A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

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Brad Henderson
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A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Brad Henderson » February 4th, 2012, 11:36 am

There has been an intense controversy lately regarding accusations made by David Penn and Craig Petty on their Worldmagic Product Review show. Wayne Dobson has asked this be made known:

Wayne Dobson - a statement about David Penn's actions:

It is now Friday evening on the 3 rd February 2012 and I find myself writing one of the hardest notes of my life. I need to break everything down into a timeline of events, so that you, the reader can make sense of what has happened.

Last week (Tuesday 24 th January) I was contacted by David Penn regarding a review he was about to do for his Wizard Product Review that week. He informed me that Jeff Mc Bride had stolen my act and put the entire routine onto a DVD that he was marketing. I voiced my dismay and couldnt believe what I was hearing. No, it was true and they were going to expose the fact on the following days Wizard Product Review, David Penn told me.

The following day (Wednesday 25 th January), I watched in horror as David Penn and Craig Petty tore Jeff to pieces in front of their audience of thousands. Watching them made me feel extremely uncomfortable and sorry for Jeff Mc Bride. That night, one of my best friends, Russ Stevens, contacted Jeff and suggested that he and I should talk. Ive known Jeff for so many years and once we started to communicate via Skype I knew that wed be able to sort the issues out that I had (Remember I had yet to see Jeffs routine).

During the following two days (26 th -27 th January) we went back and forth as my concern was for Russ Merlin in Vegas who had purchased the rights to the routine from me. Jeff contacted Russ Merlin and all was well with him and I told Jeff he could feature his routine during his lectures at magic conventions worldwide if he liked. Throughout this period David Penn had been calling and emailing still making a song and dance about Jeffs theft of my routine.

Then on the Saturday (29th January) things changed. Throughout the entire process David Penn had insisted Jeff was a thief and I stupidly took his word for it. Hed told me the routines were the same and that Jeff hadnt even credited me. This was untrue on both counts as I was about to find out. It was that morning that Jeff emailed me the link to his footage that was on Youtube. I clicked on the link and sat in disbelief as I watched Jeffs routine, it was nothing like mine and I was shocked as to why David Penn had said it was. I called David Penn and asked him to take the Wizard Product Review down on that basis and that basis alone. It had nothing to do with the fact that the matter had been settled as portrayed by David Penn.

The following few days were spent talking to Jeff and smoothing things over and Im so happy that we are still such good friends. Jeff was understandably upset to be called a thief in public and I was angry about the way David Penn had sensationalised the facts to make an interesting piece for his show.

On Tuesday the 31 st January things moved into a whole new direction however and the day ended with a revelation that shocked me beyond words. David Penn now wanted me to make a statement on Magiccafe to let readers know what a great help David had played in the resolution of the situation. This was not true, I had Russ Stevens and Jeff Mc Bride to thank for that.

David Penn had asked me to write the message and then to send it to him for his approval. My email to David Penn even started with let me know how you would like this, editing . David Penn then chose to edit out some of what I had written, to make things sound even better than they already were for him. The revised draft was then sent back to me ready to post. At this point I said I wasnt happy with what David Penn had changed and told him that Id have to run it past my friends. David Penn was not happy and that is when things reached an all time low. He told me that he, David Penn, had recorded all our telephone conversations without my knowledge from the beginning and if necessary would use them. I couldnt believe it. At that point I felt coerced, threatened and bullied to the point that I would do and say anything David Penn told me to.

Thankfully I posted the response to my friend Russ Stevens who couldnt believe what Id written. He knew that it contradicted my actual feelings and events between Jeff and myself and asked me what had happened? Fortunately I found the courage to tell Russ what had happened and it was at that point that for me The Worm Turned. I realised that I must stand up to David Penns bullying tactics and so I revised the draft myself which Russ typed out for me (as I cant type myself). Finally the truth would be known and I didnt care what David Penn said or did to me. It gave me an overwhelming sense of freedom and relief.

I then received my last email from David Penn that night in which he expressed his disappointment to what Id posted on Magiccafe. Hed prove that he had all the facts and timelines. The point hes missing is that up until that Saturday morning, I didnt have the actual facts until I saw the performance footage of Jeffs. Any interactions Id had with David Penn meant nothing, as I was not being told the truth about the situation. It was just David Penns version, which was incorrect and sensationalist.

Last night in a thread on Magiccafe, a person, Merc Man (Barry Allen), announced he had seen and heard my emails and secretly recorded conversations. I dont know if this was true, but he certainly had someone feeding the information to him.

It makes me feel ill to imagine someone secretly recording my private telephone conversations, then spreading them around. To have it done by a fellow magician hurts even more. In all of this, I was the innocent party, but at the end of it Ive had to come here and defend myself like this and that cant be right.

I think David Penn should be ashamed and I hope that our community takes the correct action to show that this type of behaviour is unacceptable. I hope the magiccafe and its members show their displeasure in ways that will make him realise that intimidation, coercion and bullying are not acceptable in our world.

pabloin us
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby pabloin us » February 4th, 2012, 12:05 pm

Wow, I originally thought along the lines of Penn and Petty, clearly I was wrong, what a lousy situation for Dobson, McBride and even Stevens, I am very sorry for them.
I am not sure how Penn will get out of this embarrassment, but he deserved.
Pablo

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Devious » February 4th, 2012, 12:17 pm

Thanks for posting this here for all to read.
Im very dubious that it will remain up for very long over
at the green monster.

This was Jeff's reply a few days ago, it was deleted.
---------------------------------------
On 2012-02-02 10:58, Jeff McBride wrote:
This is joint statement from us both about a situation that really should never have happened if it had been handled properly at the beginning.

Having both viewed this week's Wizard Product Review show, we are extremely disappointed to not see an apology of any kind to the two people involved. To Wayne Dobson for misrepresentation of the facts, and to Jeff Mc Bride for the dreadful attack on him and his good name during the actual show itself. The 'gag' at the end of their statement just continued the disrespect and clearly showed that they have learnt nothing.

We see with dismay that the thread regarding issues raised about World Magic Shops Wizard Product Review, have now been removed from Magiccafe. We can only wonder why and by whos insistence.

Wayne was never shown the offending footage by David Penn and once it was viewed (after Jeff sent Wayne a copy last Saturday morning), Wayne realised that there was no problem at all. Jeffs routine is unlike Waynes (to the point that he himself sees no issue) and Jeff had indeed credited Wayne on his DVD as the inspiration for his routine despite Wayne being told he hadnt. Wayne's initial anger was created by what David Penn had told him during their initial interactions, which it transpires were not correct, in that Jeff Mc Bride had not stolen Wayne Dobson's act.

We would like to state that we are both extremely unhappy with the way this was handled by David Penn and Craig Petty. Rather than being a supportive reach out to Wayne Dobson, we sadly now know that it was all about sensationalism and viewer ratings for their show.

Is this what our brotherhood has become? A sad day for magic.

Wayne Dobson and Jeff Mc Bride February 2nd 2012

Ross Welford
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Ross Welford » February 4th, 2012, 12:24 pm

I've just been over to the Cafe for a quick look round and there's nothing there that I could see. Surely this all can't have been deleted already?!

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby mrgoat » February 4th, 2012, 12:42 pm

They are an advertiser, so of course it's deleted.

I always thought that poisoned dwarf and the fatty were crap anyway. Now I know they are

I stupidly bought Petty's FLIPPED DVD. It was bollocks.

Brad Henderson
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Brad Henderson » February 4th, 2012, 12:59 pm


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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby mrgoat » February 4th, 2012, 1:02 pm

5...4...3...

bagelsandlox
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby bagelsandlox » February 4th, 2012, 5:36 pm

Ever watch the Petty/Penn show and how it's clear these two know nothing about magic history? They are quite ignorant. That's BAD for people that review products.

I watched a Petty dvd and couldn't believe what a horrid performer he is.

I'm actually not surprised they turned out to be lying, unethical snakes.

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Ryan Matney
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Ryan Matney » February 5th, 2012, 12:42 am

Is it just me or is that one very odd story?
Get the Dirty Work - Available now at http://www.ryanmatneymagic.com

Ross Welford
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Ross Welford » February 5th, 2012, 12:11 pm

No, it's not just you Ryan. The whole thing is very odd indeed. I've just had a quick skim through the thread linked by Brad (above) and amount of high-horsing and brown-nosing and nit-picking, mainly by people who don't know any of the participants, is hilarious!

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Ross Welford » February 6th, 2012, 1:12 pm

If you're interested in this sort of thing, get over to the thread linked above - it has all kicked off further today.

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby mrgoat » February 6th, 2012, 2:13 pm

They really need to hire someone with a clue about PR.

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby erdnasephile » February 6th, 2012, 5:14 pm

After viewing the videos of both routines (thanks Ian and Joe), I just can't see what all the fuss was about (alleged bullying aside).

The two routines, while sharing obvious similarities, certainly come across quite differently, with one being a rather creepy descendant of the other.

Just curious: Does anyone know if any of the magic press reviews of McBride's DVD noted the similarity in routines? If so, did the reviewers take umbrage? (I searched iGenii to no avail)

In any case, Ian's summation in the other Genii thread on this topic is spot on.

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby mrgoat » February 6th, 2012, 5:43 pm

erdnasephile wrote:(alleged bullying aside).


Any idea why a man with MS in a wheel chair would lie about that?

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby mrgoat » February 6th, 2012, 5:56 pm

Brad Henderson wrote:http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=452429&forum=218&start=0

Still there - for now.


and now?

Roger M.
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Roger M. » February 6th, 2012, 6:06 pm

Brooks sent out a PM Cafe wide stating that not only would every single reference to the "incident" be deleted from the Cafe, but also that the Wizard Product Review section of the Magic Cafe would be permanently terminated.

He stated he was doing all of the above on the advice of his legal counsel, and asked that Cafe members not think less of him for his actions in this instance.

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Pete McCabe » February 6th, 2012, 6:08 pm

How could they?

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erdnasephile
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby erdnasephile » February 6th, 2012, 6:11 pm

mrgoat wrote:
erdnasephile wrote:(alleged bullying aside).


Any idea why a man with MS in a wheel chair would lie about that?


I'm not saying or implying that he would. I tend to believe WD's account, but since I have no first hand knowledge of the actual phone conversation, I feel I personally can't assume facts not in evidence.

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erdnasephile
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby erdnasephile » February 6th, 2012, 6:12 pm

Pete McCabe wrote:How could they?


Ouch!

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Timothy Hyde
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Timothy Hyde » February 6th, 2012, 9:32 pm

All gone now
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bagelsandlox
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby bagelsandlox » February 7th, 2012, 3:27 pm

Has David Penn been arrested yet for breaking UK law ( passing on secret recordings to a third party)?

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby John Archer » February 8th, 2012, 10:09 am

It's certainly getting them publicity.... Did I mention that I didn't steal Blank Night off Sean Taylor. ;-)

bagelsandlox
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby bagelsandlox » February 15th, 2012, 8:30 pm

Those two jokers show at Blackpool? I bet they had their little fan boys cheering them on.

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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Magic Newswire » February 15th, 2012, 9:24 pm

Here's a detailed post on the incident from Sleightly.com

Brad Henderson
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Re: A statement from Wayne Dobson concerning David Penn's actions.

Postby Brad Henderson » February 15th, 2012, 10:24 pm

erdnasephile wrote:Here is an interesting summary and commentary on this whole affair on the Ye Olde Magick Blogge:

http://sleightly.com/blog/2012/02/07/wi ... s-calamity



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