The Genii Forum

Doug Dyment

Michael Weber's "Back to the Drawing Boards".

Doug Dyment

A magazine, actually, and to a completely different purpose than the Hoy test.

Really, it's not the same thing at all, except for a small portion of the method.

Doug Dyment

What Corinda describes is but a single element of the Hoy test (a miscall, which Hoy certainly did not invent), applied to another end. What Hoy did was combine this idea with several other subtleties to create an impromptu (anywhere, anytime) book test. Since Hoy, additional subtleties have been ad...

Doug Dyment

I think Tom's definitions are pretty good, actually. Another useful way to think about the distinction is that if they ask, "How did you do that?", it was probably mental magic, whereas if they ask "When did you first know you had this gift?", it's likely mentalism. Really, it's ...

Doug Dyment

Here are a couple of relevant paragraphs on this topic, taken from my R2-D2 book: The precise origins of billet tears are lost in the fog of time, though they almost certainly came from the medium/spiritualist community. Charles Foster likely invented billet work (during his sances in the 1860s1880s...

Doug Dyment

Chuck's Diagonal Magic Square is excellent, but it isn't a traditional magic square (where you create a square that adds up to a chosen number). Although the square may be a bit overused in platform work (though mostly in the opinions of magicians), it's a killer walk-around piece. If you draw a per...

Doug Dyment

Gray codes and de Bruijn sequences are related notions, but they are not the same thing, and have different mathematical constructions.

It's true, though, that some sequences satisfy both sets of properties, and can correctly be given both labels.

Doug Dyment

You can find material based on de Bruijn sequences in two of my books: Stimulacra and Tricyclic.

Doug Dyment

Dick wrote: One of my favorite stories, probably apocryphal, describes a youngster who, after attending a performance by the great Will Goldston ... A related (and non-apocryphal) observation relates to Gil Eagles, who is now semi-retired from a spectacular career in mentalism (I say "semi"...

Doug Dyment

You can tell just by looking at the link that it takes you to "My eBay"; no testing is required. To properly test a link, you can't just click on it yourself to see where it takes you. If you are a member, and currently logged in, it may behave completely differently than it does when some...

Doug Dyment

"Eye to Eye" is a classic (and much copied) Charles Gauci effect that has nothing to do with needles, or geek magic in general.

Doug Dyment

An irreplaceable loss. Tad was my roommate over many years of PEA conventions, and I don't recall him ever saying anything truly nasty about anyone, even those he did not hold in the highest esteem.

A sad day, indeed. The twinkle in the eye of a great southern gentleman has been extinguished.

Doug Dyment

Popular demand has led to the latest addition in my series of study tools for readings. This time it's the RunesTutor , which provides the student with a sequence of randomly generated throws of three runestaves, along with an associated question and a description of the client asking same. Hope tha...

Doug Dyment

Hmm-m-m ... do playing cards qualify to be part of magic shows? Are they not a form of playing true and honest card games? I don't think there are rules about what kinds of objects are or are not suitable as magical props.

Except perhaps for Ding Dong.

Doug Dyment

This seems to be the week for inflated eBay prices. Rudy Hunter's book, The Buddha & The Teddy Bear, is still available from the publisher for $25, yet it's listed on eBay with a starting price of $65. I have no problem at all with sellers getting whatever they can, but it's an interesting obser...

Doug Dyment

Given the success/popularity of the TaroTutor , I have expanded the offering by adding the CartoTutor , a practice tool for those who give readings with playing cards. It functions in the same fashion as the original, but displays playing card faces. I've also improved the querent description genera...

Doug Dyment

Those looking to acquire (or polish their existing) tarot-reading skills might be interested in a free practice tool I have recently added to the Deceptionary Web site. Dubbed the TaroTutor , it generates random descriptions of querents, each followed by a simple, and equally random, three-card taro...

Doug Dyment

A good friend of mind (whom I vouch for) is thinning out his magic library, and has listed two very rare (and much sought after) mentalism books. I mention them here because these are listed on eBay UK only (though he is willing to ship them anywhere), and I suspect that there are many non-UK folks ...

Doug Dyment

Basil's observation that he was not a "professional" performer may be literally correct (his "payment" was not money, but the right to distribute his promotional material to audience members), but it belies his extremely strong performing skills. He worked constantly, much more t...

Doug Dyment

Lots of good material can be found in Nelson's four-volume Sensational Mentalism series. Much is by Nelson himself, of course, but there are plenty of contributions from the likes of Al Mann, Bob Tripp, Steven Minch, Jack Dean, Syd Bergson, Bob Mason, Arthur Setterington, Phil Goldstein, Bob Parrish...

Doug Dyment

baph noted: ... and that it was widely known that Corinda was dead. I hope the "supplement" dispels that ridiculous notion. Tony continues to live near King's Lynn in England, though his current connection to the mentalism community is (to my knowledge) restricted to membership in but one ...

Doug Dyment

Kevin commented:

The most challenging part is to get someone live to answer your questions.

To reach a human being at eBay, dial 800-322-9266 and then press the zero key twice.

... Doug

Doug Dyment

Just a quick note that the Alain Nu Telephone Book Test in his lecture notes is unrelated to his material in the aforementioned Labyrinth reprint.

... Doug

Doug Dyment

Harvey asked: Can you provide more information about Alain Nu and David Hoys book test. I am familiar with MOABT. What is compelling about these particular book tests? Where can they be found ? Alain Nu's book test seems to be particularly evasive. What is compelling (to me) about these tests is tha...

Doug Dyment

The official site for the marketed version is here ; another (unaffiliated) version can be found here .

... Doug

Doug Dyment

Spellbinder wrote: Now we need to magically modify the first four to a magician's view "reality check": - can SEEMINGLY be performed with any book - does not SEEM TO require advance access to the book - allows the participant to SEEMINGLY select any page - allows the participant to SEEMING...

Doug Dyment

Harvey asked: Which book test meets the majority of [Doug's] listed criteria including can be used with any text. There are lots that meet a large number of the criteria; the hard one, of course, is "any word on the page". If you're willing to allow for options like "the first word on...

Doug Dyment

The "best" book test: - can be performed with any book - does not require advance access to the book - allows the participant to select any page - allows the participant to select any word on the page - can be performed in real time (no pre-show, etc.) - can be performed in any venue - doe...

Doug Dyment

I doubt that Alexander and I differ in any particularly significant way in all this; we are merely sorting out fine details. He wrote: I just urge people starting to consider what's best for them before they start and not to discount the brute force method. Agreed; in my essay I note that "Its ...

Doug Dyment

Alexander disagreed with a couple of my opinions, claiming: - he suggests that rote memory learning is more difficult than mnemonics. Certainly I found it easier than mnemonics... Alas, one example does not a principle make. I've received lots of correspondence from folks as a consequence of writing...

Doug Dyment

Graham nailed it: it depends on your intended usage . There are many issues related to the uses of full-deck memorized stacks, and most people choose one without giving much thought to same. Any sequence of cards can be memorized, of course, and thus make a useful memorized stack, but a lot of excel...

Doug Dyment

I've been a buyer of stuff from Paul's e-mail lists for more than a couple of years now, but I must confess that I have not made any recent purchases. Paul changed his pricing policy some time back, and now charges full list price on any item. He reduces this for quantity purchases, and it can get a...

Doug Dyment

Mehtas observed:

Nothing wrong with me but some folks feel the person is shouting at them.

Yes, all caps is generally to be interpreted as shouting, but not in titles, where the usage is very common.

... Doug

Doug Dyment

Wow... anyone who is driven crazy by titles in all caps had better stay clear of a library!

Now if the bodies of the postings had been written this way, there would have been good reason to complain.

... Doug

Doug Dyment

The Evasons, currently the top two-person mentalism act, have already evolved far beyond this. Anyone who has seen their act will know that "invisible communication device" is a useful explanation for very little of what they do in performance.

... Doug

Doug Dyment

It hasn't disappeared, just moved (with no forwarding address!). You can now find it here .

Doug Dyment

Almost Real Prediction is a privately published manuscript by Jack London (New York, 1973). A year later, the same author released another (two-part) manuscript, the Prediction Chest Effect and the Notary Public Gambit . I'm not familiar with a similar Max Londono publication, but it sounds like th...

Doug Dyment

Couldn't agree more. All the Rufus Steele books have terrific material. But clearly not understood by most these days. I sold a spare copy of "Last Word on Cards" two months ago on eBay (announcing it here as well): it went for 99 cents!

... Doug

Doug Dyment

There are two articles on the Survivalist Society's site: here and here .

... Doug

Doug Dyment

Or there's Peter Lipp's free version, which can be found here .

... Doug

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