The Genii Forum

Much as painting can inform literature or poets can take something from ballet, good movies can suggest, if indirectly, aspects of good magic. Not a lot of mystery to the connection.

September 19

(Note: You must have the book to get the joke.)

I finally have my epitaph, and as a bonus it's a multiple question.

He was...

October 6

Michael Skinner had a nice paradox in his Cups and Balls routine: "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous."

Some Jazz pianist said about Art Tatum, "I'd give my right arm for his left arm." I can't remember who said it. Mike Close surely knows.

October 22

Today's offering is an interesting effect; very simple and direct. But I wonder if doing the Olram Subtlety with that many cards is wise. Perhaps using two fewer cards would be better? The only way to find out is do it, of course, and see what happens. One thing Mr. Giobbi does not mention: If you do the Olram Subtlety (assuming the packet starts in your left hand) by dropping the cards in right hand - left hand - right hand - left hand (etc.) order, the object card need only be placed on the top or the bottom of the packet and it is reset for the next table. If you have tried or will try this, I'd like to hear the results.

November 6

The person who taught me this force, when I was about 11 or 12 years old, was a layman (he also taught me the magicians choice). He showed it to me in a way I have never seen before, so this may be unique to him (his name was Jack; a friend of my family and the host of the weekly poker games). Instead of counting the remaining packet singly, count them in twos. From the left hand dealing position, you peel two cards off at a time into the right hand and drop those into a pile on the table counting, two, four, six etc. At the end, even if there is an odd number of cards (the last card is counted singly, ten, twelve, thirteen) you are left with the target card right where you need it and the count goes by faster.

Stephen Minch at Hermetic Press will be publishing a NEW book by Roberto Giobbi either this month or next!

Is it the deck switch book?

No. The title of this $47 book is "Confidences." Looking at the ad in the new issue of Genii right now (to be mailed to ya'll shortly) and it looks like another winner.

November 10

A great sublety to hide the fifth card after a packet effect like Jim Swain's "Capitulating Queens".

Stephen Minch is now running ads for the new Giobbi book on the Hermetic Press web site, allowing you to peruse sample pages. The book looks great.

Link:
http://www.hermeticpress.com/product_in ... abfe2aa708
And with a pre-publication discount through December 9.

November 29

Some great observations on the Torn and Restored Card effect. To restore the corner and or not?

November 29

I absolutely agree with the notion regarding the creases, but, after a long time not restoring the entire card and virtually always having at least one person say fix the rest (then others parroting it), I started to restore the whole card and the reactions are much better. The version I do is sort of my own.

Years ago, Pete Biro put up a challenge in his "Reel Work" column in Genii. I took the bait and sort of reinvented Karrell Foxs Signa-Tare, though I didn't know it until many years later. From that, I came up with the version I do today wherein the entire card is restored. There are many folks who have kept that signed and restored card as a souvenir.

I published a version in CardMagic in 1979 which deals with restoring the final corner. Looks like trick photography.

Who is the person who proposed the idea of using black art against a dark suit jacket as a method?

Using black art against clothing is an old idea. Not sure who first proposed it for a Torn and Restored Card.

There is an effect in an old Genii where Kevin James, I think, used black art against clothing to restore a corner of, IIRC, a newspapersomething larger than a card.

Not sure if he was the first.

erdnasephile wrote:Who is the person who proposed the idea of using black art against a dark suit jacket as a method?

There is a torn card routine using black art, with a black wallet, by John Cornelius in the April 1980 issue of Genii (page 253).

I'm thinking it goes back to the late 1800s, at least.

Richard Kaufman wrote:I'm thinking it goes back to the late 1800s, at least.

Conradi's "Der moderne Kartenknstler" (1896) has a trick called "Die neue Eckkarte" (The New Corner Card) using a small black fabric or metal cover over the corner of a card for a torn and restored effect. The version with a hinged flap is also described.

It's also in "New Era Card Tricks" (1897). Roterberg, who reproduced a lot of Conradi's material (with acknowledgement) describes the flap version and the "Improved Torn Corner Card" on page 241. Although Conradi just says to use a dark background, Roterberg specifically mentions the performer's "black dress coat".

Thank you, Edwin! I've read New Era Card Tricks many times it must be that which I'm remembering.

Joe Pecore wrote:

erdnasephile wrote:Who is the person who proposed the idea of using black art against a dark suit jacket as a method?

There is a torn card routine using black art, with a black wallet, by John Cornelius in the April 1980 issue of Genii (page 253).

I think Doug Bennett did something like that with business cards and a black plastic wallet too,right? (Business Merger?)

December 4

So what is magic's equivalent to the boiled egg (the thing so perfect that it is impossible or at least extremely difficult to improve upon)? Is it an effect? A sleight? Does one even exist?

It's Multiplying Rabbits!

An excellent choice indeed! And if there is anyone thinking "it's just a kid's trick," you have never seen Eric Mead do the bunnies behind the bar for a room full of adults.

I always thought it was hackneyed and crap. Then I started doing it two years ago. It slays. People love it. It's probably one of my most requested bits now.

Dustin:
I think some magician's versions of classic effects are difficult (if not impossible to improve on). They are so good, they become virtually synonymous (like Kleenix is to facial tissue).

IMHO, an example would be Harry Anderson's routine for Needle through Arm.

That's not the point. In Secret Agenda, Mr. Giobbi cites a chef who says (paraphrasing) that when it comes to innovation, it's more difficult to "attack" the boiled egg than a far more complicated dish.

Sure, individual presentations are one thing (and it really doesn't matter whether or not the trick is a bona fide "classic" or not; in the hands of a master, it becomes a classic).

But the point here is, is there a trick (or sleight) so perfect, that it transcends presentation and is resistant to "innovation"?

Q might be right. The bunnies might be that "perfect trick." (My point about Eric Mead was simply to point out that the bunnies are not "just a kid's trick" as Damian found out for his own self, which is usually how it goes.)

The bunnies kill (even more than sponge balls, but they are probably second on the list).

Why might that be?

Perhaps it's because they are direct in effect and there is a personal/emotional connection through a surprise finish that happens in the hands of the spectator.

Any other thoughts? Can a stage effect/illusion have those same properties?

Interesting discussion. I agree that anything that happens with a surprise climax in the spec's hand (wahay) is unbeatable. Copper/silver, bunnies, sponge balls, chicago opener ( if you give them the card to hold), coins across with the 'in their hand' climax (fnaar), etc

I don't think that level of intimate involvement (oo-er) is possible with stage magic.

It is if you think about it. Touching the heart can be equal to touching the hand. The question is (for this exercise) is what illusion can do that by its very nature? (In other words, an illusion without a schmaltzy presentation that creates a visceral experience).

When I saw him in Hawaii years ago, Copperfield had a an interactive trick where everyone received a set of cards and did the trick. But that hardly reached the level of the bunnies.

Vernon's Topping the Deck comes as close to perfection as a sleight can get. Once you master it, you wonder how you got along without it, like the Internet, cell phone, and T.V.

Francis Carlyle's "Homing Card" is still the best signed card to pocket. It resists any improvements that I have encountered in the literature. The psychology behind this effect, and the simple but elegant method, with the sneaky repeat were on the money right out of the gate.

Interesting that Vernon's sleight works well with Carlyle's effect.

How about the Zarrow shuffle?

Yeah--the Zarrow shuffle is one of those. I also thought of the Elmsley Count and Paddle Move as more sleights that are near perfect and cannot be improved.

December 16

The most incredible magic trick.

For me, without any doubt, the most incredible magic trick I've ever witnessed (not my favorite trick; the most incredible) is Dr. Hookers Rising Cards.

December 17

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Giobbi that creativity is not only the purview of the gifted. I learned how to become more creative. Like anything else worth learning and cultivating, it takes hard work.

A big step in the epiphany I had about that fact, that it wasn't too late for me, was seeing Dewitt Jones, a former National Geographic photographer speak on the subject. I highly recommend seeing him, or at the very least getting one of his DVDs. There are clips on his site. Check it out:

http://www.dewittjones.com/

December 21

(I wasnt going to post this until I was sure the Mayans were wrong)

I find it to be an interesting coincidence that Mr. Giobbi selected December 21st to be the day that he chose to tackle the never-ending debate over books versus video. Talk about a cataclysm!

December 26 and 28

I am quite fascinated by the two lists offered by Mr. Giobbi on these two dates. The first list (on the 26th) is his admittedly subjective and incomplete list of card tricks, 25 of them, that when capably performed and under the right circumstances, will have great impact. [Emphasis as in original.]

I hope he doesn't mind my listing them here:

All Backs (Dai Vernon)
Business Card Prophesy (Bill Simon)
Dave's Delight (Dave Lederman)
Surprise Package (Larry Jennings)
Follow the Leader (Vernon)
Itinerant Pasteboards (Jacob Daley)
I've Got a Surprise for You (Eddie Fechter)
Last Trick of Dr. Daley (Daley)
Marx Brothers (Bro. John Hamman)
Mona Lisa Card Trick (Michael Skinner)
Point of Departure (Alex Elmsley)
Between Your Palms (Elmsley)
The Slap Trick (Vernon)
Smiling Mule (Roy Walton)
Substitution Envelope Mystery (Paul LePaul)
Gymnastic Aces (LePaul)
1002nd Aces (Elmsley)
Three in a Million (Frank Garcia)
Travelers (Vernon)
Twisting the Aces (Vernon)
Emotional Reaction (Vernon)
Matching the Cards (Vernon)
Four of a Kind (Vernon)
The Trick That Cannot be Explained (Vernon)
Vernon Poker Demonstration (Vernon)

When one reads that list, not knowing about the list that comes just two days later, one notices just how incomplete it is. Then the list from the 28th appears and records ten more that are described as being the best card tricks ever invented.

By the very nature of their being the best, doesn't that also make them impactful?

Here they are:

Ambitious Card
Brainwave (Dai Vernon/Paul Fox)
Card on Wall or Ceiling (Pinettis version)
Card Stabbing on Table
Out of This World (Paul Curry)
Rising Cards (Tamariz's routine)
Rita de Iniciacin (Luis Garcia/Tamariz)
Slow-Motion Ace Assembly (Vernon, Ascanio, and Tamariz)
Total Coincidence (Tamariz)
Triumph (Vernon)

I've been wondering if Mr. Giobbi left these out of the first list on purpose, knowing that they would be included later as part of an even loftier list (of course they will have great impact when properly performed).

I don't know what was in Mr. Giobbis mind. But there are two things I am pretty certain of: This would be a formidable (in fact, the celebrated lifetime's worth) repertoire of card tricks. And if one has all of the books in which these tricks are printed, that would be a pretty darn good library of card magic.

Too much free time at work today, so:

Dustin Stinett wrote:
And if one has all of the books in which these tricks are printed, that would be a pretty darn good library of card magic.

All Backs (Dai Vernon) Hugard's Magic Monthly Jun 1949 p 552; Expert Card Technique (3rd ed) (Hugard and Braue)
Business Card Prophesy (Bill Simon) Effective Card Magic (Simon)
Daves Delight (Dave Lederman) Super Subtle Card Miracles (Garcia)
Surprise Package (Larry Jennings) Super Subtle Card Miracles (Garcia)
Follow the Leader (Vernon) Vernon's Expanded Lecture Notes (Vernon), Select Secrets (2nd ed) (Vernon), Early Vernon (Ross and Vernon), Greater Magic (Hilliard) The First California Lecture (Braue and Fitzkee)
Itinerant Pasteboards (Jacob Daley) Stars of Magic (Tannen)
Ive Got a Surprise for You (Eddie Fechter) Magician Nitely: The Magic of Eddie Fechter (Mentzer)
Last Trick of Dr. Daley (Daley) The Dai Vernon Book of Magic (Ganson)
Marx Brothers (Bro. John Hamman) Secrets of Brother John Hamman (Kaufman)
Mona Lisa Card Trick (Michael Skinner) Classic Sampler (Skinner)
Point of Departure (Alex Elmsley) Complete Works of Alex Elmsley v2 (Minch)
Between Your Palms (Elmsley) Complete Works of Alex Elmsley v2 (Minch)
The Slap Trick (Vernon) Vernon Chronicles v2 (Minch)
Smiling Mule (Roy Walton) That Certain Something (Walton) The Complete Walton (Walton)
Substitution Envelope Mystery (Paul LePaul) The Card Magic of LePaul (LePaul)
Gymnastic Aces (LePaul) The Card Magic of LePaul (LePaul)
1002nd Aces (Elmsley) Complete Works of Alex Elmsley v1 (Minch)
Three in a Million (Frank Garcia) Million Dollar Card Secrets (Garcia)
Travelers (Vernon) Stars of Magic (Tannen)
Twisting the Aces (Vernon) More Inner Secrets of Card Magic (Ganson)
Emotional Reaction (Vernon) Inner Secrets of Card Magic (Ganson)
Matching the Cards (Vernon) Inner Secrets of Card Magic (Ganson)
Four of a Kind (Vernon) Inner Secrets of Card Magic (Ganson)
The Trick That Cannot be Explained (Vernon) More Inner Secrets of Card Magic (Ganson)
Vernon Poker Demonstration (Vernon) Dai Vernon Book of Magic (Ganson); Early Vernon (Ross and Vernon); Encyclopedia of Card Tricks (Hugard)


"Ambitious Card" Stars of Magic (Tannen)
Brainwave (Dai Vernon/Paul Fox) Jinx #49
Card on Wall or Ceiling (Pinettis version) The Conjurer Unmasked or, La Magic Blanche Dvoillie (DeCremps)
Card Stabbing on Table Stars of Magic (Tannen)
Out of This World (Paul Curry) Worlds Beyond (Curry)
Rising Cards (Tamarizs routine) Mnemonica (Tamariz)
Rita de Iniciacin (Luis Garcia/Tamariz) Mnemonica (Tamariz) p 169
Slow-Motion Ace Assembly (Vernon, Ascanio, and Tamariz) The First California Lecture (Braue and Fitzkee)
Total Coincidence (Tamariz) Sonata (Tamariz)
Triumph (Vernon) Stars of Magic (Tannen)

Dustin is correct -- that is a good library.

(And I think the list is pretty accurate, but not 100%. Corrections welcome. Thanks Denis Behr and AskAlexander.)

Thanks for doing that Bill. That took some time!

It's worth noting that "Out of This World" is also in Curry's Magician's Magic which has been released by Dover Books. (I once won a bet that this, one of the greatest tricks ever, was in that book; a book for the public.)