This is commentary on Harvest Queen, not Showman. ctrl+c ctrl+v
Fixed! Thanks for catching that.
Harvest Queen blurb still says it's from the author of Showman.
Maybe the author of Showman wanted to comment anonymously on Harvest Queen.
My thoughts on the top five:
Field
Types: Action
Cost: $4
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put one of each differently named card revealed into your hand. Discard the rest.
This is my favorite, and probably the only one I'll vote for. First, it fits very nicely into Cornucopia, it nails the diversity theme as a terminal drawer, which Cornucopia needs. Remember we are voting based on how the cards fit into their respective expansions, not how the contest winners fit together as a whole. It's very simple and elegant, and I think fits the $4 price point nicely. The main concern is that it overshadows Harvest (+card is usually "better" than +coin, and Field is cheaper), but I think that's more just an illustration of how weak Harvest is and that it really didn't need to be printed as it is in the first place.
Storyteller
Types: Action
Cost: $4
+1 Card. If this is the first time you played a Storyteller this turn, +1 Action.
While this is in play, when you play an Action card that you don't already have a copy of in play, +1 Action.
Clarification: The first Storyteller you play only gives you +1 Action, not +2 Actions, because it wasn't in play when you played it.
I like Storyteller, it's a unique concept, and I can't think of any problems with the current wording, which is good considering how whacky the concept is. Still the wording is a little clunky, and I'm not sure it would be exciting in comparison to other Villages. I think it's probably good balance-wise, and it's interesting enough that I would be happy if it won.
Scarecrow
Types: Action
Cost: $3
+2 Cards. +2 Actions. Reveal your hand. Discard duplicate cards one at a time until you have no duplicate cards in hand.
I'm not sure what to think of this card, but it just doesn't feel right to me. First, I think +2 cards, +2 actions is not the best vanilla bonus for it. In the best case scenario, it's a level 2 City which is obviously fantastic for $3, but the best case scenario is really, really rare. +2 cards, +2 actions, discard a card is also very good for a $3 card, but the lack of control over what you discard really hurts it. +2 cards, +2 actions, discard two cards is Inn without the on-gain, which is supposedly decent at $4, but this is a lot worse than that because you have no control over what you discard. In fact if you just discarded random cards it might as well be Necropolis. I think discarding duplicates is probably generally worse than discarding random cards. Discarding more than two cards is pretty bad. I suspect most of the time you'll discard at least two cards, so if nothing else it's super-situational. I think I would like it better if it gave coin rather than cards, maybe adjusting the number of actions it gives as well. I guess the biggest concern I have is that it will be anti-fun, making you discard lots of stuff all the time. The thing it has going for it I think is how it fits into the set. The combo with Menagerie is fun, Young Witch, Horse Traders, and Hamlet already have you discarding cards anyway, and Hunting Party gives you a diverse hand.
Showman
Types: Action
Cost: $3
+1 Action. Reveal a card from your hand, then reveal the top card of your deck. If they don't match, +1 Card and +$1.
First off, the author mentioned that Cornucopia doesn't have a Peddler variant. It does, Tournament, which is actually a pretty good reason to not want this in Cornucopia (two Peddlers in a small set is a lot, especially since they both have the hit or miss on +1 card, +$1 mechanic). The bonus can be changed though, so that's not a big concern. I think my main problem with this is that it activates too easily to be interesting, to the point where it's just frustrating when it misses. At the beginning it's a little tougher to activate but still not too bad. If you reveal Estate you usually have a pretty good chance of activating it, and it's easier with deck-tracking. It gets even easier as the game goes on. I don't think being easy to activate makes it too strong, a $3 Peddler that occasionally misses seems reasonable, but I think it will just be frustrating to miss since it won't happen so often, and will usually happen regardless of whether you made the "right" reveal.
Harvest Queen
Types: Action
Cost: $5
Set aside any number of differently named Action cards from your hand. Play them in any order.
I'm not sure if I'm missing something, or if this card is just really weak. I think it would rarely be better than +3 actions, which is probably fine (but uninteresting) at $3 or $4. At $5 I think I would only pick one up on a very strong engine board with no other villages. Maybe I'm way off or maybe I'm just missing something, I don't know. It just seems really weak to me. I like how it interacts with draw-up-to-X cards though. Maybe there are some other clever uses for it I'm missing? Also, having to set the cards aside is a little awkward, especially since it can interrupt itself to set aside more cards, presumably in a different pile. I don't think there's anyway with official Dominion cards to get two different set-aside or revealed "zones" to exist at the same time.