Future Articles

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Ryan Matney
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Future Articles

Postby Ryan Matney » July 31st, 2001, 1:11 pm

Hi everyone,
I love Genii and enjoy reading it. I thought I would suggest a couple of possible subjects for articles, if I may be so bold.
Purely selfish reasons, of course. :D
Maybe an article on Arthur Finley (Findley?)
I don't know how much material is avialable on this man but he would surely make an interesting read. I've never seen a picture of him and have been unable to find out when he died.
Also, I think an article on Karl Fulves would be interesting and not just because I've never seen him either. ;)
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Jon Racherbaumer
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » July 31st, 2001, 2:02 pm

Ryan:

Lo and behold, check out The Linking Ring (August 2001) for an article on Arthur Finley, written by Steve Freeman.

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Joe M. Turner
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Joe M. Turner » July 31st, 2001, 3:30 pm

I would like to see a big feature on Ross Bertram.

JMT

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Matthew Field
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Matthew Field » July 31st, 2001, 4:41 pm

Originally posted by Ryan Matney:
Also, I think an article on Karl Fulves would be interesting and not just because I've never seen him either. ;)


Me, too! In fact, I volunteered to write it, but Mr. Fulves turned the project down.

Matt Field

Curtis Kam
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Curtis Kam » July 31st, 2001, 11:02 pm

There are a few people I'd like to know more about, not the least of which is (I think this is his name) Norman Houghington, who seems to have been a regular contributor to Hugard's, who had an interesting touch on just about everything. For instance, I use his version of the "Rabbit ear" knots at the end of Slydini's knots.

Did I see somewhere that someone has done a book on Clayton Rawston?

What about J. Benzais?

Just a few suggestions, I know there are more. I'd like to see more on my buddy Allen Okawa, but he just doesn't seem to want to tip much these days.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Guest » August 1st, 2001, 12:07 am

Me, too! In fact, I volunteered to write it, but Mr. Fulves turned the project down.

Matt Field



That said, I still believe someone as influential and prominent in Magic still warrants a feature article, with or without his agreement.

Inquiring minds want to know.

Randy Campbell

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Eric DeCamps
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Eric DeCamps » August 1st, 2001, 8:13 am

Curtis:

Books on both Johnny Benzais and an Alan Okawa would be great.

How about a bio of Francis Carlyle and detailed descriptions of his magic? I really wish I could have seen him perform. I once had a conversation with Jeff Sheridan on the subject of Mr. Carlyle and he told he only saw Mr. Carlyle perform once and that the performance was awesome.


Eric DeCamps

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Curtis Kam » August 1st, 2001, 4:25 pm

I agree with Eric, the story of Francis F. Carlyle needs telling from a biographical POV. The book that was done on his magic may have recorded his methods, but from what I've heard of him, it was only in the context of his personality that the real lessons were learned.

As I understand it, Mr. Carlyle was an intense performer, engaging and a devoted student of the Vernon school of "naturalness", although he was also somewhat neurotic. Apparently he wrestled with his own demons, and it was through magic that he found clarity.

I mention this because unless you're aware of it, you might miss one of the great lessons in Carlyle's contribution to the classic "Stars of Magic" series. One of the effects he contributed was his handling of the watch steal. However, most of the article is dedicated to a description of the coin effect he used to set up the steal, a handling of the "expansion of texture" effect. For years I found this frustrating. I wondered why so much space was spent on a familiar coin trick, when what I really wanted was detailed instruction on how to steal the watch.

But in another book on pickpocketing, I came across the observation that a successful pickpocket should be a "people" person, a "toucher". That should be a part of your onstage persona, and the first time you touch a spectator should not be when you go for the watch.

That's when it hit me. Given his past (let us presume) neuroses, I doubt Mr. Carlyle was the kind of person who was so comfortable with strangers that he was a constant "toucher". And what we see in "Stars" was the effect he used to accommodate the spectator to his touch, and to taking his instruction. The "Expansion of Texture" allows even a shy, neurotic performer to gradually invade a stranger's space, so that by the time his watch is stolen, the momentary contact does not seem jarring or suspicious.

Given the recent interest in watch stealing and the frequently-heard reservation about how one gets started, perhaps the time is right for a detailed look at Carlyle's watch steal, and the personal life and times of Francis Carlyle.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Michael Edwards » August 12th, 2001, 7:49 am

Francis Carlyle would indeed be a wonderful subject. Ditto Fred Keating, Al Baker, and Sam Horowitz.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Jeffrey Cowan » August 12th, 2001, 1:17 pm

Irv Weiner and Roy Benson would be GREAT topics. The former I saw perform at an IPA convention as an adolescent; the latter only on film. What I've ascertained over the years is that each had a (different) genius that is not fully appreciated and which has not been widely written about.
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Re: Future Articles

Postby pduffie » August 12th, 2001, 1:20 pm

I saw Roy benson on film too and he did the best Chinese Sticks I've ever seen. I was told that Fred Kaps did the Benson routine - he didn't.

Best Wishes

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Don Spurrier
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Don Spurrier » August 12th, 2001, 3:31 pm

I, too, would love to see Roy Benson featured. I was able to see him in live performances a few times and recall his somewhat dead-pan but humorous and dry-wit presentations. On one show, I recall Benson stretching out on the edge of the stage while continuing a comedy monologue as if it was just a natural thing to do. At the time, very offbeat and funny.

Unfortunately, there appears very little of Benson in print. In the wee hours at a Miami Beach all night diner (he had just finished a floor show at a club in one of the better beach hotels), I recall him staggering me with a barehand vanish of 8 half-dollars. It's in #301 of The New Phoenix if you are interested. The description is scant and begs more, but the clinking sound of the coins (call it sound retention?) is the aspect that sells the vanish. I know that he had other contributions in other issues of that same periodical and some of Bruce Elliott's books. Anyone know of any others?

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Michael Edwards » August 13th, 2001, 7:19 am

Peter's posting raises another wonderful subject...Fred Kaps.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Guest » August 14th, 2001, 7:03 pm

i don't know if i'm posting this in the right section, but for what it's worth, i'd love to see a frank garcia issue, like the michael skinner issue. by the way, is there any talk of reprinting his books? i'd love to have a copy of super subtle card miracles and encyclopedia of sponge balls. if anyone wants to make a trade, hit me back.
johnny

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 14th, 2001, 10:45 pm

There has already been a rather extensive Genii issue on Frank Garcia maybe ten or 15 years ago. I am not sure of the exact issue.
It would be difficult to do one now.
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Guest » August 15th, 2001, 3:21 am

i'll look up the issue, richard, but c'mon..."difficult"?! there are a lot of people who have negative feelings towrds frank, but there are plenty who loved him as well, and they're still alive. and why don't you get the rights to his books? after greater magic it should all be downhill from here!
best wishes,
johnny

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Michael Edwards » August 15th, 2001, 9:00 am

Richard, John:

The Frank Garcia feature was in the September 1977 issue of Genii (Volume 41, Number 9). It includes Garcia's Ring on the Wand, O'Henry Surprise Package, 3 Pennies 2 Cards, Royal Flush Surprise, Color Change to Fool Magicians, Unexpected Coins Thru the Table, My Favorite Rope Routine, and The Obscure Card Trick. There's also an autobiography and some short stories about Garcia from Tony Spina, Jerry Solomon, and Irv Tannen. Hope this helps.

Brian Marks
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Brian Marks » August 15th, 2001, 7:01 pm

Since I was born in October of 77, maybee Genii could update the Frank Garcia stuff. He is too great of magician for us younger guys not to know about.

Guest

Re: Future Articles

Postby Guest » August 23rd, 2001, 11:13 pm

hi richard,
in another section you mentioned that the novemeber issue will feature harry lorayne. this is great. can you tell us in more detail what it will contain?
johnny

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 23rd, 2001, 11:58 pm

The Harry Lorayne cover story in November centers around a long feature article/interview with Harry conducted by Jon Racherbaumer, and there are four new tricks from Lorayne as well as an old one that's one of my favorites that needed to be reillustrated in order to be explained properly.
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 24th, 2001, 12:02 am

Regarding the reason it would be difficult to do a new story on Frank Garcia ... he didn't leave any unpublished magic that I could find, although he did have illustrations done for a number of books that he never published. I don't believe he ever wrote them.
It would be difficult to just write a biographical piece about Frank that had material that hadn't already been published.
The rights to all of his books are tied up on a dispute between his son, Nicholas, and his wife at the time of his death, Betty Lou. I believe he died without a will, which caused the mess. I have heard nothing regarding a resolution of the legal dispute.
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Steve Hook » August 24th, 2001, 3:32 am

Is it possible that George Schindler is also involved with the Garcia books?

I talked to him about the possibility of reprinting those books about ten years ago and hey, the details are a bit fuzzy.

But he did say that it would be very expensive to reprint and store the books.

All controversial issues of originality aside, _Super Subtle_ is one of my favorite books. It really is a shame that the red and green books, as well as the sponge ball encyclopedia, are not in print, because they're fun-to-read books with lots of quickly-described, strong tricks.

And does anyone have a non-spiral bound copy with all the pages intact? ;)

Steve H

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 24th, 2001, 11:27 am

NO, George Schindler does not own any of the Garcia books. He does own Magic With Cards, which he co-wrote with Frank. This is a book for the public.
Both the spiral and perfect-bound editions of all the Garcia books deteriorate for different reasons. The perfect bound books were cheaply printed and bound like a pad of paper--that's why they're falling apart.
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Re: Future Articles

Postby David Nethery » August 25th, 2001, 9:33 am

If Richard is tallying requests for feature articles let me add my votes for:

1. Fred Kaps
2. Fred Kaps
3. Fred Kaps

(after that, I dunno........maybe Charlie Miller, Charlie Miller, Charlie Miller .)

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Luis » August 25th, 2001, 3:16 pm

For those who can read Spanish, Ediciones Marre from Spain has two of Frank Garcia's titles in print:

Magia de Sobremesa

and

El Libro Rojo (original title: Million Dllar Card Secrets)

One place where you can buy them is:
http://www.cablecat.com/personales/enigma/

[ August 25, 2001: Message edited by: Luis ]

Asser Andersen
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Asser Andersen » August 25th, 2001, 5:18 pm

Could I suggest an article on Richard Turner "The Cheat".
I have seen him perform twice in San Antonio, Texas, and his handling of a deck of cards is truly fabulous.
He is also a very pleasant and interesting man, and I think it definitely would be worthwile doing a feature about him.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 26th, 2001, 3:07 am

Do you know that Richard Turner is legally blind?
Are you ready for Dai Vernon, Dai Vernon, Dai Vernon? December, December, December.
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Asser Andersen » August 26th, 2001, 5:06 am

Yes, Turners blindness makes it even more impressive. He showed baffling card locations as well as amazing gambling routines, all based on "finger-touch" control of the deck.

As for Dai Vernon in the december issue - I was going to ask you what happened to "The unseen side of Dai Vernon" - but this sounds even better, an excellent Christmas treat !

[ August 26, 2001: Message edited by: Asser Andersen ]

Raj Madhok
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Raj Madhok » August 26th, 2001, 8:28 pm

Richard,

How 'bout a piece on Homer Liwag and Chris Kenner? I'm not sure how much they can talk about but I'm sure they've got some great stories about travelling the world with the most successful magic show in history...not to mention their closeup magic!

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 26th, 2001, 9:19 pm

Chris Kenner and Homer Liwag? They're already working on it! :)
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Tom Dobrowolski » August 26th, 2001, 9:36 pm

I TOTALLY agree with Dai. Fred Kaps. Ater seeing his performances in "Heroes of Magic" I want MORE. His handling and routining on Homing Card on that show is simply some of the best magic I have ever seen. He was truly a hero of magic.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Pete McCabe » August 29th, 2001, 2:45 am

The Earl Nelson article mentioned his classic and out of print book "Variations". I've always wanted to see this book!

Also I recently read Eugene Burger's "Mastering the Art of Magic" in which he revisits old tricks from his repertoire and tells how they have changed, improved, been dropped, etc. Fascinating.

So my suggestion is this:

How about a series of articles (a column?) reprinting a trick from an older book and having the author explain how their thinking on the trick has changed in the intervening years? If it's a trick from an out-of-print classic like Variations or Al Baker's Pet Secrets, all the better.

Seeing how an effect has evolved over the years can be incredibly enlightening in a way that I'm not sure anything else can match.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Sean Macfarlane » October 2nd, 2001, 10:46 am

I would love to see an article on John Scarne, his Autobiography "Beat the Odds" had me mesmerized and daydreaming all the time when I was a kid. There are some great stories in there. Thats was the first I read of the card on window( the other side of the window) just like in David Copperfields special and more recently David Blaines Special, that was sometime in the forties that this piece was around( estimating).

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 2nd, 2001, 11:10 am

Snatch, Karl Fulves has been steadily publishing tricks of John Scarne's in his newsletter "Discoverie" for the past several years.
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Sean Macfarlane » October 2nd, 2001, 11:50 am

Well now, I wasn't aware of that, thats good to know. Cheers.

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Re: Future Articles

Postby David Oliver » October 2nd, 2001, 3:14 pm

As Jeffrey Cowan suggested above, I think that my fellow Bostonian, the late Irv "Mr. Fingers" Weiner would be a great subject. He was the most requested entertainer on college campuses across the U.S. throughout the 70's. Irv was perhaps best known for doing intimate sleight-of-hand magic for college audiences of over 1,000-BVM (before video-monitors). For those who may not know, his got his nick-name, not from his magic, rather from the fact that both of his parents were deaf. During his childhood, friends saw him speaking to them in sign language - hence, "Mr. Fingers". But it carried over to his magic career wonderfully, don't you think?
Interesting tidbits like that, along with some great contributions from the Grand Masters in our field, warrant such features. I, for one, would enjoy reading about them all.
Perhaps a new monthly column featuring short stories on "The Masters" could be arranged? My two cents.
- DO

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Re: Future Articles

Postby Guest » October 2nd, 2001, 5:13 pm

Although he is probably unlikely to be the subject of a Genii article (although I'm willing to be proved wrong!) it may interest forum members to know that I am currently working on a book about Bob Ostin. Bob is one of the great unsung heroes of British magic and a creator of some of the most original magic this country has ever produced. His ability to devise excellent, non-card close-up magic is virtually unsurpassed. Like his close friend Peter Kane, he has been ripped off many times but has continued with his great love - devising clever solutions for a seemimgly never ending series of problems he sets himself. The book will be a complete career retrospective, including updates of all the material in his seminal "Fingertip Fantasies" as well as descriptions of almost all his other creations and full details of all his marketed items. It will also include a biographical section detailing his years debunking fake psychics and spiritualists, his friendships with dozens of magicians from Kaps to Ramsay and anecdotes of his 50+ years performing.

Suffice it to say that I think the book will be a must for all lovers of innovative magic.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 3rd, 2001, 8:44 am

David Oliver (to whom I was once so rude--there, a PUBLIC apology): Why don't you accept the assignment to do an article on Irv Weiner? Genii would be happy.
Mark Elsden: You are wrong! Genii would love to publish an article on Bob Ostin! Please contact me at moobooks@ix.netcom.com :)
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Re: Future Articles

Postby Guest » October 3rd, 2001, 8:52 am

There are quite a few cover feature or articles that I would LOVE to see. I really liked the idea of the 5 x 5 series and if these can not be made into books, why not scale them down into cover features?

Bar Magic Issue - featuring Eddie Fechter, Jim Ryan, Bob Sheets, Doc Eason, JC Wagner, Scotty York etc.

Trade Show Issue - featuring Seth Kramer, Charles Greene III, Bill Herz, Bill Goldman, Lisa Menna etc.

The Gallos' - featuring the bio and magic of Lou, Mike and Joey.

Paul Harris Issue!

Darren Romeo - It looks as if he is being groomed to become a big star!

David Roth - with some new material?

Slydini

Underground magicians - maybe learn about some guys who ar not so well known to the magic community at large - Bill Kalush, Benjamin Levy, and I would love to see an article about the late Gilbert "Flaco" Hernandez, who hung around Tannen's and the cafeteria in the 80's and 90's. This guy taught me a lot of stuff in my teens (and he could perform it) and introduced me to a lot of names in magic for the price of a cup of coffee.

and finally..... maybe an investigative piece on the name dealers in Magic like Tannen's, Hank Lee's, Stevens, etc. Both the good and the bad (such as knocking off tricks, taking money when things are not in stock etc.)

Guest

Re: Future Articles

Postby Guest » October 3rd, 2001, 9:04 am

I thought of 3 more.....Michael Weber (who I saw do a presentation for the Arthur Andersen Accounting firm recently and he killed!!!), Bob Elliott and David Williamson.


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