Triumph - Dai Vernon

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Philippe Noël
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Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Philippe Noël » February 15th, 2013, 12:00 pm

In 1946, Dai Vernon publishes his effect called "Triumph" in the Stars of Magic series.
It quickly becomes one of the great classic of card magic.
It is true that this card trick has it all: a catchy story, a stunning effect and a relative ease of execution.
Below, I suggest you to rediscover the original and perhaps best version of this effect:

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZCPDkmNLEM[/video]

El Mystico
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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby El Mystico » February 15th, 2013, 12:20 pm

I'm sorry to be picky, Philippe, but, since you are talking about rediscovering the original...the original does not have the face up/face down display spread that you do at 40 seconds.
The thing is, that spread makes your subsequent face up/face down display cutting completely redundant!

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Q. Kumber
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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Q. Kumber » February 15th, 2013, 2:48 pm

Nicely done. Thank you. It is worth mentioning that in the original instructions Vernon directs the participant to spread the cards himself.

Today I had the good fortune to spend a couple of hours with Andrew Galloway, who told me that John Ramsay had been asked for a contribution to the original Stars Of Magic series and his choice was Four Little Beans. The publishers felt this wasn't suitable as it used the mouth.

Andy then performed it and fooled the hell out of me.

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby El Mystico » February 15th, 2013, 3:02 pm

I've been in magic for over 30 years, and my time with Andy was one of the highest highlights.
(I've also seen a letter from Vernon to Ramsay, pleading for Ramsay to share his secrets).
In summary - I know Scotland is a tiny part off the north of England, with weird accents...but Galloway's books amount to a detailed description of the secrets of misdirection.
(And he gives it all away - QKumber had a great day - but did he learn anything that wasnt already in print?)

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Philippe Noël » March 10th, 2013, 8:03 am

Hi,
I think the handling undernearth is closer to Vernon's original.
Last edited by Philippe Noël on March 11th, 2013, 12:17 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Philippe Noël » March 11th, 2013, 12:04 pm



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erdnasephile
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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby erdnasephile » March 11th, 2013, 2:27 pm

Very fine performance, Philippe--thanks for posting it!

On a tangential note: when it comes to triumph routines, I've come to agree with Paul Cummins' observation that many Triumph displays seem just a little too tidy to be real.

For example, Daryl's iconic display, and even Vernon's to a certain extent (Yes, I know...I beg forgiveness for that heresy).

However, if the cards were really mixed face up/face down, it's not all that easy to cut cleanly to a face down card at will, much less 2 back to back cards (or any other configuration you wish to show)

Most guys I've seen, practically announce what they are going to cut to before they even do it, as opposed to casually cutting and only then commenting on the "random" thing you cut to.

It's an admittedly picky point, but I think if one is trying to sell chaos, a little less precision makes sense.

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Philippe Noël » March 11th, 2013, 5:11 pm

Good point, thank you for sharing it with us.

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby mrgoat » March 12th, 2013, 6:03 am

I hate all those 'displays'. One of the reasons I prefer The Tipsy Trick to Triumph.

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby El Mystico » March 12th, 2013, 6:12 am

I used to use Daryl's display until I realised some people assumed this was how I straightened out the cards!

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » March 12th, 2013, 1:06 pm

Having written a compilation book on Triumph (which lists most of the many versions in print) doesn’t necessarily qualify me to say anything authoritative on the subject. However, I’ve performed most of the variations over the years for an eclectic bunch of people. Versions that have many face-up/face-down “displays” to over-prove that the cards are truly mixed in topsy-turvy fashion have an unintended consequence. Many times, after I’ve performed these versions to a underwhelming response, I asked: “Don’t you think that’s extremely puzzling?” A standard reply was: “You somehow straighten out the cards during all of those cuts, shuffles, and turnovers.” It didn’t impress them that, if this was truly the method, that such skillful manipulation warrants some praise.

So what?— they thought.

When I perform versions using the Slop Shuffle, the audiences almost uniformly gasps.

The killer version using the Slop Shuffle is by Henry Evans.

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Ian Kendall » March 12th, 2013, 1:23 pm

Years ago I posted on the EG that the Slop Shuffle is the most commercial version of Triumph. At the time it was a bit of flame bait, but I stand by it; it requires no table, can be performed surrounded and only takes 90 seconds to perform. The effect is easy to understand, but is still astonishing, and requires no set up, reset or gimmicks. The perfect strolling card trick.

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erdnasephile
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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby erdnasephile » March 12th, 2013, 8:18 pm

Jon Racherbaumer wrote:Having written a compilation book on Triumph (which lists most of the many versions in print) doesn’t necessarily qualify me to say anything authoritative on the subject. However, I’ve performed most of the variations over the years for an eclectic bunch of people. Versions that have many face-up/face-down “displays” to over-prove that the cards are truly mixed in topsy-turvy fashion have an unintended consequence. Many times, after I’ve performed these versions to a underwhelming response, I asked: “Don’t you think that’s extremely puzzling?” A standard reply was: “You somehow straighten out the cards during all of those cuts, shuffles, and turnovers.” It didn’t impress them that, if this was truly the method, that such skillful manipulation warrants some praise.

So what?— they thought.

When I perform versions using the Slop Shuffle, the audiences almost uniformly gasps.

The killer version using the Slop Shuffle is by Henry Evans.


For those who want to look up this routine, it's published in the April 2009 issue of The Linking Ring (as well as in Mr. Evan's first L & L video set, I believe). Would make a very nice combination with the preview that was just published in the latest issue of TLR.

Currently, the two Triumph displays I favor most are Guy Hollingworth's and the Goodwin/Jennings display because I think they come much closer to being natural displays than most of the alternatives.

I'm not a Triumph scholar by any means, but are there any published non-gaffed routines where you do a complete shuffle and simply ribbon spread to show the FU/FD condition?

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Leonard Hevia » March 12th, 2013, 9:03 pm

I think so Erdnasephile. When Barry's Magic Shop was open in Rockville, I young man by the name of Victor Cruz fooled me badly at a Saturday afternoon session there. He had me select a card and genuinely shuffled both halves together. He then slowly spread the mixed deck to ask me if I had spotted my selection among the face up cards. As he spread the deck, he Roadrunner Culled the face down (or face up) cards and straightened out the face to face deck with Aaron Fisher's Gravity Half Pass. In time honored fashion, the deck was now straightened out and my selection was the only reversed card.

Of course, at the time I was not aware of his shenanigans and was badly fooled by his maneuvers. Victor also mentioned that he had performed this version of Triumph for Rich Marotta in N.Y.C. Marotta was also fooled and exclaimed: "That's the best Triumph Shuffle I've ever seen!"

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Re: Triumph - Dai Vernon

Postby Pete Biro » March 12th, 2013, 11:02 pm

Jon Racherbaumer wrote:Having written a compilation book on Triumph (which lists most of the many versions in print) doesn’t necessarily qualify me to say anything authoritative on the subject. However, I’ve performed most of the variations over the years for an eclectic bunch of people. Versions that have many face-up/face-down “displays” to over-prove that the cards are truly mixed in topsy-turvy fashion have an unintended consequence. Many times, after I’ve performed these versions to a underwhelming response, I asked: “Don’t you think that’s extremely puzzling?” A standard reply was: “You somehow straighten out the cards during all of those cuts, shuffles, and turnovers.” It didn’t impress them that, if this was truly the method, that such skillful manipulation warrants some praise.

So what?— they thought.

When I perform versions using the Slop Shuffle, the audiences almost uniformly gasps.

The killer version using the Slop Shuffle is by Henry Evans.

I like the less is more as in the video above by Phillipe. And the Slop Shuffle of Sid Lorraine's.
Stay tooned.


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