Academy of Magical Arts Awards Nominations Announced

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Dustin Stinett
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Academy of Magical Arts Awards Nominations Announced

Postby Dustin Stinett » February 20th, 2017, 11:54 am

The Academy of Magical Arts has announced the nominees for the outstanding performances and lecture during 2016 at The Magic Castle. The Awards Show will be held at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles on April 2. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster and include the after party to be held at the Castle immediately following the show. Non-members are welcome. (There is no age restriction for the show, however after party attendees must be at least 21 and follow the usual dress code.) The nominees, as determined by the membership*, are:

CLOSE-UP
Shawn Farquhar
Andrew Goldenhersh
Bill Goodwin
Mike Pisciotta
Richard Turner

PARLOUR
Jon Armstrong
Chris Capehart
Shawn Farquhar
Handsome Jack
Derek Hughes

STAGE
The Evasons
Tina Lenert
Shoot Ogawa
Thommy Ten & Amelie van Tess (The Clairvoyants)
Justin Willman

LECTURE
Simon Coronel
Shawn Farquhar
Eric Jones
Mike Pisciotta
Richard Turner
Rob Zabrecky

Congratulations to all of the nominees. See you in April!

*A personal opinion note: That, for the second year in a row, Bebel was not nominated for his Close-Up Gallery performances brings the nomination process into serious question. It is well past time that the Boards of Trustees and Directors step up and implement the nomination processes that they have been discussing. In the past, there was a nomination committee. This might not be practical in this day and age, but I know for a fact that there are other, practical, ideas being considered.

Of course I do not mean to demean those who were nominated, but I know several on that list who would say Bebel should be among them. And he is not the only one whose outstanding work is being missed while recognizable names garner more votes. Todd Karr's analysis of the nominating process (between 2005 and 2016) that was published in Genii last year shined a bright light on the problem with cold, hard numbers. Change is needed, particularly with the 50th anniversary of the Awards Show coming up in 2018.

Dustin

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erdnasephile
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Re: Academy of Magical Arts Awards Nominations Announced

Postby erdnasephile » February 20th, 2017, 12:40 pm

I agree with Dustin.

The other thing is: I don't think members who haven't seen all the performers at the Castle should vote. After all, how can you make an intelligent decision unless you are familiar with all the choices? (I decline to vote in good conscience for that very reason). It doesn't seem fair to anyone to have the uninformed included in the electorate.

That said, I'm not sure of a practical way that restriction can happen unless members were able to securely stream excerpts of the nominated acts (much like television shows submit particular episodes for Emmy consideration). One downside would be the unauthorized copyists that this sort of thing might create (much like the bootleg Oscar videos made from movies that used to be sent to Oscar voters).

Than again, perhaps irresponsible voters will always find ways to thwart the system: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Two-Osca ... 41981.html

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NCMarsh
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Re: Academy of Magical Arts Awards Nominations Announced

Postby NCMarsh » April 19th, 2018, 9:23 pm

Is there a list of this year's nominees posted anywhere? I didn't find it on the castle's public site (not yet a member) and haven't seen anything here....


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