Please retire the term, "cardman."

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Jack Shalom
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Jack Shalom » June 19th, 2020, 7:42 pm

"In the world of professional magic there have been few lady magicians. Of these, one of the loveliest, and certainly one of the most talented, is A’ree, the Queen of Hearts. Matchless in sleight of hand, and a brilliant entertainer, her star is rapidly ascending.

In private life A’ree is Arie Mc-Chesney. She is a past president of the Parent Assembly of Magigals and is also a member of Hollywood Magigals and of the International Guild of Prestidigitators. At conventions she won the coveted Houdini Diamond and numerous other trophies and awards for performing excellence.

Billed as a “femanipulator,” A’ree has been constantly busy in the West. She has toured with Hick’s Sunshine Circuit, has been in demand for television shows and has appeared in many of the better clubs and nite spots. As beautiful as she is skilled, the demands for her program have been steadily increasing.

A’ree was the first woman to be graduated by the Chavez College of Magic for the latter’s post-graduate course. There she achieved highest honors. Now she’s headed for the conventions in Cincinnati and Philadelphia. It’s certain that the East will acclaim her, as has the West. In her graceful hands, magic transcends both art and science.

Her work is in tune with performing conditions as they exist today. She can present her acts almost anywhere, under the most strenuous of conditions. Even her bright variety number, “Artistry in Sand,” may be thus presented. No wonder the agents are quick to book A’Ree."

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Marty Jacobs
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Marty Jacobs » January 18th, 2023, 2:00 pm

I do think the words we use are important. As a hobby and profession, magic needs more female magicians. If being more careful with the words we use helps to address this gender imbalance, then I think that's a small price to pay.

"Card magician", "cardician", "card manipulator", "card mechanic", "cardist" or "sleight-of-hand artist" all seem like sensible options, depending on what suits the situation (or character of the performer). Of course, if a female magician wants to be called a "magicienne" or a "femanipulator", that's fine, too. The same goes for a male performer who wants to be known as a cardman.

But I try to avoid gender-specific terms when writing about magic because I think that does subtly exclude women. It is also wise to make your spectators male and female or just say, "Ask a person to shuffle the pack." I also don't mind using "they" as a singular pronoun.

Now, what do we say instead of layman? Is muggle gender-neutral? ;)

Marty

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Jonathan Townsend » January 18th, 2023, 9:08 pm

Marty Jacobs wrote:...
Now, what do we say instead of layman? Is muggle gender-neutral? ;)

How about customer
or audience,
or volunteer,
or heckler,
or witness?


Also, J. K. Rowling gave us the word "muggle" ... along with her other clever wordplay (including some Latin for the spell words)

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Marty Jacobs
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Marty Jacobs » January 19th, 2023, 7:20 am

Yeah, I was joking about muggle. I've always thought it sounded derogatory, e.g., you dirty, filthy, half-blooded muggle! I'm also not a big fan of J.K. Rowling. Her ideas are appealing but derivative (I'm convinced she lifted a lot of the better ideas from other children's books, such as Tim and the Hidden People and The Worst Witch) and her writing is no way near as good as her contemporaries, such as Terry Pratchett. I prefer the books by Phillip Pullman.

I just call them "people" or "participants".

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby MagicbyAlfred » January 19th, 2023, 8:22 am

For whatever Rowling's shortcomings as a writer might be, she is a great humanitarian. By the year 2012, her donations to charities, several of which she founded, and which are mainly devoted to helping at risk women and children, had totaled over $160 million. (See "J.K. Rowling: billionaire to millionaire". The New Zealand Herald. 12 March 2012).

On a related note, I have her to thank for the plot and story line of the children's cups and balls routine I've done for years, starring Harry, and his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, whose parts are played by three little balls, tastefully adorned in red wool sweaters.

Oh, and last I'd heard, the term, "cardman," largely due to pressure from members of this Forum, had indeed retired, and is now living in a condo in a senior community in Florida.

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Marty Jacobs
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Marty Jacobs » January 19th, 2023, 8:59 am

Yeah, I don't think she's a bad person or even a bad author, and I recommend her books all the time (she's discovered a formula that resonates with young readers in particular). However, she could at least say thank you to the likes of Jill Murphy, who's books clearly inspired the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Brad Henderson » January 19th, 2023, 9:49 am

Wouldn’t the henderson neutral of layman be lay person?

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Dave Le Fevre » January 19th, 2023, 12:27 pm

Marty Jacobs wrote:Yeah, I was joking about muggle. I've always thought it sounded derogatory, e.g., you dirty, filthy, half-blooded muggle!
Glad to find that I'm not alone in that. Regardless of its origin, it always sounds (to me) as if it's describing an extremely gullible idiot.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Jonathan Townsend » January 19th, 2023, 1:17 pm

Marty Jacobs wrote:I just call them "people" or "participants".
++ :D

The writer Neil Gaiman did a four issue mini-series for DC comics "The Books of Magic". Are you familiar? ;)

Another writer, Alan Moore did a clever critique/reframe of the Rowling magical world in his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volume III: Century (third chapter) which merits discussion - also about Mary Poppins if you've read those stories.

Spoilers: https://lxg.fandom.com/wiki/The_League_ ... _Come_Down
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Tarotist » January 19th, 2023, 3:43 pm

While you are all chattering about semantics there is another word which should be deleted from magician's language with far more urgency than cardman. It is "fool" or "fooling" which has most reprehensible connotations. There is a superior and arrogant tone to the word which tends to encourage an attitude of "Ha! Ha! I fooled you!" Why in God's name can't you say "baffle" or "mystify" quite baffles and mystifies me. It doesn't bloody fool me though.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby MagicbyAlfred » January 19th, 2023, 4:30 pm

Tarotist wrote:While you are all chattering about semantics there is another word which should be deleted from magician's language with far more urgency than cardman. It is "fool" or "fooling" which has most reprehensible connotations. There is a superior and arrogant tone to the word which tends to encourage an attitude of "Ha! Ha! I fooled you!" Why in God's name can't you say "baffle" or "mystify" quite baffles and mystifies me. It doesn't bloody fool me though.


Or any (or all) of the three "A"s are perfectly wonderful: Amaze, Astonish, Astound.

Bob Coyne
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Bob Coyne » January 19th, 2023, 4:51 pm

Brad Henderson wrote:Wouldn’t the henderson neutral of layman be lay person?

Shouldn't that be henderchild? :-)

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Jonathan Townsend » January 19th, 2023, 5:13 pm

Aggressive language is a pretty good early warning that person’s sense of “entertainment using magic” is far from endearing.

Please also keep in mind that magic presumes effective deception - otherwise it’s monologue, prop comedy, dancing with props… something other than magic.
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Brad Henderson » January 19th, 2023, 7:19 pm

Bob Coyne wrote:
Brad Henderson wrote:Wouldn’t the henderson neutral of layman be lay person?

Shouldn't that be henderchild? :-)


HA! Apparently autocorrect turned gender to henderson. Does that make me trans gender?

MagicbyAlfred
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby MagicbyAlfred » January 19th, 2023, 7:53 pm

Brad Henderson wrote:...Apparently autocorrect turned gender to henderson...


I have found that autocorrect frequently does magic. Unfortunately, it is along the lines of the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

k410
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby k410 » February 17th, 2024, 4:01 pm

In academia we have progressed from calling department heads "chairmen" to just "chairs", so maybe in this context we could just call everyone "cards"?

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Chris Aguilar » February 17th, 2024, 4:43 pm

First world "issue" I suppose.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Tarotist » February 17th, 2024, 4:54 pm

The obvious term "cardwoman" doesn't sound quite right somehow!

k410
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby k410 » February 17th, 2024, 8:27 pm

Gen Z might say they have heard of playing cards but are not quite familiar with them.

Which would make this whole discussion both nostalgic and moot.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby katterfelt0 » February 18th, 2024, 6:03 am

Jonathan Townsend wrote:
Marty Jacobs wrote:...
Now, what do we say instead of layman? Is muggle gender-neutral? ;)

How about customer
or audience,
or volunteer,
or heckler,
or witness?


Also, J. K. Rowling gave us the word "muggle" ... along with her other clever wordplay (including some Latin for the spell words)

Rowling only popularized the word "muggle", she didn't originate it.
Effect and method are inextricably linked.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 18th, 2024, 11:01 am

Card worker.
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Jackpot
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Jackpot » February 18th, 2024, 11:04 am

Rowling only popularized the word "muggle", she didn't originate it.

She did more that popularized the word. She gave it a new meaning.
Not the one who created the Potter Index.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby katterfelt0 » February 18th, 2024, 12:07 pm

Jackpot wrote:
Rowling only popularized the word "muggle", she didn't originate it.

She did more that popularized the word. She gave it a new meaning.

Fair enough.
Effect and method are inextricably linked.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 18th, 2024, 1:25 pm

I don't like the term "muggles." We do not live in the fantasy world of Harry Potter.
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Chris Aguilar » February 18th, 2024, 4:01 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:I don't like the term "muggles." We do not live in the fantasy world of Harry Potter.


Agreed. It's hard to hear someone use that term in daily usage (especially from an adult) and not find it cringe worthy.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Dave Le Fevre » February 18th, 2024, 4:47 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:I don't like the term "muggles." We do not live in the fantasy world of Harry Potter.
Glad to learn that I'm not alone in that respect. I find the term a patronising description of a lay audience.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Richard Stokes » February 20th, 2024, 12:02 pm

My two children quite liked the Lemony Snicket books. I was always touched by the opening dedications to Beatrice Baudelaire:

To Beatrice—Darling, dearest, dead.

For Beatrice—
My love for you shall live forever.
You, however, did not.

For Beatrice—
You will always be in my heart,
in my mind,
and in your grave.

For Beatrice—
When we met, my life began.
Soon afterward, yours ended.

For Beatrice—
When we were together I felt breathless.
Now, you are.

For Beatrice—
Our love broke my heart,
and stopped yours.

For Beatrice—
No one could extinguish my love,
or your house.

I find these entries almost as endearing as the Johnny Depp–Amber Heard transcripts.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 22nd, 2024, 12:38 pm

https://snicket.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dismal_Dedications
pumped from the same vein as Gorey's Gashly Crumbtinies ;) :D
https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/01/ ... mb-tinies/

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C is for coins which no longer ring true
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby AJM » February 22nd, 2024, 1:03 pm

Whimsy Alert!

Whimsy Alert!

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Brad Henderson » February 22nd, 2024, 3:58 pm

Person who identifies as a worker with cards.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Dustin Stinett » February 22nd, 2024, 5:50 pm

I am a fan of alliteration: card conjurer.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Bill Mullins » February 22nd, 2024, 6:29 pm

Dustin Stinett wrote:I am a fan of alliteration


I'm an aficianado of alliteration, myself.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Brad Henderson » February 22nd, 2024, 10:48 pm

[url][/url]
Bill Mullins wrote:
Dustin Stinett wrote:I am a fan of alliteration


I'm an aficianado of alliteration, myself.


Alliteration is absolutely antithetical to accuracy albeit amusing

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Joe Lyons » February 23rd, 2024, 10:33 am

Pangender Pasteboard Prestidigitator

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Joe Lyons » February 23rd, 2024, 11:33 am

Brad Henderson wrote:
Alliteration is absolutely antithetical to accuracy



Pangender Pasteboard Prestidigitator is perfectly precise to the point of perfection.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby k410 » February 24th, 2024, 8:34 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:I don't like the term "muggles." We do not live in the fantasy world of Harry Potter.


I agree. Maybe "co-investigators" or "co-conspirators" or "dear accomplices" would be better in some circumstances. Maybe even "also* Stalkers" depending on the presentation.
_____
*probably not allowed to say "fellow" these days.

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby k410 » February 24th, 2024, 9:03 pm

Next up: "Coins = Colonialism"

(TBH, for some years I thought it might be a bad idea to mix US, Mexican, and "Chinese" coins in a presentation -- even if the intention only involved the different colors and the convenient sizes.)

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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 24th, 2024, 9:38 pm

k410 wrote:Next up: "Coins = Colonialism"

(TBH, for some years I thought it might be a bad idea to mix US, Mexican, and "Chinese" coins in a presentation -- even if the intention only involved the different colors and the convenient sizes.)

There are folks from all over the planet, including Mexico and China, crossing our (US) southern border these days.
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k410
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby k410 » March 2nd, 2024, 8:04 pm

Jonathan Townsend wrote:
k410 wrote:Next up: "Coins = Colonialism"

(TBH, for some years I thought it might be a bad idea to mix US, Mexican, and "Chinese" coins in a presentation -- even if the intention only involved the different colors and the convenient sizes.)

There are folks from all over the planet, including Mexico and China, crossing our (US) southern border these days.

Many of them also fly into LAX and JFK. It seems we might misunderstand each other.

When you perform magic, do you do it to entertain others, or to bring up political topics from which said others might wish a respite?

(Also, as I'm sure you know, modern Chinese yuan coins don't have a hole in the middle.)

My consideration was this: that sometimes we should consider and reevaluate some of our traditional props to consider whether they might be offensive or take some in the audience (or fellow connivers) out of the magical moment.

k410
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Re: Please retire the term, "cardman."

Postby k410 » March 2nd, 2024, 8:22 pm

Jonathan Townsend wrote:
k410 wrote:Next up: "Coins = Colonialism"

(TBH, for some years I thought it might be a bad idea to mix US, Mexican, and "Chinese" coins in a presentation -- even if the intention only involved the different colors and the convenient sizes.)

There are folks from all over the planet, including Mexico and China, crossing our (US) southern border these days.

OK, sure, in 2024 it's conceivable that someone might come up with an "All Men Are Brothers" routine using those three specific coins, but a whole lot of other people might still feel left out, or at least might not share the same perspective as the original inventor(s) back in the 1940s or whenever.


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