On Jan 6, 2023, Jared wrote:
IMO This was one of the worst years for new magic innovation since this annual thread began. But there were a few releases that I enjoyed:

HOUDIN AWARD: (Best of the year)
1. Blank Thoughts by Morton Christian (Gets great reactions, quick reset (almost instant), and super-practical for real-world use).
2. The Line-Up by Looch (A nice blend of traditional mentalism methods make the Line-Up a true worker in my eyes).
3. Overdraft by Paul Fowler and the 1914 (Something everybody has been wanting for a long time but didn't know it until they pushed this project forward. I am also looking forward to Gregory Wilson's version in the coming months ahead).


HONORABLE MENTIONS:
1) The Lucky Envelopes by Luca Volpe, Paul McCaig, and Alan Wong (Nothing much new here in terms of method, but beautifully packaged, super-practical, and fooling).
2) The Cash 2022 by Tenyo (This was actually the first Tenyo product that I've ever purchased, and it works like a charm. Good for social media, inexpensive, and quite fooling... You'll find a use for it!).
3) Blankety Packet Trick by Liam Montier (Packet tricks don't get much love these days, but this one's a killer and is arguably stronger than Picturesque, which is next on my list!).
4) Picturesque by John Guastaferro and David Regal (Kudos to this magician duo for finally making the appropriate cards for this classic of magic. In addition, they've added some lovely handling moves that really make this sizzle!)
5) Color Synch by David Jonathan (Honestly, I've had many difficulties with the cards behaving as they should for the stand-up version (despite reworking them), but when presented on a table surface this looks incredibly fair and fooling).
6) Photo Finish by Dan Harlan (This one seemed to fly under the radar, but with an engaging presentation this effect packs a punch. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite casual and encore-type effects).
7) Decision Point by David Regal (I have yet to perform this, but it seems like it will be the new gold standard for the classic Mental Choice. All of the outcomes were quite good except for the pen, which I will likely omit). BTW- Fortuna was good for a playing card version but Decision Point was overall the better offering since it plays bigger.

MAGIC APPS:
This is actually the first year from memory that I didn't purchase any.

THURSTON AWARD:
Craig Petty is quite deserving this year. He's a hard-working magician and like me, loves to 'tinker' with magic methods, plots, and presentations. My only quibble is that I hope he can tone-down some of the magic 'hype' in 2023. He'll never convince me that Lux is deserving as the trick of the decade LOL.

On Jan 20, 2023, TomB wrote:
I am disappointed you guys vote for someone that yells and swears at people on youtube for Thurston award. We need to have higher standards. Please read what the award is about.

Here is my vote:

1. Pitata Magic - Smart Memo Pad
2. Orphic Wallet Plus by Lewis Le Val - The 1914
3. Color Sync by David Jonathan

Thurston Award:
András Bártházi

App of the year (Apps have major updates since initial release)
Stranger
Peeksmith
Timesmith

On Jan 20, 2023, mentalist.aazan wrote:
THREE ENTRIES FOR THE HOUDIN AWARD:

1) Glyphs by Moustapha Berjaoui
2) Past Present Future by Rick Lax
3) Billets for Modern Mind Reader 4 byJulian Losa

Thurston Award:
Moustapha Berjaoui

Past, Present and Future is about 7 years old

App Of the Year:
Glyphs By Moustapha Berjaoui

On Jan 21, 2023, Craig Petty wrote:

Quote:

On Jan 20, 2023, TomB wrote:
I am disappointed you guys vote for someone that yells and swears at people on youtube for Thurston award. We need to have higher standards. Please read what the award is about.

Here is my vote:

1. Pitata Magic - Smart Memo Pad
2. Orphic Wallet Plus by Lewis Le Val - The 1914
3. Color Sync by David Jonathan

Thurston Award:
András Bártházi

App of the year (Apps have major updates since initial release)
Stranger
Peeksmith
Timesmith

Obviously your opinion. In 2022 I uploaded 1400 videos to YouTube. 10 of them involved shouting. 1390 of them had no shouting. Most of them were longer than 30 mins and tackled subjects such as nerves, practicing, performing and more. I did 60 interview with famous magicians offering insights and released several handlings of existing effects. All of this was for free!

But if you are disappointed that people voted at me because I shouted in a handful of videos and can’t therefore see the content I put out that genuinely helped people then more power to you. I have over 200 emails from people saying my content has changed their life and helped them perform for the first time. Good job they weren’t disappointed in me.

Thanks for your time

On Jan 21, 2023, Craig Petty wrote:

Quote:

On Jan 20, 2023, TomB wrote:
I am disappointed you guys vote for someone that yells and swears at people on youtube for Thurston award. We need to have higher standards. Please read what the award is about.

Here is my vote:

1. Pitata Magic - Smart Memo Pad
2. Orphic Wallet Plus by Lewis Le Val - The 1914
3. Color Sync by David Jonathan

Thurston Award:
András Bártházi

App of the year (Apps have major updates since initial release)
Stranger
Peeksmith
Timesmith

Obviously your opinion. In 2022 I uploaded 1400 videos to YouTube. 10 of them involved shouting. 1390 of them had no shouting. Most of them were longer than 30 mins and tackled subjects such as nerves, practicing, performing and more. I did 60 interview with famous magicians offering insights and released several handlings of existing effects. All of this was for free!

But if you are disappointed that people voted at me because I shouted in a handful of videos and can’t therefore see the content I put out that genuinely helped people then more power to you. I have over 200 emails from people saying my content has changed their life and helped them perform for the first time. Good job they weren’t disappointed in me.

Thanks for your time