The Genii Forum

Joe Mckay

Richard published a theory once that T. Nelson Downs was actually Charles Jordan.

Is it possible that T. Nelson Downs (1867-1938) was Erdnase as well?

Maybe T. Nelson Downs was an incredible genius who published under multiple names?

Joe Mckay

I just stumbled across a gimmicked hoop that allows you to pass the hoop over a levitating lady. Without having to resort to the gooseneck double pass move. Check out The Hoop of Mercedese by Arthur Mosher. It is on page 68 of the June, 1909 issue of The Sphinx (Vol. 8 No. 4). This achieves the same...

Joe Mckay

I will email you Bob.

Joe Mckay

Cheers for that, Bill! Also - here are some comments from Geoffrey Durham. I am not sure how well known he is in America. But he is one of the all-time greats here in the UK. The Spirit Paintings is a lovely trick, but I didn't do a good job on the Best of Magic. I later revived it in my theatre sho...

Joe Mckay

In my unqualified opinion - I think Tom Moore is correct. The original leaves a bit more to the imagination. It is more engaging since you are trying to imagine where the assistant could be hiding. In the Selbit book - I am not sure if it is Selbit or another great of magic - but somebody in there s...

Joe Mckay

Okay - I just found a couple of performances of the Wakeling Sawing by Paul Daniels.

I am gonna' watch them now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyJLUtZEuW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2QXaMDoBEE

Joe Mckay

Has anyone got a link to the Wakeling version? I don't have an opinion on this yet since I am still new to the world of illusions. I just always imagined that the likes of Wakeling and Steinmeyer would have good reason for preferring the newer version. They are about as smart as you can get when it ...

Joe Mckay

Here is another Selbit trick performed by Paul Daniels. The Bewildering Blocks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PfaaCemZe0 I know Geoffrey Durham performs this trick a lot as well. So I may find footage of him performing it somewhere as well. This trick is also covered in the Mike Caveney volume ca...

Joe Mckay

The audio is a bit out of sync here. But this performance by Paul Daniels seems to be an updating of Selbit's Through The Eye of a Needle illusion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDhxEb6Ex7A I am noticing a lot of Paul's illusions on YouTube. So soon I will start another thread - just so I can gath...

Joe Mckay

It was great seeing Paul Daniels do the Sawing in Half trick. Selbit said that his version was more of a puzzle effect (where is the girl hiding?) rather than a sawing effect. So his version has a much more relaxed feel to it compared to the versions that came after. It is great seeing so much magic...

Joe Mckay

Pete - P&T did do a feature on The Mighty Cheese on one of their TV shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTrgdhq0vTw

Joe Mckay

Thanks for that. Will watch it when I get home.

I always assumed the Wakeling version was an improvement though? I never hear magicians discuss it as a step backwards.

Joe Mckay

It is like a 4D version of Roy Walton's Trigger move!

Joe Mckay

[Sorry for digging up an old thread] I was watching my favourite scene from The Young Pope. I love that show. Best TV show I have seen since Mad Men. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmFcUUIVIeQ Anyway - the phrase "invisible red thread" struck me from the scene above. So - I did a quick go...

Joe Mckay

It is great seeing the video of this move.

It was proving impossible to visualize from the words and pictures alone.

Lovely move. Cheers, Bob!

Joe Mckay

Well - I tracked down the Eric Lewis/Peter Warlock book on P.T. Selbit. I am currently working my way through it. As such - I thought I would start a thread on him. I should wait until I finish reading the book before posting on him. But I just want to get the ball rolling now. No doubt that means I...

Joe Mckay

Apparently the slow boat from China takes 3 months.

So maybe four months from now is a good estimate?

Middle of September?

Joe Mckay

Thanks a lot for the information, Tom. It is nice to hear from somebody with real knowledge of this area. In case anyone is curious - I will give a quick outline of the Robert Harbin patent. The frame rate for a TV is 24 frames per second. Harbin's idea was that twelve of the frames are of a close-u...

Joe Mckay

I just came across a remarkable rising card effect by Deland. Exactly the sort of thing you would expect to see to see from Lubor Fiedler. A principle not used before in magic. Although I don't think the materials will be easy to find. And as such - not many people will ever perform it. Still it whe...

Joe Mckay

A few years ago - this hack (by a computer scientist called Johnny Lee) for the Nintendo Wii went viral. Although sadly it seems Nintendo never did anything which this ingenious idea. It looks similar to what Tom describes in the post above. A way to create a 3D image without glasses. And you have f...

Joe Mckay

I have Harbin x 2 which contains Early Harbin and Harbincadabra (all of the Harbin material from Abra magazine). Some books I can fully digest after a single read. Or two at most. But I am still trying to wrap my head around these books since they deal with the type of magic I am not used to reading...

Joe Mckay

You are my hero, Richard!

You have worked so hard for the overall benefit of magic!

I probably wouldn't even be posting on here today if it were not for the stellar efforts you have put into magic!

All the best,

Joe

Joe Mckay

I am huge fan of Richard Kaufman!!!1 I think every serious magic organization in the world should be preparing a space for a statue for when he dies. Sad as that is to contemplate! I honestly don't think anyone has done more for magic than Richard Kaufman! Magic as we know it has only been around fo...

Joe Mckay

I will wait for Mark to join us before continuing... . . . Okay - he is here now. Let's get on with this. I have spent a few weeks researching the Svengali deck. As well as studying different uses for the deck - I have been checking out a lot of different threads discussing the deck as well. One arg...

Joe Mckay

There is a lovely article about the illusion here.

http://www.ladderlevitation.com/magicol.html

http://magicol.magicana.com/feedback-from-no-181-2/

The article mentions that Johnny Carson was one of the first to be taught the secret to this illusion.

Joe Mckay

I am watching the Broken Wand Ceremony now.

It is introduced by Lance Burton and is followed by an excellent talk by Jim Steinmeyer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J2EJ1k4Md4

Joe Mckay

I have been learning a lot about illusions over the past few weeks. It has been great fun. My area of expertise is close-up magic, so this has all been new to me. In close-up magic - there are certain creative geniuses who somehow seem to have slipped through the cracks of magic history. Despite a c...

Joe Mckay

Recently I came across an interesting story to do with patent law and prior art involving Donald Duck.

https://www.futilitycloset.com/2018/01/24/prior-art-2/

Joe Mckay

Thanks for that, Noel. That was fascinating.

Joe

PS I really love your act. Once of the funniest people I have ever seen.

Joe Mckay

I never got round to owning a copy of Greater Magic before. So I look forward to buying a copy of this edition. Just wondering - the magician OCD part of me is wondering - will I also need to track down the 1994 reprint as well? Or will this edition include the extra material from that reprint as we...

Joe Mckay

There is a parlor game I heard about once. Where you admit to the most humiliating fact about you. And the person who humiliates them self the most is the winner. In one game I heard about - the winner was a professor of English who had never read Hamlet. I have a funny story about my convoluted rel...

Joe Mckay

Hey Ian,

Maybe this is the trick you had in mind?

https://www.abbottmagic.com/Walking-Knot-Large-22980.htm?categoryId=-1

Joe Mckay

Due to the mechanics of the method - I would imagine Doug was forced to move the knot quickly across the stage. If you want practicality. You can go for the Steinmeyer method. Or - even more practical - the John Cornelius method. Of course - the Steinmeyer method allows for a stage effect. If that i...

Joe Mckay

The lady used for the trick is pretty astonished. You can see it on her face. And she is not a stooge. No stooge is needed for this trick. The version in the Paul Curry book is an updated handling of the trick by Doug Henning. But it is essentially the same trick. I disagree with Richard that improv...

Joe Mckay

I always got the impression that speculators lost money trying to turn a profit on the release of The Castle Notebooks by Bruce Cevon?

A sure fire way to make money that, perhaps, didn't work out.

Joe Mckay

Paul Curry was one of the great creators of magic. And the trick of his that has always interested me the most is his Sliding Knot routine. I think the Sliding Knot is a great plot. And Paul Curry's version always felt like one of those mythical tricks that I would never get to see or perform. Paul ...

Joe Mckay

Apologies for misspelling Charles Morritt! I had the correct spelling originally. But the link in my original post threw me off. And rather than doing a quick google search - I just assumed the person writing that blog post had the correct spelling. I mentioned P.T. Selbit above. He is another creat...

Joe Mckay

Thanks for the kind words, Quentin. I once spent a couple of years living in Manchester. It is a lovely place. Jim Steinmyer has a lovely essay about Morritt's vanishing donkey in his book, Art and Artifice. That book is on my "to re-read" pile as well. I am re-reading Hiding The Elephant ...

Joe Mckay

Charles Morrit is another brilliant creator of illusions who I am only beginning to learn more about. A few years ago - the guys over at the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History put together a recreation of Howard Thurston's "Oh!" illusion. This is a test conditions vanish of a lady fro...

Joe Mckay

Some of you may find this interesting. Just something I stumbled across today on the Gibeciere (a magazine devoted to magic history) website: In honor of our 10th Anniversary we’ve decided to give a free article away. One of our feature articles in this, the 19th issue, is about Tyler Wilson’s great...

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