Give props to a magician who is pushing ahead, despite fighting a life-threatening illness and losing a leg.

Gary Darwin is a magician based in Las Vegas. About eight weeks ago, he stepped on a screw; because he’s diabetic, things got worse. First a water blister formed, then a blood blister, then the news that things were much worse — doctors eventually amputated his leg. But he endured it all and was back performing last week, against doctor’s orders.

“I was in pain, and I was supposed to stay in bed,” Darwin said to the Las Vegas Weekly. “But I just had to come. Hopefully the nurse will give me permission to come back next week.”

Dude has some great support, as well: According to the report, Lance Burton stayed with him the night before his surgery, slept on the floor of his room and followed him to the operating room. When Darwin woke up, there were 20 magicians in the room to distract him from the pain.

Judging from a breakdown by Jane Murphy on TV Squad, you might think so. She laments that David Copperfield, David Blaine and Criss Angel didn’t have TV specials this year. We agree about Copperfield, but Angel had season six of Mindfreak and Blaine had two new specials (although he didn’t film any new magic).

While Murphy didn’t catch those two things, she did catch a lot of great magic moments on the flat panel in 2010. Some things that we would add to her list if we were writing it:

• Magicians finally got some respectful treatment on America’s Got Talent. The battle between Murray SawChuck, Michael Grasso, Dan Sperry and Antonio Restivo was classic, and how they competed against non-magical acts was even better.
• David Letterman, Craig Ferguson and others followed Ellen DeGeneres’ lead and put more close-up magicians on their shows with special weeks. Ellen also upped her favorable treatment with her own Magic Week.
• And let’s not forget how magicians have spread out to take on TV roles outside of simple magic shows. Lance Burton was on “Cash Cab,” Justin Kredible hosted “Cupcake Wars,” Angel was a guest star on “Rules of Engagement” and featured on “Cribs” and Blaine was featured on “Iconoclasts.”

One is in a casino commercial. Another is in a cab. Another is making cupcakes. Another is investigating a friend’s death after a fight with a rock musician. I don’t remember a weekend where magicians got so much coverage for non-magical things. Only way to break something like this down is with bullets:

• We knew Rich Ferguson was good with poker chips and cards. But he’s also good as a commercial actor. He appeared in a casino commercial standing in a wine cellar and, like the Old Spice guy, on a horse. They used his hands for some commercials to air in the future; we can’t wait to see them.
• Lance Burton will be a competitor on Cash Cab sometime next week on Discovery Channel. Dodd Vickers at the Magic Newswire reports that he is also to appear on a new show called “Restorations.”
• Justin Kredible, the magician who can be made to dance with a simple command from Ellusionist’s Shawn Mullins, is hosting Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Justin Robert Young at iTricks found the promo.
• Scottish magician Jerry Sadowitz is getting involved in a mother’s campaign to find out what happened to her son after a fight with Pete Doherty. Specifically, he will auction the secret of one of his famous card tricks to help the mother fund an investigation. This Daily Record report has the details.

At least Criss Angel is sticking to magic. The new season of “Mindfreak” starts Wednesday.

Just like “The Matrix,” it’s bullet time:

• Lance Burton’s exit from the Monte Carlo in Vegas is so big that it’s all over the Associated Press. There’s still plenty of rumors and blanks in the story, as well. Even though everyone and their brother has posted the story, we’re giving the story link to iTricks, who knew about it before any other outlet. Good on ya, JRY.
• We love the art on this deck of playing cards. It’s a Russian deck inspired by Mayan art. Sweetness. Hope the deck fans well…
• Steve Cohen, a.k.a. The Millionaire’s Magician, is a member of the Essential Magic Conference (of which Ellusionist is an official partner). He talked about his influences and the power of performance in this vid.
• We loved this video of Jason Jacobs performing — he posted it to the Ellusionist Media forums, and we’re glad he did. His routine is perfect for the background. Enjoy:

Either Justin Robert Young just likes looking at pageant queens, or he is a magic genius. We suspect the latter. The editor of iTricks posted the below picture with the headline, “Guess the trick that got this reaction.” Go ahead, play his game. Click the picture of Lance Burton working magic on some lovelies. Read Young’s post, follow his links and prepare to be humbled.

The answer will no doubt serve as a reminder of something you know in your heart: What you think is jaw-dropping magical and what your spectators think is jaw-dropping magical may be completely different. As we continue to talk about what constitutes a hard hitting trick, we would be wise to keep that in mind.

Thanks, Justin. You rock. All of a sudden, we are quite suspicious that your pass is pretty freakin’ incredible.

The rest of us can keep the discussion going in this thread on the forums.