The IMS claims on its website that it was founded in 1968, though this date has been questioned, and asserted to actually be 1994. Though the IMS site claims that the Merlin Award is the
Academy Award of Magic, critics allege that it lacks much of the oversight that enhances the credibility of awards in other industries. Illusionist
Morgan Strebler blogged that he received a Merlin Award in 2011. Also in 2011, the Indian paper
The Hindu wrote that magician
Gopinath Muthukad was the second Indian magician to receive the award. In 2013, illusionist
Cosentino was written up in the
Tasmanian Times for receiving one. The distribution of Merlin Awards to virtually unknown magicians in relatively remote areas of the world has drawn scrutiny. Many prominent magicians within the industry, as well as industry journalists, have now questioned the authenticity of the award. ==References==