Is it just me? Or are today's video demos pretty much useless? They remind me of Sesame Street jumping from one thing to another and as far as being able to tell what is happening with the effect, there's not a chance! Why can't the demos be a demo as if you were seeing the person actually performing it? There's no continuity and many times you can't see the effect, only the supposed reaction of the person seeing something. It may be that they are being shown something else.

Anyone else feel this way? or am I just too "old-school" and expecting to see what I would see in a Magic Store? or is the real reason for cutting away all the time so that you can't see how poorly the effect works in real life?

As far as I can see there are a couple reasons for this. Th"e first one being rather simple, so you don't watch it over and over and eventually see how it's done. This problem doesn't exist in a local magic shop because if you say, "Hey do that again." the magician will say,*insert line telling the spectator no in some cliche, funny, or insulting way*. That accountability doesn't really exist online.
The other reason I can see, as a Media Arts major in college, is that people get bored with videos done with one shot. Our whole culture is a very fast paced place. You have to "keep up with the Jones." I know this last one is kind of vague, but it is difficult to go into too much detail with out, well, going into TOO much detail.

That being said, I think the demos are fine for showing you the basic premise of a trick, and they do so in an artistic way that also prevents people from figuing out the trick just by watching it multiple times. Just my thoughts.

Yeah I complained about today's and yesterday's for years now, they are nothing but crap. Loud blaring music, over-editing, and girls in empty parking lots. I am from the old-school as well, been into magic for 31 years and I miss the old demos that just get to the point and show the trick the way it actually should be performed. Today's demos are nothing more than marketing hype used to sell a lot of products to beginners.

They add all the bells and whistles so you buy it, but once you take it in the real world all those things are gone. Beginners get too caught up in the video and forget that is not reality. I still have some old demo tapes that I love to watch, and I don't have to wait through 5 minutes of stupid blaring music, and watch some guywalk a mile down the street to see the trick.

I've hated watching magic demos for the last several years. It seems like the producers of these vids are trying to be film makers.
Just show me the da*n trick! If the product is good, I'll probably buy it. If it's crap, all of the editing and obnoxious music in the world ain't gonna make it any better.
As a matter of fact, there have been several videos that were so poorly done that I couldn't watch in their entirety, and just switched them off.

I don't need fast cut a ways and loud crappy music! That's NOT why I clicked on the video, jack@$$!

I can tell you one company that does demos correctly, magicgeek.

I was thinking the same thing and was going to mention it on here as well. I could understand the whole full performace and watching it over and over agian to try and figure it out. I could figure out many card tricks just by watching it being performed in full. So that I understand.

One thing that I don't like is they always shows the audience reactions, and them going crazy. Okay we get that its magic and they'll like it, we as magicians or at least me, don't want to see that. It isn't a David Blaine TV show. So they could keep the fancy cuts and edits, just leave out the audience in the demos at least. If its on the DVD fine.

Funny to hear all this "old school" chatter on this topic. The real old schoolers used to read an effect description in a Tannon's catalog, send away for it, and hope for the best.

That is what I did 30 years ago, and waited 8 weeks, sometimes longer. And the catalogs were black and white and very sketchy with little or no details. Today's spoiled generation have no idea how good they have it.

Somewhere there's a post from Akirafist if I'm not mistaken where people are even reusing reactions from different demos on different releases.

I feel the same way. In fact, if I feel the editing is sketchy on something and that it's probably for a reason, I won't buy it because I don't trust it. Because I've been burned before.

I feel they shouldn't have to cut away, but that we should experience it like a spectator would, if the effect requires audience management and the magician looks up to make the audience look up, then fine pan the camera up and away from the hands because that technically is how it's supposed to go and how your supposed to manage the audience. Don't cut bits and pieces out.

I don't even have a problem with them shooting from a "good angle" when they show the whole thing because if it's angle sensitive then obviously you wouldn't do it with people in the wrong spots.

The way they cut stuff out (especially lately, it's gotten worse then it's ever been over the past half a year) to me it's false advertisement because they are making it seem like the effect is cleaner than it is

Also, besides magic geek, I think Jay Sankey is really honest with his demo videos as well.

Magic Geek is honest in their demo videos, but it seems like most of the demos I watch, Chris messes the trick up! The performance of bad magic is worse than exposure IMO.

Personally I don't mind some good cinematography in a demo video, as long as it's not deceptive to the buyer.

lol magic geek is what you watch if you dont want to buy an effect but want to learn the method no offense to anyone

If you are a serious/experienced magician you don't watch magic demos for secrets. Since I have been in magic for 30 plus years I am not fooled most of the time, or at least not completely; and if I am it is a good thing as it rarely happens anymore. Chris does not have time to master every single effect at his shop, but he provides a good demo of what the trick is about. Youtube videos are not made to fool magicians.

Any any so-called magician who watches demos over and over looking for secrets is not a magician, which I said many years ago. They are laymen looking for free secrets. I never bought any effect for its secret in the last 25 years, I buy effects that fit the magic I do and effects that I know my audiences will love. Sure it is common for beginners to buy tons of tricks just to learn the secrets. But after awhile this becomes pointless, and a huge waste of money and space. Sankey does a decent job as well, although he uses the camera sometimes to cheat in place of misdirection, which even Chris does at times, but it is necessary.

Otherwise you are going to have laymen and beginner magicians watching the demos over and over again trying to figure them out, then comment how easy it was. But to any REAL magician/professional the secrets are not as relevant. Oz used to do a decent job years ago as well, but today all the demos are mostly crap, and in order to see the trick you need to go 3/4th of the way in to get a quick glimpse. The makers of these ridiculous demos are trying to copy the success of Blaine's shows, putting the focus on the spectator—and think that fake, overly excited reactions are going to sell the trick.

"Back in my day, we didn't have these "fancy cell phones". We threw rocks at each other, and it worked just fine."

More on topic, these effects aren't always marketed to the same kind of people. It's a new generation of magic. Times are changing. Perhaps not for the better, but that is a matter of opinion. I can agree, any good magician worth his salt is buying an effect just for that. The effect.

I'm not too bothered by demos. I know what I am looking at is in ways hyped. That's marketing. Smart marketing. Just like demonizing folks like Blaine or Angel. I personally am no fan of Angel, but he has marketed himself well and made money doing it.

-ArchAngel_G