It was only a short while ago that I was on the subject of Ricky Jay with several other magicians. Mr. Jay is one of those rare individuals in our industry where talent is simply a matter of course. Much like Kasparov of chess fame, it isn’t a matter of time and effort to achieve a high degree of excellence - the genius is already there. Massively, there.

Another good example of this talent already being a part of a person would be juggling for W. C. Fields. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of watching Fields juggle cigar boxes, then you know precisely what I’m talking about. As the story goes, in his youth, Bill saw a juggler and wanted to learn. Not having access to tutorials (or the internet), he picked up some apples from under a tree and taught himself, immediately, how to juggle. He found it simple, no need for work. It just came natural.

But, I digress. Back to Ricky Jay.

Ricky found out, early on, that the magic industry is largely populated with thieves. Much of his work was stolen in those early years. As a result, Ricky Jay decided to keep his work to himself, much as a miser keeps his money horded away. The difference here is that a miser has little to fear, but Mr. Jay has plenty that the thieves in our industry will happily and willingly steal from him.

It’s all rather disgusting; pathetic, in fact, that we sit and claim that our industry is a brotherhood but do little to stop the thievery amongst our ranks. I see this attitude all the time. Guys who think that just because they’ve figured out a marketed effect that they have every right to go ahead and use it, as if it were their own.

The real problem is that this thievery cannot be honestly stopped (in the magic industry). Because magic itself cannot be copyrighted it becomes nigh on impossible to do anything about one magician stealing from another. Well, not completely impossible. Just ask Ricky Jay, he’ll tell you how to stop magicians from stealing your material.

Take a page from the book of R. Jay and don’t share anything with anyone in this industry. If there is any way that these thieves can steal your intellectual property, they will. Even moreover, the thieves will come up with some kind of pretzel logic to make it acceptable in their own minds. It is this mind set that has lost us Ricky Jay in the magic industry.

Still, I can’t find myself completely on Ricky Jay’s side on this. He is a very intelligent man. Was he really surprised by this behavior? Let’s face it, this kind of conduct has been going on in the magic industry for as long as there has been a magic industry. At least, the history books teach us that much.

This whole tirade brings me to a man who lives just north of Detroit, Michigan. His name is Ron Bauer and I’ve known Ron for more than a few years now. Anyone who has met Mr. Bauer knows that he is one of the most giving men in magic today. To know Ron is to know that this is an indisputable fact.

Recently, a manuscript (titled, “Honest Cheat”) was published by Alan Bursky, who met Ron back in the early 1980s. This manuscript, which is a trick originally worked out by “Senator” Clark Crandall, was scripted by Ron Bauer and given to Bursky for his use in an upcoming show in Las Vegas (back in 1983). You can purchase this old trick for a twenty dollar bill, which is Alan’s asking price (and runs the colossal expanse of two sheets of paper).

The problem here is that it really is not Alan’s to sell. Now, don’t get me wrong, Alan has had this trick for nearly 25 years and it was a gift, so it’s all fair play, as far as I can see. But, would it really have hurt him to credit Ron Bauer?

Honestly, if you are at all familiar with a Ron Bauer script and you read the patter of Bursky’s offering, you will immediately recognize that it was written by Ron Bauer. As an example of what I’m talking about: If The Beatles would have changed their group’s name and performed without telling anyone of the change, everyone would still have known that it was The Beatles. They have an unmistakable sound. And, Bauer’s scripts have an unmistakable sound, too.

You don’t have to take my word for it, though. In fact, Bauer has a signed and dated picture of Bursky, thanking Ron for all of his help in 1983. That is what is called, “Hard Evidence.”

This is, specifically, what I’m talking about - losing talented men in our industry due to sleazy business practices and unethical conduct. I’m not worried, though, because I know that Mr. Bauer will continue to share his thoughts and ideas with me. It is the magic industry that will lose if Bauer decides to go the route of Ricky Jay. That would be a great loss.

You can do something about this, though. Save yourself $20.00 and get Ron’s script at no charge to you, completely free, no strings attached. See, Mr. Bauer has posted the trick, with his script, on his site, free of charge. Simply go to http://www.thinklikeaconjurer.com/ and click on the banner that reads “Honest, now you can cheat for free.” But, whatever you do, don’t give your cash to someone who is completely ungrateful for the help that was given to him in the past.

Then again, maybe I’m just crazy.

As always, thank you for reading and take care.

Mike