The Genii Forum

Pete McCabe

Bob Coyne wrote:The probability of a pseudonym spelling out another name backwards is extremely low and just wouldn't happen by chance.

But that does not mean that it spells out the author's name.

Pete McCabe

I'm very surprised to hear people say that to be credible, a candidate's name must be "connected" in some way to the pseudonym S.W. Erdnase. If you were using a pseudonym for a serious reason, the last thing you would do is connect it to your name. To discount a candidate because his name ...

Pete McCabe

I was foreman on a civil trial in New York in the mid 80s. One of the attorneys was rude, belligerent, and attacked several witnesses quite strongly. He lost. It wasn't close. We all thought that his antagonism was a substitute for a case, not an enhancement to it. I was on another jury in a very si...

Pete McCabe

Between Maidens and Mandolins, I pick Maidens. We're still talking about playing cards, right? I can see adding a Maiden gaff to a Bicycle Rider deck and doing a trick. To be honest, if there's a gaff I want to use, I'll just buy a Maiden deck, but to experiment I would add it to a Rider. I would no...

Pete McCabe

I'm fascinated by Selbit as well. I have a copy of the Mighty Cheese poster on my wall (one of the very few magic posters that does not show the magician). I think it would be great if, say, Penn and Teller brought this trick back, getting professional wrestlers to wrestle the cheese. With regard to...

Pete McCabe

I am only up to his version of the Universal Card, but gosh that's brilliant.

Pete McCabe

You could always do the standard C&R rope where you pull up the middle, switch it for near the end, and cut that. Tie it, move the knot near the end, and untie it there. This is by far the most practical method (of the original sliding knot effect). I wonder how many people in the audience could...

Pete McCabe

I recently bought Knot Unexpected 2.0, Tony Clark's (authorized) version of the Steinmeyer trick. It's very nearly as perfect as the Curry method, and requires no assistants (other than spectators to hold the rope). Haven't tried it out, but I am planning on doing at least one thing differently than...

Pete McCabe

Why would Bob Farmer regret starting this thread? It's working out exactly as he hoped.

Pete McCabe

ESBTPS. IAGB.

Pete McCabe

I ordered a home delivery body-building course. First the mailman brought me 10 pound weights. Then he brought me 25 pound weights. Then he brought 50 pound weights. It really worked—you should see the muscles on my mailman.

Pete McCabe

I learned the Berg knot from the description in Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic. It was not difficult to learn. You might want to try there.

Pete McCabe

It's a bit hard to see, but here Vernon doesn't use the throwing motion. Instead he puts the removed pip on the table and flicks it away with his middle finger.

Pete McCabe

…the method should be effortless (either because the trick is simple or because you are very skilled) - with the idea that the presentation should make the magic appear effortless. I can fully understand that some magicians may wish to sell the idea that the magic process is not as effortless as si...

Pete McCabe

This is important because magicians forget that magic should literally come across as being effortless. I agree with most of what you said, Joe, but not this. Sure, you can present your magic as being effortless. But why is that the only option? Why can't your magic powers be difficult to execute? ...

Pete McCabe

If you haven't read Mike's blog post, read it. I think Darwin's suggestion is excellent, and if more people considered his advice before publishing their material, the overall level of magic published would improve dramatically. Partly because some less-deserving tricks tricks might not be published...

Pete McCabe

I bought a brick of the Bicycle Elite cards and have used them for a while. I don't do any tricks with Faros, but when I went to try one I nailed it perfectly first time, and they do seem to Faro more easily. They're worth checking out, especially now that they are available in Blue and Red. When I ...

Pete McCabe

There is a difference between knowing the history of magic and knowing the history of a specific trick. They can both be valuable, but for different reasons. For tricks: I find the most useful part of the history of a trick is how people changed it to make it better, or at least better for them. Thi...

Pete McCabe

I think any new magician who can understand anything Jonathan Townsend says is off to a great start.

Pete McCabe

Go to your local drugstore or Target/Walmart etc. Have a look at the decks of cards for sale. You will see Bicycles and lots of other kinds. That's what your audiences are used to—lots and lots of different back designs. Only magicians are suspicious of non-Bicycle cards. If you want to prevent peop...

Pete McCabe

That sounds like a lousy end result for her. She spends all this time and effort developing an identity and then throws it all away to start over from scratch? That's a tough way to make a living.

Pete McCabe

Scott, this is all fantastically interesting.

On the last page of the Other Connections section, there's a photo of an article from The Blue Pencil Club Magazine that mentions TEATCT. Is there a readable scan of this paper?

Pete McCabe

Bob, This is the only version of Card to Wallet that ever made sense to me. Problem is you would want the card to appear in a standard credit card slot and I don't know any wallet that allows that (and it's not as impossible as a zippered compartment, etc.) I used to have a Real Man's Wallet, which ...

Pete McCabe

Stewart James's published solution may meet all the conditions, but it is not the Open Prediction. It's a different effect, and not just because it has been routined with other tricks (in a very clever way, but still). It is, sadly, an effect that is much less impressive and less interesting than th...

Pete McCabe

Every one of the 500 deluxe boxed sets of Scripting Magic Volumes 1 and 2 has, glued into the front cover of Vol 1, a bookplate signed by me. To make that happen, a courier brought me 500 bookplates one day, which I signed. Pretty sure that’s the only time I’ve ever had an actual courier bring me so...

Pete McCabe

Watching the Ammar routine, it seems to me that the final coin would be a perfect place for the old move where you put the coin under the cloth, pull back the front layer of cloth to show it, then flip over both thicknesses of cloth. You can do Osmosis with a copper and silver coin under the silk, a...

Pete McCabe

I need to send Robert Neale a free copy of Scripting Magic 2, since he contributed a script to the book. I have three email addresses but they all bounced. Bob if you can read this, pm me your address.

Pete McCabe

There's a chapter in Scripting Magic called "Scripting Counts" that addresses this issue. Most Elmsley/Hamman/Biddle steal/etc. counts have significant blocking issues. These are easy to fix, a process that makes it much easier for the audience to see what's going on and helps conceal the ...

Pete McCabe

Best of luck, Tom.

Pete McCabe

I do not own a set of cups, but if you want to know which of two cups is bigger, you can fill one with water and pour the water into the other. You will have your answer immediately.

Pete McCabe

Bob,

I used to think that everyone in the world was at your mercy. But then I realized I had forgotten about the Post Office.

Pete McCabe

More unsolicited comments from purchasers: "That sounds great. I can't wait to get it." —Pete McCabe "I'm really looking forward to getting it." —Pete McCabe, again "When will it come? Why doesn't it come?" —Still Pete McCabe "Where the hell is my book, damn it?&qu...

Pete McCabe

Very glad I bought two, as Richard Hatch's idea of squeezing the card between has produce a wonderful key card. No idea how long the work will last, but it seems to cut as consistently as the breather I used to use and the Scarne pinch I use currently. And it's much less visible on the back of the c...

Pete McCabe

You guys should watch some good mentalists.

Meanwhile, if you really want to see a magic trick that's complicated and hard to follow, try watching a card magician!

Pete McCabe

You should watch a good mentalist. All their tricks are extremely direct.

Pete McCabe

Smullyan's books were an important part of my formative years. It sure sounds like he had a wonderful life.

Pete McCabe

I am delighted to find that the headline was just annoying clickbait. What an unpleasant experience this thread was.

Pete McCabe

Sounds interesting. But where do you put the D/F so that it doesn't get exposed in the deal but still ends up near where it's supposed to be?

Pete McCabe

Only caught one show this week but it was great. Jack Nasher gave a fantastic performance of mentalism in the parlor. Highly recommended.

Pete McCabe

If I may self-promote, my PM Card Mark system produces marks that can be read while spreading. That was one of my goals for the system. You draw the marks—letters and numbers—with a sharpie.

http://saythemagicwords.com/pm_marking.html

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