Magic conventions

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Magic conventions are gatherings of professional magicians. They provide a place for lectures of subjects related to the craft, as well as a series of sample performances of noted or innovative techniques. Many conventions also hold competitions to judge who is best at a particular style, and give out awards on various aspects such as "Best sleight of hand", "Best card tricks", "Best mentalist", and "International Magician of the Year".


Contents

[edit] Scope

Some conventions are internationally known, and others are specific to a particular city or region, but still bring in attendees from around their particular region such as the "York Magic Festival" in York, England, which brings in performers from across the United Kingdom.

[edit] List of well-known magic conventions

[edit] International

  • FISM (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques)
  • World Magic Seminar
  • International Magic Competition, New Orleans, July 2008[1]
  • PCAM - Pacific Coast Association of Magicians

[edit] Regional - U.S.

[edit] Invitational

Some small conferences have great prestige within the industry, but are not open to the public:

[edit] Magic societies

Some conventions are hosted by specific magician associations or societies. For example, the two oldest and largest magic organizations in the United States, are the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Other Magic-related organizations are:

[edit] Awards

[edit] Gold Cups - IBM

The most prestigious award in the industry is the "Gold Cups" award, from the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Along with other anuual awards such as First place, Second place, third place, etc., there is a possibility of a special "Gold Cups" awards being issued if all the judges voluntarily and unanimously state that they saw a performance of "Gold Cups" quality. As of 2006, only seven Gold Cups awards have been issued, to:

[edit] Magic Castle

Each year the Hollywood-based Magic Castle club gives out awards at a black-tie dinner.

[edit] FISM

The most prestigious convention within the business is run by the FISM organization.

[edit] Award duplication

Because there is little standardization in naming awards within the industry, some smaller festivals often give awards that have the same titles as the awards at larger conventions. Less scrupulous magicians will often claim that they have a prestigious award, without indicating its origin. Self-claims of fame and notability must therefore sometimes be taken with a grain of salt. If a magician is genuinely notable, he or she will probably have won at least a FISM, Magic Castle, or IBM competition somewhere.

There are also organisations who randomly give out awards to famous magicians in different countries, to boast their own organisation's importance. This is a bit awkward, as it many times is difficult for the performer to know if it is a real organisation or not, and might become embarrassing for the performer, should he use such award in his marketing and someone later track its origin.

An example of this is the Merlin Award, which is given out, according to its website[2], by "The Magic Academy" at the "International Magicians Society". It sounds impressive, but is in fact simply a mail-order "magic video club," owned by one single person.

[edit] Dealer rooms

Most conventions have a "dealers room", where magical supplies are sold, along with books describing various techniques.

[edit] References

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