I got a nice surprise a few days ago, when I opened up my YouTube app, and the first thing I saw in the feed was a very familiar face; my own!
Turned out to be a video essay titled “5 Favourite routines by Tom Stone” and it discussed some of my creations. And it was made by a person who have, to put it mildly, a mixed reputation.
Craig Petty
First time that Craig Petty turned up on my radar was 13 years ago, in May 2010, when he and his buddy David Penn released the pilot of something titled “Wizard Product Review”, one of the very first filmed review shows that examined new material that was offered to magicians. Their weekly show became very successful. Their banter was always entertaining, but that’s not why I checked in every week. The reason I tuned in, was in the hope that something crappy would be reviewed. Because, whenever something terrible was released, Craig would lose all his marbles and furiously go into the most hilarious rants – deploring the item, its creator, the whole magic scene, and sizable parts of cosmos. I don’t know, there’s something liberating in seeing someone go unproportionally nuts like that. For several years, Craig’s rants on Wizard Product Review was a recurring and reliable source of amusement. To the degree that I had to stop myself from taking after and go “Who the hell do you think you are, putting out utter shite like this!?”, when seeing something that wasn’t quite up to par. Not surprisingly, Craig’s rants also ruffled some feathers. Obviously, the people who had created and produced the crap wasn’t too happy. Nor their friends and supporters…
Then, in 2013, Craig had a brainfart and released a trick onto the market that, while good, wasn’t his. I’m fairly certain it was by mistake. Those who steal material always tend to double down when getting caught, incongruously insisting that it is original… and when those arguments falls apart, they always defend the theft, claiming they have the right to just take it. Craig, on the other hand, pulled the item off the market immediately. I know I have peers that still are a bit doubtful whether it actually was by mistake, but I have my own actions to inform me – two times I have published the work of others as my own. Both times, I was absolutely mortified when I found out. The first time, I accidentally reinvented a piece by Sylvain Mirouf that I didn’t know about. Had it been someone else than me, I would be very suspicious because it was step-by-step identical, and it would be impossible to so completely and exactly ”reinvent” someone else’s piece… still, that is what happened, and I’m just lucky that Sylvain believed my story, apology and correction. The second time was even worse. I accidentally duplicated an item by the legend Juan Tamariz, but this time it was an item that was from a book that I, two decades earlier, had studied and read over and over. I had completely forgot the item, and I genuinely believed it was mine when the idea popped up in my head 21 years later. Same here, I’m just lucky that people believed me when I apologized and published the correction.
Craig wasn’t as lucky though. The blowback hit him like a ton of bricks. Those with ruffled feathers now ruffled back. And everyone who had even slightly been annoyed with him being vocal and opinionated also went after him.
In short, he got driven out from the magic scene. The embarrassment over the mistake alone was tough to handle. Add to that, harassments, outright threats and ridicule that went on long after the item had been pulled off the market. Not surprisingly, the whole thing caused a depression, but thankfully, he then dug into work and family and got back on his feet. Managed to make his company quite successful and had a kid.
Some years went by, and then the pandemic hit. Which is when Craig returned to the magic scene, with a vengeance. The last 3 years, he’s been releasing magic products, video courses, magic reviews and videos in a relentless pace. It is quite impressive.
Now, I don’t know Craig at all. We have met in person maybe 4-5 times, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a proper talk. It do seem likely that he’s a bit crazy, but he seems to be aware of his flaws and he’s very quick to walk things back and apologize when he’s wrong. He’s supportive of new talent; newcomers to magic, and he is very passionate about the magic art.
I sort of like the guy.
So I was deeply flattered now when he dedicated a whole video essay about my work.
The video
The pieces of mine that Craig talks about are the following:
- Quantum Logic First published in the May 2014 issue of Genii magazine, and is now produced by MetalWriting.
- Things that go Cluck Published in my 2011 book Maelstrom.
- Benson Burner Published in my 2010 book Vortex, but is available as an ebook.
- Reality Glitch Also from Vortex, but was also published in my 2009 ebook ”Prey of the Prestidigitator”
- Forbidden Palm First published in my 2007 ebook ”Random Walk”
What do you think? Is this a good and representative selection? Let me know below!
