The Genii Forum

December 30

Here we are on the penultimate day of the year and Mr. Giobbi is writing about prologues.

He and René Lavand are correct, of course. In my (albeit somewhat addled these days) mind, the prologue to an act is important because, as Giobbi says, it establishes the performers persona and therefore the context for the rest of the act.

Some performers can do it with their costume and/or a single word. When Mac King steps out in his plaid suit and says Howdy, we know instantly who he is. When Max Maven steps to the microphone, stares out the tops of his eyes out at the audience and says, Boo, we know what to expect. As an audience, it's important for us to know this information because it puts the rest of the performance in context (as long as the performer has selected material and presentations that maintain it, another key element to a good act).

This is not to say that one must be a Mac King or Max Maven and develop their character with just a word. It's fine if it takes an entire piece, the opening trick, to do that. That's what most great illusionists do.

Need proof of a prologues importance?

Rudy Coby failed on Americas Got Talent because he chose to perform a piece we might expect to see in the middle of his show; after he has already established his stage persona. The piece he performed on the show, while an excellent trick, lacked that context. The viewers, and the judges, just didnt care.

Making the audience care and give us their attention is a big part of the battle, isn't it? Don't skip the prologue.

Mr. Stinett,

I am agree with Roberto and you that the prologues are like a "sinopsis" what you are about to read and is very important don't skip them.

Truly yours,

F. Amlcar Riega i Bello.

PS: Happy New Year 2013 for everyone of you in this forum.

Now that the previous year is over, I have been asked if this thread is ending.

NO!

Please, feel free to post your thoughts on anything in this remarkable book. All I ask is that you do so on or aound the appropriate date (and include that date at the top of your post).

Thanks for reading and participating!
Dustin

I hope Roberto is secretly accumulating notes for a Secret Agenda II. Meanwhile, Confidences makes for great reading. It was a highlight of my Christmas loot.

Glad to hear the thread is not dead. I started reading this last year, but then abruptly ended reading it when the book ended up in a part of my house that was not accessible to me for several months.

I am also glad to see that the thread is not dead! I started over again! I have the book on the coffee table and with a morning espresso (Saturday morning is a good catch up day), I open it up and read it again making sure to add notes. I find that it is a very easy book to re-read and study because of the premise of a daily read.

thanks Dustin for the Dewitt Jones link to his site...I enjoyed the couple of clips on it!

I am also enjoying 'Confidences' and while I hope to see Secret Agenda II, I am amazed (and thankful) that Roberto (and Stephen Minch) have put out the masterpieces that they have done already...

Thanks also to all the others that have written books. I don't know how you do it and where you find the time to do it....but I am glad you do it.

March 15

Giobbi's assignment for today is to find a plausible reason to perform the Goldin Pass, because it looks peculiar. My solution:

After inserting the selection in the deck--not lower than about halfway and keeping a break, I would do an in the hands false cut to "lose" the card and keep the muggles from tracking it. You can discuss the role of luck in locating the selection with a few cuts.

From here you're still where you started: a break over the selection somewhere near the upper middle of the deck. Proceed with Giobbi's instructions for the Goldin pass/cut procedure. There will be a face up card after the first part of the pass/cut. You might say "I don't think this is your card" and then you flip the entire matter over to display the other face up card from the bottom half of the deck as you exclaim "And neither is this one."

The selection is now on top of the deck ready to be revealed.

March 17

A card stabbing effect that makes clever use of the Svengali deck, and it takes the heat off the gaff. Hugard's Encyclopedia of Card Tricks contains a chapter on the Svengali deck. There is a section in this chapter called "Various Methods of Handling the Pack" that is a great mini-tutorial on the correct handling of this deck. I believe Daryl includes an introduction to this prop in his Essentials in Magic DVDs.

March 22
An interesting way to get the top card to the bottom with a simple weave shuffle that hides the fact that the top card has taken the escalator down. It also keeps the spirit of Eddie Fechter alive in this book among other greats like Ascanio and Kaps. Giobbi doesn't want us to forget these great men, and we shouldn't.

March 23

Today's entry is a lesson on improving the deceptiveness of your magic by observing it from the audience's perspective. Giobbi elevates a simple peek control from an issue of Magigram by burying it under one or two layers of procedure that makes it more invisible. This entry reminds us that the instructions we read from the literature can sometimes be improved upon.

March 24

Favorite little-known or little-used sleights. I like the Double and Triple Lift from Kaufman's Cardmagic. It's a fancy type of lift but it looks nice and I've never seen anyone do it. I've had this in my arsenal for something like 20 years. The Chief has reprinted this book so now you too can learn it.

I also like the Second to the Top Change. The instructions can work for a regular Top Change as well.

March 25

A nice sublety for Arthur Findley's Tent Vanish that strengthens the illusion that the tent card departed into the palm of your right hand. There is a price to pay and that is the ability to do a side steal. Giobbi provides a suggestion to take the heat off this move in the context of an Ambitious Card routine, but it will work well in other effects where the spectator has the selected card in his hand and you want him to place it on the face of the deck.

According to Steve Freeman, Findley was known for being unknown.

March 26

Some interesting thoughts on the limitations of the double cut, a maneuver that can become transparent to observant spectators. I'm not a fan of double cutting a selection from the center of the deck, but for those who are, Giobbi offers a subtlety here to throw the muggles off your trail. His suggestion can also work for other card sleights like the Top Change.

March 31

A great control that leaves the deck in a disheveled, unsquared condition. When you first try this out, it won't seem possible to recover the break. A few trials will convince the practitioner otherwise. Cardmen will suspect a locator card, the muggles don't stand a chance.