I’ve often said that Andrew Musgrave over at Ye Olde Magick Blogge writes the most ambitious and intelligent articles on the web (magicwise). He has committed himself, as have several other bloggers, to producing an article per day during 2011. We’ll talk about that later. Right now I want to concentrate on several of his most recent articles.
He has declared February as favourites (as he spells it) month. So far, the articles have been outstanding. I would think the toughest part of this series is actually defining the categories. He has already written articles such as favorite book on magic theory, favorite L & L performance, and favorite talk show magic performance. As I write this article, I believe I have only agreed with Andrew on one item, which is favorite impromptu card trick. Certainly, much of this is due to our sizable difference in ages (I have underwear older than Andrew) and part of it do to our individual preferences and prejudices e.g. he has already awarded two categories to Jay Sankey, which is something I would never do. Jay has put out so much crap over the years that was unworthy of publication that I have a hard time accepting he has also done some incredibly good development.
The article which recently caught my attention was favourite torn and restored card. The easy out would have been J. C. Wagener’s seminal routine and it would have been an excellent choice. Andrew, however, went with Charlie Frye’s Ripped and Fryed. Frankly, this is a trick that I had missed. It is on one of the discs in Paul Harris’ True Astonishment set. In searching out Charlie’s trick, I again realized what a terrible, terrible effort the long awaited Harris set was. Here we have the work of possibly the most influential magician of the past 30 years and he doesn’t show a single trick. Boy, was I disappointed!
Charlie’s trick is well conceived, well executed and doable. I’m a big fan of Charlie Frye – his juggling and magic. This trick is worth looking up. Our thanks to Andrew for bringing this and other items to our attention.
i/m
PS Favorite L&L performance? – it’s gotta be that gal in the front row of Tommy Wonder’s DVDs keeping that micro skirt from going that last inch before the vice squad is called in. VERY impressive.
