The Genii Forum

Jonathan Townsend

...Who else but somebody capable working at a print shop could self-publish profitably? He could print the book on a budget for much less than anybody going to a printer as a regular customer. Imagine for a moment ... That's a sensible perspective. Also, good find on "Jack Pots". :) That ...

Jonathan Townsend

Whoops, You're right performer. Here's a clip of his Aztec Lady

Jonathan Townsend

the zigzag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTdjbgb9OHA

Jonathan Townsend

Bill Mullins wrote:...But we aren't relying on Smith for "intimate knowledge"; we are relying on him to report what he saw and heard. His account is first-hand...

Not sure what you mean by first-hand. Smith's attributed comments are as reported by Gardner.

Jonathan Townsend

it seems some are content to make cases based on what was possible, disregarding the mandate to discover what is true. It does tend to make advancing a conversation difficult when folks sometimes seem to be just guessing at what they choose to post ... and are then willing to die on the hill that w...

Jonathan Townsend

Was there anything in the Gardner interview that suggested the guy spoke or performed like what's in the book? Starting to think we're going Keyser Söze about the Gardner interview.

Jonathan Townsend

@lybrary, your quote from the section on the Erdnase Shift-One Hand is interesting. The notion is also expressed earlier in the text in the section on Acquiring the Art: "The beginner invariably imagines his hands are too small or too large, but the size has little to do with the possibilities ...

Jonathan Townsend

There's a bit where you have a card with one spot on one side and four on the other - which then shows as three on one side and six on the other. If you're okay openly turning two cards back to back to start the trick... open season.

Jonathan Townsend

lybrary wrote:.... Smith recognized this handwriting as his. Therefore he wrote those figure numbers. There is no other explanation ...

no chance of copy and paste?

Jonathan Townsend

Yes, fraud reporting hotline, how may we help you?

Jonathan Townsend

This guy? http://blog.mysentimentallibrary.com/20 ... ction.html
working on independent verification of the data.

Jonathan Townsend

Lubor Fiedler had a winner of a trick with his Royal Fantasy.
The chapter on mechanical cards in Roterberg's New Era Card Tricks is also a good reference.

Jonathan Townsend

Working backwards - is there some evidence of the magic patter/presentations offered in Expert being used about the time of publication?

Jonathan Townsend

performer wrote:In other words you are never going to find out who it is! Perhaps it is time to discuss double lifts once again!

It's fun to watch legends take shape. Recounted story as told by Vernon based upon ...
Look at item 5

https://www.wikihow.com/Write-Gothic-Fiction

Jonathan Townsend

...The guy who empties the trash in my building calls himself a sanitation engineer. ... We're not so far away from having accredited universities offering advanced degrees in "Sanitation Engineering". No comment about folks claiming to be magicians. Let's stick to the text and its contex...

Jonathan Townsend

There was a flower to silk item with a pin-on holder (almost a silk winder) that was used to let the performer pull the flower from his lapel and have it open up into a handkerchief. Doing that in reverse with a reel is more tricky - starting with the hank and ... well here's the latest update on th...

Jonathan Townsend

Mark, folks, the glossing over of an unmotivated action has been with us since Tarbell (volume 1 Lesson 10 rising card escape), with the top card displayed then replaced - rather than bringing up the pack to ask if their card is on the bottom of the pack. As Bill and others have pointed out, most ma...

Jonathan Townsend

Richard Kaufman wrote:I have never seen anyone make a truly convincing argument against using a Double Turnover.

It's not the turnover by itself - that could be a style thing.
Is your purpose to lose that card into the pack among others? To set it aside? ... much simpler to start with your scripted intent.

Jonathan Townsend

You may as well as the "story" question - "so what's the worst that could happen if we did not turn the card face down again? "

Jonathan Townsend

Darwin Ortiz published a Wildcard using a Himber Wallet (and other interesting ideas) back around 1977 in his first lecture. The blocking to get back to your wallet, envelope or deck at a time when folks are starting to reach for the cards is non-trivial. In Eric's Wildcard routine he's got his wall...

Jonathan Townsend

Is the audience supposed to watch you do the sleights which accomplish the effect - treating the performance as face-value skill demonstration? For example openly doing the turnover switch to show how a monte operator could handle someone pointing to the money card. Is the audience attending the per...

Jonathan Townsend

The proof is in the pudding - in our craft that's the real-world-in-action performing utility of a routine.

Jonathan Townsend

MagicbyAlfred wrote:... blow a spectator's mind to kingdom come, nothing beats the iD. ...

These days it's really tempting to r/s a double deck to ...

Jonathan Townsend

Perhaps part of the "Svengali Sucker" routine could play out as perverse magic - with the pack switched after the display of "all the same" - and the presentation claiming to have almost all of the routine ready to perform but getting stuck at the end. Tap the pack, it's back on ...

Jonathan Townsend

jkeyes1000 wrote:... Switching the pack twice? That's just flouting!...

There are routines that casually mention deck switches in Hofzinser's Card Conjuring.

Jonathan Townsend

Any source for "TV Magic" decks - the ungaffed ones - regular pack of cards. So far I've found the red Svengali and the blue stripper packs and the set of gaffs plus card box... but no ungaffed red backed deck. ??

Thanks in advance

Jonathan Townsend

Skinner did the monte non-gafffed on a tv show - and got a celebrity to do the corner bit.

Jonathan Townsend

Jon Tremaine's book "The Amazing Book of Card Tricks" has the item "The Pimpernel Queen" (page 52) which looks very good. Something like the Jennings Homing Card routine can work as a monte where you keep reducing the packet size from five cards down to two at the end. But again ...

Jonathan Townsend

Thanks John, Sawa has an Ace Assembly routine that uses something like that too

Jonathan Townsend

Richard Kaufman wrote:Every "requirement" in this rule is subjective, and thus has no substantive meaning.
...

It's an opinion - stated with "I feel".

Stating context in terms of working and technique looks like a way of enriching our craft and its literature.

Jonathan Townsend

The water and dry erase markers I have didn't get that result. But... did get a surprise when trying the black marker. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/comment_embed.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjon.townsend.148%2Fposts%2F1464236733587034%3Fcomment_id%3D14642464402527...

Jonathan Townsend

... If you practice sleight-of-hand diligently, you can get to the point where it happens without conscious effort... yet appear awkward and suspicious to an audience. From "erdnase" A much greater interest is taken in the tricks, and the denouement of each causes infinitely more amazemen...

Jonathan Townsend

Seems it's a thing in toys this year somehow- purile - spelled with two o's ?

https://boingboing.net/2018/02/25/poo-y ... -fair.html

https://www.fastcompany.com/3037803/the ... to-america

Jonathan Townsend

The ad's a fun read. Maybe a month early, agreed. Thanks... In the near future reference to this item could play for audiences - recall the fireball shooting wand?

Jonathan Townsend

Jordanjgunn wrote:... I’ve been practicing it...

If you post a link to a short clip of a routine you do using the control - folks will likely notice. Gotta start somewhere.

Jonathan Townsend

There are folks alive today who remember Richard Himber. What those who remember the guy choose to leave by way of stories and echoing what they saw him do and what they learned... that's up to them. In a way that's their legacy too. What's lost to the craft in terms of time and opportunity if not -...

Jonathan Townsend

Are there tricks which deceive them which don't work with non-aspies?

Jonathan Townsend

Best of luck with your project.

The Burnaby Kid wrote:... Invisible Deck could be used to demonstrate Triumph.

what a sneaky application of the faro shuffle...

Jonathan Townsend

... the strategy of having an indifferent item and switching it out for the actual item to effect a straight-up unambiguous teleportation shows up in a bunch of more modern stuff, but I can't seem to find it in anything older than Grippo/Carlyle. Hofzinser - Three Powers - first phase (page 175 of ...

Jonathan Townsend

Bill Mullins wrote:... the Mexican Turnover? I didn't know it was that old.

Yes, in that routine to maintain the "isolation" of a card - to seemingly turn a tabled card face up without touching it directly.

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