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We have republished our review of Tommy Wonder and Jon Armstrong's show at the World Magic Seminar in the wake of the very sad news of Mr. Wonder's passing.


Tonight, we went back to see both Tommy Wonder and Jon
Armstrong at the World Magic Seminar.

We are not officially allowed to see them.  We're in Group A so should only watch those
magicians scheduled for our group.

We are daring and when compelled by love, we
are willing to endure the wrath of the scheduling gods.

We loved seeing Tommy Wonder and Jon Armstrong last night
and our passion drove us to run the gauntlet and mingle with the Group B folks
- without a disguise. 

A review? Sure, why not.

Maybe we are alike.

Maybe not.

Maybe you've read the hype about Tommy Wonder.  Maybe you wondered aloud or to yourself,
"Is he? Can he be all that?"

Well, even if you're not like us and did not harbor these
thoughts — or don't want to admit it, we were curious.

After all, we're only human and we've heard so about Mr.
Wonder and his considerable accomplishments. 

He, like us, is only human so how good can this guy be?

Last night, Monday, we watched Mr. Wonder perform.  He is worth the hype and more. Mr. Wonder has
incredible skills and an outstanding presentation.

We were reminded of the self-effacing, humble style of Henry
Evans.

If you can talk the talk and do the walk, you're doing well.

His close-up work reminded us of the late Dai Vernon.

His magic made sense and the props matched what he was
trying to show.

In one effect, he wanted to tell us about how someone
pinched his wallet, ring and watch and he demonstrated the theft clearly and
openly.

He then made each of these items re-appear on his hand, his
hands and then, for the incredible conclusion, made the money re-appear in his
wallet.

Incredible.

Mr. Wonder's style is effortless.

You have the feeling that he can do real Magic.

We know you're probably like us in some manner.

By that, we mean, you like to read about Magic and
Magicians. You read the magazines, you buy the DVDs, you go to the conventions.

So, like us, you're likely not impressed by anyone.  Sure, we all act like we're impressed and we
"appreciate" the skills of the newest innovators but deep down we're either not
impressed or more envious than impressed.

The envy tells us we could either buy or learn what they
perform and ergo they cannot be
special.

Mr. Wonder defies that kind of thinking. What he does is
Magic!

If you have a chance to see Mr. Wonder, live, grab it. He is
worth calling into work sick. He is something you have to see to be
un-believed.

Similar in skill but not notoriety, yet, is Jon Armstrong.
Let's go back for a second to the Robert-Houdin quote, "A magician is an actor
playing the role of a magician."

Mr. Armstrong defies this definition. He acts as if he is a
magician trying to do magic and being surprised by the outcome.

If Mr. Armstrong sold stock, we'd buy him. In five years,
he'll be worth so much that we will appear to be a genius to have bought
options in him.

 First, Mr. Armstrong is funny.

He is genuinely funny. He is funny in his actions and in his
words. We have seen him two times now (the last two nights) and I realize he
doesn't follow a memorized script. He works off what the audience gives him.
That's a talent we normally associate with a tremendous comic not a magician.
Magicians have scripts from which we might deviate as necessary. Mr. Armstrong
works a crowd like one of the great stand-up comedians.

Plus, he does incredible magic.  Not quite Tommy Wonder magic, but pretty
close.

Mr. Armstrong does a slop-shuffle card divination where he
correctly recalls the phone number of an audience member that is to be envied. We
are not too small to admit we've no idea how he could do what he did.

He spilled cards all over the table, shuffled some up and
some down and then cut the deck a few times.

At the conclusion of the cutting, he showed that he had the
face-up cards that exactly matched his volunteer's phone number.

Magicians don't want to know everything. We want to be
fooled. We were fooled.

We have no idea how he could literally shuffle the cards so
that they fall all over the table and are then slopped together could come into
line to be a representation of the volunteer's phone number.

We're not being falsely modest.  We literally have no clue how Mr. Armstrong accomplished
his magic.  But he did it effortlessly
last night and tonight and yet we cannot determine how it could be done.

In our column about Paul Daniel's Master Class, we noted his
maxim, "a Magician should entertain."

Mr. Armstrong entertains in spades. He is incredible to
watch and entertaining to hear. He seems to be completely out of control but
clearly he must have some control or things wouldn't work out as well as they
do.

If you have a chance to see either Mr. Wonder or Mr.
Armstrong, you must see them. Mr. Wonder is amazing despite his hype. Mr.
Armstrong is incredible even though he does not yet have hype.

What a great Art we are in.

How lucky we are to see both Mr. Wonder and Mr. Armstrong.
We hope you share our luck and see both of these very talented men as well.

Continue reading Tommy Wonder & Jon Armstrong – Worth Breaking Rules