The Genii Forum

Was just surfing around and found these two clips of Slydini on the Dick Cavett show. These are by far the best quality vids I've seen of his appearances and figured most would appreciate them:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTA0MDczMzA0.html

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTA0MTUxMjky.html

It's a Chinese website and the buffering is very slow. But they look great.

I just watched part of the first show again. What a pleasure to see his rope routine again after so many decades. What a masterpiece. I am amazed no one is doing this--and the bastard fooled me with the Professor's Nightmare at one point.

I hope that one day all the films Christian Fechner shot of Slydini get edited and released on DVD. Until then, these shows will have to do.

Just watched part of the second show. Does anyone do "The Helicopter Card" these days? I remember when he did it for me in his apartment. It was impossible.

Wasn't there a thread here with someone saying how crap the helicopter card is and people trying to explain why it wasn't?

That sounds familiar. Watch the video and tell me if you think it's crap.

My goodness, but there has to be a more easily viewed version somewhere? That site is slower than my great aunt Hattie, and she hasn't moved in 20 years.

No problems loading for me here at home or at work over night.

It seems to vary depending upon the time of day.

Richard Kaufman wrote:That sounds familiar. Watch the video and tell me if you think it's crap.

Oh I think it's great. And wondered why it wasn't more popular. And then dug out my Slydini books and looked up the method as it totally fooled me!



:)

Tony's timing and naturalness in the dropping of the card onto the table is a real lesson. You don't think of him as "being natural" because so many of his movements are stylized (except for the Knotted Silks, which is why this is the trick of his which is most widely performed by others).

But when he drops that palmed card onto the table it is utterly natural.

I still say that of all the magicians I've ever sat at a table and watched, he seemed the most purely magical.

That was stupid how people in that previous thread saying the helicopter trick was boring. I thought it to be very magical and very different to me cause there seems to be no method or moves suspected in doing it. You get drawn in to his pace of the trick. I admit I have no idea how its done and don't want to know and leave it a mystery for me till I really need a trick that would be a life saver lol. Its the only trick, besides some mentalism, I seen that I had no idea how it worked.

mrgoat wrote:Wasn't there a thread here with someone saying how crap the helicopter card is and people trying to explain why it wasn't?

Yes, we get that in magic discussions more often than we might otherwise enjoy.

The helicopter card is a fun effect. Not sure about the Slydini handling/method being congruent for most of us (think ERDNASE) though as an effect you'd think it would be the three fly of card magic with that kind of card transit featured in more routines.

I think Slydini's handling of the Helicopter Card would be perfectly natural for almost any of us.

Most of us don't sit down and work face front to the audience - and some of us don't even make a fan of cards. There was a discussion about Ramsay's cards to pocket routine here a few years ago where a helicopter card type finale was introduced. Needless to say I like the idea of a spooky appearing cards on the table type open travelers, ace assembly etc. :)

Returning to the OP - thanks for finding a high quality video of the show with Slydini. It was special when it first aired and even more so today.

Speaking of Slydini on video...

I remember seeing a video of a PCAM convention (maybe from the late 70s or early 80s) and there was GREAT footage of Slydini. He was performing for a Japanese newscaster (I think they were filming that segment for Japanese TV).

He was followed by Bruce Cervon. Does anybody know if that clip is available anywhere?