Introduction and Apologies

There are few things in life we enjoy more than attending the South Carolina Association of Magicians convention in beautiful Columbia, South Carolina.

We promised publication of this article/review several weeks ago but for some reason, we could not find ability to finish the project. This piece is a subset of several lengthy volumes summarizing, reviewing, and praising the weekend in Columbia.

We live by two doctrines in our writing: 1) lack of inhibition is not the same as talent; 2) the perfect is the enemy of the good and the good is a foe of the adequate.

So while this article is not as long as it has been, it is at least done. If you are bored, very bored, you can read the following to see how many different styles and approaches we tried and how poorly we have edited the various attempts into this final draft.

You can also take a big virtual marker and circle how many times the word “charm” or “charisma” is used.

We’re thinking of converting this article into a kid’s meal place mat for a chain of family restaurants and what better way to distract a hungry, sugar-crashing youngster than a good game of find the thematic inconsistencies?

SCAM is Special – But in a Good Way

When we left Mystic Hollow, Michigan, there was snow everywhere, the skies were gray and foreboding, ice made driving tricky, and we had just lost our glass eye in a crooked on-line poker game.

We looked forward to (albeit with lousy depth perception) South Carolina.

Our foster-grandmother used to tell us, “to make a tasty cake, you need to use tasty ingredients.” Her statement resonates in our horribly damaged soul as an example of her innate wisdom.

While the saying was also used to help prove up her marijuana smuggling conviction, it never took on the serious second meaning suggested by the prosecutor. To us kids, it was just a truism.

Continue reading “SCAM Reviews – At Long Last” →