In August I was both surprised and thrilled to discover that the Magic Circle had awarded me the 2021 JN Maskelyne award for contributions to magic art and literature. This accolade came completely out of the blue and the handsome engraved trophy that accompanies the award now has a pride of place position in my office.
As I mentioned in the acceptance speech video, which the Circle requested I supply them with so that it could be included in the online Awards Ceremony, writing is slightly odd in that you feel most of the time that you are producing content in a kind of vacuum.
When you are a performer, you get an immediate reaction from your spectators and so you get some idea of how your act is registering from what the spectators say and the strength of their applause. But with writing, you publish your thoughts and ideas and 9 times out of 10, you receive little or no direct feedback.
This means that you have no idea whether anyone is reading what you write and if they are, what they think of your output. Obviously if your book sells lots of copies, you have to assume that it has some worth and merit for the purchasers, especially if they come back to buy some of your other titles, and with Magicseen, healthy subscriber numbers to a certain extent provide an indication of whether your content is valuable and appreciated.
But there is still a slight feeling of being unsure whether you are being valued or not. So, to receive an award such as this, was a wonderful validation of years of output as it meant that someone, somewhere must have a high enough regard for the fruit of my labours to consider me for the prize.
To be honest, I have never chased awards or accolades during my magic professional life. I know there are many performers who go out of their way to promote themselves relentlessly, or who enter magic competitions in order to build up an impressive portfolio of success, but although in my early career I entered a few high profile competitions (and was lucky enough to win the British Ring IBM Close Up Competition way back in 1981), I have always preferred to let others just decide in their own minds whether I have something to offer.
In the same way, I have never aspired to be famous, I just hope to be respected for what I do. Being around in magic as a dealer, lecturer and performer for 40 years tends to bring its own recognition, but I like to think any fame comes about more by an appreciation of my output rather than because I have actively sought it out.
Which is why the Maskelyne Award feels so special to me. I have not in any way looked for something like this, but instead it has just magically appeared, seemingly out of nowhere! I have spent countless hours writing about magic both for my business Mark Leveridge Magic and of course, for the last 16+ years, as the editor of Magicseen, and the fact that the Magic Circle have noticed and saw value in it without prompting, is wonderful.
Looking at the list of previous recipients since 1989 who have also been recognised for their endeavours, I am proud and honoured to join them, and it will make my future writings feel that much sweeter.