Magic Commentary

A little faith restored

I don’t attend many magic lectures any more. Although I came to the conclusion long ago that most professional magicians are pompous, overbearing and over-rated gas bags, I used to be willing to attend 20 or 30 lectures a year hoping to find a few gems. I had the opportunity to see David Williamson, [...]

Maybe they’re right

The ESPN morning radio host is Colin Cowherd. Colin’s an opinionated blowhard and Colin Cowherd’s biggest fan. He, like Rush Limbaugh, speaks with an infectious energy that’s hard to ignore.
Anyway, last week he was talking about attending a social function of some sort and the hosts had hired a magician -  dare I say [...]

Counterpoint

Back in March I wrote a review of the Winter Carnival of Magic and I was very critical of a young man that performed and competed as a blind magician.
Chris Baldwin, the magician in question, has taken the time to respond and I think it is only fair that he be given the appropriate [...]

Where art thou Jay Silverheels?

In my last post I was lamenting the fact that magic is no longer a viable hobby for many people and was wondering why. The more I thought about it, I think that we, as a nation, are getting tired of getting punched in the stomach as soon as we get up in the morning [...]

What are we doing wrong?

I recently attended a magic club banquet banquet. The sad fact was you had to sit at the kiddie table if you were under 60. (Actually, I guess you have to be over 50 to recall the kiddie table!)
At the risk of sounding like some old fart longing for the good old days - [...]

Are we afraid to work?

I recently was involved in a discussion about the various versions of the torn and restored newspaper. I would imagine that most everyone reading this blog has a favorite. Personally, I prefer Gene Anderson’s classic method for normal situations and Osterlind’s Signed Torn and Restored for those very special occasions - if the venue [...]

AND…. My pants have disappeared

It’s certainly no surprise that Jim Coles at the Unexpected Wonders blog has written another insightful and intelligent post called Avoiding Confusion. Jim has hit on one of my favorite themes and one so frequently overlooked by magicians. You know the tricks I’m talking about - your card is the Jack of clubs - [...]

Something for every magician that uses a computer

I’m slow to pay for software. Before I buy anything I check freeware and Open Source availability and generally find something as good, if not better, than the commercial offerings.
Really – REALLY, this is not a function of being cheap. I have issues with many software developers after years of taking it where software was [...]

Magic Intelligence

When I travel, I take books and DVDs that have a lot of useful material in/on them. This means I find myself taking John Bannon’s stuff quite frequently. We are very fortunate that magic seems to attract a lot of brilliant thinkers – e.g. Jim Steinmeyer, Simon Aronoson, Mike Close, Robert Harbin, Alex Elmsley, Stewart [...]

My 1st Broken Resolution of 2008

Here’s the marketing poop:
A tic tac box is shown empty all the way around. You take the coin and slam it on the tic tac box. You can see and hear the coin melting through the plastic and end up inside the container. Your hands are clean after the coin penetrates the box. Immediately give [...]

All I Want For A Magic Christmas

It looks like I’ll have to buy my own Christmas present this year if I’m going to get one. My mother, rest her soul, loved Christmas and even in her last years she always made sure her boy had a present. I don’t know if I ever let her know how much that really meant [...]

A personal tour of Blogland

There’s some good reading on some of the magic blogs right now. Of course there’s a load of crap too, but the balance isn’t quite as bad recently. Obviously, this reflects my likes and prejudices. Please take it as such.
B. D. Erland continues to write one of the most thoughtful and well constructed blogs in [...]

Castle Notebooks - Who cares?

I’m just not too excited about the impending release of the Cervon notebooks – the infamous Castle Notebooks. The price is just plain stupid for scanned pages – especially given the rather large run (500).
Even though Richard Kaufman seems to be on the rag permanently these days, I think he is justified in condemning the [...]

We Award the i/m DD Again

(It’s been a while since we awarded the i/m DD. Very honestly, the last award was a mistake. The award went to Paul Chosse and while I still maintain that his actions were over the top in the dispute which gave him the award, he appears to be a fine man and, possibly, his actions [...]

This is a magician’s real competition

Years ago, Harry Lorayne wrote that he doubted any card trick will ever compete with a young lady in a miniskirt doing the frug (for those under a 100, that was a seriously sexy dance – in those days). Competition for your audience’s attention grows stronger every day.
Reality and illusion continuously merge until we no [...]