The Genii Forum

pixsmith

I have to confess that I laughed right out loud, not just at the talented Mr. Lewis, but also at the absolute confusion and madness he sowed on the judges' panel. And then, to watch them reeled in like fish in a barrel - priceless. A magnificent grift and a wonderful performance. I've watched it a c...

pixsmith

Richard Kaufman wrote:Vernon always used a black piece of paper folded in half so that he was simultaneously cutting two. I saw him do this.

Bob White did the same. It was really interesting hearing him talk about silhouette cutting. Like magic, he broke it all down and took it very seriously.

pixsmith

In my youth, I spent the pricely sum of $5 to subscribe for ----- 81 issues. My bike ride to the post office on the days it was due to come were energizing. Along the way, I spent every spare bit of pocket money on the paperback reissues they did, most of which were published by Signet for 50 cents....

pixsmith

In this forum, a mere 21 years ago, someone posted this bit of info: One of the saddest things I ever witnessed was in Vegas at a noted mid-week group. Barclay Shaw had just passed away and Eugene Burger came in for a lecture. Rather than doing his normal lecture he dedicated the night to Barclay's ...

pixsmith

Bob White also has a handling in his "It's a Matter of Style" lecture notes, which I think are still available.

pixsmith

Andrew - I really liked that one a lot. Nicely done. I look forward to seeing that a new one of your clues has been posted every time.

Cheers,
Pix

pixsmith

I'd like to add something here that sounds odd - from time to time, go check out those books, even if only for a week or so. Many, many of those books from my local library were deaccessioned/tossed due to their lack of circulation. I understand the thinking, but the library as a concept has changed...

pixsmith

Very nice to see this is available. I can't wait to read it. He was very kind to a random kid in Sugar Land years ago who ran up quite a long distance bill calling him, Walter Blaney, and other magicians found in the Yellow Pages to ask them about how and where to learn magic. My mom, though - not s...

pixsmith

Thanks for the great background. What an interesting story.

pixsmith

I have some of my own ideas for presentation of the routine and as to how the message on the paper should be worded (actually, not as a prediction at all), but that is for another day... That prediction thing bugged me, so that's why I rewrote it as the bet. Even though it is exactly the same, it f...

pixsmith

Here's a link for the routine, the background on the effect itself that I dug up, and the method as it was published in the release from the elders (at the end of the document) for anyone interested. It's a google doc; if you want to download or print it, you should be able to, but contact me if for...

pixsmith

I have a copy of the instructions, published by the elders of Magic, and wrote this up for a routine in a local magic newsletter. I can send you the copy of the routine if you want, and also the originals, if you don't mind that I'll have to think about where it might be. If memory serves, the wordi...

pixsmith

Thanks Jordan for a great remembrance. Another note about his silhouettes. Bob also practiced while watching TV. He said he would start with a big sheet of silhouette paper, and cut a silhouette of someone on the show, then would pick someone else, and cut them from that silhouette, and so on until ...

pixsmith

Nice. Thanks for the pointer (ha!) on hands and points clue-wise.
As I mentioned, this makes for a nice break from time to time.

Cheers,

Pix

pixsmith

So,

"Two hands dealt" ... Cards
"with a musical instrument" harp

= Cardsharp, (a magician) so there's a possibility. . .

pixsmith

Hi Jack, I have seen them both ways. I never was that into them until I started watching the guys on Cracking the Cryptic. It's not a video over reading thing though (that old song in favor of DVDs) but a watching the process of the solve so my thinking could catch up. They will sometimes really ove...

pixsmith

I wondered that as well Andrew. I know there's normally some kind of word play for an anagram aspect to the clue. I like the rhythm of "Wild monsoons and . . ." but then again, monsoons are wild rains, so it's in there a bit anyway, at least that's my explanation for heading that way in th...

pixsmith

I like the anagram of Simon Aronson from "monsoons and rain" leaving over "and," the eternal conjunction, not used. Clever, and a bit of a brain twist there.

Edited to fix a typo. which matters in these kinds of things. . .

pixsmith

Andrew - So, nice. The right answer comes from two ways on this one! LOL. Though I guess technically it would have said something like Spirits sounds had information before eleven (5) You really should check out Cracking the Cryptic. It's a great channel, and they have two hosts - my favorite is the...

pixsmith

There's a great YouTube channel called Cracking the Cryptic, which I confess I am addicted to, and the embarrassing part of it is how many hours of watching people solve Cryptic Crosswords and Sudoku puzzles. I am always fascinated with how thinking works, though, and there is a lot of that in this....

pixsmith

I think there's quite a bit on it in Gene Anderson's book as well. I saw him perform it in Iowa at Abracorndabra last year, and it's stunning.

He has some nice info on it and has some really good suggestions. It looked like real magic.

Great trick, too. Now stop telling people about it!

pixsmith

Hello all, and thanks in advance. I know the maker of the figures in these photos, but what I'm interested in is if a particular performer might have been used as a reference for the sculpting. Knowing the creator, I believe that he worked from photos and sketches in some instances, and though this ...

pixsmith

Mine arrived Monday in the DFW area of Texas. It's so beautifully packed and designed that it deserves an unboxing video. In fact, it looks so great, I had to check to make sure I hadn't been sent a deluxe edition in error. I can't wait to start reading it, but it's in that "almost too nice to ...

pixsmith

I have to say I think that the year this came out, it may have been the best magic book published. It's been a great read a number of times for me. I was very pleasantly surprised when I was talking to John Moehring one evening, and he said the best book of that year didn't have one trick in it. He ...

pixsmith

For what it might be worth, I've done this in the past. Take a piece of at least 1" grosgrain ribbon that will go all the way around the book with a little left over - maybe 4-6" extra total. When you put the book back into the case, put the center of the ribbon across the front of the boo...

pixsmith

So sorry to hear this It was great meeting you at AbraCornDabra last May, and I can honestly say you are one of the nicest and most generous folks I have met. In particular, your short discourse on magicians and their embracing of new media was great and thought-provoking. I thought it was one of th...

pixsmith

I let Ryan know there was a problem, and he said at the moment, if you're on a mobile device, changing to landscape mode should help. He planned to have it addressed by this morning, but if there's an issue, drop him a note.

pixsmith

John was a great guy. I was very pleased to be able to feature him on the cover of Genii. Nice humble man and also a straight shooter. His piece on the farce Criss Angel perpetrated when he supposedly floated from the top of the Luxor hotel was fabulous--he described what the people who were there ...

pixsmith

Very excited that my buddy Ryan Plunkett (with Michael Feldman) has received copies of their book, A New Angle , published by Magic, Inc. with a foreword by Lance Pierce. I was fortunate enough to be around from the initial idea, and I think they've produced an elegant looking book that calls back t...

pixsmith

That is interesting, in many ways. That location is in Paris Texas, which is northeast of the Dallas area. The contact phone is actually listed in a book sale here on the Genii forum, so it's a magician of sorts undertaking this quest. I've watched less interesting and more cryptic TV premises, so I...

pixsmith

This ought to be a great thing for magic! Plus, he's just a really great guy. Congratulations all around.

pixsmith

For those of you coming to TAOM this week, there's a hidden gem about 15 minutes from the convention, with a heck of a lot of history attached. "Vegas before Vegas" Beulah Adams Marshall bought land here along the Bankhead Highway in the early 1920s and opened a tea room, hosting teas and ...

pixsmith

Just a note.

In Opera Mini the new mobile style looks great, and loads very quickly. Haven't tried it on the native Android Browser yet, but even switching back and forth between styles works well for me in Opera.

Nice job!

pixsmith

I am viewing the forum on Opera Mini, and it formats nicely and loads quickly. Opera Mini (and the desktop browser for that matter) is free, comes with a lot of nifty features, and Opera has been a favorite of mine since the desktop version 3 way back in Win 3 days. Might be worth a look, I have a s...

pixsmith

I'll second an earlier request for smaller headlines, and the one for a one or two line preview as well. In fact, for me, the "look" of the old forum was terrific. I could read stuff efficiently and quickly, and the colors and contrast were great. On this one, the fonts seem a bit light, a...

pixsmith

I'm looking for folks who may have worked Olive Garden, and wondering if I could ask a few quick questions.

Thanks for your time -- PM me and I can email you back if that's easier.

Cheers,

Pix

pixsmith

This is truly one of my favorite clips from the Tonight Show. I will never forget seeing it the first time it aired, and how grateful I was that it made many "Best of..." shows.

Thanks for the terrific clip. Two very talented and funny people at their funniest.

pixsmith

John -

Just tried to sign up just as a sign up, and it keeps telling my my image file (of which there is none) isn't valid. Looks like it wants to require an image of some kind, and alas, I have none.

Just a note. I know it's a process...

pixsmith

And the Vampire Record is sold, many thanks! Still that Por Mor Fil Mor stuff avaialable though...

pixsmith

And $75 by 6:30 will get it in the evening mail!

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