U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

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Joe Mckay
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U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 5th, 2018, 6:04 pm

I have spent a few days digging into a lot of U.F. Grant's work and want to discuss some of it here. Over at lybrary.com - Chris Wasshuber has a lot of U.F. Grant manuscripts for sale in case any of you are inspired to check out his work.

I first became interested in U.F. Grant after falling in love with his brilliant Million Dollar Bill Mystery. I first came across it in Karl Fulves' Self-Working Mental Magic. In that book - Fulves does not provide a credit to U.F. Grant.

At some point I found out U.F. Grant was the creator of the principle. And that point I penciled him in as a creator whose work would be worth exploring more. Whenever I spot an interesting idea by a creator - I like to try and find at least a couple more good ideas by that creator. Since at that point - I know the initial idea that caught my eye was not a "fluke". And I then give myself permission to become a fan and try and research everything else they have created as well.

I remember Harry Anderson expressing his awe for this principle during his Penguin Live lecture. It is pretty much the most ingenious principle in magic. My favourite use for it is by Andy over at The Jerx since it allows you to perform an instantaneous bill teleportation over a distance of thousands of miles. It is one of my favourite tricks by Andy.

http://www.thejerx.com/blog/2015/7/26/the-bazillion-dollar-mystery

I agree with Andy that most uses for this principle use it in the most unambitious way imaginable. And that is probably why more magicians have not been inspired to make use of it. Sadly the UK has recently switched over to plastic notes - so it is not of much use these days over here. Although it would be interesting to explore uses for this principle that do not use paper currency. This is something that Jim Steinmeyer and Peter Duffie have done in the past.

The other day I finally got round to reading Stewart James' Encyclopedia of Rope Magic. And in there U.F. Grant has an ingenious trick in which a spectator is handed a rope that has been tied together with knot. The spectator is handed some scissors and proceeds to cut the rope. He then places the rope in a box which he then nails shut with a hammer and nails. The spectator the waves the scissors over the box and pulls out the rope through a hole in the side of the box. As the rope is pulled out - it is seen that the rope is restored and no longer has a knot in it. This all takes place entirely in the spectator's hands as the magician directs proceedings from the audience!

In the book 25 Mind Reading Secrets - Grant has an ingenious trick called Houdini Bill Reading. From the name - I am not sure if trick belongs to Grant or Houdini. The idea is that at a theater show - a spectator is handed some change by the cashier along with their ticket. And that bill has a serial number that is memorized by the magician. The cashier then tells the magician which seat in the audience that person will be sitting in. And during the show - the magician can point to that person and perform a miracle bill divination without the magician coming close to the audience member.

This is a delightful principle. I first saw it in the work of Oliver Meech and - published a year earlier - in the work of Paul Brook. Although the real inspiration goes back to the legendary bill in cash register scam:

http://forums.geniimagazine.com/viewtopic.php?t=10639

Brain Busters has a sneaky use of the one-ahead principle which gives the trick a totally fresh feel due to the use of watches rather than scraps of paper or cards.

Grant's Scrapbook has another wonderful principle which has its roots in an old stock market scam. It is quite well known over here in the UK since Derren Brown had an entire TV special built around this principle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R5OWh7luL4

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3670756/Derron-Brown-The-System.html

It is another amazing principle and I am delighted to see Grant play around with it in order to come up with a magic use for it. The only similar thing in magic at the time was a clever publicity stunt that Ted Annemann pulled off when he was looking for subscribers to his new magazine, The Jinx. A letter was sent out to potential subscribers. And if they were interested in subscribing - they were told to take the blank piece of card included with the mail shot, hold it to their head and stay out aloud "Yes - I want to subscribe to The Jinx". And then to place that blank piece of card in a post box and await their first issue.

The blank card in question had absolutely no markings on it - no matter how closely you looked.

The secret - according to the Jinx special in GENII a few years ago - was that everyone who was sent the mail shot was also sent the first issue of The Jinx. To those who wanted to subscribe to the magazine - their subscription was kicked off with a delightful miracle. And - for the sake of a few stragglers who were not interested in subscribing (but who got a free issue in any case) - well, it was a price worth paying in order to pull off a miracle. I find it funny that the best trick in The Jinx - was never actually published IN The Jinx!

My favourite book by U.F. Grant is Window Stoppers. This is a collection of publicity devices designed to be placed in the front window of a shop in order to attract interest. Grant has some great ideas in this book. Some of it reminds me of the type of offbeat thinking you would usually only find in the work of Lubor Fiedler.

Below is a description of my favourite trick from this book. It is taken from an email I sent to a magician friend:

I am fascinated by those magicians who would build a specially built room and spend years developing just a single trick. There is something awe inspiring about that. You see this with the Hooker Rising Cards. And it is the sort of thinking that Lubor Fiedler demonstrated in a couple of his tricks as well.

Yesterday - I read 'Window Stoppers' by U.F. Grant. And at the very end of the book it talks about a weird trick where you make a miniature hologram of a mermaid appear inside a fishbowl. She can wave to you, talk to you and everything.

The secret involves having a woman dressed as a mermaid (ie. half-naked) inside a large shell. You then place reflecting mirrors in a tube above her head. This tube goes through a hole in the ceiling - where it becomes a pillar on the floor above.

Then via a Pepper's Ghost type principle - you are left with a 3D ghostly image of a miniature woman who is about 3 inches tall. And you place the image inside a fish bowl (which is resting on the pillar) for spectators to look at and interact with.

This trick was done about 80 years and ago and must have been one of the strongest tricks in all of magic. It is a shame it is not more famous. It seems it was just passed off as a funny curiosity back then as a way of attracting people to visit shops.

Sadly - the same trick would lose some of its power today - since modern technology has made it easier for people to use their smartphones to create Pepper's ghost miniature illusions.

Wow - what an effect!!!

Anyway - I still have a long way to go in my study of the brilliant mind of U.F. Grant. I would love to hear from others if they have any recommendations to add as well.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Brad Henderson » February 5th, 2018, 6:37 pm

uf grant also pioneered the magic lecture circuit - ingeniously. he would send films of his lecture to magic clubs along with notes. After they had presented it they would forward it to the next city.

MAK magic released these films in a tribute DVD collection. Almost every trick he shows has some element to it which is brilliiant. i recall a coin through hank that really impressed me. But truly, there are scores of clever thoughts on them.

As a new fan, you would likely benefit from investing in them.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Q. Kumber » February 5th, 2018, 9:03 pm

Don't overlook Fifty Crazy Card Stunts.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 5th, 2018, 9:13 pm

I cannot cite the source for this, but many, many years ago I read a piece by (as far as I can remember) was by U.F. Grant. At least he is the one I have always attributed it to. It was along the lines of the Five Tricks that Can Take You Around the World, or similar theme. The gist of it was that most magicians delve into learning far too many tricks, perfecting very few, if any. "Gen" Grant's point was that success as a professional magician lay in learning to present just a few routines exceedingly well. Very valuable advice. I think Goshman was a proponent (and practitioner) of essentially the same philosophy. This influenced my magical paradigm significantly, although because a lot of what I do involves bar and restaurant magic, I find myself continually learning new tricks to show the regulars who return time and time again, sometimes literally over a period of several years, to see magic.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby JHostler » February 5th, 2018, 9:27 pm

MagicbyAlfred wrote:I cannot cite the source for this, but many, many years ago I read a piece by (as far as I can remember) was by U.F. Grant. At least he is the one I have always attributed it to. It was along the lines of the Five Tricks that Can Take You Around the World, or similar theme. The gist of it was that most magicians delve into learning far too many tricks, perfecting very few, if any...


Well, thank goodness he didn't practice what he preached. I absolutely treasure my old, beat-up edition of "Grant's Fabulous Feats of Mental Magic." Roughly 50 items, composed almost entirely of single-spaced type with very few illustrations. Absolutely no frills. Yet his brilliance is palpable.
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 5th, 2018, 10:31 pm

JHostler wrote: "...I absolutely treasure my old, beat-up edition of "Grant's Fabulous Feats of Mental Magic." Roughly 50 items, composed almost entirely of single-spaced type with very few illustrations. Absolutely no frills. Yet his brilliance is palpable."

Based on that recommendation, I am going to try to track this down ASAP.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 5th, 2018, 10:33 pm

MagicbyAlfred wrote:JHostler wrote: "...I absolutely treasure my old, beat-up edition of 'Grant's Fabulous Feats of Mental Magic.' Roughly 50 items, composed almost entirely of single-spaced type with very few illustrations. Absolutely no frills. Yet his brilliance is palpable."

Based on that recommendation, I am going to try to track it down ASAP.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 5th, 2018, 10:43 pm

Done.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 5th, 2018, 11:00 pm

Ditto.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 5th, 2018, 11:02 pm

25 Mind Reading Secrets also has a sneaky use for the Svengali deck that I have not come across before.

Magician fooler.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 5th, 2018, 11:08 pm

MagicbyAlfred - that advice reminds me of the famous story about David Devant.

http://forums.geniimagazine.com/viewtopic.php?t=10776

As for U.F. Grant - one of his more unusual ideas was an act based around the challenge of performing with any object handed to him.

I haven't checked this one out yet.

https://www.lybrary.com/grants-challenge-magic-act-p-922229.html

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 5th, 2018, 11:25 pm

Sacred Altar Lights is another unusual trick (and method) from U.F. Grant.

https://www.lybrary.com/sacred-altar-lights-p-893256.html

And I remember Bob Farmer saying he used to perform a clever dancing silk handkerchief effect by U.F Grant. Apparently the method involved the sneaky use of a record player! I assume this is the trick in question:

https://www.lybrary.com/rising-dancing-and-floating-silk-p-893102.html

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 6th, 2018, 2:27 am

Improved Rising, Floating and Dancing Silk was marketed in 1932 then explained in Grant's Annual of Magic in 1935 (and reprint in 1964 as Grant's Annual of Magic).

The Slow Motion Serpent Silk was in Tops, Vol. 6, no. 6, June 1941.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby lybrary » February 6th, 2018, 9:12 am

MagicbyAlfred wrote:JHostler wrote: "...I absolutely treasure my old, beat-up edition of "Grant's Fabulous Feats of Mental Magic." Roughly 50 items, composed almost entirely of single-spaced type with very few illustrations. Absolutely no frills. Yet his brilliance is palpable."

Based on that recommendation, I am going to try to track this down ASAP.

For the grand total of $4 you can find it here https://www.lybrary.com/grants-fabulous ... 01778.html
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 6th, 2018, 12:38 pm

Joe Wrote: "MagicbyAlfred - that advice reminds me of the famous story about David Devant."

Oh yes, good point - after the young upstart bragged to Devant that he knew, what was it, 300 tricks?

Thanks for your detailed post on U.F. Grant - a legendary figure and creative force in magic.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 6th, 2018, 12:39 pm

@lybrary,

Whoops, I blew it. Sorry! It was very late and I bought it for $5.95 from another source. Next time I will patronize you!

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Bob Farmer » February 6th, 2018, 1:38 pm

U.F. Grant is one of my favourite inventors. His one-man Dancing Handkerchief is genius.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 6th, 2018, 1:55 pm

Bob, is that the trick which can only be performed by a virile man?
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 6th, 2018, 9:24 pm

Either that or, perhaps, a viagrile one...

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby The Burnaby Kid » February 6th, 2018, 10:17 pm

From the G&M Magic Course, which was brought out through the old Learned Pig website, U.F. Grant had this to say on the basic principle at work in the Marlo/Gardner poker routine.

This particular routine was originated by U. F. Grant several years ago and has been used by him successfully for a number of years. He published it in a manuscript several years ago. Since that, it has appeared in print in a few books under different names.

Anything to this? I assume by that last sentence that others saw it and appropriated it for their own work. Can't find a publication date, and I'm not sure who he'd be referring to.
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby JFox » February 7th, 2018, 2:20 am

"it has appeared in print in a few books under different names"

You ask: "I'm not sure who he'd be referring to"...
....................................................................................................................................................................
Its quite possible that the TITLE of the trick ("Dealing A Royal Flush" - in the above cited "G&M Magic Course") has appeared under various "Different Names" (TITLES)......as opposed to being under "Different Names" - as in human beings.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby The Burnaby Kid » February 7th, 2018, 3:16 am

I guess. It seems bizarre that he'd make a special point out of saying he'd originated it, though, and leave it ambiguous which books he's alluding to ("a few books" vs. "a few of his books").
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 7th, 2018, 4:09 am

The Burnaby Kid wrote:I guess. It seems bizarre that he'd make a special point out of saying he'd originated it, though, and leave it ambiguous which books he's alluding to ("a few books" vs. "a few of his books").


The Marlo/Gardner Poker Routine was published in Let's See the Deck in 1942.

I find "Dealing a Royal Flush" (which plays with the same idea) in Grant's Inner Circle Magazine, Vol. 1, no 1/2, october/november 1948, page 6.

A priori, it is not written by U.F. Grant because the text is :

"This particular routine was originated by U. F. Grant several years ago and has been used by him successfully for a number of years. He published it in a manuscript several years ago. Since that, it has appeared in print in a few books under different names."

So we don't know who write this but it's not very accurate!

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 7th, 2018, 6:21 am

There is an anteriority quote by Jon Racherbaumer in Dust Motes in the Gird (2000).

Card Manipulation 4 (1935) by Jean Hugard: An Effective Poker Deal, page 108, but he doesn't mention U.F. Grant.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 7th, 2018, 8:12 am

Of course, Jean Hugged has rarely mentioned anybody (See, e.g., The Royal Road to Card Magic).
Last edited by MagicbyAlfred on February 7th, 2018, 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby The Burnaby Kid » February 7th, 2018, 8:15 am

According to his genii page...

In 1944, he partnered with R.N. Menge creating a line of products known as "Grant and Menge" or "G. & M." The partnership only lasted a year and they ended up becoming rivals.

Seems to put the G&M Book between 1944-1945...?
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 7th, 2018, 8:18 am

Is the book G&M Magic Course still available ?
Or is it a PDF sells with a DVD ?

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 7th, 2018, 8:40 am

MagicbyAlfred wrote:Of course, Jean Hugged has rarely mentioned anybody (See, e.g., The Royal Road to Card Magic).



Don't be so severe. In Card Manipulations and More Card Manipulations, Hugard named some creators.

For instance, in Card Manipulations 4, U.F. Grant is named for The Control with a Reversed Card (page 94). You know it. It's the one Frank Garcia entitled "Oups Control".

In More Card Manipulations 2, Paul Curry is named for The Turn-Over Change (54).

But I agree with you. Royal Road to Card Magic is a strange case (or it's Fred Braue's Fault! Remember Expert Card Technique with Vernon's stuff)

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby The Burnaby Kid » February 7th, 2018, 8:45 am

Philippe Billot wrote:Is the book G&M Magic Course still available ?
Or is it a PDF sells with a DVD ?


Check Lybrary.com's Learned Pig section -- bunch of public domain books there.
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 7th, 2018, 11:37 am

The Burnaby Kid wrote:
Philippe Billot wrote:Is the book G&M Magic Course still available ?
Or is it a PDF sells with a DVD ?


Check Lybrary.com's Learned Pig section -- bunch of public domain books there.


Thanks. I find it.

I can't find the date of publication but there is a lot of tricks explained in Grant's Inner Circle Magazine (1948-1949)

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 7th, 2018, 12:56 pm

Hey MagicbyAlfred - I just came across the advice you mentioned. You were right!

U.F. Grant did give the advice about building a career around mastering five good close-up tricks. See page 6 of Valuable Information For Magicians.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 7th, 2018, 1:07 pm

Zenith Master Mental Act contains a brilliant telephone trick designed to be done over the air on live TV. See page 5.

You can find a free copy of the manuscript online over at the Australian state library of Victoria.

http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1518026573057~821&locale=en_US&metadata_object_ratio=10&show_metadata=true&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&preferred_usage_type=VIEW_MAIN&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

Last time I linked to that site - the link didn't work properly. So I have uploaded the manuscript here as well:

https://ufile.io/s5lv4 [apparently the file will stay uploaded for just 30 days]

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 7th, 2018, 1:51 pm

'They're Off' by U.F. Grant and Frank Lane contains a sneaky principle that allows you to read cards as a spectator holds them. Recently I saw this same principle used by Tenyo in one of their Plus One mentalism effects.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 7th, 2018, 2:42 pm

Joe Mckay wrote:Hey MagicbyAlfred - I just came across the advice you mentioned. You were right!

U.F. Grant did give the advice about building a career around mastering five good close-up tricks. See page 6 of Valuable Information For Magicians.


Thanks Joe, I had forgotten the name of the manuscript in which the advice appeared, but now that definitely rings the bell...

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Joe Mckay » February 14th, 2018, 12:22 pm

The Whoops! Control

Here is a sneaky card control by U.F. Grant from The New Phoenix.

The bottom card of the face-down deck is secretly reversed.

Dribble the cards and have a spectator choose one by calling slop during the dribble.

As the spectators note the chosen card, replace the rest of the deck onto the dribbled portion and square the cards. Next swing cut the upper half of the deck into the left hand, have the spectator's card placed on top of this packet and drop the right hand's cards on top.

This places the reversed card over the selection. Overhand shuffle, keeping the center cards together. (This is easy. Simply drop about a quarter of the pack in a block as you near the center section.)

Then spread the cards between your hands, saying, "Your card is somewhere in the shuffled deck." Suddenly the reversed card comes into view. "Whoops! I must have turned a card over during the shuffle. I hope that isn't yours?"

Correct the face-up card, and cut the deck at that point - bringing the selection to the top of the deck. This similar to the actions of the Bill Simon Business Card Prophecy move.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 14th, 2018, 2:31 pm

There is a funny thing about this "Misdirection Pass" as Grant called it.

In the next issue of the New Phoenix (no 352 de décembre 1960) Stewart James send a letter to Don Tanner (the editor) and write that this force was is Greater Magic (1938) and a lot of magicians know it.

Grant reply :

As Mr. James says, this is in Greater Magic. BUT IT IS CREDITED To ME. Since I have shown this to many present day performers who were unfamiliar with it and who liked it very much, I thought your readers would like it too. 'This was not the first time that this has been in print, however. Long before Greater Magic was published I included this in a booklet titled ELIMINATORS which I supplied to dealers all over the country. Kanter still lists it.

One magician forget that Grant was the creator because he renamed it "The Oups Control". Who is He?

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby mbreggar » February 14th, 2018, 6:52 pm

Thanks for starting this thread.
Grant has given us so much raw material to mine and discover. I purchased “Fabulous Feats of Mental Magic” at Kanter’s in Philly back in the Stone Age. I reread it every now and then and still find things I can use and adopt.

And my second favorite Out Of This World effect is his “Nu Way OOTW” It is a brilliant method to perform OOTW impromptu with a borrowed shuffled deck.

I understand that the majority of his work is out of copyright (or never copyrighted). A lot of the “new” versions of his works are slightly edited (oh those mimeograph typos .. classic!) and retypeset versions which are then subsequently copyrighted and sent to Lybrary and other outlets for sale.

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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 14th, 2018, 7:03 pm

Philippe Billot wrote:There is a funny thing about this "Misdirection Pass" as Grant called it.

In the next issue of the New Phoenix (no 352 de décembre 1960) Stewart James send a letter to Don Tanner (the editor) and write that this force was is Greater Magic (1938) and a lot of magicians know it.

Grant reply :

As Mr. James says, this is in Greater Magic. BUT IT IS CREDITED To ME. Since I have shown this to many present day performers who were unfamiliar with it and who liked it very much, I thought your readers would like it too. 'This was not the first time that this has been in print, however. Long before Greater Magic was published I included this in a booklet titled ELIMINATORS which I supplied to dealers all over the country. Kanter still lists it.

One magician forget that Grant was the creator because he renamed it "The Oups Control". Who is He?


Roberto Giobbi calls Grant's Misdirection Pass the "Whoops Control" in Card College Vol. 1 (1995) and he mistakenly credits Frank Garcia with the control. According to Magicpedia, in 1973, Frank Garcia published the idea of using the reversed bottom card as a control or improvised key card, but apparently Frank was not aware that U.F. Grant had previously published it or that it was also described in Greater Magic in 1938 subsequent to Grant having published it a few years before.

Philippe Billot
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby Philippe Billot » February 15th, 2018, 7:39 am

Thanks Alfred.

Now I remember. Frank Garcia in Super Subltle Card Miracles!

When I bought Card College, I updated the index (made by Stephen Minch?) and corrected the reference.

But now, I have a problem because Grant wrote he described this subtlety before Greater Magic (1938) but Eliminators was published in 1943. I suppose he marketed it alone between 1926 and 1938.

If someone knows something...

MagicbyAlfred
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Re: U.F. Grant - a creative genius!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » February 15th, 2018, 10:00 am

Joe, thanks for bringing that diabolically clever control to our attention. I was not previously aware of it, but I really have taken to it and will use it. The only thing about it, and this is my own personal quirk, is that I prefer not to indicate to a spectator where to replace a card that they have withdrawn from the deck. Therefore, in lieu of the swing cut and asking the spectator to place his card on top of the cut-off cards, I am inclined to instead begin a Hindu Shuffle, asking them to tell me when to stop, and having them replace the card at that point. Then just place the rest of the cards and of course the reversed key card on top of their selection.

Then I got to thinking that a potential weakness in my procedure might be that this would be the second time in the trick they have been asked to say stop (i.e. first for the selection, and then for the replacement). So I am thinking that, for the selection, why not just spread the cards (carefully, of course) and have them run a finger across the spread "touch any card" they are drawn to (different than the trite and likely-to-be familiar "pick a card")? Then have them withdraw the card, look at it, show it around, have the card replaced per the Hindu shuffle, as described above, and proceed with the ruse and control as originally devised. (*Note, that if the magician is standing and they are sitting, care would have to be taken in any event, not to flash that bottom reversed card.)
Last edited by MagicbyAlfred on February 15th, 2018, 10:11 am, edited 2 times in total.


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