Merlin Awards
Friday, September 04, 2009
2009 has been a busy year for Tony Hassini.
He's travelled all over the globe presenting Merlin Awards.
So far this year we've had:
- MAGICIAN OF THE DECADE - Criss Angel (USA)
- MAGICIANS OF THE YEAR - The Spencers (USA)
- MENTALIST OF THE YEAR - Keith Barry (Ireland)
- ILLUSIONIST OF THE YEAR (or BEST MAGIC SHOW) - Peter Valance (Germany)
- MAGIC SHOW OF THE YEAR - Christian Farla (Nederlands)
- EXCELLENCE IN THE IMPALEMENT ARTS - Throwdini (USA)
- BEST DESIGNER AND FIRST PRODUCER OF MAGIC ITEMS - Tora (Turkey)
- LONGEST RUNNING ONE MAN OFF BROADWAY SHOW - Simon Lovell (USA)
- MOST ORIGINAL CLOSE UP - Boris Wild (France)
- ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR - Brett Daniels (USA)
- ILLUSIONIST OF THE YEAR - Lee Alex (UK) [Pictured above]
- MOST ORIGINAL ILLUSIONISTS - J C Sum & Magic Babe Ning (Singapore)
- MOST ORIGINAL FEMALE ILLUSIONIST - Magic Babe Ning (Singapore)
- BEST MAGICIAN - Antonio Casanova (Italy)
- FAMILY MAGIC SHOW OF THE YEAR - Pat Fallon (Ireland)
- BEST STAGE AND CABARET MAGICIAN - Kubilay "QB" Tuncer (Turkey)
- BEST MAGIC KIT - Criss Angel (USA) Awarded Sep 9, kit released min-November
- FEMALE MAGICIAN OF THE YEAR - Arian Black (USA)
- FEMALE MAGICIAN OF THE DECADE - Bambi Van Burch (USA)
There's less than four months to go of 2009 and I'm sure there's a few more Merlins to hand out yet. Categories from last year that haven't been awarded yet include:
- Best Comedy Magician.
- Best Comedy Illusionist.
- International Magician of the Year.
- Close Up Magician of the Year.
- International Entertainer of the Year.
- Magic Shop Owner of the Year.
- 30 Years of Exceptional Magic Award.
- Mentalist of the Decade.
- Magical transformations.
- World's Fastest Quick Change.
For those who are puzzled at what the Merlin Awards are, Ning posted the official letters she and J C Sum received from the IMS here, and shed some light on it in here blog:
"The Merlin Award is essentially the magic equivalent of what the Oscars is to film. It is the most prestigious award in magic from the International Magicians Society, the largest magic organization in the world.
I’m deeply honored and thrilled because it’s not a magic competition award which judges one’s performance on a particular day/ setting, but strictly a vote of peer recognition from the prestigious international body. As described in the official IMS website:
Every three years, the International Magicians Society hosts a banquet dinner, where those magicians who have acheived the highest level in their craft are awarded the coveted Merlin Award.
The voting members begin with approximately one hundred names and narrows down to a handful. The criteria that the voting members consider are talent, showmanship, originality, skills, and above all the rare ability to entertain under any conditions."
(I wonder who were the other 99 names who were in the running for "Longest running one man off Broadway show"?)