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Ideas, advice and musings about conjuring.
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A Master's Wand
In The Inventive Magician's Handbook....With Props, I discuss the genius and kindness of Martin Lewis, whose insights in creating "The...
Judge Brown
Oct 12, 20242 min read
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FOLDED CORNER SYNDROME and The Inventive Magician's Handbook...With Props
I call it “folded corner syndrome.” Nearly every magician has experienced it: paging through a magic book, you encounter something...
Judge Brown
Sep 26, 20243 min read
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VISION for The Inventive Magician's Handbook...With Props
Magic books generally fall into three categories: Instructional, Conjuring History and Magic Theory. Each has its place in a magician’s...
Judge Brown
Sep 5, 20242 min read
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INSPIRATION for The Inventive Magician's Handbook...With Props
I had just delivered a Monday Night Mystery lecture for the McBride Magic and Mystery School entitled “Inspiration and Invention.” It...
Judge Brown
Aug 30, 20242 min read
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Creating The Inventive Magician's Handbook...With Props!
THE SECRET IS OUT! I'm delighted to announce that The Inventive Magician's Handbook . . . with Props will be released on October 1 by...
Judge Brown
Aug 15, 20241 min read
170 views
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Terry Pratchett on the Art of Conjuring
When someone as articulate and insightful as Sir Terry Pratchett - the celebrated fantasy author who has written extensively about magic -...
Judge Brown
Oct 3, 20232 min read
60 views
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The Magical Road to Penn & Teller's Fool Us
During a session at the Mystery School’s “Weekend of Wisdom” in 2021, Jeff McBride challenged each participant to set a magic goal to...
Judge Brown
Mar 29, 20233 min read
253 views
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Magic Exposes the A.I. Chatbots
A digital edit of Bosch's "The Conjurer," setting the main protagonists in a science lab produced by the DALL*E AI interface. Send in the...
Judge Brown
Jan 14, 20234 min read
252 views
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Squeeky, The Golden Voice Thrower
In an unsuccessful attempt to acquire the most coveted, albeit useless, ventriloquism gizmo of the 20th Century, I inadvertently...
Judge Brown
Aug 9, 20226 min read
102 views
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The Exquisite Mystery of “La Moneda Fundiente”
“If you have to ask, you’ll never know. If you know, you need only ask.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Chrisitian...
Judge Brown
Apr 26, 20222 min read
114 views
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Making "The Pizza Miracle"
Tuesday is pizza night at our house: we order pizza delivery every Tuesday evening. A brilliant declaration by my spouse, "Pizza...
Judge Brown
Nov 28, 20212 min read
115 views
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Creativity and the Pandemic
During the early days of COVID-19, my friend Lynn Miner suggested I try my hand at writing the "Hocus Pocus Parade" for IBM's Linking...
Judge Brown
Nov 13, 20212 min read
72 views
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Enchantments, Lithography and the Magical Art that Remains
Passing several Floridian fireworks stands, fruit vendors and cigar stores on the way to the Tin City Magic Shop led to a realization. ...
Judge Brown
Jun 29, 20212 min read
117 views
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"Magical Fire" in The Secret Art Journal
The Secret Art Journal, produced by the McBride Magic & Mystery School, is featuring an article I wrote entitled "A Different Kind of...
Judge Brown
Apr 29, 20211 min read
112 views
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"The Magic Returns" - an Ode to Doug Henning
"The Magic Returns" is a mixed media painting I created at the height of the pandemic in 2020. At first, I wasn’t sure why I felt...
Judge Brown
Mar 16, 20211 min read
61 views
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Miracle In the Sky
I was probably about 12 when I got to visit The Magic Center, by then a threadbare establishment on New York’s Eighth Avenue. Long past...
Judge Brown
Mar 7, 20212 min read
199 views
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Mystifying 500 Million Viewers
As part of a "Variety Store" challenge for Long Island's Sleight Club, I set out to buy an ordinary item that I could convert into a...
Judge Brown
Feb 26, 20212 min read
189 views
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