What is this “C**p”?! And What’s Up With Michael Close?Inside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

What is up with Michael Close? I met the man one time ? at the Las Vegas Magic Invitational a couple of years back ? and he seemed like a very nice man. I usually enjoy reading his reviews in Magic and when I received my copy today, I saw that he had an opinion of Oz Pearlman?s Stealing Pips DVD from Penguin Magic. I?ll get into the meat of my beef with his approach to reviewing this DVD but first let me dwell on a bizarre factoid.

For some reason, and I can?t read the mind of any magician, Mr. Close has taken to use the word ?crap? in his last two columns. Last month it was used to describe how fooled he was by Derek Dingle?s presentation of a Ross Bertram?s Coin Assembly: ?It fooled the crap out of me.? (Magic, Nov 2003 at 37). In this month?s column, Mr. Close bemoans the fact that publishing magic videos or books is much easier now. Back in the day, Lou Tannen or Jay Marshall would be the arbiter of whether a work was marketable. ?Since it was their money on the line they had to evaluate the material and decide whether it was worth publishing. The publishing process helped filter out the crap. Today . . . . [t]he filtration system has been removed . . . .? (Magic, Dec 2003 at 42). Thus, Mr. Close?s argument goes, the crap gets through to the marketplace.

Maybe this is Mr. Close?s effort to be edgier, more hip. It seems unnecessary. It also seems unnecessary to use the word to describe the work of any magician. My pop used to say that if you have to resort to curse words to talk, you?ve run out of things to say. Sure, ?crap? isn?t the worst word out there and, in fact, for today?s audiences it is pretty tame. But it is unnecessary and, frankly, not that nice.

But back to the review of the review: Mr. Close takes as his premise that the Stealing Pips DVD…

But back to the review of the review: Mr. Close takes as his premise that the Stealing Pips DVD from Penguin Magic is overly hyped: ?Penguin Magic, who distributes this item, has written a lot of hype about this product. This always causes my antenna to twitch.? Id. Part of that ?hype? is that the DVD contains ?fresh, innovative methods? ?great presentations,? and ?new moves.? Id. I don?t know what ?hype? Penguin Magic? has written other than their advertising copy. I have not read any articles in magic journals or other websites authored by Penguin Magic in which the Stealing Pips DVD is discussed. I am assuming, therefore, that Mr. Close is complaining about the advertising copy for the DVD and nothing more.

This is hardly a fair attack.

After all, Mr. Close?s own ad copy on L&L?s website proclaims:

Michael Close is a performer, creator, teacher, raconteur, and reviewer. Now is your chance to see Michael’s magical masterpieces performed by the originator. Shot in front of a wildly enthusiastic audience, using three cameras, every performing nuance has been captured.

And:

If you’re looking for material which will completely baffle and entertain the most discriminating audience, look no further. These effects may not be genuine miracles, but they’re…very…very…close.

By Mr. Close?s standards, each of his effects must appear to be ?very, very, close to a genuine miracle? and ?completely baffle and entertain the most discriminating audience.? If just one of his effects fails to meet the standard, the DVDs are on a downhill slide towards the designation of ?crap.?

Not fair to Mr. Close and certainly not fair to Mr. Pearlman.

Mr. Close finds nothing redeeming about Stealing Pips ? nothing. Not one camera angle or one explanation meets approval. There is nothing about Mr. Pearlman?s teaching method that seems appropriate for the beginner or advanced magician. The DVD disc itself cannot even be used as a coaster. The process of exchanging money for a DVD and thereby being introduced to the world of Internet Commerce does not even merit approval.

It would be better, apparently, if Mr. Pearlman had not made the DVD, and had not encouraged one person to consider some of the classic moves in card magic. It was wrong, dead”crappy” wrong totake the time, money and effort needed to produce the DVD.

Like I said, I haven?t seen the DVD so I cannot comment on the substance of Mr. Close?s review but I can enlist the aid of another magician who has seen the DVD and has my respect. (By the way, Mr. Close has my respect as well. I have been a very big fan of his work and writing and that is precisely why this review is so disturbing).

I have written glowing recommendations of Joe M. Turner several times in the past. In fact, I think I am the sole member of the Joe M. Turner Video Review Fan Club. I am sure he has many fans but I doubt he has an organized fan club just for his Genii Video Reviews. I met Mr. Turner for about as long as I met Mr. Close and found, as in the case of Mr. Close, that he was an agreeable and nice person. So he starts with footing equal to Mr. Close.

In Mr. Turner?s December installment in Genii, he reviews the very same video and finds it to be at the opposite end of the spectrum of ?crap.? Mr. Turner writes, ?The effects are varied, ranging from predictions to vanishes to transpositions. Some of the plots are classics, but the additions Mr. Pearlman contributes are substantial and worth preserving.? (Genii, Dec 2003 at 105). The bottom line for Mr. Turner: ?This DVD is a gem and worth your time if you perform card magic in strolling or other close-up environments.? Id. at 106.

It wasn?t that Mr. Turner found it to be mostly ?crap-like? but with one or two redeeming qualities. Mr. Turner found that the DVD was a ?gem.?

True, it could be that Mr. Turner and Mr. Close are both really wrong. Maybe the DVD is not ?crap? but it is not a ?gem? either. It is hard to believe, however, that a DVD that ?motivates? an accomplished card magician such as Mr. Turner would be mediocre or ?crap.? Chances are that the positive review is more accurate.

So I move the previous question. What is up with Mr. Close? Why the venom towards this one DVD? After all, it was the only product to receive the appellation ?crap? in this month?s issue of Magic.

I don?t know.

I do know that Mr. Close closes his review by noting that ?Penguin Magic is touting Stealing Pips as the best card DVD of the year. It?s not. The best card DVDs of recent times are Bill Malone DVDs from L&L. The best new DVDs of the year are the Tommy Wonder DVDs, also from L&L.? Magic at 42.

Forget the fact that the Bill Malone four-DVD set was released last year, 2002, and that the Tommy Wonder set was not offered up as a ?card DVD,? the important thing is that L&L is the publisher of both. I am not suggesting that Mr. Close is intentionally defaming the Stealing Pips DVD to decrease competition for L&L?s videos or that he would do this because his own series is currently published by L&L.

As I said earlier, I cannot read the heart or mind of Mr. Close. I met him and he seemed to be a very decent man and talented magician. I just don?t understand the venom and I certainly don?t appreciate a fellow member of the magic fraternity being dismissed as ?crap.?

But that?s me.