Recent Features
Magic Access: Understanding the Role of the ASL Interpreter (June 2025) was by turns illuminating, enlightening, and discomfiting. Kudos to author Chloe Olewitz and profile subject Matt Morgan for what was, for me at least, some much needed consciousness-raising.
—Donal Chayce
Thanks, Donal, and thanks to our readers for the compliments on this feature story. The Deaf community has long been an important part of our world of magicians, but Chloe’s sharp focus—how ASL interpretation works, and occasionally gets sidelined—serves as a great example for all of us. We were proud to receive an endorsement from Deaf magician and author Simon Carmel, who was interviewed in the story and then reported, “Recently, 14 international Deaf magicians from the U.S., Germany, Russia, India, and Italy got together on Zoom, and Matt Morgan explained—in International Sign Language—about Chloe Olewitz’s wonderful article. I joined him to further detail the origin of the idea. Matt will email copies of the article to American and foreign Deaf magicians.”
I enjoyed the article The Theater of One Person, Making Magic (June 2025). I would like to see an article where you get professional magicians to talk about the first time they worked with a non-magician to help them with some aspect of their show, and the impact it had. (For example, a director, sound or lighting designer, etc.)
—Vincent Golden
Thank you, Vincent, for an interesting suggestion. The Theater of One Person included a number of insights about this subject. Our experts were quick to emphasize the importance of working with a team, and soliciting expert advice. Over the years, we’ve seen examples—disappointing examples—of magicians who couldn’t work with other people, and were hobbled by these limitations. In the theater, hearing someone say that they can’t benefit from a director, or take advice from a writer, is the equivalent—in our world—of hearing a magician explain that they don’t rehearse, or don’t plan what they say. It’s the mark of an amateur.
Accidental Coincidence
In the June 2025 issue.... The last four words on page 38 were, “Time is your friend.” The first four words on page 39, “Time is running out.” Genii covers all the bases, once again.
—Peter Finch
As much as we’d like to, we can’t take credit for that planning; especially since “Time is running out,” was the headline of an advertisement. But we’ll give a nod to this coincidence with some of Charles Fort’s profundity: “If there is an underlying oneness of all things, it does not matter where we begin, whether with stars, or laws of supply and demand, or frogs, or Napoleon Bonaparte. One measures a circle, beginning anywhere.”
Onward To Online
I have been enjoying this new version of Genii. The changes have been magnificent. I wish the magazine came out weekly!
I had one suggestion/request as the team is reworking the digital edition’s interface. Would it be possible for users to create annotations on the mobile/tablet app? I love being able to highlight certain lines from an article or write a note in the margins. Please consider adding this feature.
—Michael Varon
The new online presence of Genii
is about to be unveiled: geniimagic.com. It’s been a remarkable effort, and we feel that it will earn a lot of attention from our readers. Since we started by discussing the process of “interpretation,” the subject seems to perfectly apply here—online Genii
is being arranged and designed to be a website, and no mere page-by-page version of our magazine. The goal is that the two will work together seamlessly, but purposefully. Right now, we are not planning an annotation feature… but these are exactly the sorts of ideas that will be considered as we move forward. Thank you for your interest, and we will soon see you online. Watch our ads for details. 📬 Have something to tell us?
We encourage your comments, suggestions, and prohibitions. Reach us with the speed of email at editors@geniimagazine.com. We are, as the original genie insisted, here to serve.
