Bro. John Hamman question

[Joe Mckay]

Quick question. Does anybody know if the tricks in 'Seven Deadly Miracles' by Stephen Minch (one of the earlier Bro. John Hamman books) were featured in the 'Secrets Of Bro. John Hamman' by Stephen Minch? I am trying to work out if I need to track down this earlier book. Also - were the tricks featured in the Paul LePaul book on Bro. John Hamman later re-printed in the 'Secrets Of Bro. John Hamman'?

Thanks!

Joe Mckay

[Evan Shuster]

The contents of Seven Deadly Miracles (other than the introduction and foreward) are:

The Pinochle Trick
- The Gemini Count
The Protean Twins
Comeback
The Signed Card
Second In Command
Acey-Ducey
A Devilish Miracle Retold

All of which appeared in "The Secrets of..." (by Richard Kaufman, not Stephen Minch).

[Richard Kaufman]

Brother Hamman sent the tricks to Adam Fleischer at the latter's request so a set of inexpensive lecture notes could be prepared for Hamman's appearance at the second New York Symposium. When Hamman arrived, he was horrified to find they had been turned into a book. Fleischer had done this without Hamman's permission and Bro. John was particularly offended by the title. Minch was caught in the middle--all he knew was what Fleischer had told him--and was mortified.

[Philippe Billot]

Seven Deadly Miracles, written by Stephen Minch, 1984.

TOC

Page 10 The Pinochle Trick
Page 10 The Gemini Count
Page 15 The Protean Twins
Page 22 The Signed Card
Page 27 Second in Command
Page 30 Acey-Ducey
Page 33 A Devilish Miracle Retold


The Secrets of Brother John Hamman written by RICHARD KAUFMAN in 1989.

Page 097 The Pinochle Trick
Page 093 The Twins (with the Gemini Count)
Page 047 The Signed Card
Page 031 Acey-Deucey
Page 157 Devilish Miracle Retold

[Joe Mckay]

That is very helpful. Thanks for the responses! Also - Sorry for the mistake above. Of course the 'Secrets Of Bro. John Hamman' was by Richard Kaufman. My bad...

Joe

[Tom Stone]

There were a few things in the Le Paul book, that wasn't republished in the Kaufman book:
http://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php ... Hamman_S.M.

I'm especially intrigued by "Face Up Face Down Surprise", which is a great plot (but needs a revised handling).

[Tom Stone]

Seven Deadly Miracles, written by Stephen Minch, 1984.

TOC

Page 10 The Pinochle Trick
Page 10 The Gemini Count
Page 15 The Protean Twins
Page 22 The Signed Card
Page 27 Second in Command
Page 30 Acey-Ducey
Page 33 A Devilish Miracle Retold


The Secrets of Brother John Hamman written by RICHARD KAUFMAN in 1989.

Page 097 The Pinochle Trick
Page 093 The Twins (with the Gemini Count)
Page 047 The Signed Card
Page 031 Acey-Deucey
Page 157 Devilish Miracle Retold

Was "Second in Command" given another title in the Kaufman book, or was it skipped?

[Richard Kaufman]

I can't remember if Second in Command is in my book. I didn't make those decisions: Brother Hamman had a very clear idea of which of his earlier tricks he liked and didn't like. Those he didn't like were not to be included in the big book, which was fine with me. Some of the earlier tricks were reworked extensively by him and given new titles.

It's a long time ago (22 years) and I can no longer remember.

[erdnasephile]

Brother Hamman sent the tricks to Adam Fleischer at the latter's request so a set of inexpensive lecture notes could be prepared for Hamman's appearance at the second New York Symposium. When Hamman arrived, he was horrified to find they had been turned into a book. Fleischer had done this without Hamman's permission and Bro. John was particularly offended by the title. Minch was caught in the middle--all he knew was what Fleischer had told him--and was mortified.

Thanks, Richard, for sharing that particular bit of history.

Seeing Bro. Hamman perform at the St. Louis SAM convention in the late 80's was a real highlight--although it was not a lecture per se, seeing how sneakily he set up for effects several effects beforehand was an education in itself. When I asked him to sign Seven Deadly Miracles, he asked me if I performed any of the material therein. When I replied in the affirmative, he seemed genuinely pleased.

As to the original question--I do think that "Seven Deadly Miracles" is worth having as a supplement. There are some changes in the way the material eventually ended up. Studying the changes and how they evolved is pretty interesting. For example, the timing and pace of the Gemini count. As a side note, at least one of the titles in that book was apparently not his--he did not use the term "The Protean Twins", it was just "The Twins".

"The Lost Works of Bro. John Hamman" DVD's are also worth tracking down.

[Q. Kumber]

As to the original question--I do think that "Seven Deadly Miracles" is worth having as a supplement. There are some changes in the way the material eventually ended up. Studying the changes and how they evolved is pretty interesting. For example, the timing and pace of the Gemini count. As a side note, at least one of the titles in that book was apparently not his--he did not use the term "The Protean Twins", it was just "The Twins".

"Studying the changes and how they evolved is pretty interesting."

To me, and I think to any sincere student, studying the changes over time of any routine or effect are not just interesting but an education. It's also why it's vitally important to do research and give proper credit - so the evolutionary process can be followed.

Following the development of an effect from its original source through the various handlings, discoveries and additions is a great lesson in creative thinking.

[erdnasephile]

As to the original question--I do think that "Seven Deadly Miracles" is worth having as a supplement. There are some changes in the way the material eventually ended up. Studying the changes and how they evolved is pretty interesting. For example, the timing and pace of the Gemini count. As a side note, at least one of the titles in that book was apparently not his--he did not use the term "The Protean Twins", it was just "The Twins".

"Studying the changes and how they evolved is pretty interesting."

To me, and I think to any sincere student, studying the changes over time of any routine or effect are not just interesting but an education. It's also why it's vitally important to do research and give proper credit - so the evolutionary process can be followed.

Following the development of an effect from its original source through the various handlings, discoveries and additions is a great lesson in creative thinking.

Quentin:
Your point is well taken and I agree 100%--it's absolutely educational and critically important. In fact, learning from how things developed, is one of the things I like best about Jennings '67 as well.

[Doug Brewer]

As a sidebar I want to say how great this book is (the yellow book written by Kaufman) and how great the material within it plays. This was one of the first books I bought when I got back into magic after college and it was unique in how the effects are set up and their psychology. It was such a twist on the usual card magic books that I had read. As an example, the "two card trick" is brilliant - just try it out on an unsuspecting fellow magician and watch their reactions. It was also a treat to see how smooth Br.Hamman performed on the Steven's video.