So a Ukranian magician copied the act of "Piff the Magic Dragon" and recently performed on a Russian TV show called "Surprise Me!"

'While I had a nasty feeling it was only a matter of time before someone did something like this, this is ridiculous," says John Van Der Put (Piff the Magic Dragon) in a recent story. "He even ate a banana! And a guinea pig called Mr Piffles? A guinea pig??! Can it levitate? No. Can it do card tricks? No. Does it cost £900? No."

You can watch a video where the real Piff compares the acts here and read the story here

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Ever have a trick go completely and devastatingly wrong?

This happened to David Williamson some 20 years ago with a carefully prepared prop and lots of effort for a television show that was innocently destroyed by a precocious young kid. In hindsight, the incident is hilarious and Williamson gets to reunite with the now 20-plus year old "Murray" and look back at the magic disaster.

You can watch the video here. Thanks to AJ for forwarding this to me.

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Just after a documentary on Johnny Carson revealed his love for the art of magic (you can read about it here), comedienne Wanda Sykes appears on "The Tonight Show" and talks with Jay Leno about how she hates magicians.

So do all comediennes hate magicians? And are Sykes and Leno simply bringing up stereotypes of magicians for laughs, or is this really what the general public thinks?

You can watch the conversation in a video from the Tonight Show here.

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Magician Shares Personal Holdout

Magician Matt Vizio, an entertainer from Southern California, kindly teaches his "Pushpin Gimmick" holdout system that supports his cups and balls routine. This holdout, which is Vizio's modern adaptation of one published by Jean Hugard, will be of interest to anyone who performs cups and ball and needs to ring-in balls or other objects. Vizio even describes and teaches a cups and balls segment that employs the holdout to bring in large, end loads.

You can learn how to make and use Matt Vizio's "Pushpin Gimmick" holdout here.

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