The Final Magic Magazine

[magicrobharv]

The mail carrier just dropped off the final issue of Magic Magazine. I just thumbed through it. Everyone has their favorite part and mine is the Mike Bent column. A truly wonderful magazine and an amazing way to end 25 years. Magic magazines are like friends that come to visit each month. I'll miss it, but I am so glad that Genii is handling the Magic Magazine archives. Thank you Stan Allen and Richard Kaufman. What you do for magic is hard to put into words.

[observer]

Very nice looking issue, excellent contents. Bon voyage and continued success to Stan Allen and everyone else involved!

[Richard Kaufman]

It was fun to do another Inner-Workings column, but too bad I can't illustrate any more. And a pity that Earle Oakes is no longer alive to draw the illustrations for my column and Jon's.

[Ted M]

You illustrated your Berglas book, yes? [checking shelf...]

Hmm, wait, no, Earle Oakes did that one.

What's changed? Is it lack of time due to Genii, or other?

[Richard Kaufman]

I stopped drawing in the early 1990s. After drawing 10,000 hands I was done.

[Krenz]

I stopped drawing in the early 1990s. After drawing 10,000 hands I was done.

After drawing 10,000 hands, you should have a huge clipart library that would be very useful for many projects!

[Richard Kaufman]

I don't publish that way.

[Ted M]

I stopped drawing in the early 1990s. After drawing 10,000 hands I was done.

That's fair.

Whose work drawing hands do you admire today?

(How many people are still actively drawing hands? I know Tony Dunn is. Who else?)

[Jonathan Townsend]

... After drawing 10,000 hands I was done.

a magician's version of the Doctor Seuss movie with Hans Conried?

[erdnasephile]

Re: The Final MAGIC Magazine:

Just a few things I liked:
- Stan had a nice shout out to Genii Magazine in his column.
- The article on mentoring by Rory Johnston.
- Stan's letter to Mike Caveney.
- Jon Racherbaumer's column describing a routine that's going to make me break out those leather Schwartzman wallets.
- Getting to read Max Maven's brilliant Parallax one more (? last) time. (The line about "small children" made me do a spit take!)
- The Thompson book preview was a very practical and clever combination of a great Vernon plot and an enhanced method. I am going to add it to my working list immediately--(although I would've like to have known why Mr. Thompson does the jog shuffle control as described, since it's opposite the way I learned how to do it.) This is definitely going to be one of the must have books in 2017.
- Michael Weber sighting: it wasn't in the table of contents (or I missed it), but I was pleasantly surprised to see him represented in a rather useful sidebar.
- The "Finally" picture was classic.

Stuff I missed:
- The one thing I missed was a column about "Marketplace". Since that was always one of the most popular feature of the magazine (at least on every reader poll), it would have been nice to hear from Mr. Close who played such a big role in the success of the magazine.

I enjoyed the issue--it was sad, but was a classy ending to a fine magazine.

[Bill Mullins]

After drawing 10,000 hands I was done.

That's about 50,001 fingers, isn't it?

[Richard Kaufman]

Too many to count.

[Joe Mckay]

I haven't read the final issue yet. But I agree that Michael Close deserves a sign off. He was my favourite part of MAGIC magazine back when I first became a reader. He is still the best reviewer I have seen in magic. It is impossible to describe how enjoyable and important his work was to me back in the time before I had access to the internet.