“Discussing the performance afterward, Darnell kept trying to guess how some of the tricks were done.

“And then I thought, ‘Why can’t I know?'” he says.

“I mean, you could go to any library and probably find out, but it occurred to me that the answer might make a pretty good TV show.”

Darnell was “thrilled” by the publicity created by “Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.” He was even excited that magicians filed five lawsuits against Fox.

Perhaps if I was more interested in television specials, I would care about the injustice visited upon our nation by “Alien Autopsy” or “Joe Millionaire” but neither show really affected me.

On the other hand, the Masked Magician and his exposure of magic secrets did affect me and did financially hurt many magicians who depend upon these secrets. Some of the effects revealed were the result of years of work, practice and trial and error.

So, while I am happy when anyone succeeds in their chosen profession, I have reservations about applauding someone who makes it by destroying the livelihood of others.

I’m not saying anything new or different now than what was said back in 1997 but at least now I have a face and name to go with the cowardly exploitation of the craft I love.

“Discussing the performance afterward, Darnell kept trying to guess how some of the tricks were done.

“And then I thought, ‘Why can’t I know?'” he says.

“I mean, you could go to any library and probably find out, but it occurred to me that the answer might make a pretty good TV show.”

Darnell was “thrilled” by the publicity created by “Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.” He was even excited that magicians filed five lawsuits against Fox.

Perhaps if I was more interested in television specials, I would care about the injustice visited upon our nation by “Alien Autopsy” or “Joe Millionaire” but neither show really affected me.

On the other hand, the Masked Magician and his exposure of magic secrets did affect me and did financially hurt many magicians who depend upon these secrets. Some of the effects revealed were the result of years of work, practice and trial and error.

So, while I am happy when anyone succeeds in their chosen profession, I have reservations about applauding someone who makes it by destroying the livelihood of others.

I’m not saying anything new or different now than what was said back in 1997 but at least now I have a face and name to go with the cowardly exploitation of the craft I love.