Shoot Ogawa — Or “Houston, We Have An Ethics Problem”Inside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

I just watched Chris Capehart?s wonderful 3-Ring Routine DVD, and can?t help but wonder once more why Shoot Ogawa is still getting a total pass from the Magic Castle and the greater magic community. When Valentino did three exposure specials on TV we made him a pariah. When Shoot did three exposure specials we put him on the cover of Magic Magazine.

If you remember the March 2003 cover story, Magic didn?t seem to have much of a problem with Shoot?s past, but then again, who did Magic get to write the hard-hitting expose?

Shoot?s touring companion Apollo Robbins. Robbins wrote, “many members of the worldwide magic community misinterpreted his intent.” Really? Not only did they not appear to misinterpret his intent, for the most part they don?t appear to have cared or even noticed.

But what of Shoot?s intent?

According to Robbin?s article Shoot?s profit making mission to “educate” and “raise the perception of magic” should be seen and accepted as a much more noble and honorable endeavor than Valentino?s questionable goal to inspire magicians to come up with new methods.

For those who missed the video of Shoot?s TV work, apparently “raising the perception of magic” involves exposing the Classic Force, Muscle Pass, Thumb Tie, Professor?s Nightmare, Estimation, Lapping and the coin Matrix to name a few. God forbid we should stoop to raising our audiences? perception of our craft by entertaining and amazing them.

Robbins went on to say that “many of the professional magicians in Japan” saw Shoot?s specials as visionary and stated that only a “small group of amateurs” saw it otherwise, though this is clearly not the case.

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But what of Shoot?s intent?

Working pros, very reputable working pros, had serious and justifiable problems with the specials and Shoot knows it. I suspect Robbins does too, but if he doesn?t, maybe Magic should have had someone with a little less bias write the article.

There?s no question that Shoot is a talented guy, and from all reports a really nice guy as well, but the uncredited ring routine is not the first time Shoot has been accused of publishing, and profiting, off of other artists? work.

Look, I don?t know Shoot, and I have nothing personal against him, but unless Ninja is Japanese for Chris Capehart it appears to me that we have a serious, and serial, ethics problem that nobody wants to address. Long after the Fox specials have ended Valentino remains a pariah, but even with this latest breach of ethics Shoot is still cashing in and appears to be on his way to winning FISM.