The Genii Forum

Q. Kumber

A friend who spends a lot of time in Orlando tells me that Disney, there, have stopped selling annual passes to the locals, which is causing a lot of anti-Disney sentiment in the Orlando area. Has the same happened in California?

Q. Kumber

Having watched many magic competitions over the years, it will usually be obvious who the winners are likely to be and, at the very least, that they should be placed. The heated discussions amongst the audience and presumably the judges, is as to what place and what award will be given.

Q. Kumber

CraigMitchell wrote:Cups and balls as a rapper ( which lay people found highly offensive ) Cups and balls as Forest Gump / Forest Trump.

Why were there lay people at the competition and why did they find the performance offensive and the magicians didn't?

And thank you for the continued updates.

Q. Kumber

Murphy's recently had a sale fronted by a number of dealers. It's quite likely the wholesaler had one or two sets left which would be why it was on multiple dealer sites. Another example is that Apocalypse Vol2 (bound) which is normally about £60 sterling was less than half that on some UK dealer si...

Q. Kumber

Thank you Craig for taking the time to bring us your reports.
Very much appreciated.

Q. Kumber

Yes, it is well worth reading … and sharing.

Q. Kumber

I would LOVE to read that equivoque thread. The best tutoring I've had in it was from a lecture by Eugene Burger. The lecture was, literally, so amazing that magi who paid to sit in, exposed to the modus, literally did not see it coming when it was demonstrated. That was decades ago but I believe t...

Q. Kumber

Unfortunately you need to sign in or subscribe to read the article. But it the story is covered elsewhere: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10961121/Turkish-biotech-tycoon-charged-plotting-murder-Vermont-father-duped-Fauci.html https://meaww.com/serhat-gumrukcu-biotech-tycoon-accused-of-cons...

Q. Kumber

I wasn't familiar with the Legacy Box until reading the above post. In case others are in the same boat, here's a review by Andy Martin. In the meantime, I hope Viking will look favourably on the project. https://www.martinsmagic.com/allmagic/mentalism/the-legacy-box-by-david-regal-owen-magic-supreme/

Q. Kumber

Here's a more recent clip (2019) of Andy Greget performing Illusion Scale. He gave me permission to put it on YouTube at the time but I forgot about it until recently.

https://youtu.be/VCdKkn1rEEI

Q. Kumber

If possible it is worth keeping the handling you are used to and just wear a lighter jacket. Changing the handling of a routine you have been doing professionally for years - which you can do in your sleep - can affect the timing, rhythm and flow.

Q. Kumber

It is obvious you have put a lot of thought into your handling and I applaud you for that but you have put in everything Max took out.

Q. Kumber

As one who got in before the buzzer, Thank you.

This is most definitely a marketable product.

Q. Kumber

Magic Digest by George B. Anderson. It covers different branches of magic, shows you how to put an act together, covers some of magic's history and characters. I buy them up whenever I come across them and give them to potential magicians who show signs of intelligence.

Q. Kumber

A few years back an annual index was included with issue #12 of each volume.

Q. Kumber

Delighted to hear it and thank you for the update.

Q. Kumber

Rudy S. wrote:No pull, all that’s needed is parachute chord to make a cage to wrist pull.

Check out John Booth's Marvels of Mystery.

Q. Kumber

The Mae West story is of particular interest. Far too many of us, regardless of our profession, assume that our audiences know what we are talking about. Two examples. Jeffrey Lant gave a talk and referenced Elizabethan literature. Later he discovered that over half the audience did not know what he...

Q. Kumber

Congratulations Bob on the success of the book.

Q. Kumber

Let's go back to the ubiquitous Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. Unless we have a spiritualist who can contact him directly we will have to rely on all the recorded evidence from Houdin's writings, contemporary reports and writings, and all research done since to answer these questions: 1. How many years ...

Q. Kumber

Actors interact with each other, totally ignoring the audience. Magicians perform to and (usually) interact directly with an audience. It's not so much acting that magicians should study but basic stagecraft.

Q. Kumber

I missed Blackpool this year and today received an email from the above mentioned Mr. Moore about his stand at the convention.

The Spirit Bell looks superb. https://mailchi.mp/4689c88d7bc1/what-a- ... 7f4d8b3a93

Q. Kumber

Maskelyne is (or was, I don't know exactly) an Egyptian who tailored shoes and boots in a Hall. Some years back there was a quiz at an Irish magic convention. A magician in his early 20's got this question, "Who was Maskelyne's partner?" It was obvious he had no idea but his guess was pre...

Q. Kumber

Max Maven's Inquistions that appeared in GENII were the first page I went to. Always fun and always educational However I wouldn't put too much faith in magicians being able to answer questions about their craft. A few years back I was MC'ing the Close-Up show in the Pavillion Theatre at the Blackpo...

Q. Kumber

On the subject of the Poker Player's Picnic, John Bannon had two versions using the principle in the September 2021 issue of Genii, both well worth checking out.

Q. Kumber

Joe Riding had a version he would do for a group of lads who might be looking for a date. The first three turn up a Queen but when the fourth guy turns over his top card, it's an indifferent one. The tagline is that he's the sneaky one keeping her hidden - and you get him to turn his packet face up ...

Q. Kumber

In the original edition of Magic of Robert Harbin there is an erratum on Page 154 with the correction pasted in on the side of the page. In the pirated edition it is printed on the page. Apart from that both printings are pretty much identical.

Q. Kumber

It is a close-up trick, normally performed in a bar. You borrow a coin, secretly attaching a thread to it via a piece of wax. Then you drop the coin in a pint of beer and it crawls back out. It's similar to a rising pencil as done with a thread as opposed to the pins in the palm or even the squirmy ...

Q. Kumber

It was May 1973 when I first met Pat Conway at the Irish convention. His lecture included his handling for the Coin From Glass of Beer, and the hook up is as described by Mr. Galloway. Pat recommended a house key because if the thread broke, a key falling on the floor wouldn't look suspicious. It's ...

Q. Kumber

In his recent book, Inside Out , Ben Earl has a section on the Cross-Cut Force which is excellent and has a number of ways of having the participant do it on themselves. If buying the book, I recommend buying from a dealer rather than direct from Ben's website as they are slow in responding. Here's ...

Q. Kumber

Let's not confuse the Acrobatic Matchbox with other matchbox effects. The Arcobatic Matchbox uses one box that moves around, turns over and the drawer opens. The Sympathetic Matchboxes, invented by Pat Conway, uses two boxes and is more like the Chinese Sticks. The Weber version from Genii, mentione...

Q. Kumber

Here's the gen on it's origination from Conjuring Credits
https://www.conjuringcredits.com/doku.p ... d_matchbox

BTW Jon Tremaine's routine for the Acrobatic Matchbox, mentioned above, originally appeared in The Gen magazine.

Q. Kumber

The late Charles Reynolds published a series on The Hobson Principle in the magazine Vibrations from August 1989 to January 1990. Does anyone know where I could get copies of this magazine? I wouldn't swear to it but I seem to recall Vibrations being one of the early online magazines. Searching for...

Q. Kumber

I don't have access to my library right now but that trick may be in 25 Years Wiser or one of Billy's lecture notes.

From memory Ted Lesley also published something along those lines
Edit: I think Ted's version was when the credit card appears between the layers of a playing card.

Q. Kumber

Note that when I said …doesn't require thinking or non-thinking… — thinking can certainly be involved. In my opinion, it is not a requirement . I am not disagreeing with you Jim, just saying there is a lot of work to be done before one gets to the true 'art' stage, which may well be accomplished wi...

Q. Kumber

Krenz wrote:Art…

…doesn't require…

…thinking…

…or non-thinking.

Emotions…

…are all…

…that are…

…needed.

That is a very good point Mr. Krenz.

I would put mastery of craft as a prerequisite to 'art' and the former requires a lot of time, effort and thought, especially in magic.

Q. Kumber

Mr. Behr, that is an amazing achievement. Congratulations.

Q. Kumber

As I recall there was a “big book” of Eddie Joseph material at one stage, but whether that was Unique, then Supreme, or Supreme only is lost in the mists of my memory. Indeed there was, The Art of Eddie Joseph by Hugh Miller. Harry Stanley pub 1968 https://www.martinsmagic.com/allmagic/books/art-of...

Q. Kumber

British law is that the copyrights revert to the original holders when a company goes bankrupt. I am not sure if that is true (but it might be). It was the explanation given by Martin Breese for digitising The Gen. When Martin digitised The Magigram, I asked him how he got the copyright. He said th...

Q. Kumber

The giant compilation of the Stanley Vernon books published by L&L is on non-glossy paper. Also the copyright of those books returned to Excalibur (the name used by Barry Laymond who owned Supreme at the time) in either 2014 or 2016. I suspect that when Supreme started having financial problems ...

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