Stewart James
Posted: May 16th, 2016, 11:46 am
Just wanted to continue the discussion of Stewart James (from the Karl Fulves thread) over here.
I have studied the Stewart James books dozens of times. And have a lot of affection for them.
But I am not sure how strong the tricks are in terms of performing for laypeople. This was not a goal of Stewart James and even though Stewart James did perform professionally from time to time - his repertoire did not include effects that he created. This is taken from the chapter in The James File that discusses his professional career.
Anyway - I thought it would be fun to share my notes (which I wrote up a few years ago) from the books over here. So hopefully they will of interest to a couple of you.
STEWART JAMES IN PRINT – THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS
JOGESTJA MAGAZINE TEST – Page 64 – An incredibly strong magazine test. This is powerful stuff. It is impossibly clean – looks like the real thing…
MIRASKILL – Page 102 – See this trick below for a version by John Bannon which is my favourite:
http://www.johnbannonmagic.com/images/Bannon_View_To_A_Skill_ebook.pdf
A CHINAMAN’S CHANCE – Page 117 – A cute way to find a mentally selected card which is based around a swindle…
PAGING A SNAPPY NUMBER – Page 185 – This is a magazine test based around a diabolical mathematical principle that I have never seen used before or since…
QUARTER DECK QUANDARY – Page 204 – Interesting to see Stewart make use of GRAY CODES here. Esoteric stuff. If you become interested in this sort of thing then check out Leo Boudreau’s revolutionary work in this area…
HANDS OFF – Page 242 – A clever mathematical effect with a nice twist at the end…
ECHOING VISION – Page 270 – This is a fun card divination which looks impossible. It also uses an unusual principle which I have never seen before…
VANISHING PROOF – Page 299 – This is a great effect. It is an adaptation (and improvement) of a strange principle discovered by Charles Jordan. It allows for a totally ‘hands off’ card vanish. NOTE: See TRANSCENDENTAL BAR BET by Paul Harris for the best use of this principle…
REMEMBERING THE FUTURE – Page 341 – A classic. I rate it up there with MIRASKILL. It is a beautiful and elegant principle which will fool you when you play with it…
BIBLICAL PROPHECY – Page 362 – You will be astonished at how Stewart discovered this book test. The method is just incredible…
THE NEW LOOK – Page 404 – An interesting double-colour change with a strange method. It is a strong effect, and is the sort of weird effect that Gaetan Bloom might invent…
AN ESSAY – Page 409 – See this essay for a fascinating insight into the workings of Stewart’s creative mind…
JAMESWAY DICE TEST – Page 491 – This is a great effect which I first saw in MATHEMATICS, MAGIC AND MYSTERY. I still remember being delighted with the sneaky idea used at the end of the effect…
NEW DEPARTURE ROPE MYSTERY – Page 555 – The method for this rope trick is great fun. The boldness always makes me smile…
WORDITTO – Page 569 – This is a brilliant magazine test and amazingly the method makes use of the MIRASKILL principle. This is my favourite use for this principle…
MATCHIMERA – Page 614 – A card matching effect done from a shuffled deck. I can’t imagine a more ingenious method than this one…
ATLANTIC AVENUE – Page 664 – This is an excellent variation on a lovely Mel Stover principle. Two further variations are featured in THE JAMES FILE. These are some of the strongest tricks in these books…
THE OPEN PREDICTION NO. 8 – Page 678 – David Britland says that this version counts as a solution to the FIFTY ONE FACES NORTH problem. See his analysis here:
http://cardopolis.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/fifty-one-faces-north-stewart-james-is.html
Other versions I like are one that Steve Beam published in SEMI AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS VOL. 1 and a cheat version which Paul Gordon published in CARBON FOOTPRINTS which makes sneaky use of a stooge. You can find that trick here:
http://www.mallofmagic.com/free%20stuff/BTROMF.pdf
MATHEMATRICKER – Page 696 – Another clever mathematical effect with a cute twist at the end…
PERSON TO PERSON – Page 763 – This is a great telephone effect. The method is diabolical and you will be sure to fool anyone with it. See page 1870 for a variation by Max Maven…
CAM-O-NEYRD – Page 878 – This trick contains a nice subtlety for use with a double-sided coin which I have never seen before…
SNEAKY WILL – Page 942 – This is a real favourite. It is a brilliant re-working of a classic puzzle. It will actually fool you the first few times you use it…
KORADOR – Page 946 – This is a clean card location which reminds me of the principle used in the UNDO INFLUENCE by Simon Aronson (which itself was based on an Alex Elmsley principle which was based on a Jack Avis effect).
LETTERS FOR A STRANGER – Page 952 – I first came across this principle in a variation called VOODOO CLUE by Karl Fulves. It is a brilliant principle which will astonish you when you use it. It is up there with the other classic principles discovered by Stewart…
RETURN FOR SATAN – Page 959 – This is a lovely transposition which reminds me of BORDER CROSSING by Roy Walton…
MY UNCLE’S ANTE – Page 984 – The date on a borrowed coin reveals the location of a selected card. Brilliant method…
JUST FOUR FUN – Page 985 – This effect uses an amazing mathematical principle. It is very little known and it delighted me for a whole day when I first used it. The perfect trick to end this amazing book with…
THE JAMES FILE – BOOK ONE
LII-KELIHOOD – Page 1018 – This is a real fooler with an ingenious twist at the end. A good one to pull on magicians…
PACKAGE DEAL – Page 1089 – A fascinating thing here. Stewart re-discovers THE GILBREATH PRINCIPLE and then applies it in a unique way…
A USA TRIAL – Page 1105 – This seems related to Alex Elmsley’s 16th CARD PRINCIPLE…
THE ROBOT DECK – Page 1137 – In Stewart’s words: ‘It is a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack plus a stack.’
And in the words of Gordon Bean: ‘There’s something thrilling about looking at the apparently innocuous face of the deck in its Robotic form and realizing how much work is contained therein. Performing the routine seems like unfolding a house out of a suitcase.’
FOURTH INCARNATION – Page 1173 – This is a trick well worth making up. It will easily fool other magicians. Steve Beam had some variations on this in one of the SEMI AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS books…
OBJECTIVE X – Page 1291 – This is a brilliant two-person test and is based on a wonderful principle which has been buried in print…
NO-CAL TELEMATHY – Page 1293 – This is another excellent use of the principle mentioned above. This is one of my favourite effects by Stewart James…
TROST-WORTHY – Page 1297 – A good variation of a strong Nick Trost effect. It uses an ingenious principle and is one of the more ‘commercial’ tricks in this book…
CODEAL – Page 1575 – This is a great version of THE OPEN PREDICTION. It has a clever twist at the end which makes it more fun to do than most other versions…
THE JAMES FILE - BOOK TWO
WHIM-BORROW – Page 1782 – This is a lovely trick. It is unlike most of the tricks that Stewart invented. To be honest it feels like the sort of trick that Roy Walton might invent. It also doubles up as my favourite use of the Progressive Speller principle…
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE – Page 1845 – This is a great prediction effect which is incredibly sneaky. Gordon Bean correctly mentions it as being one of the best tricks in the book…
MYRIADSKILL – Page 1904 – This is an essay by Bob Farmer about the MIRASKILL principle. It is very interesting and includes a simple tip which will strengthen your performances of this trick ten-fold. By the way – Karl Fulves has stretched the MIRASKILL principle so much that he managed to uncover another principle lurking inside. Check out THE SURVIVOR PRINCIPLE which was published in his hard-to-find magazine DISCOVERIE. Check out Issue 6…
BOCCA DELLA VERITA – Page 2410 – This is an amazing principle. It seems to my brain to be a kind of ‘inversion’ of The Gilbreath Principle. It is incredible that Stewart managed to discover this all the way back in 1928…
TWO-PART HARMONY – Page 2421 – This is a variation by Stewart of one of my favourite Bob Hummer tricks. It is one of Hummer’s best effects and contains a devious principle which is rarely used…
------------------------------
In the list above - I seem to have focused on card tricks. Which is a shame since Stewart James's Sefalaljia Spirit Cabinet routine is probably the best thing in the books. The cool thing is that Stewart invented two different routines. And scattered through the books are some interesting variations of the Sefalaljiajia principle (as in the rope effect) itself.
Recently I went through the book again - focusing on non-card effects. And I found some very interesting items which I hadn't noticed before. But I don't have those notes to hand just now.
Also - there is an interesting online exhibition to the life and work of Stewart James which can be found over here:
http://stewartjames.magicana.com/index.html
I have studied the Stewart James books dozens of times. And have a lot of affection for them.
But I am not sure how strong the tricks are in terms of performing for laypeople. This was not a goal of Stewart James and even though Stewart James did perform professionally from time to time - his repertoire did not include effects that he created. This is taken from the chapter in The James File that discusses his professional career.
Anyway - I thought it would be fun to share my notes (which I wrote up a few years ago) from the books over here. So hopefully they will of interest to a couple of you.
STEWART JAMES IN PRINT – THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS
JOGESTJA MAGAZINE TEST – Page 64 – An incredibly strong magazine test. This is powerful stuff. It is impossibly clean – looks like the real thing…
MIRASKILL – Page 102 – See this trick below for a version by John Bannon which is my favourite:
http://www.johnbannonmagic.com/images/Bannon_View_To_A_Skill_ebook.pdf
A CHINAMAN’S CHANCE – Page 117 – A cute way to find a mentally selected card which is based around a swindle…
PAGING A SNAPPY NUMBER – Page 185 – This is a magazine test based around a diabolical mathematical principle that I have never seen used before or since…
QUARTER DECK QUANDARY – Page 204 – Interesting to see Stewart make use of GRAY CODES here. Esoteric stuff. If you become interested in this sort of thing then check out Leo Boudreau’s revolutionary work in this area…
HANDS OFF – Page 242 – A clever mathematical effect with a nice twist at the end…
ECHOING VISION – Page 270 – This is a fun card divination which looks impossible. It also uses an unusual principle which I have never seen before…
VANISHING PROOF – Page 299 – This is a great effect. It is an adaptation (and improvement) of a strange principle discovered by Charles Jordan. It allows for a totally ‘hands off’ card vanish. NOTE: See TRANSCENDENTAL BAR BET by Paul Harris for the best use of this principle…
REMEMBERING THE FUTURE – Page 341 – A classic. I rate it up there with MIRASKILL. It is a beautiful and elegant principle which will fool you when you play with it…
BIBLICAL PROPHECY – Page 362 – You will be astonished at how Stewart discovered this book test. The method is just incredible…
THE NEW LOOK – Page 404 – An interesting double-colour change with a strange method. It is a strong effect, and is the sort of weird effect that Gaetan Bloom might invent…
AN ESSAY – Page 409 – See this essay for a fascinating insight into the workings of Stewart’s creative mind…
JAMESWAY DICE TEST – Page 491 – This is a great effect which I first saw in MATHEMATICS, MAGIC AND MYSTERY. I still remember being delighted with the sneaky idea used at the end of the effect…
NEW DEPARTURE ROPE MYSTERY – Page 555 – The method for this rope trick is great fun. The boldness always makes me smile…
WORDITTO – Page 569 – This is a brilliant magazine test and amazingly the method makes use of the MIRASKILL principle. This is my favourite use for this principle…
MATCHIMERA – Page 614 – A card matching effect done from a shuffled deck. I can’t imagine a more ingenious method than this one…
ATLANTIC AVENUE – Page 664 – This is an excellent variation on a lovely Mel Stover principle. Two further variations are featured in THE JAMES FILE. These are some of the strongest tricks in these books…
THE OPEN PREDICTION NO. 8 – Page 678 – David Britland says that this version counts as a solution to the FIFTY ONE FACES NORTH problem. See his analysis here:
http://cardopolis.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/fifty-one-faces-north-stewart-james-is.html
Other versions I like are one that Steve Beam published in SEMI AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS VOL. 1 and a cheat version which Paul Gordon published in CARBON FOOTPRINTS which makes sneaky use of a stooge. You can find that trick here:
http://www.mallofmagic.com/free%20stuff/BTROMF.pdf
MATHEMATRICKER – Page 696 – Another clever mathematical effect with a cute twist at the end…
PERSON TO PERSON – Page 763 – This is a great telephone effect. The method is diabolical and you will be sure to fool anyone with it. See page 1870 for a variation by Max Maven…
CAM-O-NEYRD – Page 878 – This trick contains a nice subtlety for use with a double-sided coin which I have never seen before…
SNEAKY WILL – Page 942 – This is a real favourite. It is a brilliant re-working of a classic puzzle. It will actually fool you the first few times you use it…
KORADOR – Page 946 – This is a clean card location which reminds me of the principle used in the UNDO INFLUENCE by Simon Aronson (which itself was based on an Alex Elmsley principle which was based on a Jack Avis effect).
LETTERS FOR A STRANGER – Page 952 – I first came across this principle in a variation called VOODOO CLUE by Karl Fulves. It is a brilliant principle which will astonish you when you use it. It is up there with the other classic principles discovered by Stewart…
RETURN FOR SATAN – Page 959 – This is a lovely transposition which reminds me of BORDER CROSSING by Roy Walton…
MY UNCLE’S ANTE – Page 984 – The date on a borrowed coin reveals the location of a selected card. Brilliant method…
JUST FOUR FUN – Page 985 – This effect uses an amazing mathematical principle. It is very little known and it delighted me for a whole day when I first used it. The perfect trick to end this amazing book with…
THE JAMES FILE – BOOK ONE
LII-KELIHOOD – Page 1018 – This is a real fooler with an ingenious twist at the end. A good one to pull on magicians…
PACKAGE DEAL – Page 1089 – A fascinating thing here. Stewart re-discovers THE GILBREATH PRINCIPLE and then applies it in a unique way…
A USA TRIAL – Page 1105 – This seems related to Alex Elmsley’s 16th CARD PRINCIPLE…
THE ROBOT DECK – Page 1137 – In Stewart’s words: ‘It is a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack within a stack plus a stack.’
And in the words of Gordon Bean: ‘There’s something thrilling about looking at the apparently innocuous face of the deck in its Robotic form and realizing how much work is contained therein. Performing the routine seems like unfolding a house out of a suitcase.’
FOURTH INCARNATION – Page 1173 – This is a trick well worth making up. It will easily fool other magicians. Steve Beam had some variations on this in one of the SEMI AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS books…
OBJECTIVE X – Page 1291 – This is a brilliant two-person test and is based on a wonderful principle which has been buried in print…
NO-CAL TELEMATHY – Page 1293 – This is another excellent use of the principle mentioned above. This is one of my favourite effects by Stewart James…
TROST-WORTHY – Page 1297 – A good variation of a strong Nick Trost effect. It uses an ingenious principle and is one of the more ‘commercial’ tricks in this book…
CODEAL – Page 1575 – This is a great version of THE OPEN PREDICTION. It has a clever twist at the end which makes it more fun to do than most other versions…
THE JAMES FILE - BOOK TWO
WHIM-BORROW – Page 1782 – This is a lovely trick. It is unlike most of the tricks that Stewart invented. To be honest it feels like the sort of trick that Roy Walton might invent. It also doubles up as my favourite use of the Progressive Speller principle…
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE – Page 1845 – This is a great prediction effect which is incredibly sneaky. Gordon Bean correctly mentions it as being one of the best tricks in the book…
MYRIADSKILL – Page 1904 – This is an essay by Bob Farmer about the MIRASKILL principle. It is very interesting and includes a simple tip which will strengthen your performances of this trick ten-fold. By the way – Karl Fulves has stretched the MIRASKILL principle so much that he managed to uncover another principle lurking inside. Check out THE SURVIVOR PRINCIPLE which was published in his hard-to-find magazine DISCOVERIE. Check out Issue 6…
BOCCA DELLA VERITA – Page 2410 – This is an amazing principle. It seems to my brain to be a kind of ‘inversion’ of The Gilbreath Principle. It is incredible that Stewart managed to discover this all the way back in 1928…
TWO-PART HARMONY – Page 2421 – This is a variation by Stewart of one of my favourite Bob Hummer tricks. It is one of Hummer’s best effects and contains a devious principle which is rarely used…
------------------------------
In the list above - I seem to have focused on card tricks. Which is a shame since Stewart James's Sefalaljia Spirit Cabinet routine is probably the best thing in the books. The cool thing is that Stewart invented two different routines. And scattered through the books are some interesting variations of the Sefalaljiajia principle (as in the rope effect) itself.
Recently I went through the book again - focusing on non-card effects. And I found some very interesting items which I hadn't noticed before. But I don't have those notes to hand just now.
Also - there is an interesting online exhibition to the life and work of Stewart James which can be found over here:
http://stewartjames.magicana.com/index.html