Hello Guys and gals,

I'm here to pin point some of the attitudes of a magician who I personally do not quite like. For those who live in JB,I guess you're familiar with the magician whose name is Peter Chua who has a shop called "Magic Spot" in Pelangi Plaza. Last saturday I went to his shop,thinking of purchasing fanning powder for my deck and when I reached there I asked for it but he said the powder had no more stock.

Okay, noticing myself alone in his shop, I then "expose" myself to him that I'm also a magician;hence, I asked him whether can he give some comments or tips regarding some card sleight tricks I do for him. Without hesitation after I merely finished my sentence, he turned me down :( . " I don't like to give comments for your tricks,let the audience be the judges.If the audiences give a loud applause,it shows you've done it well ",said Peter Chua. I paused in stun :mellow: . In my brain system my silent feedback to his reply was " He's a magician and he doesn't interested in giving advices ? How can audience give profesional advice ? :wacko: "

Subsequently, because I do not know him quite well, I'm a bit interested in his magic life background. Thus,I asked him to share his stories with me if he could. Guess what ? Again he turned me down :( and told me " I don't like to tell my stories to people and if you want to know,go read the newspaper articles" said Peter Chua with his hand pointing to the wall filled with cuttings of his history in articles. Imagine myself being rejected 2 times in his shop, what would you do later on ? Some of you might be pissed of and leave immediately but for me,I still hang out in his shop for the time was still young. I got nothing to do that very day. :!!:

Later on I asked him whether he sells his " sleight tricks " using an ordinary deck of cards, he rejected me once again for the third time and instead, he introduced me his packets cards,gimmick. Though I'm not in mood in seeing the packet tricks, I kept silence when he did his tricks before me. I praised him for this remarkable trick at the end. I guessed he saw me not suprise and decided to quit his show. He knew I'm not buying it. :ph43r:

Adam Wong,my first magic teacher told me that the magic items in his shop are priced beyond imagination. " Peter Chua would not probably perform his magic items should he know that you're also a magician ",said Adam. Adam told me once that Peter only perform magic gimmick items when you decided to purchase it as he said most magician would get the idea of how the gimmick " is constructed" and therefore, they don't buy it eventually. On the other hand, his magic selling items are pricey as i mentioned. Imagine a thumbtip for a RM30 :blink: .

Talking about TT,I want to share my sad experience of how he "demeaned" me . Below is my story :

Me : Do you have TTfor sale :rolleyes: ?

Him: Wait a moment ( took a TT from his closet and hand it to me )

Me : Hmm.. do you have a darker color one :o ? This TT's color is a bit bright and it doesn'y closely suite me. B) ( My skin was dark that time for I just came back from Port Dickson beach )

Him: Do you know how to use TT? A magician will hide his TT to audience and they will never know you insert some thing in your Th***.

Me: ( speechless. :ph43r: ..nooding my head in a pretending agreement )

Come on, I just want to purchase a TT which suites my color more. I dun expect to be the same color.. But what he had said made me do not want to step into his shop again.

That's all for my sharing. If I happened to offend someone,I'm sorry but this is my own opinions which I believe are true to me for I experienced it. Anyway, I still go his shop to buy bycycle deck for RM15 because in JB it seems like his shop is only the choice-there's only a magic shop in JB. Hmm.. What would happen if maybe Magic-I opens a branch there ? Hehe...

( any positive or negative comments regarding to my statement above shall you give to enlighten me if I really said something false or incorrect )

Wusperto,
Jeremy Fu

Jeremy,

While I understand your frustrations, I don't think it's fair to entirely blame the guy and I don't think bashing him on the internet is right. But just to clarify I don't know the guy and I've never been to his shop.
However, it doesn't sound like very good business strategy to pi$$ of potential long term customers....

Nobody owes us anything, in magic or in life. Nobody is obligated to teach us, help us or give advise to us just because we ask.
If someone DOES offer to advise, teach or give constructive critisism, I consider it a previlege or a blessing.
So don't be bitter about it...

Imagine, you are a lawyer, and you walk into another lawyer's office and ask him for advise...

And what's up with the huge fonts?

Judging by the way you have described him...
It seems like, at the time, he thought you were just some brat coming into the store and poking your nose around, thinking you know everything (just a possibility of course - no offence meant)

And by that notion, he thought it would be best to be rid of you or you would just be a bother

another possibility is that he's just a stuck-up arrogant kind of guy
in which case you should ignore him and not go to that store anymore...
start ordering your stuff online haha.

Hi jeremy... I have been to Magic Spot a few times.... and here are my comments.. the thing there are really expensive and he charges RM40 the last time I get a TT... I had no choice then and bought it.. sigh... well the other thing is that his shop closes early everytime. As for his attitude I really dont know... coz I had chat with him for more than one hour before... he told me his experience and how he went to Singapore for performance and all... maybe that day when u were there he has a bad mood.. who knows...

Regards,

Hey Jeremy,

I don't know him nor have I been to his shop. I'd just like to say that RM15 for a pack of Bikes is good, so do continue buying from him lol.

Also, as Jeff said, no one is obliged to give you comments. What you think of as your right is actually not, unfortunately.

Finally, I'd just like to comment on the size of your font. If you could decrease it slightly I would be most grateful :) I don't really like reading fonts that big, since I'm still a young fella :lol:

Hey Jeremy,

Well, this isn't really uncommon. The magician who works in Puduraya didn't believe i was a magician and therefore he didn't really show me much stuff the first time around. A magician wouldn't teach another magician who could be potentially better than him and therefore, might take business away from him. Unless of course there is a price. And that's why we have friendly forums, and friendly members, who doesn't mind commenting on presentations and all! :wub:

I agree that he could have been moody that day, but then again, u did mention that it was the first time u 'exposed' to him as a magician? First encounter impressions doesn't reveal a person. (in this case, he thought u could be a fake magician, or a rival. Take ur pick) Give him time. It takes a while before acquaintances can become friends kan? Trust me, i've been there.

Overall, don't take it so personally. I do agree with Jeff :

Sometimes, if we don't ask, we don't get. Rejection is part of life. We just have to accept it. Life is not always a bed of roses even though we liked it to be.

Also, it usually pays to praise someone first, let that person feel good then follow by some conversation before you request something. Normally when a person feels confortable, it is easier to approach.

Agreed!!

But some ppl aren't prone to softened when praised. But it helps.

When I first started off magic ,I went to this magic shop in the city . I just heard of it and was so exited to go there . My friend ,the former tutor of The magic Academy introduced me to the shop . Imagine, going into a REAL magic shop for the very 1st time . How did you feel ?

I felt horrible by the way . The owner of the stall tried selling me every gizmo there was in the magic shop . Those used by fraudelent fortune tellers and bomohs . He was selling me electric bulbs that lighted up,an old version of the electric touch ( now famouslyp roduced my Yigel Mesika and Eithen Kiefer), and multiplying bottles that cost hundreds of ringgit to me , a begginer in magic .Books by Jean Hugard and Fredrick Braue sat at the window of the shop ...Me just starting off , had no idea what value those books held and concentrated on the expensive gizmos he was telling me about. The implication that I got was that , The BIGGER and BETTER the props , the MORE AMAZING my magic would be ...

He then asked me to show him some sleights to see how good I was . I showed him my DL , My Elmsley , ...etc . He then `showed off' ( showing off and showing is very different) his side steal , his second deal and his pass .... and made me look like a moron saying that whatever I learned was wrong and I should be his apperentice...and to be that , another few thousand ringgit and I will be brought to stardom ....

That day really changed my perception on `magic shops' per say ...but I do know now that not ALL Magic Shop's or dealers are alike . I've been to some shops that treat me REALLy WELL and showed me the workings of the products even before I bought the gimmick ....trusting the client as a `magician ' and will not reveal the workings to others or duplicate it for himself .

I'm never going to reveal the shop that I went to , and please no `guesses' . My point is straight forward , everybody who opens up a magic shop , whatever the reason is , (love of magic , passion etc ) is for one aim , profit . How he/she achieves that is different from one another .

Be a smart consumer , if you like it buy it , if you don 't like the service , don 't come back ...

Oh ya , you can get stuff from Isaac too , he's a good dealer and you can chat with him if you wanted too .=)

Best Regards,
David Lai

Now I wonder how a shop with the customer service like this can survive..

What good would a bulb be if it didn't light up? :lol:

Well.............one could always eat the light bulb as a magic trick if it didn't light up..........

......and wouldn't that make it a wonderful trick!!!

Glad to see many replies which in some ways have apparently clarified some of my personal concepts regarding how a magic dealer will "do" to a costomer... the reason why i open this topic was i just felt disappointed why a dealer would treat to a costomer in that way.This is because I've seen many magician who are far more better than him-They are friendly ! Perhaps it was really his bad day :blink: .

Sorry for the big fonts i used. I always love using bigger size words to express my ideas. If you guys really feel uncomfortable,which is evidently true,I quit using :lol:

Thanks once again for the replies. They are meaningful.. Yes it is...

Cheerz....

The replies might be meaningful but it does reflect the posting you have done.

That was hilarious Baalan...

May you elaborate what you said ? I don't get it.

No more big fonts, my eyes are saved!

Kidding! :P

Haiyah don't bully people lah, bad enough you bully me XD Seriously I think you need to go that place and have a checkup *rofl*

Dear Jeremy Fu,

To be fact, my very first magic trick that I bought is from Magic Spot - Peter Chua. He taught me very well in detail that how am I suppose to perform it after I've paid for it. I was only about 16 years old at that time so I don't really know how much should a piece of magic trick cost as it's the only one in JB. I've also purchased quite number of props from him. I would say less than RM700 before I tentatively stopped my interest in Magic during the few years time.

I'm not much of a talkative guy. I don't usually question him that much either. However, the longest period that I've spend inside his little Magic Shop was around nearly 2 hours. He'd sometimes tell me about his past experience working in United Kingdom Bars & Lounge and the Previous Eden Garden Hotel [Altered to Zon Regency Hotel]. He is actually quite a friendly guy. I've lots of conversation with him last time. Whenever, I when into his shop. He would always greet me, "Hey, my friend. How are you?". I would then smile to him and we would have a little conversation. Most of the times, I'll visit him if I were to buy something but there are few times I didn't even buy a thing.

I would say RM15 for a Bicycle deck it pretty cheap. Even I was previously a regular customer. The lowest price he would offer me is RM17 per deck.

So, don't get real upset. Maybe he's just having a bad day as I'm not sure how is he doing lately. Lack of business, I guess. It's just one of those days. Keep supporting him as I suppose you don't want the one & only magic shop in JB to close down, right? Treat him as a friend and sometime just talk about casual things instead of magic stuff. Hope my little experience would help you get over it.



Cheers
Roy JR Foo

peter is a funny guy. the first time i encounter him is when i was 13-14 years old =.=... kinda small.. at that time.. i would be in his shop for hours just to see him play magic :o.. but as u said he is very secret :) he don't talk to u much about himself but he will show u magic when u ask him too. After a while i get to know him. i start buying book and tapes. soon i show him wat i have learn. He however thinks it is good but he will correct or give idea on how u should do it so it makes it more perfect.
he is a nice guy.u might takes time to know him ;) he will tell u more about himself and some personal magic collection he have :o which he wont sell =.=....

I've just came back from the magic shop at Pudu.

David's an excellent salesperson :) He appears to be friendly too. We managed to have a short chat, max of 15 minutes, during which he attempted to sell me various products, including his DVDs, igniting paper etc. Too bad I had to leave as my bus had already come, or was supposed to. XD

Wei! This post if for Magic Spot JB???? Sesat.......

David is really a good salesman! Yea, he is friendly, only if he knows ur a magician as well. I suppose u had to convince him ur one?

Jeremy,

I think you shouldn't stop going to Magic Spot, coz you might find me there (kidding). From your first post I think he may had a bad day or it's just because he doesn't know you well yet. Try being a regular and I'm sure you'll see the difference sooner or later. You'll know once you go into the shop and Peter'll greet you with "Hello my friend".

The items there used to be very expensive but it's been going down lately it seems. And most of the time when I buy stuff there, Peter'll give me a discount and he might even throw in something free too, albeit a cheap one, but hey, at least he knows how to appreciate a customer. Now there's another thing to contradict what you've said about him being not friendly to customers.

So don't take what happened that day badly and be optimistic. Like Roy Foo said, we don't want the only magic shop in JB to close, right? Unless you want to open a new one :lol: .

HOI!! >.< Harassment I call this XD

This is related because it's about my experience in another magic shop, to compare it with his. Maybe your brain a bit smaller than average, so I need to explain things to make it clear :P I know now got breast enhancement surgery, but not sure if they do brain enhancement as well :P :P

Anyway no I didn't have to convince him, he just asked and I said, "Yeah I learnt a few tricks." He was quite insistent that I buy some of his stuff, and talked about little else.

Well at least he didn't brush me off completely and he appears to be friendly. *hint hint* lol I prefer to be subtle. If you don't understand just talk to me on MSN or something and I'll explain la ;)

All in all it was an interesting experience and I'll definitely go there again given the chance.

Jennier and Vincent... is there something going on between u 2??
kept kacau-ing each other in the forum
Hahahaha

Im yet to go to the jb magic shop
Abt pudu, i always find myself in awkward situation wondering how to leave the shop without buying his stuffs :P

Eh not my fault ok. You see here it was clearly she who started it, I was just posting my experience at the Pudu magic shop, which I thought would be relevant just to compare our experiences at different shop, then she scold me and say off topic =.=

Well, back to the topic, the places where I buy my magic stuff online in the UK are most helpful :) And so are the magicians I meet there too.

It ain't my fault........ HE STARTED IT WITH THE PUDU SHOP IN JB MAGIC SPOT THREAD!!

Yea, i know what u mean. He is quite presistent ain't he? But if u have any questions he won't hesitate to help u..... and try to sell some products along the way!

Now that is true marketing.......

Well Roy Foo,Unknownmaster and Clement Josos, perhaps what u said were correct in some sense..Yes, I don;t wish seeing the only magic spot in JB close down.. Some of you related that your past experiences with Peter Chua and this stimulated my brain,thinking back to the old days when I first met Peter Chua. It was in Leisure Mall ( The old one before it turned to become a Giant hyper mall ) I met Peter Chua when I'm standard 3 or 10 years old. My granpa bought me some magic items from his shop ( It was a stall ). He did showed me some great stuffs. I remembered that he was friendly too.

The price of Peter Chua's magic items drop ? Yes I think it is. The first time I bought my Bike deck was when I'm 13 for a good RM18 and some of my friends who were his regular costomer had a cheeper price of RM16. Now,the price for a normal blue or red bike is RM15. Apart the deck, those other gimmicks in the stall I dare not buy as they seem to be expensive also :(
. Another reason is I'm a cardist and I prefer doing tricks with pure deck.

As a conclusion, I guess it was his bad the time I went to his shop. I'll purchase I guess only bicycle decks from his shop when I'm in JB. ( I always change new deck :P ).

:D

dear jeremy

i guess your encounter with magic spot (JB)'s owner is just another disgruntled/frustrated and sad old man... hahaha

he thought he still living in his past/hey days... today, u can't do business by being snobbish/arrogant and price the goods high beyond imagination. in the world of globalization/internet, shoppers/customers knows where to get their stuffs at the best bargain/price possible and they have many options to choose from.

maybe those days, magic shops were very limited in malaysia, so shops like magic spot can monopolised the market...

nowadays... don't dream to do something like this...

with magic spot's attitude like this, some customers just quietly walk off, and some like you stayed on- which i dunno what logic u got at that time hehe.., and if it happens on the wrong person... that person may furiously give a piece of his mind in return to the shop owner...

magic shops... don't play-play!!