Dustings #95

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Thanks to those of you who wrote in complimenting the new book cover. I didn’t respond individually, but that’s only because I really, had nothing to do it with it other than coming up with the idea, so I feel weird taking any credit for it.

But regardless, here’s a blanket …

Most magic book covers look like they took 40 seconds of thought and even less time in execution. So I take pride in the fact that people have asked me to release some of my covers as limited edition prints

Or that they’d wear them on a t-shirt.

All credit goes to my immensely talented collaborator, Stasia Burrington.

Here’s an early draft of the final image for book 6.

Never has there been so much Hot Rod talk in my email. A few people asked me which type I recommend. I’m not a Hot Rod expert, by any means, thank god. But I recommend the clear plastic ones with one side that’s flatter than the other. I find this easier to do the paddle move with.

Don’t get the opaque ones. They weaken the effect. You want people to be able to see through them and realize there’s nothing inside. I think this is a listing for the type I’m talking about, but they don’t really show a picture of the clear version, so I’m not 100% sure.

I pretty much dislike everyone in this story.

I don’t like the hacky magician who was absolutely dumb for performing this at a college orientation. With enough charm, and the right relationship with your spectators, you can pull off some good-natured smutty magic. But not with 5 random female volunteers.

I don’t love the reaction of the student body. “I am disappointed, frustrated, and ashamed to be a University of Ottawa student,” one said. The student union said his act, “played into harmful dynamics of sexualization of women, sexual violence and the perpetuation of rape culture.” Unless they are leaving out something incredibly significant from the story, these reactions seem a little over-the-top. It sounds like he did a presentation that involved guessing the color of their underwear, likely with some inappropriate jokes. I understand that may have come off creepy or uncomfortable, but associating this with “sexual violence and rape culture” feels ghoulish to me and a little absurd. “Oh, you were violently raped? I know how you feel. A magician once guessed the color of my underwear.”

I’m not trying to downplay the event. I just think we can say things are shitty, lame, inappropriate or whatever, without piggybacking on the emotional trauma of the worst thing that ever happened to someone.

And it’s wildly disempowering, too. This could have been a teaching moment. If you really think a performer is being inappropriate, boo him off the stage. Or at least walk out. If you’re a volunteer and feel offended by a performer (and to be fair, it doesn’t seem like anyone complaining was one of the volunteers) tell him to fuck-off. If a magician tells you he wants to guess the color of your underwear, grab the mic and say, “Me first. My powers are telling me your underwear has a yellowish hue with brown streaks.”

And finally, I dislike this magician’s friends and other people who have seen his show and haven’t tried hard enough to convince him this bit doesn’t go over well. And why hasn’t anyone told him that hat looks terrible on him? It’s not a hat for a fat-headed man.

I once said the Magic Café reminded me of a mall that had once been popular but was now mostly empty and dilapidated, with just a handful of weird stores, few customers, maybe an empty fountain, and some old signage.

I was reminded of that today when I scrolled the Magic Cafe and saw this…

Genii magazine’s 80th anniversary was in 2017. We’re just a few years from its 90th anniversary.