An Upshot about "Uprising"

[Guest]

First, let me praise the look of Magicana under the guidance of David Acer, the artwork of Earle Oakes (my fave), and the substantive, robust "content." It is not easy gathering and producing material over a sustained period. I've tried to do it twice for four years initially and about six years at MAGIC, which translates (roughly) into coming up with 215-275 items.

After awhile, the stuff recedes into a fuzzy blur. And despite taking pains to get things right, there are missed credits, typos, misplaced drawings, missing text, and so on.

This being said, I noted with interest Euan McCall Bingham's "Uprising" and had one of those "shocks of recognition." I thought to myself: "This looks familiar...VERY familiar." In fact, it looked like a technique I had put into "Inside Out." It was...

This lead me to check matters out and write up one of my Provenance Bulletins that about 12 people read or care about. It's one of the sustaining ironies in magicdom. Everyone talks about crediting others and knowing the history of things, but unless it PERSONALLY matters, the topic is glossed over or ignored.

So, what follows may be of little interest to Forum participants, but it does show what frequently happens in magicdom. Here goes....

LAYERS OF CONNECTION

As just mentioned, this is another example of similar ideas appearing in print with and without attributions and where the connections or points of inspiration are unclear.

The dj vu moment for me, as also mentioned earlier, occurred when reading an Ambitous Card move called Uprising in Genii magazine (June-2005). As soon as I saw Earle Oakes drawings, I thoughtThat sleight looks like Jason Alfords After-Burner! that I wrote up for Magic magazine (December-1998). Sure enough, the one credited to Euan McCall Bingham is almost identical. Let me explain:

Both versions begin with a left pinky break above the two bottom cards. The top half of the deck is maneuvered into the left hand by using a Swing Cut. The top card of the left-hand portion is outjogged, using the right second finger. The two cards held by the break are dropped onto the left-hand portion, which is rotated face up. Next, the uppermost card of the double that was secretly unloaded must be maneuvered so that it is aligned with the outjogged card. Bingham does it differently from Alford.

Bingham: He first tables the right-hand portion. Then he moves his palm-up right hand below the outjogged card, placing his right thumb against the outer end of the jogged card. Then he uses his right second and third fingertips underneath to slide the necessary card into secret alignment.

Alford: He retains the right-hand portion and rotates his right hand palm up. He uses his left forefinger to engage the outer end of the outjogged card. Then he uses his right second and third fingertips to slide the necessary card into secret alignment.

The clean-up and ending of both techniques are identical.

Both versions also include an attribution to Super Rise from the Pallbearers Review (April, 1974). I credited Tom Ellis. Acer (Bingham) credit Ellis and Wesley James.

Since Earle Oakes illustrated both items, although almost 7 years has elapsed since Alfords version appeared in 1998, I decided to call Earle and asked if he was aware that he had essentially illustrated the same sleight. Well, when I told him that this occurred, he had no recollection of Alfords sleight. Of course, Earle draws hundreds of drawings each year. Who can remember everything they write or illustrate?

A couple of months after Alfords sleight appeared, it was brought to our attention that After-Burner was a re-invention, except for some minor technical details, of Michael Webers Layers of Conviction that was explained in Daryls Ambition Card Omnibus (1997). An Attribution Retribution appeared in Magic magazine (February-1999) and Alford apologized to Weber.

I checked with Weber and asked him about Layers of Conviction and if there were points of inspiration not mentioned in Minchs book. He said:

I didn't see the original mention or apology in Magic, and also missed Wesley's cries for recognition. They were buried too deep in material that was too shallow to dig any deeper.

Daryl did everyone a disservice when he failed to mention that both of my contributions to his Omnibus were collaborations with the extremely talented Eric Maurin, who is mentioned elsewhere in the book.

As to inspirations, I was aware of the original Dunbury Drop with one card in the context of an ambitious card routine and simply realized that dropping two cards instead of one allowed for a much cleaner display of placing the "top card" to the center of the other packet and also automatically placed the ambitious selection in a secondary position.

That's it.

We now know that Weber and Maurin were inspired by the standard Drop Sleight and not the Ellis contribution, and that Maurins name should be attached to the sleight.

It should be noted that Weber-Maurin do not begin with a break above the two bottom cards. Instead, the card second from the face is angle-jogged. The top card is turned face up and then the top half is maneuvered into the left hand with a Swing Cut. The top card of the left-hand portion is turned face down. Then it is outjogged, using the right second finger. Meanwhile, the left pinky pulls down on the angle-jogged card so that the bottom two cards can be pulled onto the left-hand portion. The left-hand section is then rotated face up to show the face of the outjogged card.

After a one-beat pause, the left-hand section rotates face down again but is also tilted back and upright. The right-hand section moves behind it and to a down-jogged position. With the sections jogged accordingly, both sections are now tilted back so that the undersides are toward the audience.

Next, the uppermost card of the double secretly unloaded earlier is secretly pushed up with the right with the right second fingertip. It is not pushed into alignment with the outjogged card, but just short of this point.

When the sections are lowered to a horizontal plane (a broader action), the left forefinger stretches out and pulls the selection square with the top card. These are distinctive finesses.

The rest of the actions are carried out.

As mentioned earlier, a detailed description of Layers of Conviction can be found in Daryls Ambitious Card Omnibus by Stephen Minch, pp. 50-53.

I don't think that Acer or Bingham are guilty of anything devious or untoward. And it's disappointing to discover that one's good idea or move has ALREADY been published.

Onward...

[Guest]

Many thanks for taking the time to write this up JB. I appreciate the extra info on this and apologies for an honest mistake!

Cheers

Euan

[Guest]

Btw, You can also go into this sequence without any cutting at all. Just palm two cards in the right hand.

Rest the right hand on the deck and push the top card forward as both hands rotate at the wrist, leaving the palmed cards on top. This is a Lewis Barlow palm replacement (The Crimp).

Now finish as per normal.

Euan

[Guest]

Refreshing responses, plus another finesse. These days most of the published stuff regarding card magic, particularly sleights, consists of footnotes. This is not said to demean "footnotes," but to place them in their proper and important place.

Alfred North Whitehead said (paraphrase): "Much of modern philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato."

BTW, I like the palm-add idea.

Onward...

P.S. Although my relation to another excellent cardman-thinker from Scotland (?) has always been strained (if not simply non-existent), I have always found his books stimulating. The last two by J. Sadowitz--OUT OF SIGHT and CUT CONTROLS--are definitely worth studying. They are pricey, but if you're a card guy, you must study and slog through them.

[David Acer]

Thanks Jon. You're the only guy I know who can make two pages of crediting interesting to read.

Jason Alford contacted me (very congenially, I might add) when the June issue of Genii appeared to inform me of his sleight and the Weber move that preceded it. I believe the updated crediting will appear in the August Genii.

The reality is that you can never have enough eyes look at these things, particularly when it comes to card sleights. In fact, there is soooooooo much cardwork in print now that magazines should probably start hiring staff members dedicated exclusively to research and crediting. I expect this will happen around the same time Melinda puts out a DVD on the Cylinder and Coins.

[Matthew Field]

Originally posted by David Acer:
I expect this will happen around the same time Melinda puts out a DVD on the Cylinder and Coins.

Acer -- you're killin' me!

Congratulations on the fine job you're doing with Magicana.

One of the great frustrations of being an editor is trying to track down sources. someday, around the 25th century, someone will have a database of magical effects and sleights. For now, it is (for me) a matter of combing through my library and asking those who are expert in a particular area of magic. Not at all scientific and (as I am painfully aware) prone to error.

Matt Field

[Guest]

Originally posted by Matthew Field:
someday, around the 25th century, someone will have a database of magical effects and sleights.

Here\'s a small start.
Or perhaps something in this format.

Of course, these are pretty incomplete, but the idea is there and it seems workable. It would be good to see sites like this sharing information in some way or perhaps even combining their efforts. Both of these are awkward in that there isn't an easy way to directly contribute to their databases without e-mailing information to the owner of the site. Chris W. seems to have the right idea and has set up a database "submit" form, which unfortunately seems to be broken at this juncture.

I suppose someone could set up a "moves wiki" , but password protect it and limit editing/insertion capabilities to those who have a proven knowledge of crediting (and not merely those who "think" they do). Or submissions could be open to all and perhaps some folks who are knowledgeable could donate a bit of their time to vet those submissions before they are allowed entry into the database.

Until a viable system (any viable system) is available and is used effectively, there will no doubt continue to be those who will be quick to excoriate others over crediting standards that they themselves cannot always meet.

[Guest]

Hi,

It would be good to see sites like this sharing information in some way or perhaps even combining their efforts.

www.MagicBooks.be started that way, i mean with the help of different sites !

Originally posted by Matthew Field:
someday, around the 25th century, someone will have a database of magical effects and sleights.

We are working on that, and soon (hopefully) there will be some important changes to manage all this even better.

If this subject is dear to you please contribute and update the info.
As said before, magicbooks is forum based because like this everybody can set records straight !

Best,

Jacky
www.magicbooks.be

[Guest]

Originally posted by Chris Aguilar:
Chris W. seems to have the right idea and has set up a database "submit" form, which unfortunately seems to be broken at this juncture.

I disabled the feature because of spam. Very 'smart' people tried to insert their advertisements into the database. I got bored deleting all this spam, and not many contributions were coming in anyway.

The basic idea I think is good and has been proven to some extent. The major problems are:

1) A few idiots always misuse it (see spam, or intentional misinformation)

2) Voluntary contributions by knowledgable people is hard to come by - and I don't blame them. This is probably the biggest hurdle. One could make it a for pay service or ad supported and then pay knowledgable contributors for their work. I am not sure if this would be a good solution, but maybe somebody would like to try it.

3) How to resolve ambiguous or contradicting information? One way would be to publish both or multiple opinions on a subject.

Anyway, I think it is a dream that is very hard to achieve. The amount of information is too large to do this exhaustively.

The solution for me is to first make as much information easily accessible through digital media (ebooks, websites, ...). This will make it much easier to search and look-up information and credits. That is the first step I am focusing on. On top of that database of information one can then easily through hyperlinking build more information that pulls together parts and adds analysis and so on.

Chris
preserving magic one book at a time.

[Guest]

Also... Jason Alford and Jack Parker cobbled together an AMAZING collection of applications for this technique; Ashes to Ashes
check out the vid demo on the Magic-notes site... and prepare to be fried!

[Guest]

I'll second that Doug.

Alford and Parker's Ashes to Ashes is a very nice piece of work and something I'd happily recommend to anyone interested in this move and its applications.

______________________________________________________
www.conjurenation.com - 'Cards only' Forums

[David Acer]

I'll third Doug and second Chris. ASHES TO ASHES is a fun read.

[Guest]

This very funny. Euan go on and on about crediting and then he publish other peoples move! He has egg on face now! He laughing stock in my hometown.

[Guest]

Originally posted by Chong Kim Kiaw:
This very funny. Euan go on and on about crediting and then he publish other peoples move! He has egg on face now! He laughing stock in my hometown.

What is the Chinese word for troll?

[Richard Kaufman]

Troll.