“Mister M” the American Masked Magician

Twenty-One magicians in the south of Brazil successfully sued television network, TV Globo over their exposure of magic secrets. Other magic groups have tried, but the magicians of Brazil were able to convince a judge that the exposure affirmatively took money from their pockets and food from their mouths.

The mysterious American magician previously known only as ?Mister M,? exposed older effects such as rabbits from a hat up through sawing a woman in two. Mister M, now known to be Leonard Montano, was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Paulo Roberto Brito Martins was one of the successful magicians and told reporters, ?Mister M took all the magic out of magic. It was like depriving a child of happiness and the right to fantasize when you tell him Santa Clause does not exist.? (Inside Magic does not support the suggestion that Santa Clause does not exist.)

Martins estimated he lost about half a million U.S. dollars because people lost interest in magic after the secrets were exposed. The court?s remedy requires Globo TV to pay ?an amount equal to the income each magician lost since early 1999, when it first aired Mister M segments on its weekly ?Fantastico? show.?

It is unlikely the magicians will see any of the money soon. The court still has to figure out how much to award each magician and the television network will appeal.

“But we have won the first battle,” Martins said.

WAM, the World Alliance of Magicians, was formed after the Fox Masked Magician shows and had highest praise for our brethren in Brazil. “The Magicians of Brazil and South America have done GREAT WORK on behalf of our Art. We can only hope that our friends in the United…

“Mister M” the American Masked Magician

Twenty-One magicians in the south of Brazil successfully sued television network, TV Globo over their exposure of magic secrets. Other magic groups have tried, but the magicians of Brazil were able to convince a judge that the exposure affirmatively took money from their pockets and food from their mouths.

The mysterious American magician previously known only as ?Mister M,? exposed older effects such as rabbits from a hat up through sawing a woman in two. Mister M, now known to be Leonard Montano, was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Paulo Roberto Brito Martins was one of the successful magicians and told reporters, ?Mister M took all the magic out of magic. It was like depriving a child of happiness and the right to fantasize when you tell him Santa Clause does not exist.? (Inside Magic does not support the suggestion that Santa Clause does not exist.)

Martins estimated he lost about half a million U.S. dollars because people lost interest in magic after the secrets were exposed. The court?s remedy requires Globo TV to pay ?an amount equal to the income each magician lost since early 1999, when it first aired Mister M segments on its weekly ?Fantastico? show.?

It is unlikely the magicians will see any of the money soon. The court still has to figure out how much to award each magician and the television network will appeal.

“But we have won the first battle,” Martins said.

WAM, the World Alliance of Magicians, was formed after the Fox Masked Magician shows and had highest praise for our brethren in Brazil. “The Magicians of Brazil and South America have done GREAT WORK on behalf of our Art. We can only hope that our friends in the United States will take note, and mirror the efforts of ROSSINI and our Latin American WAM Supporters… to keep ‘fighting the fight against exposure.’”

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