And the Winners Are ...

[Dustin Stinett]

Last night's AMA (Magic Castle) Awards Show winners are:

Lecturer of the Year: Shoot Ogawa
Close-Up Magician of the Year: Simon Coronel
Parlour Magician of the Year: Mike Pisciotta
Stage Magician of the Year: Lucy Darling (Carisa Hendrix)

Congratulations to all.

For a list of the Fellowship honorees and Magician of the Year, see this post from April 29:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=54742

The show itself was splendid, and a full recap of it will appear in the (hopefully) July issue of Genii (if not July then certainly August). Sadly, the program did not reflect just how fine this show was. While beautifully produced, conspicuously missing from its pages were bios and photos of the excellent performers, photos of the nominees in each category, photos of the Fellowship honorees with copies of the certificates that each receive,* the lists of past winners and honorees, and the list of acknowledgements for those who kindly provided the photos that were used in the memorial reel.

For the record, while I am listed first under the producers of that, the fact is that all I did this year, as it turned out, was collect those photos. Andrew P. Jones took my meager attempt at a video and produced an incredible piece that, with the accompaniment of Libby Larsen singing, was an emotional triumph. It's appropriate, I think, as I have now gone full circle. I was first asked to do this by Max Maven many years ago (and one ever said no to Max ... unless that's what he wanted you to say), and that first attempt was made better by Steve Dick. With Max being on this year's video--and with that finished product being so far beyond my capabilities--it's time for me to doff that hat and leave it to exceptionally talented individuals like Andrew. It has been an honor to do my part over the last decade or so.

For this year, here is the list of those individuals, estates, and institutions that graciously allowed their property to be used in that remarkable video:

Clay Patrick McBride, Elizabeth Kaufman, Genii, The Conjuors' Magazine, the Tevell Rose Estate, the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Harry Lorayne Estate, the Scott Alexander Estate, Najee Williams (Hocus Pocus Focus), Steve Cohen, The Academy of Magical Arts, Taylor Wong, Andrew Pinard, Bill Goodwin, the Ted Karmilovich Estate, Annabel de Vetten-Peterson, Wittus Witt, Magische Welt, Guy Gerrard, the Kole Family, Craig Greenwood, Damon Webster, Levent Cimkently, Stevens Magic Emporium.

Thanks to you all.

*The importance of this is that, say 40 years from now, when some intrepid journalist for Genii is researching the Masters Fellowship for 2022 given to Gaetan Bloom, there is nowhere to turn--other than to find that unique certificate--to find out what was written. Countless times I have turned to past AMA Show programs for that kind of thing. History of magic matters, and the show program is a part of that history. (End of rant.)

Thanks for your time,
Dustin

[erdnasephile]

The mysterious JK Hartman won a Literary Fellowship---did he/she/they come and accept the award?

[Dustin Stinett]

No. The man is 90 years old and lives, I believe, in New Jersey, so the trip was not in the (no pun intended) cards. Bill Goodwin read a note of thanks from him and, while he knows he's produced a lot, I am not convinced that Mr. Hartman knows just how truly important his contributions have been to the craft.

[erdnasephile]

No. The man is 90 years old and lives, I believe, in New Jersey, so the trip was not in the (no pun intended) cards. Bill Goodwin read a note of thanks from him and, while he knows he's produced a lot, I am not convinced that Mr. Hartman knows just how truly important his contributions have been to the craft.

He is amazing. It's hard to think of any important plot in card magic that he hasn't substantially contributed to in some fashion or another.

[Richard Kaufman]

Jerry Hartman does not live in New Jersey, but where he lives is irrelevant. He has always preferred to have his published works speak for themselves. I am one of the few people in magic who've met him. He has never allowed a photo to be published.

[Brad Henderson]

I met him at the club at which he is a member. I Was there doing a show. They heard there was a magician in the house and his poker group asked I come by and say hello. He was very kind and we had a lovely little chat. Very modest and complimentary.