This may, or may not, be of interest to the forum...
It's the first two parts of a series I wrote (am writing) for the newsletter of the IBM club to which I belong (I am currently in the second month of my presidency).
I thought that it might inspire the rest of you to share your favorite CONTENT sites that some may not be aware of. This is not intended to highlight your favorite dealer sites. My intent is to highlight sites providing interesting content (news, gossip, instruction, etc...).
PART ONE:
(Some of) The Best Things in Life are (Virtually) Free
By Evan ShusterThis month I wanted to provide a small handful of free resources for you to explore and enjoy. All of these are free, but there are ways that you can support the sites should you find them useful.
1. SHARING WONDER
First up is Magicana’s Sharing Wonder website. Magicana is an arts organization dedicated to the study, exploration and advancement of magic as a performing art. Their web site is a wonderful resource filled with news, reviews, mystery and history, virtual museum exhibitions, and a wonderful library of performance videos. Magicana is the publisher of Magicol magazine
Home Page:
http://www.magicana.com/
Performance Video Archive:
http://www.magicana.com/screening-room
2. GENII ONLINE
Next up is the new, recently launched Genii Online. Updated daily, this site features magic news, tutorials, feature articles, and videos.
Home Page:
https://geniionline.com/
3. THE JERX BLOG
One of my favorite web blogs is The Jerx, which is Jamm packed with exceptionally creative thinking from a magician only known to his readers as Andy. Jamm is a reference to his monthly magazine, available to subscribers only, but for now you can view a two-year archive of his writing. This will change in 2018 as the site moves to subscription access only, and while this won’t appeal to everyone, the hard core supporters (of which I am one) will have exclusive access to future content, and will receive a hard bound book (presumably The Jerx Volume 2), at the end of 2018. Some of you may have already heard of his book, The Jerx Volume 1, which was voted book of the year on the Magic Café. It is now out of print and unavailable, but you can still access the material contained in the many blog entries currently archived on his site. Explore it for free, while you still can, and then support the site, and future entries in 2018.
Home Page:
http://www.thejerx.com/
4. CONJURING CREDITS
Have you ever wanted to know the origin of the Card Duck, or wondered who first applied the concept of Black Art to stage magic? What is the history behind the Retention of Vision Coin Vanish, or The Linking Finger Rings? Well… thanks to a team of dedicated magicians, led by Denis Behr, now you can know all of the above and much, much more, by visiting the Conjuring Credits site.
Home Page:
http://www.conjuringcredits.com
5. THE INTERNET ARCHIVE
The Internet Archive is a non-profit, web-based library. Founded in 1996, they collect published works and make them available in digital format. Books in the public domain can be freely accessed and downloaded, while copyrighted works are available to borrow for 14 days. If a particular copyrighted book is already on loan then you will be asked to join a wait list. Magic is only a small portion of the material available for your reading pleasure.
Home Page:
http://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Magic+tricks%22&page=3
6. THE NORTHWEST RING OF FIRE
I would, of course, be remiss if I did not also take a moment to steer you in the direction of our very own club website. Here you will find some helpful links at the bottom of the home page, as well as a page that outlines the current month’s calendar of local events, a complete archive of the club’s monthly newsletters dating back to 2004, a page for The Can-Am Conjuring Lecture Series, and… a page devoted to our club’s lending library, which hosts a large variety of books, DVDs, and even a few VHS tapes which are available to all club members.
Home Page:
http://nwringoffire.com/
Library:http://nwringoffire.com/library.html
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PART TWO:
(Some of) The Best Things in Life are (Virtually) Free
By Evan Shuster
1. CARD COLM
Card Colm was a bimonthly column by Colm Mulcahy sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. This column explored mathematical card principles and effects for fun, very much inspired by the extensive writings of Martin Gardner (1914-2010) on the subject, going back to his seminal Mathematics, Magic and Mystery (1956). Even though the site has not been updated in more than a year you will find an extensive archive and plenty of thought provoking material to explore.
Home Page:
http://cardcolm-maa.blogspot.com/
2. THE DOUG HENNING PROJECT
Created by magic enthusiast and pop culture writer Neil McNally, this site pays homage to one of Canada’s brightest stars. From photos, to stories, to videos, and history, in this regularly updated blog McNally intends to bring Doug Henning to the masses once again through interviews with his master designers, professional acquaintances, and magician admirers.
Home Page:
https://doughenningproject.com/
3. MAC KING’S MAGIC IN A MINUTE
Who doesn’t love Mac King? Add a little magic & mischief, and the assistance of Lewis T. Monkey, and you have “Magic in a Minute.” With an archive dating back to 2011 you’ll have a great time reading this magic-themed comic strip created by Mac & Bill King, and probably learn more than a few tricks along the way.
Home Page:
http://www.gocomics.com/magicinaminute/2017/12/31
4. LITTLE EGYPT MAGIC
Steve Bryant wrote four of the coolest magic books I own. In his own words: “Little Egypt Magic is the erratically updated web site of Steve Bryant, spawned (the site, not Steve) by a former internet magazine known as The Little Egypt Gazette/for magicians only.”
In addition to a monthly newsletter which offers news, reviews, and informed opinions, you can also link to a partial archive of The Little Egypt Gazette (mentioned above).
Home Page:
http://littleegyptmagic.com/magic.html
5. iTRICKS
Created by Andrew Mayne and Justin Young, iTricks is a combination of news, videos, product reviews, and an archive of the Magic Week podcasts. The site is updated on an irregular basis, but the news feed tends to be kept up to date.
Home Page:
http://itricks.com/news/
And, to bring this episode to an end… I once again refer you to a repeat of my conclusion of part 1 of this article:
6. THE NORTHWEST RING OF FIRE
I would, of course, be remiss if I did not also take a moment to steer you in the direction of our very own club website. Here you will find some helpful links at the bottom of the home page, as well as a page that outlines the current month’s calendar of local events, a complete archive of the club’s monthly newsletters dating back to 2004, a page for The Can-Am Conjuring Lecture Series, and… a page devoted to our club’s lending library, which hosts a large variety of books, DVDs, and even a few VHS tapes which are available to all club members.
Home Page:
http://nwringoffire.com/
Library:
http://nwringoffire.com/library.html