{"id":57407,"date":"2022-07-24T03:42:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T01:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomstone.se\/?p=57407"},"modified":"2023-04-06T23:57:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T21:57:14","slug":"the-merlin-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomstone.se\/en\/magic-world\/the-merlin-award","title":{"rendered":"The Merlin Award scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, in 2014, I received The Merlin Award<\/strong> for “Best Cabaret Act of the Decade”<\/em>. I got the award against my will. Originally, I had no intention of ever talking about it, but recently I discovered that Tony Hassini<\/strong>, the originator of the fake award, had posted a photo of the incident on his website, so in pure self-defense I now feel compelled to say something about it.<\/p>\n

Magic awards<\/h3>\n

But let’s start with magic awards in general. The authentic awards. Usually they are awarded in connection with magic competitions. The main purpose of magic competitions has never really been about the actual competitions, but more about encouraging artistic development. Magic is a fairly narrow field of entertainment and the general public is generally not very well informed about what modern conjuring consists of. So you could easily build an entire career on performing traditional Public Domain material – without anyone ever noticing. To be crass, you can make a good living as a conjurer without adding a single artistic thought of your own. <\/p>\n

So to battle stagnation, “competition magic” has been created – the only forum that exists for a magician where innovation and originality are rewarded and encouraged. These competitions take place at different levels. The club championships are usually small, playful and without much prestige, while other competitions can be more strict in their form. <\/p>\n

Our Swedish championships have previously varied a lot in quality and level from year to year, depending on the organizer. Some years it has been world class and other years it has been like a bad joke. For a long time, the outcome of the competitions was equally unpredictable, since the competence of the jury could vary enormously from year to year. Sometimes people who just happened to be standing nearby were recruited as judges, minutes before the start of the competition. It has become much better and smoother since it was decided that the competitions would follow FISM rules and since Gay Ljungberg<\/strong> began arranging courses and training for judges. Today, it is usually a genuine merit to win a Swedish Championship.<\/p>\n

On the international level, it is all about FISM<\/a>. The acronym FISM stands for “F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale des Soci\u00e9t\u00e9s Magiques” and is an international umbrella organization for all major magic societies around the world. They consist of 111 member associations from a total of 50 different countries, and represent approx. 90,000 magicians and amateur magicians. Every three years they organize the World Magic Championships. A FISM award is the biggest a magician can win. There is nothing else that even comes close.<\/p>\n

To be completely honest, I have never been particularly interested in awards and honors. The work is its own reward. While I’m a big proponent of competitive magic and its benefits, it’s always been more about the actual work – the process of coming up with creative solutions with a strict deadline, rather than being judged and given points and prizes. I’ve competed a bit myself through the years, but even though there are some trophies gathering dust on my bookshelf, I don’t remember where, when or why I got them. The work I did was important, the trophies less so. <\/p>\n

That said, no matter how much or how little prestige one consider there to be in winning a magic award, there has always been a serious and honest intent behind it. It is not possible to buy an award. It is not possible to get an award through fraudulent means, the motivations for the awards are always transparent, documented and can withstand scrutiny… with one distinct exception. So, just for fun, let’s examine the background to the so-called Merlin Award. Let’s start with its originator. <\/p>\n

Tony Hassini<\/h3>\n

\"TonyIt’s not easy to find info on Hassini, as he goes by several different names: Tony Hassini, Hassan Emin, Anthony Hassini, Hassim Emin, Anthony H Emin, Emin Hassini\u2026 so this review will contain some gaps – but apparently Hassini was born in Cyprus in 1941. As a 16-year-old he moved to London where he took all kinds of small jobs; dishwasher etc. At one point he became completely sold on magic after seeing a magic demonstration at Hamley’s toy store on Regent Street. It was Tony Corinda<\/strong> who had the commission there – in the late 50’s and early 60’s Corinda employed around 40 people, spread over a number of shops in London (ref.<\/a>).
\nAround 1960, the now 19-year-old Hassini sought out Tony Corinda, and managed to get hired for four years to assemble the various magic and prank items sold in Corinda’s stores.
\nIn contemporary interviews, Hassini claims that he also had a longer engagement at the London Palladium at this time, but there is no evidence that this is accurate.
\nAround 1964, Hassini moved to New York, where he found the magic dealer Louis Tannen, and within soon he began making props for Tannen\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Music producer<\/h3>\n

Around the same time, he was joined by his 17-year-old brother Marc Emin<\/strong>, who in 1965 moved from Cyprus to New York to study. The brother was interested in music, so Hassini got the idea that he should try out a career as a music producer. In 1971 he rented a music studio and some skilled studio musicians (including bassist Jim Pons who would later play with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention) and recorded a LP-record with his brother, who now went by the stage name Marc Mundy. The record was pressed in 500 copies. Someone recently uploaded the record to YouTube if you want to listen:<\/p>\n