Once a year, the ancient Pharaoh Nephets (the good God and One-above-all-others of the 32nd Dynasty and a part-time amateur magician) stirs in his sarcophagus, rises, and bestows ancient Egypt's highest award, the Golden Scarab, on the year's most distinguished achievements in magic and the allied arts. Or something like that. In reality -- at least one step closer to reality -- the staff here at The Little Egypt Gazette pores over the past 12 issues and the pile of literature and apparatus we've accumulated from all you dealers, book publishers, and magazine editors out there, and we attempt to sort the wheat from the chaff. The ensuing awards follow.

BEST BOOK/GENERAL -- Besting the other contenders on sheer scope alone, and arriving just under the tax deadline for consideration as a 1996 entry, is Paul Harris's three-volume The Art of Astonishment. These are three large, sumptuous books, packed not only with most of Paul's earlier books, writings, and separately marketed effects, but with some beguiling new stuff by Paul and some of his friends. The foremost friend here is Eric Mead, who not only wrote and tested most of the material, but who also contributed material that was arguably too good to include in such a collection. Thank you, Eric, and congratulations, Paul.

BEST BOOK/MENTAL-OCCULT -- This one easily goes to Scott Moore-Davis's Seance, the hardback collection of his 12-issue magazine of the same name. Golem felt it should have been suppressed, as the material should remain the province of those who choose to operate outside the law. I abstained from voting, having contributed to the original journal, but Columbine championed it also, expressing a fascination with the recurring photos of Eugene Burger.

BEST MARKETED CARD TRICK -- Jim Pace's "The Web." Thanks to this nasty little card trick, the unexpected appearances of spiders have created a stir among magic audiences throughout the land. As some might turn up noses at a cheap laugh, this is in its way a cheap scream, but it's a very real scream, and if that is your goal, as it has often been mine, this is an efficient way of achieving it.

BEST PUBLISHED CARD TRICK IN A MAGAZINE -- Rich Moratta's "The Card in the Orange," in Gordon Bean's "The Locked Room," Genii, January 1996. This is not "just another card trick," but a card trick that has been a featured part of a professional act for years. I coveted this item for a long time and was amazed when Rich published it. Either he was being just incredibly generous or he lost a huge bet to Gordon Bean.

BEST PUBLISHED CARD STRATAGEM IN A MAGAZINE -- "Marxism & Magic," Robert Farmer's card-marking system, MAGIC, October 1996. My vision is lousy, but I can see and easily read these marks from a distance. This is a breakthrough article in marked card systems.

BEST NEW FACE IN A TELEVISED MAGIC SPECIAL -- Columbine insisted on this one: Robert Gallup, whose Extreme Magic special caught the magic world by surprise. Who is this guy and where did he come from? I particularly enjoyed Gallup's laser beam levitation.

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR -- There were nine major new television specials, and Gary Ouellet brought us four of them: Lance Burton, Master Magician: The Legend Begins, Champions of Magic, Hidden Secrets of Magic, and The World's Greatest Magic III. In addition, WGM I andII also popped up this year in reruns. Although the success of these shows is often reduced to ratings, it is noted here that some truly excellent magic is showcased in these specials, to the benefit of both magicians and lay audiences who might not otherwise have seen it. But the ratings have been strong as well. It is clear that Gary has figured out how to package magic so that it attracts and holds audiences, and I hope this continues for a long time. Given the number of magicians on these specials, the quantity of specials, and the stong ratings for all of them, I suspect that Gary has connected more magicians with more viewers in 1996 than anyone before him in the long history of the art. He earns both the Scarab and our heartfelt thanks for this effort.

PRODUCER OF THE CENTURY -- How can such a young-looking guy have done so much for so long? This award goes to Milt Larsen, for two of his many productions, the Magic Castle and It's Magic. Milt is particularly acknowleged this year for having recently produced the 40th (!!!) anniversary edition of It's Magic. This year's edition featured Mac King, Juliana Chen, Ed Alonzo, Jason Byrne, Brad Cummings, and Princess Tenko. The Magic Castle, Milt's other major production, started in 1963, and so is still only a young 34-year-old or so.

BEST NEW STAGE ILLUSION -- Easy: David Copperfield's "The Laser." The beam cuts him in half, he sort of falls apart, the top half picks up the bottom half, and then these remains move forward toward the audience. If I had seen this on TV rather than in person, I would have sworn David was cheating.

BEST MAGAZINE ARTICLE -- This one was a tie, but that's OK because the tie goes to the same guy, Max Maven, for his in-depth cover story on Jay Marshall, "With Jasper in Magicland" (Genii, July, 1996) and for his book-length "Treasures from 60 Years" retrospective (Genii, September 1996). Must reading for all magicians.

"LIFETIME" ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS IN JOURNALISM -- In television, they say that five years is a lifetime. The same is surely true for magic magazines, and therefore a Golden Scarab for excellence in publishing goes to Stan Allen for completing five years of his incredible magazine, MAGIC. If five years is a lifetime, how does one gauge 60 years? A Golden Scarab also goes out to the Larsen family for completing 60 years of publishing Genii, which is now issuing from Erika Larsen's capable hands. If you aren't receiving both these monthly magazines, you are simply not in complete touch with the world of magic as it is happening in the nineties.

Note: The accolade of "best" in the above awards really means the best of that which showed up here at The Little Egypt Gazette offices, which automatically excludes most pricey items. If you would like to contribute an expensive pet effect or deluxe leather-bound book set (a Tommy Wonder floating ball would be nice, or a Gamolo levitation) for product review or award consideration, then hey, go right ahead. Golem, Columbine, and I promise to give it our full and impartial attention. See "Stirring the Tana Leaves" for further thoughts on award-worthy products.


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Copyright© 1997 by Steve Bryant