Elmsley joke origin

[Jon Allen]

Does anyone know who first came up with the joke about the Elmsley DVD set and not seeing the 3rd one but seeing the 1st one twice?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Guest]

I'm thinking Rawdog out of Los Angeles.
Steve V

[Guest]

It was one of those guys...maybe, Jason England? funny stuff.

[Guest]

Yeah, Jason may have been the one. I'd bet on Jason cuz Rawdog wasn't around that much at the time.
Steve V

[Guest]

I first read it quite a few years ago. Not that that helps with identifying the originator, of course. Just making the point that it's not new. And it was about videos, not DVDs, since DVDs weren't around then.

Dave

[pduffie]

Yes, it dates back to when the Elmsley 'videos' were first released.

[Guest]

The other Elmsley joke I heard was how Alex Elmsley crossed the road three times but still ended up on the same side.

[Guest]

Mark Mason had a spin on this joke in his lecture this week at LVMI. He mentioned few people know Elmsley was married 4 times...but he never saw his third wife.

[Richard Kaufman]

It's unfortunate that Alex never married or had children--he might have had a much longer and happier life.

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure I once heard Mike Close take credit for that joke. Can anyone else confirm that?

[Jon Allen]

On another board there is some discussion about jokes being almost impossible to find out who the originator was, unlike magic tricks. This is due to variations upon themes and jokes being around for eons.

However, the Elmsley joke about the videos has a definite starting place (i.e. after the videos came out) so I'm hoping I can find out for sure who first came up with it.

Many thanks in advance if anyone can name names!

[pduffie]

I think John Lovick may be correct re Mike Close. I seem to recall Mike writing that joke into his review in Magic and it appearing new at the time? Or, is this False Memory Syndrome?

Peter

[Ian Kendall]

It's not in his Magic review (as a quick scan of the PDF collection confirms).

Take care, Ian

[Guest]

I first read the joke at Magictalk, so I wouldn't be surprised if Steve is correct. Dig in their archives if they still exist.

/Tomas

[Guest]

Yup, on magictalk and I'm 99% sure it was one of the LA guys and I'm leaning toward Jason England.
Steve V

[Guest]

I think maybe I first heard this joke in reference to a Magic Convention, one of the big ones with multiple tracks. (Blackpool?) He supposedly skipped the third lecture, and did the first one twice . . .

[Guest]

HI RICHARD,

DIDNT ELMSLEY HAVE A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE?

[Richard Kaufman]

He was stuck taking care of his mother until she died. Never had the chance to get married.
He suffered from depression and drank heavily toward the end of his life. If you saw him at a convention, he often drank so much that he passed out on a couch in the lobby and slept there all night.

[Guest]

how come most of my favorite magicians are the ones most likely to be "passed out on a couch in the lobby"? :D

-ed

[Richard Kaufman]

It's a shame so many artists and creative types are bedeviled by addictions of one sort or another, or suffer from depression or other mental illnesses. It seems to come with the territory.

[Bob Farmer]

In 1990, I sent Alex a trick I had invented that I thought he might be interested in (it used an unusual application of the binary number system).

In 1995, 15 years later, I received a very nice, handwritten letter from Alex, aplogizing for not writing back sooner. He said he had been suffering from depression, had run from all things magicial, and was now writing, "many long overdue letters of apology."

He then went on to give me several wonderful ideas about my trick.

I've worked in the music business for a long time and I've seen my share of these problems. My theory is that a creative artist feels best and most alive creating or performing. The downtime can never duplicate those feelings, so becomes, truly, time to be down. Some artists can cope, some can't.

[Guest]

thanks for that chaps.

[Guest]

I'll drink to that! :cool:

...and a toast to Elmsley! With many thanks!