The Genii Forum

Zig Zagger

Bravo, Tom, Nikola, and Gaston! What a treat - original and artful, charming and funny!
I especially dig the playful two-person version of the Acrobatic Knot and the three-person spongeballs finale!

Zig Zagger

There's a contemporaneous review of his science fiction book Aftermath: Stories from the Rigel War (which was a force book as well) on p. 40 of this . That review is pretty short, but full of praise: "I read the first page or two and got myself wired in. This is a very compelling novel about a...

Zig Zagger

Thank you for digging it out, Hans-Christian! Let‘s note that Schreiber‘s real name (unlike the violinist‘s) isn‘t even mentioned here, likely because Speer had forgotten about it and/or didn‘t consider it a relevant addition to the given later stage name, Kalanag. It was just „an amateur magician,“...

Zig Zagger

I looked up that reference many years ago. If memory serves, it was, like Mark says, only one sentence in Speer‘s „Erinnerungen“ about that Murmansk trip with Schreiber, a violinist, and other folks. Nothing earth-shattering, just another event where Schreiber gladly magished for some Nazi brass.

Zig Zagger

Thank you, Bill!

Zig Zagger

Well apparently he came to England via the cargo ship docking at its final destination of Brighton which is remarkable for a town with no docks... I guess the Brighton Piers have seen worse... Maybe Tony the Almighty just jumped off the ship and walked on water, carried only by his remarkable deter...

Zig Zagger

Not sure if it has been mentioned before in the context of the IMS and the Merlin, but Tony Hassini also has a (one page) personal website with a partial autobiography. Some details are quite interesting. Name droppings include Lou Tannen (as the very first IMS member), Ray Kroc, and Vladimir Putin:...

Zig Zagger

It may be litigable but it seems that Tony has gotten away with it for sixty years! Has anyone ever sued him? Somehow I doubt it since his "victims" seem to know what the scam is before they get involved. Does that mean they are just as bad as he is? Well, in my belief system, "not g...

Zig Zagger

The dedicated websites to each past conference which I have checked are defunct by now. Did you check the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive ( archive.org )? Frankly, I didn't bother. I just did a quick check on some emhc20XX.com websites, so I missed Wittus Witt's old site. Later, I also thou...

Zig Zagger

John Bannon's "Gemini Twins" variation is truly a gem!

Zig Zagger

I like the hypercard idea mentioned above very much! Further thoughts: 1. Attach a folded bill (like a dollar or a "cheap" foreign bill) and two paper clips to your business card (which should be slightly larger than average) and perform the linking paper clips with itl. 2. Even better, us...

Zig Zagger

So I've been asked by magic fellows from outside of Europe about older EMHC meetings... Well, EMHC Vienna in 2019 was my very first, and it was great, too - kindly hosted by Magic Christian. You can still read my conference report here: https://zzzauber.wordpress.com/2019/03/24/european-magic-histor...

Zig Zagger

Thank you, Philippe, I hadn't been aware of that old post! That's very much in line with what Joro told Wittus Witt many years later.

Please note that the correct spelling is Hennig, not Henning. (A recurrent slip, as the name Henning is much more common.)

Zig Zagger

I am always amazed how stuffy and prim and proper magicians are about these things. They are supposed to be experts in deception but when it comes to the real world of wickedness they become like Mother Theresa! Except of course when they are stealing from and fighting with each other! Amen to that...

Zig Zagger

Yes. The shuttle pass-container based switch According to Wittus Witt, Bruno Hennig performed his "Card in Box" and what would become the Joro Switch for the first time over a morning beer with Kalanag and Fred Kaps in Cologne on April 20, 1958. Kaps then asked for permission to perform t...

Zig Zagger

Richard Kaufman wrote:I would like to see printed descriptions of the three best items you cite, possibly for inclusion in Greater Magic.

I'll be happy to dig them out and send them to you, Richard!

Zig Zagger

Magicians in Germany and beyond are mourning the loss of Bruno Hennig, who passed away on September 6, 2023 at the age of 95. Internationally known for his "Joro Switch" of a folded playing card and his "Dancing and Floating Cork" made famous by Fred Kaps, he was a respected and ...

Zig Zagger

Obviously I'm not Mark, but I'm getting a psychic vibe that the answer to your question is yes. Let's see...

Zig Zagger

In case you have missed the recent European Magic History Conference in Ghent, Belgium, you can catch up with my full report and some photos on my blog now at http://www.zzzauber.com. And yes, besides many new facts from magic history you will also learn how "Team America" (Steve Beam, Mik...

Zig Zagger

Someone certainly has a sense of humour https://themerlinaward.com/ Thank you for that. I'm now Magician of the Decade! Congrats! News of further winners keep rolling in: - Tom Stone for Magic Fraud Detector of the Decade - Hassi Tonini for Deplorable Master Deceptionist over Decades and yours humb...

Zig Zagger

Erik certainly wasn't praising him ... he very much was taking Hassini down the garden path ... and giving him enough rope to hang himself ( all the while being completely oblivious to what Erik was doing ) It was a great interview ;-) No, sadly it wasn't. But Erik has a great radio voice, almost w...

Zig Zagger

Still more proud "winners" of the "Oscar of magic" around (as reported in magicweek.co.uk): https://evoke.ie/2023/09/01/entertainment/magician-steve-spade In this case it's "Ireland's answer to Houdini," who will always tell his little son "to believe and you can a...

Zig Zagger

What a great loss! But luckily his marvelous printed legacy will live on for a very long time. In addition to that, both Wittus Witt and Marco Pusterla have quickly produced special tribute issues to Eddie Dawes, which can be downloaded as free PDFs: from Wittus: https://www.magische-welt.com/Willko...

Zig Zagger

This is very sad news indeed for the community of magic collectors and historians, not only in Germany, but far beyond. His vast knowledge, willingness to share and kindness will be sorely missed. The indefatigable Wittus Witt has quickly compiled a tribute issue in both English and German (as for M...

Zig Zagger

Tarotist: As a tarotist, you might be interested in this unique deck created by artist and mystic Austin Osman Spare around 1906, rediscovered a few years back in the archive of the Magic Circle, London, by Jonathan Allen. It will now be reprinted, together with the second edition of the book about ...

Zig Zagger

Sounds like some great food for my reading list. Thank you for pointing it out, Bill!

Zig Zagger

As far as I am concerned, there is no „favored horse“ in the movie. Several candidates are portrayed in elaborated scenes, and the experts speak at length about some pros and cons. This is a docudrama, folks, not a doctoral dissertation, let alone the „final word“ on Erdnase research in all its shad...

Zig Zagger

Great research and article, Tom, thank you very much for that! I will happily spread it further via my blog. It seems that Taylor Reed had a video on YouTube titled "Taylor Reed exposes the Prestigious Merlin Award", but apparently it was taken down and is currently not available... https:...

Zig Zagger

Very sorry to hear that.

What a life journey, utterly sad and tragic, yet somewhat magical and reassuring. What a humble, determined and inspiring man!

May he rest in peace.

Zig Zagger

I had a chance to attend a preview of the film today with the young director being present. With a few interruptions, he has spent a total of six years on this project. Being a card magician and Erdnase aficionado has helped him to push this "labor of love" through a number of drawbacks, i...

Zig Zagger

German filmmaker Hans-Joachim Brucherseifer's docu-drama "The Expert at the Card Table - Looking for Erdnase" is finally ready for release. It will be previewed and discussed in selected cinemas in Germany in the course of July. The global online premiere is scheduled for August 6. Streami...

Zig Zagger

This news was shared recently at Duncan Trillo's fine weekly UK news blog, http://www.magicweek.co.uk. I haven't seen this posted here yet, so I'll give it a shot: There's a one hour documentary on YouTube now on the legendary Berglas Effect, including quite a few different performances by the maste...

Zig Zagger

I just learned that Pit Hartling and Thomas Fraps, both of Flicking Fingers and solo fame, will be doing their celebrated pseudo-scientific show "Metamagicum" in English and via Zoom this coming Sunday. I attended the German show recently and as you would expect, it's hilarious, highly int...

Zig Zagger

You can get all or most of them easily over at Lybrary.com...

Zig Zagger

Oh, don‘t bother:..

Zig Zagger

Ah, the wonderful Rodolfo!
A legend in Hungary and one of the very few magicians to be honored on an official postage stamp in their home country.

Zig Zagger

Some interesting thoughts here! I noticed that some magi favor forcing the lower (face-up) card of the upper half here while others prefer pointing at the top (face-down) card of the lower pack. Maybe it doesn't matter at all, but any thoughts or research on these alternatives? (Of course it's a pre...

Zig Zagger

Ho ho ho, I enjoyed that, Alfred, particularly the bearded Santa (the little one)! Thank you for sharing. Always nice to see the real person behind so many thoughtful and kind posts! Another great idea by Paco (whose great book is indeed strongly recommended for any card lover)! Happy Holidays and k...

Zig Zagger

That was quite magical, and the music enhanced the performance well. Thank you for sharing, Koudai!

Zig Zagger

Nicely done, thank you for sharing, Maxxx!
I particularly enjoyed the ear-to-ear bit and the big coin vanish.

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