“People will trust your reviews; they will spend their hard earned money because you have recommended something; they deserve a much more critical eye from you.”
I agree that I’ve been handing out lots of high scores, but I’ve been reviewing lots of good material. I’m given a five point scale and I basically view this like a school grade scale: 5=A, 4=B, 3=C, 2=D, and 1=F. In retrospect, there are some reviews that I wouldn’t mind reducing by a half point or so, which will remain unnamed, but I’m generally satisfied with my past scoring. There are some who didn’t like their reviews and felt that I should have scored their products higher (no surprise here).
Ratings Versus Opinions
Ratings are one thing, but I hope that my reviews offer an objective opinion and evaluation that is helpful. As a magician, I have purchased lots of tricks that I thought would be perfect for my act. A few are keepers that have stayed in my show. Some only saw a few performances after I found that they didn’t receive the reaction that I expected or were too difficult or messy to setup.
And some have never been performed because they didn’t do what I thought they would do or didn’t work in my performing situations. I hope that my reviews always address these aspects and either lead magicians to effects that they can perform in their shows, or help them decide that a particular effect that they’ve been considering doesn’t do what they need it to do.
“The tape is poor quality, it looks like a hand held private camera shot in a club somewhere...”
With regards to Bob Sheets’ Hang “Em High DVD, I agree that the footage could be better quality. In my early reviews, I did make it a point to critique the video and sound on DVDs. In the end, I concluded that while less than top-notch video can be somewhat annoying to watch, it’s not as important as the concepts that the DVD is trying to teach. These days, I put far less emphasis on video and audio quality, unless it’s particularly poor.
I want to thank the reader for taking the time to write and appreciate him mentioning Jamy Ian Swiss and Mike Close as “alternatives.” The reality is, these guys are our all-knowing “Ebert and Roper.” I can only hope that one day I can earn a fraction of the experience and insight that these guys have.
I’ve posted this in our forum. I welcome your comments and suggestions
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
