The Genii Forum

El Mystico

Thanks, Tom!

El Mystico

The earliest reference I've seen to the Quadruple Coincidence trick is in Daley's Notebooks; entry 384 Sid Radner’s Do As I Do. This is in Volume 4, so probably dates to 1944. (Crediting it to Radner is no guarantee it was Radner's creation; just that he learned it from Radner). Radner worked for th...

El Mystico

When he was very young, my nephew, who some of you will know, did this, but accidentally intertwined his fingers above his hands, rather than underneath. So when he 'opened the doors' it was 'WHERE are the people?' He closed up his hands, 'Oh, they're all on the roof.'

El Mystico

This is great; thank you!

El Mystico

That was pretty damn good.

El Mystico

I’m guessing everyone here is familiar with the old Magic Age Cards. I’m looking for examples of where this has been stretched in different directions. eg Gardner says Royal V Heath extended it to “Think of a drink”; and I think Eddie Joseph’s Starology is something in this area. Any other examples ...

El Mystico

For those interested in the history, here are some related items. Bill Simon in his Sleightly Sensational (1954) has The Mathemagician, which uses the dealing principle to get two spectators to produce the four Aces. Scarne on Card Tricks (1950) has My Lucky Card, attributed to Simon, where the suit...

El Mystico

Ok, here is a superficial idea. Has anyone considered John Zimmer? I think it is generally accepted now that Erdnase was not a professional gambler. Probably a magician with interest in gambling techniques. The Legerdermain section makes it clear he was familiar with magicians and magicians’ literat...

El Mystico

Thanks everyone. The Corin flourish is similar but the handling is a little different.
I’ve still not found the reference on Revelations, but in The Man Who Fooled Houdini, Vernon claims to have been using the idea around 1920.

El Mystico

This will sound like laziness but I’ve spent hours on this... There is a flourish where you stick a card half way into the end of a deck and, with your left middle finger touching the face of the card, you rotate the card. Daley uses it in his itinerant Pasteboards. But somewhere Vernon talks about ...

El Mystico

I can't answer your question, but to me the biggest problem with Hoffmann as a possibility is his published annotations of Erdnase (available in the old Gamblers Book Club edition). I gave away my copy years ago, so can't quote you any examples, but his notes made it clear that he really didn't unde...

El Mystico

Can anyone shed any light on two magicians called Munsen and Coleman, probably from the Chicago area, working in the 1940s? Thank you!

El Mystico

I always start with a set of colour changes. Immediate impact, straightaway they know you're not Uncle Bob. Then the top change trick from Royal Road. The Tipsy Trick. Carlyle's Homing card. The Ambitious Card (Terry Guyatt's presentation). All without a table. If I have a table I'll do my Spectator...

El Mystico

In Genii March 1941 there is an ad for Vernon's Marvelous Transposition; 'A pet effect of this clever artist. Using a borrowed pack, two cards are caused to change places in a way that is extremely puzzling. No difficult sleights. Fine close-up.' Anyone know what this is? A contender is Novel Card T...

El Mystico

The Too Perfect Theory is fifty years old this year. It's amazing how it is still going strong. I wrote a blog about it here https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/blog/ ... ous-theory

El Mystico

Terry Guyatt told me that when Dai lectured in the UK, he did his main lecture, covered in the still-available notes, but there was a separate session, at a price, I think in his room, where he went into more detailed sleight of hand material. This included Lightening the Load from the Lost Inner Se...

El Mystico

I suspect Joe is, in part, trying to stir things up. And answers along the lines of 'if you think that then you are a jackass' are unproductive. For me - most current magical creators are not standing on the backs of giants, which I think is the heart of Joe's argument - they are ignorant of the gia...

El Mystico

I'd say, yes, there is great material.
But to make sense of it, you need to know a lot about close up magic; Vernon, Daley, Baker etc.
It is not a short-cut to the 'inner secrets'.

El Mystico

It will be. And it contains many gems. Linda wants it to be the best possible tribute to Bruce. That takes time.

El Mystico

Entry 9 in the Daley Notebooks, Vernon's Mental Trick, uses the Nicola set up, but only for 13 cards.

El Mystico

Thank you everyone!

El Mystico

There's a trick I read about years ago where you are in a restaurant with a friend. You write a prediction and drop it into a wine glass. You call the waitress over and ask her to go into a corner and write a number on a piece of paper and when she comes back she drops it in a second wine glass. You...

El Mystico

Thank you!

El Mystico

Does anyone know what an Ireland Tube was? Circa 1930s. Thanks!

El Mystico

The Cervon annotations of the Daley Notebooks were sold in his auction.
I've not been able to find who bought them. So I don't know what their plans are.
But certainly it is fair to assume that the original plans are changed.

El Mystico

Greatest Magic and Magicana; two wonderful bits of news. Thank you.

El Mystico

Resurrecting a very old thread!

According to Vernon, J Warren Keene had a ten cards to pocket routine. Has this been written up anywhere? Thanks.

El Mystico

I can’t see how else to do this....Richard please pm me I have something of interest re. Vernon

El Mystico

I think the handling in More Inner Secrets is cleaner.

On the Berg Knot: there are two handlings I use. The one in Pallbearers and the one in Gardner’s Encyclopedia. I find them both practical.

El Mystico

That Erdnase quote; to me it is clear that he actually did this; but he also says (without the book in front of me) that it is great for amateurs performing for friends and family.
I think this says something substantial about the man.

El Mystico

Just watched Performer's 3 Card Monte. I find it interesting that he makes very little use of 'mixing' the cards after the toss. Contrast this with the School for Scoundrels DVD on the topic, where they place emphasis on the mixing; saying that the principle is that the spectator is meant to think t...

El Mystico

The version in Expert card Conjuring is Marlo's improvement of Guyatt's handling.
I believe Guyatt's original was published in the Magic Circular as I'm Thinker Than you Drunk I Am.

El Mystico

Andrew; this book is basically most of the good material I've developed and used over the last 30 years. It is largely cards, although there are a few other close up things. Very little of it has been published, except for a handful of tricks in The Crimp. As the title says, it is all impromptu; and...

El Mystico

I've now had confirmation that my book, Impromptu Secrets, will be launched at Blackpool in February by International Magic. You haven't heard of Dominic Twose...that's OK; for geographical reasons I don't mix much with other magicians. But I'm touched that magicians I admire, like Peter Duffie, Gor...

El Mystico

Brad; I understand your marketing argument. This book is being produced by Linda. As she has emphasized to me, her goal with this project is to celebrate and record her late husband's contribution to our art. The idea of including the linking ring description in order to sell more copies and to sell...

El Mystico

Bruce Cervon's book should be out this year. That's news to me. Do you know who is authoring and publishing it? I wonder if it will include his linking finger ring routine. I was told by people who witnessed it that it was indeed the best linking finger ring routine they had ever seen. Hi To answer...

El Mystico

Bruce Cervon's book should be out this year.

El Mystico

Sorry to have taken this off-topic... Joe; to add to your thoughts: In The Chronicles, Fulves published a lovely handling by Wurst, involving the spectator dealing the cards. And Terry Guyatt - a superb magician - showed me a wonderful out, which I don't think has been published; deal the cards face...

El Mystico

As an aside; while the details of the effect are slightly different, I've found the psychological stop trick to be a powerful trick for an audience. The broad effect - the spectator stops at the right card - is the same. But you don't have to deal through the whole pack. Which is a bit tedious, as w...

El Mystico

It's well worth obtaining; good material, good teaching

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