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Inside Magic Letters to the Editor

Picture of Inside Magic EditorIt is the policy of Inside Magic – a company unrelated to Magic Inside (a pseudo-Twinkie manufacturer now defunct) or Magic Outside (a well-established camping equipment rental for witches) or Magic Inside Out (a surgical practice specializing in removing things from people with “exceptional skill and knowledge of modern medicine combined with medical waste management) – to publish responses to emails received on a quarterly basis or earlier if required by a court of appropriate jurisdiction.  If you have a question or letter to the editor, please feel free to write to editor@insidemagic.com.

 

Q:           In one of your stories you said that a man in some country did a really amazing trick with some kind of animal.  Can you tell me what that article was and where I can find it? 

A:            From your detailed question, we were able to find the exact article, “Man Does Amazing Trick with an Animal.”  We have sent you a PDF version of the article but as you likely know, it was removed from the InsideMagic.com website in response to adverse reaction not to performing magic tricks with animals, but, in the words of Professor of English Literature at the London Community College, “intentionally or reckless vagueness of subject and object in a headline.”  Our lawyer said the chances of losing the case was low but because we only had about $4.78 in petty cash at the time – and all of that went to the lawyer – we decided we could not afford the risk.  We removed the article and apologized to readers.  See, “We’re Sorry We Had a Vague Headline on an Article We Published a While Ago.”

 

Q:           Why don’t you have Mandrake the Magician comics anymore?

A:            It’s true we used to run the Mandrake comic each day.  We ran out of money and so we had to end our license with King Features Syndicate — publisher of Mandrake.  We tried to replace the very popular feature – indeed, readers told us it was the only reason they read InsideMagic.com – with JoJo the Magic Clown comics.  While not as well-known as Mandrake, the JoJo series featured a magician who investigated crimes he himself committed.  The series ended after a week due to this unfortunate plot design.  We then went with Ranger Steve comics.  These strips lasted longer than JoJo but had nothing to do with magic.  They were daily exploration of the animal world.  No one read Ranger Steve; not even the editors of the comic.  There were constant errors such as “the rabbit is the only flower that can create seeds without birds.”  We reported the strip to the London Community College English Literature department.

 

Q:           Every ad for a trick says, “It’s the best ever” or “I was fooled constantly by this one” or “This is a trick that wows audiences and slays magicians.”  Which one should I buy?

A:            You’re right that many advertisers make claims that an effect is unique and the best thing to ever come down the pike.  In fact, we received an email today that said just that, “this effect is unique and the best thing to ever come down the pike.”  In our opinion, the best trick is the InsideMagic.com “Incredi-deck.”  It is the only combination of a marked deck where every card is the same.  The possibilities are endless.  You’ll know immediately whether the person took the card you handed them because it will have the name of the card written in ink visible only to those wearing the Incredi-glasses or Incredi-contact lenses (sold separately).  We printed up about 1,000 decks and still have just over 900 left (if you consider “just over” to mean, 987).  We sold out of the Incredi-glasses and Incredi-contact lenses to a spy organization that we think works for either the U.S. or some other country.  The reviews on the deck and vision methods were fantastic – but only from the spy organization and even then only in coded messages visible only whilst wearing the Incredi-glasses or Incredi-contacts.  We would re-print them here but we’re not sure about international spy regulations when it comes to copyright law.

 

Q:           At that party at the convention before Covid-19, you left early and forgot to pay for your ticket.  We’ll wave the penalty fee and interest but insist you pay for the ticket.  If we do not hear back from you with payment, we may be forced to pursue legal action.

A:            We weren’t at that party and we didn’t leave early, it was just running so long with the constant music, free-flowing drinks, wonderful, mini-wieners on toothpicks (by the way, you should warn guests that there is a toothpick in the mini-wieners before they eat a handful), that we would have been well-within our right to leave early; if we had been there but we weren’t.  We should send you the hospital bill for the removal of tooth picks lodged at various points in our digestive system.  We used Magic Inside and Out and they did a great job.  The best version of wood removal from a digestive track to come down the pike.

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Letters to the Editor

Inside Magic EditorFrom time to time and when required by the standards of decency and regulations, we publish letters to the editor.  If you have something on your brain you would like to share, please send us a note at editor@insidemagic.com.  We won’t use your last name so ask anything  – related to magic.

Dear Inside Magic:

A long time ago or maybe last week you said you were going to do podcasts.  When will they start going?

  • Unnamed

Dear Unnamed:

We are going to be doing podcasts and have already had two guests who have volunteered to discuss the history of magic, some of the greats they’ve seen and from whom they learned much.  While we are very talented in the double-lift and second deal, we are still learning how to hook-up the electronics necessary for a podcast.  We have been researching everywhere.  We started reading Popular Electronics magazines from the 1960s – just because we still had them, holding up part of our dining room table, also from the 1960s by coincidence.  The table fell down and scared our 12 cats but we were determined to learn the technique of what the kids call “pod casting.”

Our research showed that the technique did not exist in the 1960s (from 1964 forward), the 1970s (the only “pod” reference dealt with the American space program and did involve microphones and receivers but seemed far too expensive to build), and the 1980s.  We figured we would just break down (not emotionally – that’s what the 12 cats prevent) and go to Radio Shack to get a ready-made kit.  But you know what?  There are no Radio Shacks any more.  They’ve gone the way of Good Humor trucks and regular milk delivery to your front door.

Undeterred, we went to the Internet (capitalized to meet the current style guide here at Inside Magic (pronounced, “IN – side mAGIC” – the .com is silent.  We found many things on the Internet but few things on pod casting until we figured out that we should search for something more specific.  We modified our search in the “search bar” to something other than “pod” OR “casting.”  Each word on its own brings up results that are unhelpful.  The latter brings up many results that are not safe for work but we work from home so all we had to worry about was offending the cats and they don’t do much during the day.

Bottom line: we think we know what we need to do and we will do it, by gollly.  We hope to tape our first one in the next two or three weeks and it should go live within a few days after.  Thank you so much for asking.

 

Dear Editor: 

What is the best way to become a master magician? Is there a course I can take?

  • William

Dear William:

The appellation “Master Magician” is given to only one magician at a time.  Currently Lance Burton holds the title after he was given the status by Lee Grabell.  It is, therefore, a very rare honor and one that many of us will never achieve.

On the other hand, you can try to master magic by practicing before a mirror over and over until you fool yourself, perform for a trick for an audience only once (never do it again no matter what they say), and NEVER reveal a secret.  If you keep these things in mind, you’ll go far.  It is a wonderful art and we admire your apparent desire to learn more about it.

We had written a 15 volume set on “How to Become a Master Magician” but it is no longer in print and was the subject of, in our view, needless litigation.  Sorry we don’t have an old set we can give you but it is holding up the other side of our table.

 

Dear Magic:

Why do some magicians change their names to just one name? Like Cher or Sammy?

  • Elaine

Dear Elaine:

If that is your real name.  (See what we did there?)  Usually a single name (usually the first name although Penn & Teller are an exception) is something one takes on when they reach a level of fame but in the magic world, it helps to get promoted and adds to the mystery.

Would you want to see “Timmy Quinlan” or “The Amazing Q”? We hope it is the second one because we just bought 1,000 business cards saying “The Amazing Q” from Vista Print one night when we saw a commercial about a special offer just for those watching at 3:30 in the morning.

They haven’t arrived yet and we have no idea how we will distribute them – especially because we forgot (we were tired and that cats were doing their nocturnal running the length of the trailer and then running back) to put our phone number on them.

That means, if you pick up one of our Amazing Q cards, you’ll need to come to our residence and knock on our door – thus scaring the cats and causing them to hide but not before bumping into each other like furry pinballs (our first album name, by the way) – or write us a letter by US Mail.  Our landlord will not accept FedEx packages on our behalf because she worries they could be bad things.

We’ve asked what kind of “bad things” could be in a standard envelope with a FedEx logo.  She responds out of the corner of her mouth not holding her cigarette, “you wouldn’t know, would you?”

Great question but the bottom line is folks will have to send letters.

We don’t know why ordinary letters wouldn’t carry the same “bad things” but apparently they don’t.

So when the cards come (by regular mail) we will write our phone number on the bottom of each.  We wish we had chosen Comic Sans as the font so that when we wrote our phone number on the card, it looked like we intentionally were writing poorly.  But you know what they say, “if wishes were dishes, someone would have to take them out of the dishwasher just once in this dang house, how hard could that be?  You can put them in, no problem, but you can’t take them out?”

If you have a question for our editor, you can use the contact link at the top of the page or just send an email to us at editor@insidemagic.com.

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Letters to Editor: Co-Dependent Magic

When required by court order or self-interest, Inside Magic posts questions from readers and our responses.  If you have a question or comment for Inside Magic, please send it to questions@insidemagic.com.

Dear Mr. Medico:

I want to make money reading Terrets cards and am looking four a good books to red.  What do you sugest?

Mr. Amazing

Dear Mr. Amazing:

Actually, from the salutation “Mr. Medico” and the question about “Terrets cards,” we think you may have intended to ask your question of the webmd.com doctor panel.

The Tourette Syndrome Show hasn’t been performed for years.  The last practitioner of the thankfully dead routine was the amoral and incapable Tony Spain.

And even Tony no longer performs any tricks involving or utilizing the unfortunate neurological syndrome known as Tourette syndrome.

In fact, Tony wrote to his parole officer last year that he no longer performs his profitable but offensive hour-long school assembly show; “showcasing different neurological and psychiatric maladies while entertaining kids and teachers alike with witty asides and magic.”

Apparently the foul mouthed and bad breathed Mr. Spain came to understand the plight of the afflicted or his bookings dried up.  We’re guessing it was the latter.

You can still find YouTube videos with his rendition of FRESH FISH SOLD HERE TODAY foisted upon the frail self-image of a stutterer or Tourette syndrome victim, forced to read into the nicotine streaked microphone whilst facing his or her classmates.

If we are not mistaken, you could buy the whole routine with props and script on Tony’s website for $200.00 a while back.  We don’t know if anyone took him up on this offer but our belief in human nature gives us reason to hope that era in Magic is gone.

========

Dear Insidious Magic:

How come you never publish any of the letters I send to you?

Jeremy

Continue reading “Letters to Editor: Co-Dependent Magic” →

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Letters to the Editor and Corrections

It is the policy of Inside Magic to correct errors or omissions within a reasonable time following the alleged error or omission.

Additionally, Inside Magic welcomes correspondence from all readers on subjects related to articles in this journal or other magic-related subjects.

Please note: if you submitted an article for publication between April 25, 1998 and June 14, 2001, you may be entitled to compensation from a settlement currently under consideration by the Honorable Kimba Woods for the Southern District of New York in the class action Leticia Accensia v. Inside Magic, Ltd (A Company Organized Under the Laws of Belize), SDCiv 2003CA1992AA.

While Judge Woods has not yet certified the alleged class for purposes of trial, there has been a Consolidated Discovery Order entered and settlement discussions in lieu of potential class certification are contemplated.

In the August 12, 2002 edition of Inside Magic, Oakland magician Jerry Hirschorn was profiled for his ability to perform a “Six-Card Repeat effect in a close-up environment.” The article noted Mr. Hirschorn could perform the card trick on a table during his work at a local restaurant and “instantly reset.”

Mr. Hirschorn’s “reset” was not instant but because the effect goes on for hours, he simply continues the routine as he moves from table to table. We regret the error. We also morn the passing of Mr. Hirschorn and his brothers in a recent accident but celebrate the recent birth of triplets by his mother, Mrs. Gail White.

Dear Inside Magic:

When I am buying a thumb tip, can I get it sized to my thumb? Also, how can I find one that looks like my skin color?

Adrian Owen, Lexington, KY

Hi Adrian:

We take it you are new to the world of magic from the substance of your question. Like the existence of gravity or the inevitability of a wrong order when using a McDonald’s drive-through window, the use of a thumb tip is an exercise in faith.

You have no doubt heard from more senior magicians that you could wear a thumb tip painted bright red but if you used it correctly, your audience would never notice it. That is true. Too much emphasis is placed on matching the skin color of the tip for fear of detection.

Harry Blackstone, Sr. once tried an experiment where he performed a complete show with a bright red thumb tip in place. He mentioned to magicians later that no one noticed. While historians tend to discount this story’s significance, it has meaning for us today.

(Jim Steinmeyer surveyed the literature concerning Mr. Blackstone’s claim in his critically acclaimed monograph, What’s That On Your Thumb? No, The Other Thumb! An Examination of Thumb Tip Use throughout the History of Magic, (New York: Scribner’s 1987). He noted the following criticisms:

1) Blackstone did not perform any effect during his show in which the thumb tip could be used;

2) Blackstone did not solicit observations from his audience regarding his use or non-use of the utility device;

3) this show was the same show for which Mr. Blackstone received well-deserved praise for safely escorting the entire audience from the theater to safety after he was informed the backstage area was engulfed in flames;

4) Blackstone was wearing, as was his custom, white kid skin gloves over the thumb tip;

5) this particular show was a benefit for the local school for the blind; and

6) the thumb tip in question matched exactly the nail polish he used on every other finger (and, say some scholars, toenails)).

We have found the use of the thumb tip to be an unnerving experience. We are so sure we will be caught either hiding items in, or slipping items from the device that we no longer use it except during our magic shows.

We note the space allotted by the gimmick is rarely sufficient to shoplift anything of value or to secret any contraband across an international border.

Dai Vernon once commented that just as a magician should not be considered professional until he had performed 25 times on stage, You should not use a thumb tip until your liver failure has advanced sufficiently to make your skin yellow, like the tip.

The Vernon Chronicles, Vol. 2, Bruce Cervon (Los Angeles: Magic Press 1968) pp 114-113.

Continue reading “Letters to the Editor and Corrections” →