Just bought my first Genii

[Guest]

Hi! Just bought my first ever copy of Genii earlier today - the January 2002 edition. I've had a passing interest in magic for some time now, but have only recently dedicated some time to learning card sleights and other close-up effects. I'm very much an amateur and a relative newcomer to this website.

Okay, let me start reading and i'll let you know how i get on...

[Bill Duncan]

Welcome.
You'll find that Genii is a great resource for a newbie.
:D

[Richard Kaufman]

Happytrickster: welcome from the Chief Genii. I would be interested in hearing your comments about your first issue of Genii. (Did you buy it at Davenport's or International Magic?)

[Guest]

I bought it from International Magic. Just finished reading most of it... so far so good :). I'll post some more detailed comments a little later today.

[Guest]

Okay, finished reading my first ever copy of Genii from cover to cover (four times over). It was a great read! I've been dipping into it virtually every day since i purchased it - a testimony to the fact that i probably won't quite be finished with this copy before the next one hits the local magic store's shelf.

To be honest, i hadn't heard of Mac King at all before i picked up the magazine and was pleasantly surprised to see that such a regular guy made it to the dizzying heights of magic stardom and, more importantly, doesn't appear to have allowed it to get to his head. His description of a magic fan as "that guy who knows two or three card tricks" (p.26) is spot on i think (i am that fan!). Pen Jillette's comments on Mac IMHO were a little overdone. But perhaps that's just how Penn is; maybe he always talks about his friends in such glowing, over-the-top terms. I much preferred the Lance Burton interview.

The two Mac King effects on pp.38-43 are superb (my favourite section so far). Both are quite strong, and once i get to grips with Ed Marlo's Direct Bottom Palm i'm gonna give that Card in Shoe effect a try. I guess the thing i liked most about Mac was that he appears to be an original thinker, refining his tricks and devising new ones.

Is this a regular feature of Genii: the portrayal of a magician's life and work to this level of detail?

Hey, Richard, you seem to be almost single-handedly keeping the Classified Ads section alive! Hope you find what you are looking for out there :)

I found the Genii forum before i found the magazine. I must say that they complement each other wonderfully. I shall certainly be buying the next edition.

Happy Trickster

p.s. Is that a typo on p.64? - "Setup: You need a duplicate of any black card in your deck - let's say it's the King of Spades. Before you begin this trick, get the real King of Clubs [King of Spades?] and your duplicate to the top..."

[Richard Kaufman]

Could be a typo! We have three people proofreading, myself included, but we don't get every mistake. Too much text each month. We do try!

[Guest]

The typo was just a minor, irrelevant point (i should be the last one to complain about typos!). I only mentioned it because it related to the 'setup' of one of the tricks. Like i said, a great magazine!

Richard, i recently chanced across some clips of Peter Duffie performing some amazing Passes. Am i right in thinking that you two have worked together?

[Richard Kaufman]

Peter is a good friend of mine. I have published two books of his material, "Duffie's Card Compulsions" and a book on easy-to-do card tricks whose title I honestly can't remember!