NEED HELP WITH A CREDIT CHECK

[Richard Kaufman]

For something coming up in Genii, I could use some quick help with a credit.
Ben Harris published a great thing using the Depth Illusion sometime in the mid 1980s: a card is inserted into the OUTER end of the deck and left protruding beneath the top card, whose outer end has been elevated into position for the Depth Illusion. So, it appears that the outjogged card is in the center. The top card is allowed to fall flush on top of the deck and it appears that the outjogged card has visibly passed up through the deck (to second from the top).
Ben's library is packed at the moment: I need to know which of his books this appeared in and the year it was published.
Thanks!

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

A similar idea (credited to Ben) appears in "Flashpoints: Edward Marlo's Full Tilt and Compleat Devilish Miracle" by Jon Racherbaumer, published in 1992. However, in this instance, the selection is (apparently) inserted into the middle from the BACK of the deck and rises ALL the way to the top (though it only visibly rises to second from top). It is, however, a small step from one to the other...I don't know if the idea appeared in any of Ben's own books, as I don't own them.

-Jim

[Frank Yuen]

I don't know what book this is in but I do know that Ben explained this on his World Tour Lecture video.

Frank Yuen

[Denis Behr]

In Ben Harris' "I a.m. the Sequel" (1986) there is "The Floating Ambitious Card" on page 10. But it is sticking out at the back end ( la standard Tilt), too!
(And it rises first to second from top and then penetrates the top card, too.)
Greetings,
Denis

[Andi]

In the Linking Ring Parade that I compiled for the members of the Second Deal website, Nate Kranzo published a Sandwich effect based on the Ben Harris move where the card was placed into the front of the deck. I can't remember the date off hand, but believe it was around June/July 2001.

After using Nate's effect, I came up with a variation of my own called (again the card rises from the front), Open Faced Scamwich and it was published on The Second Deal website (6/24/2001).

--Andi

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

Originally posted by Denis Behr:
In Ben Harris' "I a.m. the Sequel" (1986) there is "The Floating Ambitious Card" on page 10. But it is sticking out at the back end ( la standard Tilt), too!
(And it rises first to second from top and then penetrates the top card, too.)
Greetings,
Denis

Denis,
That sounds like it's exactly what was published in the Marlo book I referenced above.

-Jim

[Richard Kaufman]

GREAT! If the original Ben Harris publication has the card protruding from the inner end of the deck, where is it first published, and under whose name, protruding from the OUTER end?

[Craig Matsuoka]

Richard,

Ben's idea comprises two principles, so besides crediting Ben for this union, you'll probably have to break down the crediting further into two additional parts -

1) The frontal insertion
2) The added touch of letting the top card fall flush to produce a visual rise (irrespective of front or rear insertion)

As for frontal tilt, it's most likely Marlo. I'm not aware of anyone publishing the frontal tilt idea prior to Marlo's booklet TILT in 1962.

From TILT, page 8:

"There are times when the front end of the card can be tilted and the deck actually held in regular dealing position."

[Nathan]

Father Cyprian published a move which I think may be similar to the one you described. It's sort of a bluff tilt and you do insert the card in the front. It's called Untilt and it was published in August 1985 of Apocalypse - page 1100 of the second book the collected volumes.

[Richard Kaufman]

Craig,
Edward Victor published a Frontal handling of The Depth Illusion (let's refer to it by the name given by Dai Vernon) in Further Magic of the Hands in 1946. The technique is highlighted by a photograph on the frontispiece.

[Craig Matsuoka]

Interesting. Thanks for the Victor reference. I'll check it out.

BTW, I thought Conrad Bush coined the term "Depth Illusion"?

[Craig Matsuoka]

Also, wasn't the actual insertion point for the Victor move on the side of the deck (long edge), although the card eventually ended up outjogged after the insertion was complete? It's probably splitting hairs, but that would be a little different from Marlo's idea of directly pushing the selection into the front end at the outset.

And I also have the understanding that the break for the Victor move was on the long edge (formed by the thumb) rather than the forward (narrow) edge. Is this correct?

[Richard Kaufman]

Craig, you are correct in that the break is opened by the left thumb at the outer left corner, and the card is inserted diagonally into the break, not directly from the front.
The end result is nearly the same, but Victor's is of course more natural looking and less studied than the Marlo "improvement."
I took a look at Ken Krenzel's "Front Tilt" handling in "Card Classics of Ken Krenzel" today and it states that the Marlo handling required the spectator to be behind you, looking over your shoulder! One would have to look in the original Marlo booklet from 1962(?) to confirm this. (That's not an easy task since "Tilt" is one of the few booklets that Marlo never reprinted--I do not have one in my library.) The Krenzel handling is designed to be done so the spectator is standing in front of you (as one would expect), looking down at your hands.
The Victor technique is designed the same way, though you face slightly to the left (if the deck is held in the left hand) when executing it.

[Pete McCabe]

Aaron Fisher's "Illusion Control" uses a depth illusion at the front. In The Paper Engine Aaron gives Chris Kenner's "Shifty" (from Gary Ouellet's The Pass) as his inspiration.