Colin Dixon
Ted:
All I can say is: exactly! The parts were all there last week, but there wasn’t a coherent, entertaining whole. This week, all of that changed. The cuts to entertaining clips/images were great, the content was engaging, the jokes were actually pretty funny. I would watch this every week. If I were to change anything, I’d probably sub out the 1970s porno music, but even that does a lot to set the mood. Good work, and I’m very happy to welcome you to the final 8.
Patrick:
Wow! This week’s submission was totally awesome! I was literally cracking up over and over again. Your timing was superb; your writing was top notch. I am neither a casual, nor a budget player, and I would definitely watch this show every week if this was the level of material you came with. I am not sure what I can even suggest for you to improve because this was not only a ton of fun to watch, but you heeded all of the feedback from all of the judges, without forcing it at all. I tip my hat to you, sir.
Ferret:
Your arc of improvement is hot, man, hot. This one is SO much better than even your last episode that it’s amazing. It’s quick, it’s fast, and it kept my attention the whole time. The sad thing is that you’re at the bottom of the hit rates, man. In terms of all the talent articles this week, you’re the lowest. Hell, of all the articles this week, the only one who had fewer views than you did was Lauren Lee weekly roundup… Which, I gotta tell you, isn’t a stellar thing to beat. I’m a fan. Patrick’s a fan. You need more fans. At this point, I’d be begging Evan to have him plug you in The Magic Show, as a fellow video producer with a much larger audience, to try to get people in. You’re not in danger of being voted off the island, since so many have taken their leave, but you have a few weeks to build. Go big. Go catastrophic. Start plugging, and choose a topic that’s going to be controversial, because you need the numbers, stat.
Guest Judge Steve Sadin
: Episodic Magic shows are really difficult to make work — especially if it’s being put together without a co-host. And, I’ll admit it, when I was watching Colin’s first two episodes, I was worried about his ability to regularly produce quality content.
Whatever doubts I might have had about Colin’s ability to put together a consistently entertaining series were banished to the distant past when I saw the third episode of Very Poor Magic.
I was literally cracking up while I was watching this video. Colin has the personality, the flair for the dramatic, and the timing that it takes to make an excellent show.
I can’t wait to see more!
Jeremy Froggatt
Ted:
This is where I’m supposed to say grumpy things that help you get better at writing columns with mass user appeal. The problem is that you’ve blinded me with so much bling that it’s practically impossible for me to do that. Were there words in this article? All I can see are Savannahs.
I think you can definitely make this general column and discussions about Magic art in general work on a bi-weekly basis, and the audience did back flips for you in the voting this week. Welcome to the final 8.
Patrick:
You are definitely very good at what you do, but I find myself somewhat less interested than last week, as the novelty is wearing off. I have no doubt that a number of people will follow your work, despite not being into the art form; however I’m just not sold on your ability to hook a wide enough audience with what is an extreme niche. You’re writing is good, your article’s eye-candy (those Savannahs!), and your personality likable. I especially like your use of the eye candy to make it more rewarding for someone to read your article who’s never going to actually paint a card themselves. I appreciate that the interview is an attempt to add more elements to the series; though often interviews like this don’t always hit that many people’s interest unless the person is either really famous or has some important information to share or is very charismatic. I’m surprised you have not been more actively pursuing a connect to the audience with something like asking people to vote in the forums for a card for you to do and then sharing that card. You have a lot going for you, but your media is a challenge. If you want to win, you gotta connect with as many people as possible and nurture a cult following (like Vintage writers do).
Ferrett:
Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of this series, but this one felt weakish. It was sort of like, “I don’t have the time for a walkthrough, so let’s show you a bunch of pictures that won’t really help you at all if you want to do this on your own!” Critiquing your own stuff was fine, but I wanted more meat here. As far as the interview, I felt like it was completely bass-ackward. You spend several paragraphs having us read an interview with Joe Random, when I wasn’t invested in him at all aside from the fact that you found him interesting… And then, just as I’m bored, you finally show us his art, which is PHENOMENAL. Why not show us the art first? Why not say, “HERE IS THE AWESOMENESS THIS GUY CAN PRODUCE; LOOK AT THIS CRAP, NOW LET’S TALK TO HIM?” It just felt like a major misunderstanding in how you get a reader’s attention. However, I’m carping. Like Pedro Alvarado in the Casual series, the question isn’t whether I’m a fan, but whether the readers are. You clearly have a fan base, and people like looking at cool art, so it’s a question of whether you can broaden your appeal even more than you already have. There are ways you can get better by being more inclusive, without losing your core audience.
Steve:
Strong, clear writing style? Check.
Passion? Check.
Awesome artwork? Check.
Supportive fan base? Check!
Your love for Magic and your love for art really shine through in your articles. However, if you’re going to hold a bi-weekly column you are going to need to: figure out ways to develop an extremely loyal fan base (which you seem to be well on your way towards) and/or figure out ways to attract readers who might not be that artistically inclined.