Clearing Up False Accusations

[Guest]

Hey everybody,
First, my apologies in advance for those who read this post on more than one forum; I hope you can understand my multiple postins, made in a desire to make sure my reputation isn't wrongfully damaged.

Recently, I've been attacked on various forums/lists/message boards with an accusation regarding my commercial effect "It's a Match"; I responded to these uninformed allegations in a couple of these places, but I want to post it here where more folks will see it, so that the real facts will be available to as many people as possible.

As those of you familiar with the effect know, the method is the same as one used in a certain Larry Becker effect. Despite the fact that Larry's wonderful effect is clearly credited in the instructions, and that Larry gave me his explicit permission to release my effect, some folks still insist on accusing me of stealing his effect.

Given that, I want to make it abundantly clear: Larry quite generously gave me his permission to market my effect. His effect is clearly credited in the instructions to my effect. No theft went on, and there is no bad blood, except in the minds of a few folks who find it necessary to falsely accuse me without knowing a single fact of the matter.

As many of you may know, I am quite adamant about defending creators' rights and have been known to quite loudly chastise magicians who don't bother to research and especially who knowingly teach another creators' work without permission. I find it quite upsetting, then, that some people have found it necessary to (again, without knowing the facts) accuse me of the same behavior that I so loudly speak out against. It's even more frustrating in that many of these folks have done so as an attack against my comments towards folks who have in fact marketed others' ideas without appropriate permission/credit/research.

I would never do such a thing, and take great umbrage to being accused of such.

When I have spoken out about somebody wrongfully releasing another person's effect, I've made sure to fully research and have the information to back up what I'm saying. Folks who have accused me of this obviously haven't done so, or they would have found out that it couldn't be further from the truth.

Thanks for the time and space,
Andy Leviss

[David Mitchell]

You know, I am starting to realize quite a few things about this magic community.

1) It's almost not worth releasing anything, because of the hassle you get from the self-righteous do gooders who believe that they are more "right" than you are.

2) Crediting is a nightmare these days.

3) No matter what you try to do to appease people, and do the right thing, you will never appease them, and never do the right thing.

I don't think I am becoming jaded yet, but when I (or even a new magician) see a bunch of stuff like this, it makes me wonder what I am doing it for. I thought magic was about the "magic" and not about, well... anything else. Don't get me wrong, I understand the need to credit, research and do your homework, but what about the less scrupulous people who don't, and steal your work. Makes you want to shrug your shoulders and say why bother.

I love magic, and I deeply respect a lot of people in this field, (suck up mode on), especially people like Richard.. (suck up mode off) *wink*. There are people who give selflessly to this art, and do you know what. Regardless of what others do, it's these selfless people, who work their asses off for people like you and me, that keep me doing what I do. The very idea of "being like...." the people I look up to, makes me want to be better.

Anyways... My two cents.

Andy: I've read a lot of stuff about your effect, maybe next time I am in the shop, I will check it out. Regardless, it nice to see that character is important to you.

David.

[Guest]

Hi David,
Thanks for the comments, they're much appreciated.

I don't know what exactly to say to most of it, because I kinda fall on both sides. On the one hand, I'm a huge proponent of crediting, and when one doesn't do adequate research before releasing, or worse, knows they're releasing somebody else's work, I'll be the first to tear them a new one. On the other hand, I've now been put in a nasty situation by folks who are overzealous and who don't bother to make sure that they do know the facts behind what they're attacking. I guess it's a double-edged sword of sorts.

BTW, David, if you are interested in purchasing it, you may want to check out my site at http://www.asquaredproductions.com and order it direct :)

[Geno Munari]

It is a shame that there is so much rambling by magicians without facts. Gossip is so harmful and has no place in magic. It is pretty sad that Andy has to defend himself from the result of this toxic repartee.

[David Mitchell]

It is a shame that there is so much rambling by magicians without facts. Gossip is so harmful and has no place in magic. It is pretty sad that Andy has to defend himself from the result of this toxic repartee.

Ooohhh... toxic repartee... sounds nice. Wish I knew what it meant, but I think I get the general gist.

David.

[Richard Kaufman]

David, I thought Geno's post was perfectly clear. I really like the phrase "toxic repartee."
If you really feel the way you've outlined in your three numbered reasons for not putting anything out, then just go and do magic and don't read any message boards like this.
It IS possible to have a wonderful life as a magician, buying magic, books, and performing professionally and for fun, without ever reading, hearing, or knowing about all of the behind the scenes chit-chat.
There is no question that the level of rumor-mongering has been ratched up by the internet. Instant opinions for all to read, correct or not. To the best of my knowledge Andy has not been faulted on THIS forum. I would like to say that perhaps our members are a little more thoughtful, but some of the recent postings here have been a bit rough. Some people, like Jeff Busby, deserve it--others do not (or at least there is some question as to what they have done is right or wrong).

[David Mitchell]

Hi Richard. I understand what he meant, but I was actually just trying to inject a little light hearted humour into the forum.

Just because I feel that there are certain things "wrong" with the community, there are far more numerour things "right" with it as well. However, as it is with human nature, for some god-awful unknown reason, we always dwell on the bad things as opposed to the good things in life. (I rarely hear people go on for every long about something good, however, one bad event, can cause a person to become spiteful for a long time).

One of the reasons I love magic, is the people here. I like the sense of community, and I like the interaction with my peers, and with those above me as well. Things could always be better, no matter what we are talking about. One day, I will at a point in my life where there might be something I have to offer the magic community, and should it arise, I would definitely want to help people as I have been helped. But at the same time, seeing people targeted for no reason at all, makes a person stop and think twice about it.

I will continue to support those I respect, and in the long run, will secretly hope that we can all just get along. But that's just wishful thinking I suppose.

However, I have found this forum, a breath of fresh air. Saying something wrong doesn't get you stomped on right away. ;)

[Guest]

I just wanted to thank everybody for all the kind words I've received, both publicly and privately,after posting this message here and elsewhere. It's really made me smile to see that there are still a lot of folks out there who take things with a grain of salt and are open to hearing the real facts of a situation like this.

Richard, as far as I know, you're correct, nothing like this has been posted here at this forum. I do want to thank you for the oppurtunity to post my statement here, however, because I want to do everything I can to ensure that it's seen by as many folks who've heard this as possible. This is a great community of people here, and I haven't spent enough time here, with my moderator duties at KJ Magic and my frequent postings at a couple other boards. Too many boards, not enough time, but I will be making more regular stops back here. Thanks again!