19th, 2017, 10:43 am

Busby was well known for his rants and attacks. At one point, Hank Lee put out a trick that Busby claimed exclusive rights too. Busby issued a crazed notice about this and when I got mine, I just couldn't help myself and wrote a parody. I'd post it here as an attachment but I can't seem to get attachments to work, so here's the text (no picture, but imagine an Wal-Mart greeter with a clown nose). Here's the notice.

Jeff Blusterby Magic Inc.

The Blowhard Building,
612 Greedy Street,
Bigasabus, Idaho 83873 U.S.A.

Send Us Your Money,
Any Way You Can
(credit card, fax, telex,
Compuserve, MCI Mail)
Don’t Ever Call Us Again

AN OPEN LETTER ABOUT PANCHO PEDRO’S RUBBER NOSE

Dear Magician:

In Thaumarcanepoptica #12,387 (Winter Extra For March, 1926, published January, 1995) noted legal beagle, David Smarty talked about his obsession with cross-dressing as Dell O’Dell and doing a rhyming patter act with a mongoose and a banana.

In that same issue, we released Pancho Pedro’s Rubber Nose — a new and wonderful item that actually allows you to change your appearance by simply affixing a false rubber nose to your face! I know that I don’t have to explain to the class of customers that read this sheet that the false nose is placed over your real nose and stuck there with a bit of secret adhesive (“Adhero” — usually a $1.50, but we supply it free with the nose).

These two seemingly disparate items, cross-dressing as Dell O’Dell and a fake nose, are actually related to what I want to say right here (well, not actually right here, but farther down on the page). Yes, I’m talking about false appearances or what Paul Fox used to call "la dolce vita" (Fox was out of his head a lot of the time).

Here’s what I mean and let me make this perfectly clear: Jeff Blusterby Magic distributes Pancho Pedro’s Rubber Nose exclusively in Idaho. In fact, we are distributing Pancho Pedro’s Rubber Nose exclusively to the entire universe of people who speak Idahoan (e.g. “Thet shore wuz some scary movie on th’ TV las’ nite, wudnit?”).

Now pay attention because this is very important: Hank Lee’s Magic Factory is advertising something Lee calls, Pedro Pancho’s Rubber Proboscis.

Don’t be fooled. I wasn’t.

When I saw the ad, I was immediately suspicious. “Pedro Pancho” sounds to the untrained ear a lot like “Pancho Pedro,” but it didn’t fool me. And the word “proboscis” is simply another word (known as a “synonym”) for the word “nose.”

It had happened again — another magic dealer rip-off of Jeff Blusterby Magic, but this time I wasn’t going to let something as good as Pancho Pedro’s Rubber Nose fall prey to the scavengers.

No--this time if there were customers out there with money they could send me, it would be me keeping it and not filling the orders, not some other guy (apparently Hank Lee actually sends the stuff out after it’s paid for — how do people like this stay in business?).

Anyway, I got David Smarty on it right away and we sent Lee several hundred legal letters that we composed on my Nakamora 34000 typesetter (the same one NASA uses). The letters had words in them like “cease,” “desist” and “banana.” I didn’t want to use the word “banana” so much, but Smarty insisted because of the rhyming patter act he does with the mongoose and the banana I mentioned earlier.

By this time I had the real story behind the Lee rip-off. Lee had called “Magico Flabbergasto,” a dealer in Nairobi and ordered the original version that Pancho Pedro had put out over there.

Pancho Pedro called “Magico Flabbergasto” and told them in Spanish (the only language he speaks), “Attendo! El Dorado fandango gringo el diablo Senor Blusterby hacienda!!” (which means, “Do not ship to Idaho! Jeff Blusterby has exclusive rights to Idaho!”).

But they shipped anyway and Hank Lee immediately ran out and started advertising this in Idaho.

Lee was selling a rip-off version with the original instructions Pancho Pedro had written up — let me tell you that Pancho Pedro’s English is very, very bad and his instructions were just what you might expect from someone who doesn’t live in Idaho, has never been to Idaho and doesn’t even speak one word of Idahoan.

And there were no illustrations.

When I got the first Rubber Nose nine months ago (and that’s the correct title, not Rubber Proboscis), I gave one, along with the original instructions to noted attorney David Smarty — and he stuck the nose on his forehead!

I said, “David, you’re a smart guy and a great magician, but a rubber nose should be worn over your real nose so it’s aligned correctly on your face.”

And gentlemen, need I tell you that if the nose isn’t aligned correctly — it just isn’t a fooler. As the Professor used to say, “Confusion is not magic.”

Having two noses is confusing. It’s not magic.

Now I could have sent out Pancho Pedro’s Rubber Nose just the way I received it, but I want you to have stuff that works. So I sat down and spent six months preparing a 400-page book. I posed for over 4,000 illustrations (see below).

It’s up to you who you deal with in magic, of course. But consider this: we at Jeff Blusterby Magic like our customers, don’t mind a little cross-dressing if the mongoose isn’t badly treated and we honestly try to take as much time as possible in everything we do (like writing instructions and sending out orders).

Let me make a prediction: Pancho Pedro has another great trick, the X-Ray Wonder Tube. You can actually see the bones in your hand with this. How long will it be before the rip-off dealers put this on the market? Not long.

Yours for better magic and longer waits

Jeff Blusterby

PLACE RUBBER NOSE ONLY AS SHOWN HERE:

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Jim Sisti » June 19th, 2017, 6:17 pm

Damn it, Bob! Reading your post made me go on an hour-long snipe hunt for a similar parody that I put together after he came after me, claiming that I was infringing on his non-existent rights to the Paul Fox cups.

It was a send-up of his Thaumaturgist newsletter and I had set it in three-column format, just like the real thing, with the same font and similar masthead. As did the esteeemed Mr. Farmer, I tried to mimic his somewhat unique writing (ranting) style. This was the text:

• Well, things are getting back to normal here in the Heartland since the capture of the Unabomber. Now that the cloud of suspicion has been lifted from me, it’ll be business as usual now! This means we still will keep the money and not send you what you’ve ordered but we now have the capacity to speed up that entire process.

• News for subscribers of The Weewee Notebooks. Our originals were recently stolen by a man named S.E. Andrews who only left a cryptic note that said, “Keep the hell out of Lloyd Jones’ basement.” It may be quite some time before you see the next issue. Come to think of it, this isn’t really news at all. Never mind…

• It saddens me to have to write the following but when a product that we’ve spent so much time and energy developing and advertising gets ruthlessly ripped off, I can’t stand idly by. As everyone on my mailing list (which now numbers in the billions) is aware, Jeff Buzzbee Magic has been the sole distributor of the Dave Wolf Super Duper Magic Stuff line, including the Dave Wolf Linking Rings, for some time now. Dave Wolf, an expert magician and well-known crossdresser, developed a radical new design for the Linking Rings in 1938, just before his short stretch in a federal penitentiary. The first sets were acquired by Harry Houdini, who made a special trip back from the land of the dead expressly for this purpose.

I’ve been making the Dave Wolf Linking Rings for 16 years. I acquired the rights from Spanky Doo and took the tooling when he wasn’t looking. I sent him payments yearly but then he died and didn’t need the money anymore, being dead, so I bought a projection TV. I subsequently made several technical improvements to the design and even offered them fashioned in a variety of materials (though, admittedly, the glass ones were probably a bad idea). Our finishing touch is the registered “DW” logo I hand stamp on the underside of each ring. This is a process which takes hours, mostly because it takes that long to determine exactly where the underside of a ring is. It’s there, though, and we find it if it takes all day. The result is that our rings and their unique shape, covered by trademark law, are instantly recognized the world over. I could go on for pages (and probably will). We had just closed for the Winter Equinox when the pirates struck! We had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap and it suddenly came to our attention that the counterfeiters had placed an ad on the Internet (whatever that is!) for their illegal, immoral and fattening product. We received word that these scalawags had dealt the cruelest blow of all—they had copied the trademark Dave Wolf Linking Rings shape! I looked at the picture in their ad and I couldn’t believe my eyes! They had made their rings round—copying the trademark shape of my rings almost curve for curve!

Now, there’s been much spin doctoring by the acquaintances of these scoundrels. They keep saying things like, “They’re not the same,” or “They’re rings, for Christ’s sake! What are you…a lunatic?” or “Take your pills…!” (I’m sorry…my wife says that.) But, I won’t be dissuaded! I challenge them to explain just how they came up with their design!

There’s no comparison between the genuine Dave Wolf article and the fakes. A heavyweight product is touted in their ads. However, my rings are truly heavy. They’ve been used to stop armored vehicles. They were chosen to replace defective O-rings after the Challenger disaster. I’ve produced rings where just one weighs not only more than their entire set, but almost as much as I do. Now, that’s a heavy ring!

They’re asking $200 to $250 for stuff not much better than small children in underdeveloped nations could make if they weren’t making clothes for Kathie Lee. My rings are more, and you’ll never get them even if you order them, but that’s beside the point. They’re worth it!

They’re using many deceptive tactics both online (whatever that means!) and in the magazines to sell their product, including spreading stories like the Dave Wolf Rings are no longer made, that I’m mad as a hatter, or that I’ve joined some right-wing militia group and have barricaded myself in a small shack in Idaho with a copy of The Turner Diaries (OK, so that one’s true…). My point is that the counterfeiters are spreading lies. How can you trust somebody who promises something and doesn’t deliver it? (Note to typesetter: please delete the last sentence.)

There are a lot of people in the magic community trying to hush all of this up. The perpetrators may seem like nice, friendly people on the outside but they’re really cyborgs; mutant, maleficent machines sent from another time to steal and pillage our magic heritage. I’m not kidding—watch The X-Files.

I don’t sell my products through dealers. The fact that dealers won’t handle them is beside the point. I wouldn’t let them even if they wanted to. Truth is, I don’t sell them at all. I merely sell the promise, the prospect of them, if you will. I put your name on a waiting list and take your money so you can have the privilege of saying to your magic friends, “I’ve got a set of real Dave Wolf Linking Rings on order.” You won’t get that with the fakes. They’ll send you some metal bent into our trademark shape and that’s all you’ll have to show for your money. You decide. I have to take a nap.

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Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Bob Farmer » June 19th, 2017, 6:23 pm

Jim: yes, the only healthy response to a person like Busby was humor because he had no sense of humor and couldn't retaliate in kind.

Brad Henderson
Posts: 4546
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: austin, tx

Re: Jeff Busby Passes Away

Postby Brad Henderson » June 19th, 2017, 6:43 pm

i leave for my summer tour tomorrow or would hunt down my tale of Buzzy the Bee and Paul the Fox. if i find it, i will post it.


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