stabbed in the pack???

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Tabman
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stabbed in the pack???

Postby Tabman » August 12th, 2004, 12:57 pm

today i was rummaging through some boxes in my shop and found a huge stack of old magic newsletters. one particular issue of THE NEW JINX caught my eye, nov 1966 #55. the cover story, "will the real stabbed in the pack please stand up" by harry lorayne.

now ive only seen it done a few times and always by pete biro but never by harry lorayne. the effect is a little hard to explain and as lorayne says in the story, he could demonstrate it twenty times in the time it takes to describe but the effect is a card is selected, lost in the deck and then set on a table or the floor and a card is tossed at the pack and "stabs" itself into the pack right at the chosen card.

what an amazing trick. it will take some practice. im wondering if anyone out there is doing this effect these days. i know 1966 isnt that long ago for us children of the sixties but 40 years is a long time for some of us????

id be interested if anyone can suggest additional references. its pretty much magic in a vacuum for me these days since i live in the country and rarely go to town.

-=tabman

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Steve Bryant
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Steve Bryant » August 12th, 2004, 1:32 pm

Tabby, I don't have that issue in front of me, but Himber sold a trick called Stabbed in the Pack back in the 60s, and I bought one. The idea was that when you lay a knife on its side, the width of the handle causes the blade to rest some distance above the table, about a quarter of a pack. Hence, if you shuffle the selected card to exactly a quarter of a pack from the bottom, you can slide the knife in and hit the selected card every time. (I never performed the trick much, but as a kid thought the knife was cool.) I think Roy Johnson revived or perhaps reinvented this idea at a later date.

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Frank Yuen » August 12th, 2004, 2:41 pm

Bill Goldman had an interesting version in an issue of the Linking Ring years ago. It may have been published in his one of his Bar & Grill manuscripts as well.

Frank Yuen

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Tabman
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Tabman » August 12th, 2004, 2:46 pm

thanks steve, i remember that himber trick now that you mention it. ill figger out how to get a copy of this to you so you can see it. ive been messing around with it off and on all afternoon. sir biro can do it, ive seen him. you put the pack on the table and sort of skip a face up card at the pack and ricochet the tossed card off the table about four inches in front of the pack and impale the tossed card in the pack somewhere near the middle. of course its no where near the selected card which is on the bottom of the pack but harry lorayne's move to get the selected card up is great. ill get this to you. i know you'll love it. maybe pete will chime in if he sees this too. ive seen him do it and actually hit the selected card.

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Tabman
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Tabman » August 12th, 2004, 2:50 pm

Frank Yuen checks in:
Bill Goldman had an interesting version in an issue of the Linking Ring years ago.
thanks frank. ive got about ten years of LR upstairs bill goldmans hayday. ill start looking for it.

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Jacky Kahan » August 12th, 2004, 3:07 pm

Hi Tabman
id be interested if anyone can suggest additional references. its pretty much magic in a vacuum for me these days since i live in the country and rarely go to town.

This is what i found for you :
The New Jinx Vol. 4, No. 46, February 1966
Page 187 Stabbed in the Pack (John Benzais)
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The New Jinx Vol. 5, No. 50, June 1966
Page 204 Further Reaction to Stabbed in the Pack (Bill Madsen)
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The New Jinx Vol. 5, No. 53, September 1966
Page 217 Poor Man's Stabbed in the Pack (Tony Shiels)
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The New Jinx Vol. 5, No. 55, November 1966
Page 223 "Will the Real Stabbed in the Pack ( Please Stand Up !"-Harry Lorayne)
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Hay, Henry: The Amateur Magician's Handbook,
1950, 1972 Henry Hay
Page 32 The Stabbed Pack: effect
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Tarbell, Harlan: The Tarbell Course in Magic Volume 3
Page 284 Card Stab Through Newspaper: Cards are spread on table and newspaper covers them. Knife is stabbed through paper, locating selection. Several methods.
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Regal, David: Constant Fooling 2
2002 David Regal
page 145 Stabbed with Extreme Prejudice: a Joker is used to stab the deck and finds the selected card
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Mercurio: The Propshop - Tricks With Magical Accessories copyright 1975, published by D. Robbins & Company, Inc.
page 59 A Novel Card Stab--Card selected from miniature deck, wrapped in paper, stabbed with knife, knife stabs right to chosen card.
---
Lorayne, Harry: Deck-Sterity
, D. Robbins & Co.,
Page 129 Stabbed in the Pack

---

Hope this helps..

Jacky
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Pete Biro
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Pete Biro » August 12th, 2004, 5:04 pm

I did this the other day at Dean Dill's Shoppe.

Here is exactly what I did.

I had a shuffled deck (it was just on the table, not mine) to hand, and pushed it over in front of one of the guys hangin' out there.

I said, shuffle 'em, then lift off some cards, look at the face of the card on the packet you lifted off, then replace the cards and square them up.

Do you want to cut the deck? I asked. He said, yes, so I said go ahead.

I then took the top card, turned it face up and put it on the edge of the table, with part of it hanging over the edge.

I then FLICKED the card with my index finger, off my thumb. The card stabbed into the deck.

I picked up the deck, no adjustment, and turned it face up, spread the cards and the flicked card was NEXT to the chosen card.

PERIOD.

Method to follow in awhile.... Think about it.
Stay tooned.

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Guest » August 12th, 2004, 5:24 pm

Luck? :whack:

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Tabman
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Tabman » August 12th, 2004, 6:44 pm

wow, jacky, thanks a million for all the references. in the new jinx #55 story by harry lorayne he references shiels and benzais. lorayne says that shiels and benzais almost got it right. with all due respects TNJ editor to bill madsen i have posted the critical parts of the lorayne story from TNJ #55 on the web for those interested in this thread. its a great effect. here is the link for those interested.

TNJ #55 ...Stabbed In The Pack - Click Here

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby bobj » August 12th, 2004, 7:39 pm

John Clark, from the Jersey shore, does this trick very well. I have seen him do it many times, with amazing accuracy.

It's a skill/knack thing. He has a card chosen and mixed back into the deck. He sets the deck on the table, takes a card and flings/spins it at the table, towards the deck. The card ricochets off of the table, upward at a slight angle, and wedges itself into the deck, right next to the chosen card.

I'll have to ask him at the next club meeting where he learned it.

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Pete Biro
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Pete Biro » August 12th, 2004, 7:55 pm

Altho it is REALLY LUCK... ESTIMATION... I have a very high success rate.
Stay tooned.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 12th, 2004, 9:17 pm

Lorayne's method is a manipulative one: it doesn't matter where the tossed card enters the deck because the chosen card is then moved to where it needs to be.
If one truly believes that the important thing is the effect, not the method, then the Lorayne handling is the one to use because it never misses and it doesn't matter where the tossed card enters the deck--all you have to concentrate on is REALLY getting the card in the deck without worrying about where.
It's very funny when Lorayne does (did) this: he would start yards away from the tabled deck, and edge closer as he talked. Eventually, by the time he tossed the card, his extended hand was only a foot or so from the deck.
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Tabman » August 13th, 2004, 11:04 am

i should have known that the venerable jamy i swiss would have some work on the stabbed in the pack idea so i brought out my biggest shovel and dig through my collection of lecture notes from days gone bye bye and sure enough in Jamy Ian Swiss, AN INTERESTING APPLICATION OF THAT PRINCIPLE, published in 1987 there is an effect called STABBED IN THE SANDWICH. A killer effect and set up to be a follow up to any version of The Boomerang Card.

in jamy's effect, basically two cards are selected and located and sandwiched together reversed in the center of the pack.

let me paraphrase jamy's words, "The previously boomeranged card is tossed into the tabled pack in the classic Lorayne approach. The deck is ribbon spread and the boomeranged card is shown to be found between the previously selected and reversed cards. This is an awesome display of skill..."

indeed!!

so Jamy and i have been discussing this effect this morning via email and i asked him if he minded if i pointed this out and he said, "sure, go ahead."

if you have jamy's notes dig them out and try this. i dont know if they are still available from him but worth a look if you have the notes.

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Guest » August 13th, 2004, 12:54 pm

The Bill Goldman version is in his Linking Ring Parade and in one of his great lecture notes. Bill showed it to me and it looks great even it reads very simple. I think Tim Conover was envolved in developing the method.
Another routine can be found in the David Williamson book!

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Guest » August 13th, 2004, 4:52 pm

One Kewpie Doll goes to a forum member who can name the Bezais' Method (I think it's Benzais' version.... with a crimp.)

This is my favorite 'stabbed' method. I learned it from "The Rock" (but can't remember where it was printed.)

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Pete Biro
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Pete Biro » August 13th, 2004, 6:22 pm

Diaconis told me he has a way, but I didn't ask for the work. Am sure it is right up there.
Stay tooned.

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Guest » August 13th, 2004, 8:04 pm

Those who are interested might want to look at: "The Best of Benzais"! Not only a complete description of his method for this, but much additional info, including history, and the feud it spawned...

The book, which is only about 90 pages, if I remember correctly, is a red paperback. It is 5"x8" or 6"x9", stapled. Sold for something like 4 bucks originally. Who knows what kind of a discount you can get from Hatch on a used copy - probably only cost you $2 now, right Dick?

Benzais included some very clever material, not the least of which is a remarkably good rope effect, "The Gordian Knot". It is worth looking at just for the title! I have used it for some years now. the story of Gordius and the magic are a great combo, lots of fun in the right circumstances...

I'm not revealing the other goodies, you can find a copy and see for yourself - or not, which is what I'd prefer since the stuff is so good, and so long forgotten by most...

Best, PSC

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 13th, 2004, 9:43 pm

The Best of Benzais is one of the best kept secrets in magic. I heard that Benzais was student of Slydini's.
I think he died in a car crash, or was hit by a car. Jerry Deutsch knew him.
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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby John Pezzullo » August 13th, 2004, 11:56 pm

David Acer's review of "The Best of Benzais":

http://www.mylovelyassistant.com/index. ... ay&rid=236

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Re: stabbed in the pack???

Postby Guest » August 16th, 2004, 9:32 pm

Mike Skinner has his own handling for this effect in Vol. 2 of his Professional Close-Up Magic video series.


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