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The Spell Book Blog
Ideas, advice and musings about conjuring.
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Judge Brown
Oct 122 min read
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...
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Judge Brown
Sep 263 min read
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...
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Judge Brown
Sep 52 min read
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...
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Judge Brown
Aug 302 min read
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...
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Judge Brown
Aug 151 min read
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...
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Judge Brown
Oct 3, 20232 min read
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 -...
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Judge Brown
Mar 29, 20233 min read
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...
246 views0 comments
Judge Brown
Jan 14, 20234 min read
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...
239 views0 comments
Judge Brown
Aug 9, 20226 min read
Squeeky, The Golden Voice Thrower
In an unsuccessful attempt to acquire the most coveted, albeit useless, ventriloquism gizmo of the 20th Century, I inadvertently...
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Judge Brown
Apr 26, 20222 min read
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...
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Judge Brown
Nov 28, 20212 min read
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...
113 views0 comments
Judge Brown
Nov 12, 20212 min read
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...
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Judge Brown
Jun 29, 20212 min read
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. ...
114 views0 comments
Judge Brown
Apr 29, 20211 min read
"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...
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Judge Brown
Mar 16, 20211 min read
"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...
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Judge Brown
Mar 7, 20212 min read
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...
196 views1 comment
Judge Brown
Feb 25, 20212 min read
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...
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