The Genii Forum

Richard Kaufman

It's unfortunate, but surprising, how many great articles have been prompted by a death.

Richard Kaufman

And that book is our cover story for the July issue of Genii.

Richard Kaufman

He might have taught it as a one-off at a lecture, but I'd be surprised if it's in print.

Richard Kaufman

I'm amazed someone is still selling those.
But I don't see "Torah Telepathy" listed.

Richard Kaufman

Teller bought the Saran wrap production from John, and that's why it's not in the book.

Richard Kaufman

http://i.imgur.com/JtiWIvp.jpg Subscribe to Genii for as little as $35 for a digital subscription that includes all 80 years of Genii and all 25 years of MAGIC magazine available online. When the death of a major figure in our field occurs unexpectedly everything gets tossed out the window as we pr...

Richard Kaufman

Erdnase was neither a gambler nor a card cheat. He was a magician. That is a definitive statement from which I will not be shaken. There is much evidence in the text of the book to back this up. And yet, Erdnase mentions on several occasions having played cards for money (often losing), but never o...

Richard Kaufman

The so-called Automatic Deck and the so-called $100 deck are both DeLand's Dollar Deck. Same thing. What I am going to do is print essentially a new FAKO deck of 54 cards that will allow you to perform, with regular Bicycle Riderback cards, a bunch of the tricks requiring specially printed gimmicked...

Richard Kaufman

There are large photos of every card, in color, in the book. Every back design is shown (many of which are original with DeLand). It would cost about $16 per book just for the four decks, which is a lot. The book itself is half the size of Tenyoism (one volume of 600+ pages rather than two), but act...

Richard Kaufman

It's not "a shame." I am trying to provide readers with gimmicked cards they can use, not museum pieces.

Jonathan, DeLand used different backs at different times, but eventually settled on a Steamboat red and black plaid.

Richard Kaufman

What were Deland (back) decks? Is this the kind of item where we would wish to have blank faced cards printed up using the back design per Deland's advertising? This is The Dollar Deck, later sold by S.S. Adams as The Automatic Deck. Those have what are commonly known as "DeLand backs." A...

Richard Kaufman

USPC will not alter their Joker, Ace of Spades, or Rider Back design because their lawyers have told them that doing so might dilute their trademark. Trademarks are not like copyrights: they never expire as long as they are in use in their original form (thus "Coca-Cola" for example). I'm ...

Richard Kaufman

I believe that Mandolin backs are the cards I was referring to in my previous post. So let me ask a serious question, then. I am faced with the following options for a particular trick of DeLand's. I can print the trick in the following manner: 1. Use DeLand's original cards so what you will get is...

Richard Kaufman

"all right," says the editor.

Richard Kaufman

I believe each book will come with two identical decks. There are certain gimmicks I cannot print because USPC won't let me print an altered Rider Back. You do have other options if you want to include a complete set of gimmicks, which would be nice since this publication is a once in a lifetime th...

Richard Kaufman

Trigger is so counter-intuitive that I could retain the handling when taught in person for about five minutes. Then promptly was unable to do it again.

Richard Kaufman

The Mighty Cheese is just a bad idea. I've seen it done several times and frankly it's not a magical effect. I don't know what to call it ... a stunt, perhaps. People in the audience have no idea what's going on. You need to feel it (the inability to push the cheese over) in order for it to have any...

Richard Kaufman

Not yet. In the fall, I hope. All my efforts have been concentrated on getting the DeLand book (15 years!) out the door in the next month.

Richard Kaufman

The Learned Pig was started by a guy from Central or South America, and it was revolutionary (that is, ahead of the digital curve) at the time. Wish I could remember his name. But he was smart!

Richard Kaufman

I believe each book will come with two identical decks.
There are certain gimmicks I cannot print because USPC won't let me print an altered Rider Back.

Richard Kaufman

Perhaps $150 to $200.

I will likely only print one time (like Tenyoism) because of the cost and having to print it in China. Also, because of having the decks printed, there are minimums.

Richard Kaufman

Link works now.

Richard Kaufman

I'm not making a comment on Stan Allen with the following note, simply stating a fact of business: He had to refund everyone's money for MAGIC Legacy or none of those people would have ever gone to a MAGIC Live again, for which he now depends upon for his income. The same is true of me. If I took a ...

Richard Kaufman

Leo, you cannot compare an advertised product such as the Braue Notebooks to a crowd-funded project which is known to have a chance of not happening. Read Tom's note just above.

Apples and oranges.

Richard Kaufman

I would not say that Dave is acting like a thief ... how do thieves act? That's subjective.

I think he's gotten himself into a mess and doesn't know what to do about it. That might be bad judgement or stupidity rather than thievery.

Richard Kaufman

Not sure of the price. When I first reprinted the book in 1994, I charged $75, which was less than the $10 retail price (adjusting for inflation) when it was originally published. And that was for one volume.' This time I believe that it will be two volumes, possibly in a slip case, and the second p...

Richard Kaufman

Yes, of course it's wrong for him to keep the money if he doesn't deliver the product. And he'll pay a price for that when he tries to sell something else.

Richard Kaufman

I have nothing to do with the "new" candidate, nor am I (at this time) presenting him. The "tizzy" part regards the identity of the person. It is not "my" candidate, and I have yet to be convinced that the person is a viable suspect. But knowing who it is, I am certainl...

Richard Kaufman

I believe STRONGLY that Erdnase was an amateur magician, and not a gambler at all. He observed people gambling, but did not partake in anything but a casual way. He did not cheat at cards. The array of mostly odd and silly original sleights in the book is indicative of an amateur magician, not a pro...

Richard Kaufman

Maybe.

Richard Kaufman

Permission of the Ross Bertram estate would be required, and they would be "Ross Bertram Cups."

Richard Kaufman

Almost off to the printer.

Richard Kaufman

Jack, that was great.
Thanks. Had never seen it before.

Richard Kaufman

Ryan, save one for Josh. It's my fault he doesn't have the money at the moment.

Richard Kaufman

Erdnase was neither a gambler nor a card cheat. He was a magician. That is a definitive statement from which I will not be shaken. There is much evidence in the text of the book to back this up. Gambler's do not invent moves for their own enjoyment and publish them with their names appended to the t...

Richard Kaufman

I have a long chapter in my book about this trick.

Richard Kaufman

The original version of Strange Travelers combines two different Theodore DeLand tricks into one really good routine. (Paul Harris's idea, and a brilliant one.) This is an excellent routine, and better for close-up (where the faces of the cards can be seen) then methods with sleight of hand. It's no...

Richard Kaufman

The original version of this trick was created by Theodore DeLand. And this statement is simply not true: "I've personally never had opportunity to try the original Strange Travellers routine, although I do know how it works and the gimmicks it uses, and I do love the strong impact of the routi...

Richard Kaufman

Three Card what?

Richard Kaufman

Waiting, out of necessity to take a REALLY deep dive into these books. That’s one of the pains in the neck about getting your own projects out the door!

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