There has been no shortage of magic on television since August. On CW we have "Masters of Illusion" and "Penn and Teller: Fool Us," the History Channel has had some magic-related specials including the miniseries "Houdini," which I mentioned last week.

Over the weekend I caught the first three episodes of another magic series of a slightly different flavor called "Wizard Wars." This program is not a magic show in the traditional sense but is a competition or battle of creativity and wits between some selected "wizards" of magic who compete against a team of challenging magicians, but not before the challengers prove themselves in an initial round of competition.The show is hosted by actress and writer Ellen Fox who introduces the competitors, the teams and acts as a foil for the special performance pieces in between competitive rounds. She is joined by lead judges Penn and Teller, along with magic news reporter and magician Christen Gerhart and FISM-award-winning magician Jason Latimer.Along with the judges are the wizards, a panel of four top magicians who probably are not well-known outside of magic circles, at least before this show.The wizards include magician Justin Flom, mentalist Angela Funovits, Wynn casino resident magician Shimshi, and magic innovator and two-time champion Gregory Wilson, not to be confused with the Greg Wilson of the Mark Wilson magic dynasty.The competition is styled in a manner similar to the hit cooking competition "Chopped." Two teams of magicians are given three random props that they must incorporate into a cohesive team.For example, one episode required the use of a model helicopter, sparklers and tarot cards. Another episode used a puppy, dog biscuits and milk crates.The teams are given time to develop a routine that must incorporate these props within the magic. When they are finished, they perform these effects as a routine in front of the judges. Once both teams have shown their creations, the judges select one of the two teams to face two of the wizards.The host introduces a quartet of props for the second round of competition. At stake in this second round is a $10,000 prize if the challengers best the "wizards." The wizards choose among themselves which pair will face the challengers, and then the host sends them off to create their routines.In the one episode we watched, the props were a rocking chair, a pirate costume, a chessboard, and salt and pepper mills. While the teams are working on their routines, the show features either one of the unchallenged wizards or one of the panel of judges performing a filler effect.The two teams then return to the stage to perform their routines, first the challengers, followed by the wizards. There is some deliberation, after which head judge Penn Jillette announces the competition's winner. If it is the challengers, the team is awarded the $10,000 prize. So as to not spoil the show for anyone, I won't reveal the final results of the episodes I reviewed.In my opinion, this show is a wonderful, fresh innovation in exhibiting magic on television. It shows that magic is a living, growing and fresh art form that can be innovative and topical.For serious students, it is an exercise in showing how a basic set of principles that we as magicians learn as part of our study can be applied to almost anything to produce amazing results.All magicians begin by imitation. We purchase a trick or a book and learn a standard effect, practice it and then perform it. The second step is to interpret the effect for ourselves.We learn to make it our own. We may change the wording or presentation or adapt a new theme to it. This is a sign that we have advanced in our knowledge of magic and have learned the principles and begin to polish them.The final rung of the ladder for which many magicians strive is to innovate or invent new effects. In other words we try to create magic tricks that are original to the art. This is the highest stage of understanding the craft of magic and can be difficult to achieve successfully and repeatedly.In my 40 years of study and reading about magic as well as 23 years professionally performing, I have only ever invented a handful of effects completely on my own. Those effects though are the ones of which I'm most proud.The best trick I ever created used a 3 1/2-inch computer diskette and was a mindreading effect in which one person was able to read another person's mind. This was one of three tricks I sold in my career, and it did modestly well.If you are a fan of magic, this is a great show to see magic that I can guarantee you have never before witnessed. If you are a student of magic, this is an excellent teaching tool to show you how you can take random props and turn them into an entertaining routine.In short, this is a great magic show that I hope stays on the air for a long time to come. Catch it Tuesdays on Syfy from 10-11 p.m. It is definitely worth it.Till next time …