Fredrick Turner

Reflections

Commentary

  • The Phoenix: Volume 1 Number Two

    The second issue of the Phoenix arrived on February 14, 1942. According to the Backroom, the editors were still trying to determine the frequency of publication. They eventually settled on bi-weekly – meaning every two weeks. (The confusion with bi-weekly versus bi-monthly has always been a pet peeve.) The lead effect was Bruce Elliott’s Hard Continue reading

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  • Discussing Discussions

    One of the most interesting things about the internet and magic has been the discussion boards. It’s seems that there have been boards since the beginning. The longevity proves that no matter what magicians of all kinds have opinions about everything and are willing to share it. Excluding social media platforms and Reddit, there seems Continue reading

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  • Minimum Requirements

    In the opening essay of Shattering Illusions, Jamy Ian Swiss states: When you fool the audience you indeed fulfill the essential mandate of your job. But you have in no way come even remotely close to completing the job-much less having done the job well.There must — simply must — be some larger end in Continue reading

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  • New Year’s Eve

    The year is coming to an end. Was it a good year? Yes, all in all. Was it challenging? Yes, at times. In retrospect, all years are a bit of both. I’m sure that there’s a good chance your year was the same. No matter what you plan for 2025, I hope it’s a great Continue reading

  • Astonishment Is Our Natural State Of Mind

    In the December 1996 edition of Genii magazine, the cover featured Paul Harris. Paul has been instrumental in changing the state of close-up magic since the mid 1970’s. I wasn’t aware of him until the early 80’s after the release of Close-up Entertainer and Las Vegas Close-up. Since 1984 and the publication of Close-up Seductions, Continue reading

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  • Digital Loss: Another View

    In February I wrote about some loss of content that I experienced. It was a CD from the Miracle Factory that contained a collection of Annemann writings. I believe a lot of it ended up in the Annemann book that was later released. However the contents I had was unavailable due to bit rot – Continue reading

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  • Here Today

    Having nothing in particular to read last evening, I spent some time reading past issues of Genii magazine. A review in the final Kaufman issue sent me back to the feature a decade ago on Lubor Fiedler. While searching the archives, I spotted a cover story on Jared Kopf. Each thread led to another. No Continue reading

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