Commentary
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Question to Ponder
I was rereading Issue Two of the Neat Review recently. It’s the issue that focuses on the New York City magic scene in 2019. The second essay, What Do We Want to Say, was written by magician and bar owner, Eric Hu. He poses this question: When we perform magic, what are we creating exactly?… Continue reading
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Giobbi on Dealer Magic Tricks
Roberto Giobbi is one of my favorite magic artists and writers. His bibliography is amazing. Like many I discovered him from his encyclopedic work, Card College; however my favorites are Sharing Secrets and Stand Up Card Magic. I was recently gifted Confidences which I haven’t fully studied yet. Roberto has maintained a blog, Magic Memories,… Continue reading
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Rick Johnsson on Originality
Near the beginning of his book, Practical Impossibilities, Rick writes about whether the work in the book is original or not. His move that forms the basis of the book is reminiscent of other works however the depth of exploration and perspective that Rick brings is remarkable. I will discuss it further in another post.… Continue reading
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Remembering Rick Johnsson
The number of creative, funny, engaging people in magic is enormous – far greater than the number of magic-famous or famous-famous individuals. One of these people was Rick Johnsson. He was a long time columnist for the Linking Ring magazine. For over thirteen years he wrote the monthly column, “Come a Little Closer”. It was… Continue reading
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Book Notes: Fooling Houdini
A little over ten years ago, a mass market book arrived that caused a stir in the magic world. Specifically, it was Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind by Alex Stone. Stone was a graduate student at the time as well as an aspiring writer and part time… Continue reading
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Media Notes: Justin Wilman: Magic Lover
On a recent evening, I reluctantly hit the select button on the remote and started streaming the Netflix show, Justin Wilman: Magic Lover. Reluctantly because I’d watched a few episodes of his previous series, Magic For Humans, as well as some YouTube clips from various television appearances and, honestly, I really didn’t care for his… Continue reading
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A Fine Line
A recent magic podcast featured a two part interview with a comedian talking about the similarities and differences between magic and stand-up. A significant portion of the second episode was on the comedian’s approach to working with the audience or as it’s called, crowd work. Crowd work is hard and requires empathy and respect as… Continue reading
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