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Scarne in print

Posted: March 6th, 2009, 8:40 am
by dzejdzej
In what books, magazines Scarne techniques are printed?
I want to collect as much as I can material on his card techniques, but do not know where to search for it.
I know that some of Fulves books and magazines have Scarne...

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: March 6th, 2009, 11:37 am
by Joe Pecore
Best place would probably be to get access to Conjuring Arts Research Center, http://www.conjuringarts.org/ so you can search using Ask Alexander.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: March 6th, 2009, 7:10 pm
by the Larry
Perhaps your best place is to start reading the books John Scarne wrote himself. He wrote books on magic and gambling. Searching for John Scarne on Google, you will find a number of interesting links:

http://scarne.freeservers.com/
(Biographical info on John Scarne)

http://www.lybrary.com/john-scarne-m-179.html
(This looks to be pretty complete in terms of books that Scarne wrote himself.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scarne
(Wikipedia also has some interesting source and biographical info.)

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: March 6th, 2009, 7:31 pm
by Richard Kaufman
All of Scarne's books were ghost written: some by Clayton Rawson, others by Ben Braude.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: March 9th, 2009, 12:53 pm
by Tortuga
I have no doubt that Richard is correct about Scarne's books being ghost-written. Scarne was asked about this and reportedly became very angry, claiming that he had written everything himself. His wife also was said to be ticked off by the assertion that his works were ghost-written. I have read a couple of his books and found them to be very entertaining and informative but reflective of a man with a major ego. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, most people who are famous have high opinions of themselves. That is why it is special to find someone at the top of the heap that has some humility about it all.
Has anyone read 'The Mafia Conspiracy' by Scarne? Does he offer any proof of what he contends? Or is it just a hit piece on the federal government. I believe it was written in 1976? He passed in 1985 I believe. Was this his parting shot at the feds and perhaps a way to distance himself from mafia relations?

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: March 10th, 2009, 7:14 am
by El Mystico
I think Fulves wrote about the authorship somewhere, but can't find it now. anyone?

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 8:45 am
by Toncam
Sorry to drag up an old topic, but i was curious if anyone knows of the reason Scarne never did a book with sleights on cards, instead of that Scarne on card tricks book he put out.
Thanks.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 10:59 am
by Harry Lorayne
Richard Kaufman stated the facts. I was friendly with both Ben Braude and Clayt Rawson - I KNOW that they wrote Scarne's books. Harry L. (PS: I was also quite friendly with Scarne.)

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 11:19 am
by David Alexander
There is a huge gap between being able to do a card trick and/or sleight and being able to described it accurately in print. (Harry Lorayne being that rare combination of talents.) Scarne may not have had that skill finding it more profitable to have others do the writing for him.

He may not have been interested in writing a book for magicians since the market was so small back then. Scarne may have thought his time better spent developing premiums for business, doing his consulting, or pushing the games he created while running John Scarne Games, Inc.

See: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9524/scarney for a few details.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 11:33 am
by Richard Kaufman
Yes, as Harry said: Scarne didn't write any of his books as far as I'm aware of. Writing a book on the real work he did would have been beyond his abilities, and it doesn't seem to have been of much interest to him or he probably would have hired a writer and done it.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 12:35 pm
by Eric Fry
When you say that Braude and Rawson wrote his books, do you mean they did all of the work of choosing and compiling the material, as well as putting it into words?

In other words, did Scarne do anything for "Scarne on Cards"?

Also, I always wondered if the famous contributors really did participate in the book.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 1:23 pm
by David Alexander
Lots of famous people hire "ghosts" to write their books for them. For years one of the biggest "secrets" in publishing was that William Shatner's Tek books were actually written by Ron Goulart who couldn't sell them under his own name.

There have been several writers who've made decent livings writing for others.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 2:09 pm
by Toncam
Thanks for the replies, i remember he did a few commercials when i was a kid, i think it was for beer, ballantine if im not mistaken. I read most of his gambling books at one time or another and eventually went into the casino business myself.
Is the poster above THE Harry Lorayne or a poster just using the name ?
Forgive my ignorance, im new.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 2:11 pm
by Ted M
Recognition that Ben Braude ghostwrote Scarne On Card Tricks allows for some amusing reading...

Atop the table of contents:

"The details and descriptions of all the tricks in this book were written by John Scarne. Many of the tricks are Scarne's own creations. Where a performer is listed here, it indicates that he was the originator of the trick, performs it frequently, helped to improve it or avows that the trick is a favorite of his."

Dedication:

"Dedicated to my friend Dr. Ben Braude, magic's most enthusiastic hobbyist"

p.91:

"51. Braude's Mental Card Trick

"The following trick was developed by Dr. Ben Braude, the clever amateur magician of New York City. Following is the good doctor's routine and patter."

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 9th, 2010, 2:34 pm
by Tom Frame
Toncam,

Yep, he's the real Harry Lorayne. We're fortunate to have him here.

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: November 11th, 2010, 6:35 am
by Toncam
Thanks Tom. I just got Close up card magic the other day, for the second time. The first was in the 70,s and it was my favorite card book along with expert card manipulation by Hugard. I look forward to going through it again with deck in hand saying 'Wow, i remember this one". lol

Re: Scarne in print

Posted: December 13th, 2010, 12:02 pm
by Steve Ehlers
In many of karl Fulves publications he will often print a few of Scarne's tricks.

Steve