Murray Sawchuck (aka "Magic Murray") is a popular, Vegas-based magician who was a fixture recently at the Tropicana Hotel there until its recent closure. Now, he's touring and he seems to be welcome everywhere…except at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. He was told his presence was no longer welcome there and this article headlined "Magic Castle Trial: 'America's Got Talent' Magician Charged With Revealing Secrets" will explain the situation better than I can.
What is Mr. Sawchuck's side of this controversy? Again, I can't explain it as well as someone else can — in this case, it's Magic Murray himself on a recent podcast with Howie Mandel. The other performer weighing in is actor/comic Jamie Kennedy…
Last Wednesday, Magic Murray did visit the Magic Castle. He spoke to the Board of Directors and I have not heard anything about what they may have decided. In the meantime, I got a whole mess o' messages like this one from Jim Graves…
Curious to know if you've seen this article regarding Murray the Magician spilling "secrets" in YouTube videos and being called on the carpet by the Magic Castle for it. If you're uncomfortable commenting on this due to your membership there, I understand.
I'm not uncomfortable commenting on it because of my membership there. I'm uncomfortable because I don't think I know enough about the matter. But before I say what I think I can say, let me clarify some terminology here…
I am not a member of the Magic Castle. No one is. We're members of a group called The Academy of Magical Arts. The Magic Castle is the clubhouse for The Academy of Magical Arts. When you're a member of the Academy — which I joined in 1980 — you have special access to the clubhouse. But for shorthand, some of us say, "I'm a member of the Magic Castle."
Magicians everywhere frown on "exposing" magic but like most things in life, there are degrees of this supposed crime and it's hard to tell where the minor infractions leave off and the felonies begin. Most magicians will do a little teaching in their performances. As a tot, I got interested in magic because every week on his show, The Magic Land of Allakzam, magician Mark Wilson would teach a simple, you-can-do-this-at-home magic trick. So did a local kids' show host in Los Angeles, Chuck Jones the Magic Man on KCOP, Channel 13.
Often, teaching a magic trick was part of performing a magic trick. The magician would do it, show us how it was done, and then proceed to do it in a different, unobvious way. Some of the most impressive magical performances I've seen have been a matter of "Here's how other magicians do this and how the books tell you this is done…and here's how I do it, which as you can see is not at all the same way!"
A lot of the performers who impress Penn & Teller on Fool Us are doing a classic trick that both of those stars know well but at the same time, the performer is proving that he or she is not doing it the way Penn & Teller know. A lot of them are also demonstrating physical dexterity so skillful that it's almost more impressive when you do know how they're doing it.
The greatest sin in magic seems to be revealing a trick that is understood to be the property of another magician who is still earning his or her living by doing (or selling) a trick. I can explain this better in terms of stand-up comedy…
There are jokes that all professionals understand belong to no one. For example: At a Comedy Club, the performer often finds themselves looking out at a threesome in the front row…two guys and a gal. Many a comedian would point them out and then say, "I wonder which one takes the porn photos…oh, it's her!" One night when I was at the Improv, there was a trio like that at the front table and something like four out of six comics did what was basically that joke.
And there was a time when half the new comedians I saw seemed to have a joke with the punch line, "Exactly which part of the chicken is the McNugget?"
No one complained. No one accused anyone else of stealing their material. But if you got up on that stage and did part of Jeff Ross's act (as I have seen new comedians do) or Jay Leno's or Jerry Seinfeld's or anyone's, it would be a different matter. This distinction dates back as far as the concept of one person standing on a stage and trying to make others laugh. In burlesque, there were certain sketches — "Slowly, I Turned…" or "Pick Up Your Hat" or "Crazy House," to name three — that were understood as public domain. Anyone could do them. And then there were acts that belonged to one performer because he'd written the act or bought it from someone.
When The Masked Magician was on Fox exposing tricks, he earned the wrath of most magicians. The snide tone of those shows was insulting to the profession and many of the tricks he exposed were tricks that someone was performing or manufacturing to earn a living. He was said to be ruining someone else's career. I don't see anyone accusing Magic Murray of that…but like I said, I don't know a lot about this specific matter.
Maybe there's something going on here that I don't know about. We'll see. Any day now, the Board of Directors of the Academy of Magical Arts will announce its decision on whether Murray Sawchuck should be kicked out and have his wand broken in half. Maybe then we'll find out exactly what he did that caused this accusation and trial. I hope it turns out to be one of those nothingburgers we hear about because from what I've seen, he's a pretty entertaining guy.
