Stewart James

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Joe Mckay
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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » July 8th, 2018, 4:55 pm

At the start of The James File - Allan Slaight describes how he started up a correspondence with Stewart James. His opening letter to Stewart James mentions a trick that Allan had heard described at the local magic shop. It is the same trick that Mark Lewis refers to (a stripped down version of The Trick That Cannot Be Explained). The trick was never formally published. But you can learn it in the chapter detailing how Allan Slaight started up his friendship with Stewart James.

Check out the ACCESS GRANTED chapter at the start of The James File.

[The above is from memory - so apologies if I got a couple of details wrong. But it is all there at the start of The James File]

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leonard Hevia » July 8th, 2018, 9:03 pm

Thanks Joe!

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Edward Pungot » July 8th, 2018, 9:38 pm

I just recently purchased this mammoth of a book from a second hand store and this thread has sure given me the courage to actually cracking the book covers open.
Thanks for the encouraging preface and the hope that I come out at the end with my sanity still in tact.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby performer » July 14th, 2018, 3:49 pm

Leonard Hevia wrote:
performer wrote:On the rare cases it didn't I devised an out which I am selfishly not going to tell you about. I can't do everything for you, you know. Anyway the point of this post is to posthumously commend Stewart James for that wonderful way of forcing a card. I recommend checking it out.


Is this force published in First 50 Years or the James File?


To be honest I can't remember and I haven't the energy to go and search out the book and find the title. It would take me forever and organisation is not one of my fortes. It was some book or other that David Ben in a fit of generosity gave me as a present. It is a damn good idea--I do know that.

And with reference to Joe Mckay's remarks I swear I read something like that in Harry Lorayne's "My Favourite Card Tricks" although I may well be wrong. Something to do with criss crossing reds and blacks. Oh, and I have never read any kind of "Trick that Cannot be Explained" by Stewart James. I invented my own method of which the James force is a key ingredient but not the entire meal.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leonard Hevia » July 14th, 2018, 7:32 pm

performer wrote:To be honest I can't remember and I haven't the energy to go and search out the book and find the title. It would take me forever and organisation is not one of my fortes. It was some book or other that David Ben in a fit of generosity gave me as a present. It is a damn good idea--I do know that.


Do you remember if the James book Ben gifted you was very heavy? Was it almost too big to lift?

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » July 14th, 2018, 8:37 pm

I wonder if Mark Lewis has the Moving Pencil force in mind?

You ribbon spread a face-up deck of cards on the table and you have a force card towards the end of the spread.

You hold a pencil about 18 inches above the table.

You pass the pencil over the deck as you ask the spectator to call stop.

When he calls stop - you stop moving the pencil and lower it towards the deck of cards spread on the table.

You lower your hand at a slight angle - so that the pencil (in fact the rubber tip of the pencil) - lands on the card you want to force.

It is an excellent force. David Regal is a big fan of it. And recently I have seen it put to good use in a published trick by Wayne Dobson.

I am unsure if it is a Stewart James idea. It doesn't ring any bells with me. But I am not 100% sure.

And Mark is correct about Harry Lorayne publishing his version (without credit) of the George Sands trick. There was some controversy surrounding this at one point.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby performer » July 14th, 2018, 10:10 pm

Leonard Hevia wrote:
performer wrote:To be honest I can't remember and I haven't the energy to go and search out the book and find the title. It would take me forever and organisation is not one of my fortes. It was some book or other that David Ben in a fit of generosity gave me as a present. It is a damn good idea--I do know that.


Do you remember if the James book Ben gifted you was very heavy? Was it almost too big to lift?


No. It was nowhere near that heavy. I seem to remember a black cover.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby performer » July 14th, 2018, 10:16 pm

Joe Mckay wrote:I wonder if Mark Lewis has the Moving Pencil force in mind?

You ribbon spread a face-up deck of cards on the table and you have a force card towards the end of the spread.

You hold a pencil about 18 inches above the table.

You pass the pencil over the deck as you ask the spectator to call stop.

When he calls stop - you stop moving the pencil and lower it towards the deck of cards spread on the table.

You lower your hand at a slight angle - so that the pencil (in fact the rubber tip of the pencil) - lands on the card you want to force.

It is an excellent force. David Regal is a big fan of it. And recently I have seen it put to good use in a published trick by Wayne Dobson.

I am unsure if it is a Stewart James idea. It doesn't ring any bells with me. But I am not 100% sure.

And Mark is correct about Harry Lorayne publishing his version (without credit) of the George Sands trick. There was some controversy surrounding this at one point.


Joe. I don't think you read my description of MY version of the Trick That Cannot Be Explained. I call it the The Trick that CAN be explained. The full description is on this thread. I reference the moving pencil force in that description but only as an out if the Stewart James force fails.

As for the George Sands controversy I don't know anything about it and this is the first time I have heard of it. I was merely mentioning in passing that I recently read Harry's description of something similar recently. I don't know neither do I particularly care where it originally came from.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leonard Hevia » July 15th, 2018, 12:13 pm

Image

Mark--was this the book that Ben gave you?

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Re: Stewart James

Postby performer » July 15th, 2018, 3:39 pm

Probably. It looks familiar. I suppose I had better exert myself now to check. Bloody nuisance.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leonard Hevia » July 15th, 2018, 3:48 pm

performer wrote:Probably. It looks familiar. I suppose I had better exert myself now to check. Bloody nuisance.


Quit grumbling and check!

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Re: Stewart James

Postby performer » July 15th, 2018, 4:06 pm

I have now forced myself to find the book in question. It has quite tired me out. It is indeed the Essential One. I wish it was a bit more essential so I could study it more. The trouble is that I lost my interest in magic quite some time ago. Or at least my intense enthusiasm. One of my relatives is a well known singer/songwriter and she once asked me if I felt the same passion for magic I did when I was younger. I sadly told her "no" but then turned the tables on her and asked her if she felt the same passion about music as she once did. She smiled and said, "No. But that's life isn't it?"

But to get back to the subject at hand I have further exerted myself to find the force in question. I am ashamed to admit it is the only damn thing I have read in the book. I am glad I did though. It is quite excellent and is indeed written up in a "trick that cannot be explained" context. Face Up Prediction on page 24. It does say that if the force doesn't work "you must quickly devise a fair seeming method to count or spell, or somehow logically use the indicated card to reach the predicted card"

The second part of that sentence is better than the first bit. Counting and spelling can bore people to death and make things convoluted and tend to weaken the effect. I therefore think "finding a logical method " part of the sentence to be a better option. I am not necessarily a fan of the theory that everything in magic has to be "logical" and I was delighted to find that Vernon actually agreed with me about this. There is nothing logical about magic in the first place when you start to think about it. So in the case of the force failing I use an illogical out which works fantastically well. I consider this to be a stroke of genius for which I should be given several accolades for which I am getting a psychic vibe will not be forthcoming.

I use the failed card as if it was a pencil as described by Harry Lorayne in his Moving Pencil trick. It is very, very rare that I miss on this and if I do then I have an out that I can't be bothered explaining. Anything to avoid that spelling and counting silliness. I don't want the trick to end up like that Any Card At Any Number Trick that always puts me to sleep.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby performer » July 15th, 2018, 4:10 pm

Oh, on rereading the book it seems that Martin Gardner came up with the force instead of Stewart James. It doesn't say where Gardner stole it from mind you. Not that I give a stuff of course-I shall leave that to the scholarly nitpickers who care about these things

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leonard Hevia » July 15th, 2018, 11:22 pm

Thanks for looking that up Mark. Here is some interesting historical info on Stewart's Face Up Prediction:

http://stewartjames.magicana.com/1939.html

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » October 13th, 2018, 12:08 pm

A friend sent me this.

It might take awhile to grasp (at least it did for me) but the following mathematical tidbit is actually an offshoot of the Miraskill principle.

https://www.futilitycloset.com/2018/09/16/turn-turn-turn-6/

Joe Mckay
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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » November 28th, 2020, 10:39 pm

I heard that the character of Norman Bates in the 1959 novel Psycho (that later became the famous movie by Alfred Hitchcock) was actually based on Stewart James.

Or more specifically that the relationship between Norman Bates and his domineering mother was based on the relationship that Stewart James had with his mother.

Does anyone have a source for this curious piece of trivia? I don't think it was ever mentioned in The James File. But I might be wrong on that!

I have lost the index for my big Stewart James books. So maybe somebody else could double-check this for me?

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Max Maven » November 29th, 2020, 4:26 am

It is mentioned in the January 2005 Genii on page 15.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » November 29th, 2020, 9:32 am

That is fantastic. Thanks a lot!

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Re: Stewart James

Postby David Ben » November 30th, 2020, 12:21 pm

To add some meat to the bone presented by Max’s note in the January 2005 issue of Genii, it was Pat Lyons – the wife of P. Howard Lyons – who introduced by letter Rob Bloch to the world of Stewart James.

Howard, of course, was a James-junkie, and he brought Pat with him on a visit to Stewart’s home in Courtright, but only Howard was permitted in the house. Stewart often left people outside, or only spoke to them on the porch. Karl Fulves apparently spend many days there without ever being invited inside. (I was invited inside and into the Inner Sanctum on my inaugural visit – much to the surprise of Howard who was with me at the time.) So, Pat had to wait in their car at the end of the driveway for however long Howard’s session with Stewart would entail.

Pat started to notice this elderly woman – Stewart’s mother – peering at her through the curtains of various windows at various times, and found the whole situation if not creepy, very odd. (Although I believe Pat used the word “creepy” to describe it.)

Although Howard had an interest in science fiction and fantasy writing, so did Pat. And Pat had her own friendship and correspondence with Bob Bloch independent of Howard. Pat wrote to Bloch what happened while she was waiting on that driveway for Howard. Howard, of course, eventually emerged.

Bloch was so intrigued by the encounter, specifically the concept of this spooky, elderly woman darting to and peering out with menacing glances to Pat, that he peppered Pat for more information in a series of letters about Stewart, his mother, the house, the relationship, etc.

While Howard, Pat, Allan Slaight, and a few others, knew that this encounter ignited Bloch’s imagination with respect to the scene and character development, it was kept secret within a small circle of friends as Stewart, if he had ever learned of this and seen the movie, would have been appalled at the very notion that he and/or his mother had inspired, even in a small way, a psychotic killer.

When I was helping Daniel Zuckerbrot with his marvelous film – The Strange Genius of Stewart James – Pat allowed us to record the story for posterity provided it was not used at the time in the film. So, perhaps one day we will release it so that you can hear it first hand in Pat’s own words and inimitable style.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » November 30th, 2020, 12:25 pm

Thanks so much for the extra information. Stories like this add a wonderful depth to magic history.

You and Max are both tremendous scholars of magic.

Thanks again!

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Lyons » November 30th, 2020, 1:04 pm

Fascinating stuff, David, thank you.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leo Garet » November 30th, 2020, 1:43 pm

Thanks Mister Ben, this is great stuff.

Just wondering, though, where does Ed Gein fit in all this "Psycho" stuff, if anywhere at all?

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Bob Farmer » November 30th, 2020, 4:47 pm

David: what has happened to Stewart's house and all his stuff?

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Re: Stewart James

Postby pixsmith » November 30th, 2020, 4:51 pm

Thanks for the great background. What an interesting story.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Max Maven » November 30th, 2020, 5:40 pm

Leo Garet wrote:Thanks Mister Ben, this is great stuff.

Just wondering, though, where does Ed Gein fit in all this "Psycho" stuff, if anywhere at all?


Gein was the impetus for Psycho. The description of Stewart and his mother helped Bloch to flesh out the story.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby David Ben » November 30th, 2020, 7:37 pm

Bob

The house is still there . Someone bought it. As for his stuff, at least the magic stuff, I ended up with most of it, including his family albums, military medals, his library, props and correspondence. Some of the material I have parted with from time to time. I have kept, however, things related to what I consider to be his most important work, and discoveries. Two other of my favourites are his own personal copy of SJIP, which he never opened. (It is still in the original cellophane wrapping.) When I asked why it was never opened, he said that there was no need because he already knew what was inside. The second is his personal copy of the Abram’s work on Annemann. Stewart had placed dozens and dozens of post-it notes in the book. No comments, just blank post-it notes flagging something that he must have deemed of interest. Who knows what was going through his mind with the posting of each note. I would have loved to have known.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby AJM » December 1st, 2020, 8:30 am

I acquired my copy of SJIP from the collection of John Fisher some years ago.

It's signed by Stewart James (No 51 of 200).

There is another inscription included which reads:

'To John
With thanks for his friendship.
Donald & Betty
May 1990'

Any idea who Donald and Betty might be?

Cheers

Andrew

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leo Garet » December 1st, 2020, 10:01 am

AJM wrote:I acquired my copy of SJIP from the collection of John Fisher some years ago.

Any idea who Donald and Betty might be?

Cheers

Andrew

I have no idea, but I'd bet a shilling that it's Betty and Donald Wallace, the dynamic duo of "Magic Books By Post" in Bristol.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leo Garet » December 1st, 2020, 10:06 am

Max Maven wrote:
Leo Garet wrote:Thanks Mister Ben, this is great stuff.

Just wondering, though, where does Ed Gein fit in all this "Psycho" stuff, if anywhere at all?


Gein was the impetus for Psycho. The description of Stewart and his mother helped Bloch to flesh out the story.


Sharp and succinct as always. And I had sort of deduced that.

I merely wondered, though of course I wasn't specific about my wondering, whether Mister Ben had any further information on the matter courtesy of Mrs. Lyons.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Lucas Maillard » December 1st, 2020, 10:07 am

Leo Garet wrote:
AJM wrote:I acquired my copy of SJIP from the collection of John Fisher some years ago.

Any idea who Donald and Betty might be?

Cheers

Andrew

I have no idea, but I'd bet a shilling that it's Betty and Donald Wallace, the dynamic duo of "Magic Books By Post" in Bristol.


In Body Magic, John Fisher mentionned Betty and Donald Wallace in the "Acknowledgments" section.

Betty and Donald might be the persons who used to run Magic books by Post in the UK.

Hope this helps.

Lucas.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leo Garet » December 1st, 2020, 10:14 am

Lucas Maillard wrote:In Body Magic, John Fisher mentionned Betty and Donald Wallace in the "Acknowledgments" section.

Betty and Donald might be the persons who used to run Magic books by Post in the UK.

Hope this helps.

Lucas.


Which, give or take a comma or two is what I think I said. :) ;)

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AJM
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Re: Stewart James

Postby AJM » December 1st, 2020, 10:31 am

Very interesting indeed - thanks both.

I do remember Magic Books By Post and indeed purchased books from them back in the day. I had no idea who the proprietors were although I believe the business was taken over by others latterly.

Andrew

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Leo Garet » December 1st, 2020, 11:50 am

AJM wrote:Very interesting indeed - thanks both.

I do remember Magic Books By Post and indeed purchased books from them back in the day. I had no idea who the proprietors were although I believe the business was taken over by others latterly.

Andrew


Indeed it was, two or three changes of ownership, in fact, and very quickly went down the tube.

No idea what's happening these days. I might try a search, just out of curiosity.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » December 1st, 2020, 12:00 pm

That shop was incredible. It did more for British magic than The Magic Circle.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 1st, 2020, 1:05 pm

I knew Donald Wallace, who owned Magic Books by Post, very well. A lovely man.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Joe Mckay
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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » December 1st, 2020, 1:09 pm

It always felt odd how you had to leave your order on an answerphone. I spent so much money with those guys. Still - the service they provided was always excellent. They were a real lifesaver before ordering online took off.

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Re: Stewart James

Postby David Ben » December 1st, 2020, 1:52 pm

Having just moved my book collection to another location, I realize now more than ever that it is time to part with some of my multiples. Crazy as it sounds, just because of my relationship with the various principals, I have, in addition to my own Collector Editions of SJIP and The James File, those belonging to Stewart James, Pat Lyons and, by way of a crazy story, the initial copy owned by Allan Slaight. (Allan gave his initial off-the press copy to Norm Houghton, who eventually gave it to me.) No. 1 of 200 of SJIP was given to Pat Lyons, and is signed by Stewart to Pat. No 2. was given to Stewart and signed to him by Allan Slaight. I'd be interested in selling them to those interested in association copies but have absolutely no idea of what to price these sort of works at for collectors. (Hence not yet listed in the Marketplace.)

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Re: Stewart James

Postby Joe Mckay » December 1st, 2020, 9:32 pm

Here is an interesting observation given to the late Bob Cassidy by a friend of his. It is about how to add a Logical Disconnect to one of the phases of Sefalaljia.
I always thought that Stewart James' “Sefalaljia” [see Annemann's “Practical Mental
Effects”] was a terrific effect and I'm strictly talking ONLY about the ball going into the
glass. But the problem I had with it is that nobody could touch anything, hence the
audience concludes that it's rigged! (Which it is.)

Then I watched an old Kreskin DVD and saw how he handed the sponge ball to the
spectator. She checked it out, gave it back to him & he put it in its place in the box. Of
course, the box was turned so that you couldn't see inside - because the rigged ball was
already in the box from the start. The 'examined' ball was squeezed into his hand as he
brought the box around to display to the audience.

I thought, "There's the Logical Disconnect." The ball was just examined.


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