Found this nice and fitting quote by Edwin Hooper in an issue of Supreme Magic’s “Magigram”:
WHAT’S WRONG WITH MAGIC? is a question continuously being asked in various magazines. We say NOTHING AT ALL ! — only the dried-up old fogies who make such remarks! MAGIC lives on ENTHUSIASM…something sometimes lacking in our present day and age. Give it a good dose of that…YOUR enthusiasm and it’s as alive and virile as ever it was.
Right!
By the way, this was written back in 1966…
I have just discovered this little nugget by Lloyd E. Jones, written in the introduction to his re-publication of The Four Full Hands by Charles T. Jordan in 1947:
The pleasure to be found in discovering principles or subtleties in print often surpasses the joy in performing, for to most magicians there is a greater opportunity to read good magic than there is to perform.
So true!
Many majishuns are horrible at history. They believe The New Deal was a Vernon concept and the Boston Tea Party a packet trick by Max Maven.
Ever noticed? “Invisible Thread” is the greatest marketing ploy ever invented in magic. At least on a well-lit stage. Duh!
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Ever noticed? “Password” and “123456” are among the most widely used passwords in the world. And we do expect strangers to remember a playing card for two minutes? Really?
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Ever noticed? Even mentalists seem unable to predict the publishing dates of their forthcoming books correctly.
Horst Vegas, self-proclaimed Senior Boy Wonder of Magic and an unfailing Lota Bowl of Wizzdom, shares another of his tinny-tiny Golden Showbiz Rules:
I feel that self-working magic will only have a future after the invention of self-applauding audiences.
„You can’t manufacture a miracle.“
Opening line from the song „Something Beautiful“, written by Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams. (You can find it on the album Escapology from 2003.)
And you can’t buy one either, I might add. Yes, there’s push-button tricks out there, but there is no such thing as self-working magic. Get over it!
Seriously, guys, gals, and fellow majishuns, there are a lot more sites out there which offer better magic entertainment, education and enlightenment than this one.
One of my favorites, which has thankfully seen a gorgeous revival recently, is a magic blog called The Jerx. (Those of you who deserve to be here will recognize at once the allusion to the time-honored The Jinx.) Its only “problem” to some may be the fact that most posts are pretty long and air deep thinking about magic methods and effects; thus, they are harder to digest than your average YouBurp video or tweet. But usually it’s well worth the effort. It’s also a lot of fun.
Here are two great recent “shorties” from Andi, the guy behind The Jerx:
The only way to improve the Repeat Bill in Lemon is to do the trick two less times.
If your premise involves anthropomorphizing something, you’re probably on your way to Shit City presentationally.
So true!
Horst Vegas, self-proclaimed Senior Boy Wonder of Magic and an unfailing Lota Bowl of Wizzdom, shares some of his tinny-tiny Golden Showbiz Rules:
There’s nothing wrong with magician foolers – as long as they are not laymen non-foolers.
„Magicians guard an empty safe.“
Jim Steinmeyer (*1958)
And drawers full of prestigious paraphernalia, like feverishly colored feather flowers, obnoxious plastic props, and pitiable packet tricks, we might add.
„If magic is dead, it is because it has been murdered.“
Fred Keating (1902-1961)
And we all know who the villains are, I might add.
ZZZAUBER 