Hey, wanna have an award? Not just a stupid WMF-award, but an actual one. just call Tony Hassini, fly him first class to your place, offer him some money and he will give you the Merlin.
Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy and even Doug Henning got it, so it is good, right?
No!
Read this little post by Tim Ellis. Obviously you can buy the Merlin. Like Brad Ross:
I'm going to be honored to be accepting the 2010 Merlin Award for "Best International Family Entertainer" as presented by Tony Hassini and the International Magicians Society. This is an award that has been presented to such magicians like David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, Lance Burton, Criss Angel, Harry Blackstone and I am beyond humbled and thrilled to be adding my name to that list.
| New Jersey illusionist Brad Ross receives magic's highest award |
Well, what can I say to Brad Ross except, "Congratulations for buying yourself the Merlin."
So this award means nothing and the Winners who bought it are automatic failures. It's a sick, sad world. Why can't magic be more about not having awards? Why can't it be about magic. About actually performing.
There is the constant need among magicians to compare each other. Who's got the better pass, who gets the most money and who does the most shows. And because of this need the Merlin exists. And because of this need Tony Hassini keeps making cheap money. What a sell out, what a failure.
PS. If you google Tony Hassini, the first video you'll get is him explaining a gimmick. ;)
I agree with you of course about the awards, but in his defense the video referred to to is probably from the DVD he did on Gimmicks. Probably not fair to go inferring he exposes stuff online.
ReplyDelete