Does anyone here speak French?

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performer
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Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » February 27th, 2020, 6:12 am

I used to be interested in languages but alas I have forgotten most of it and all I can do now is count up to eight in Welsh and up to four in Esperanto which perhaps should not be viewed as a major accomplishment in life. I used to be good at French when I was young but I have forgotten all that too.

So what the hell does all this mean? I have been informed that it is from a French book on Card Magic by Yves Carbonnier entitled "Grande Livre de Cartomagie". It appears to be mentioning my book but of course I don't know whether it is saying something nice or something terribly rude. I suspect it is saying something nice since I have been informed that the gentleman in question has mentioned my work in a positive manner during his lecture at the French national congress 2019 at Mandelieu (south of France).

Anyway here it is. Does anyone know what it means?

Et toujours a propos du jeu radio, il y a un fascicule qui a pour titre: The Long and the Short of It , the Best Svengali Routine in Existence, de Mark Lewis, edite par Lisa Moore (2001). Je l'avais trouvé a Londres dans la boutique de Ron MacMillan et c'est dans le fascicule que j'ais trouve tous les techniques de melange et d'étalement. C'est un livre vraiment genial. Quand en le voit, on n'a pas envie de l'acheteur. Et c'est un tort: il contient des petits trésors.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Kent Gunn » February 27th, 2020, 7:28 am

Mark,
There are dozen of French to English translators on the web.

Type translate French to English into a search engine.

Or you can just click on this link.

https://translate.yandex.com/translator/French-English

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Bob Farmer » February 27th, 2020, 7:41 am

Non parlez Francais Nescafe Chevrolet.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Joe Lyons » February 27th, 2020, 7:56 am

I am using my multilingual psychic powers.

It is a positive review of Mark’s book!

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Edwin Corrie » February 27th, 2020, 8:35 am

To save everyone the trouble, here's what Kent's link gives you:

"And still about the radio game, there is a booklet entitled: The Long and the Short of It , the Best Svengali Routine in Existence, by Mark Lewis, edited by Lisa Moore (2001). I found it in London in the shop of Ron MacMillan and it is in the booklet that I found all the techniques of mixing and spreading. It's a really great book. When you see it, you don't want the buyer. And this is wrong: it contains small treasures."

Machine translation is quite good with things like this, and the above is generally fine – except that "jeu" here is "pack of cards", and it didn’t know that “le jeu radio” is “Svengali Deck”. So we could say “And still on the subject of the Svengali Deck…”.

Also there seems to be an unfortunate typo in “acheteur”, which Yandex correctly translates “acheteur” as “buyer” but which should probably be “acheter” without the “u” (= “to buy”). That one letter, together with the literal machine translation of the rest, changes the whole meaning. I think what he’s saying is more like:

“It's a really great book. When you see it you don’t feel compelled to buy it, but that would be a mistake as it contains some real gems.”

In other words it’s a book that doesn’t leap of the shelf at you, but the contents are excellent. Whether or not readers would “want the buyer” is another matter entirely…

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » February 27th, 2020, 10:31 am

Bravo Edwin pour cette traduction (Bravo Edwin for this translation).

Et vous avez raison ! (and you are right!) Curieusement il y a une faute en français (Curiously there is a mistake in French). C'est bien ACHETER (to buy) qu'il faut lire, et non pas ACHETEUR (Buyer).

Shame on the writter. Fortunately, it's not me !

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » February 27th, 2020, 10:44 am

Bob Farmer wrote:Non parlez Francais Nescafe Chevrolet.


Folies Bergères, Champ Elysées, petites femmes de Paris, etc.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby PressureFan » February 27th, 2020, 10:55 am

Come an' tie my shoe, seafood plate.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby AJM » February 27th, 2020, 12:19 pm

I knew a guy called Jim Appel who’s name was always a source of some amusement to any Frenchman he met.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Brad Jeffers » February 27th, 2020, 12:55 pm


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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby AJM » February 27th, 2020, 12:58 pm

‘The French don’t have a word for ‘entrepreneur’
George W Bush.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » February 27th, 2020, 4:33 pm

In all my decades of working with a svengali deck I never know that "Jeu Radio" meant "svengali deck" in French. I will be able to sleep well now as a result. I still don't know what the hell a radio has to do with the svengali deck but I am happy to go along with it. Hopefully it has nothing to do with Brexit.

I did come across this today. I had never seen it before and was not aware of it. Very detailed and I thank Denis Behr for putting it together.
https://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/book/2097

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » February 27th, 2020, 4:45 pm

Good heavens! I see that Marmaduke the Wonder Mouse is there too! I had no idea about any of this!
https://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/b ... ight=89981

I suppose I had better inform the multitude that both books can be obtained here:
http://www.marklewisentertainment.com/h ... short.html
And here:
http://www.marklewisentertainment.com/h ... ebook.html

I hope I don't get too many orders from France (even though I won't turn them away). Alas I have been daft enough to offer free postage to anywhere in the world. That was because when both books came out in 2001 and 2004 I could afford the postage. Not quite so easy now but I have no idea how to alter things on the website. So get your money out before I figure it out!

I never was much good at business......................

If I were I would also tell you that both books are available on lybrary.com in e-book form whatever on earth that means.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » February 27th, 2020, 5:48 pm

performer wrote:In all my decades of working with a svengali deck I never know that "Jeu Radio" meant "svengali deck" in French. I will be able to sleep well now as a result. I still don't know what the hell a radio has to do with the svengali deck but I am happy to go along with it. Hopefully it has nothing to do with Brexit.


The Svengali Deck was named Jeu Radio in French with reference to radio waves which are long or short as a svengali deck is: long and short cards!

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » February 27th, 2020, 6:07 pm

Philippe Billot wrote:
performer wrote:In all my decades of working with a svengali deck I never know that "Jeu Radio" meant "svengali deck" in French. I will be able to sleep well now as a result. I still don't know what the hell a radio has to do with the svengali deck but I am happy to go along with it. Hopefully it has nothing to do with Brexit.


The Svengali Deck was named Jeu Radio in French with reference to radio waves which are long or short as a svengali deck is: long and short cards!


How interesting! I must tell a Belgian/Canadian friend of mine this. He speaks French fluently but seems puzzled by the expression and where it originated.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 27th, 2020, 6:51 pm

Philippe Billot wrote:The Svengali Deck was named Jeu Radio in French with reference to radio waves which are long or short!
Thank you! :)
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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Bill Mullins » February 27th, 2020, 9:48 pm

Philippe Billot wrote:
Bob Farmer wrote:Non parlez Francais Nescafe Chevrolet.


Folies Bergères, Champ Elysées, petites femmes de Paris, etc.


As my late father-in-law used to say,
Merci beau coup Chevrolet coupé Lincoln Zephyr bon ami.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » February 28th, 2020, 3:26 am

Jonathan Townsend wrote:
Philippe Billot wrote:The Svengali Deck was named Jeu Radio in French with reference to radio waves which are long or short!
Thank you! :)



And it was presented under this name in January 1946 in the dealer Mayette's catalog :P

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Dave Le Fevre » February 28th, 2020, 5:35 am

performer wrote:C'est un livre vraiment genial
This reminds me of visiting friends in France 26 years ago. I performed a few bits of magic, and someone remarked "c'est génial, ça!"

I was surprised, since we use genial to mean amiable. I later found that it's one of those faux amis - a word that resembles a word in another language but doesn't have the same meaning. génial means clever, as in genius.

Dave

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » February 28th, 2020, 7:20 am

I thought it meant amiable too. I am not sure that describes me. I far prefer the other word you mentioned. Anyway the book in question can be obtained here in ebook form:
https://www.lybrary.com/the-long-and-th ... 23527.html

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Dave Le Fevre » February 28th, 2020, 8:31 am

performer wrote:I far prefer the other word you mentioned
I'd thought that that would please you. But do bear in mind that the word was applied to me - so that rather devalues the currency. (smile)

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Ariel Frailich » February 28th, 2020, 8:53 am

I'm the 'Belgian/Canadian' friend that 'performer' referred to. I started magic when I lived in Brussels and the Svengali deck was my first purchase. Of course I knew as 'jeu radio' from the beginning, but I never the origin of the name.

What puzzled me in the write-up that 'performer' posted was that the author didn't call it Svengali because, from much of what I've seen online, francophone magicians now often use the English names for techniques, tricks, props, etc., instead of the common French names I learned (I loved the Ceillier books and deeply regret having left them in Europe. :(

'Génial' is more or less the equivalent of today's 'awesome' — it can mean just about anything positive.
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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » February 28th, 2020, 10:43 am

Ariel Frailich wrote:I'm the 'Belgian/Canadian' friend that 'performer' referred to. I started magic when I lived in Brussels and the Svengali deck was my first purchase. Of course I knew as 'jeu radio' from the beginning, but I never the origin of the name.

What puzzled me in the write-up that 'performer' posted was that the author didn't call it Svengali because, from much of what I've seen online, francophone magicians now often use the English names for techniques, tricks, props, etc., instead of the common French names I learned (I loved the Ceillier books and deeply regret having left them in Europe. :(

'Génial' is more or less the equivalent of today's 'awesome' — it can mean just about anything positive.


Yes, french magicians use a lot of english terms in magic (slip cut, under cut, double cut, etc.) but they don't know what is a Svengali Deck. I think it's because we are proud to have created two words in magic : jeu biseauté and jeu radio. And that's enough for us.

Oh ! I forget: in France every minor magician think if one french magican creates a trick (Ah ! Ah !) he is a genius...

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Zig Zagger » February 28th, 2020, 5:00 pm

performer wrote:In all my decades of working with a svengali deck I never know that "Jeu Radio" meant "svengali deck" in French. I will be able to sleep well now as a result. I still don't know what the hell a radio has to do with the svengali deck but I am happy to go along with it. Hopefully it has nothing to do with Brexit.

I did come across this today. I had never seen it before and was not aware of it. Very detailed and I thank Denis Behr for putting it together.
https://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/book/2097

Performer, may I ask you about an alternative, unsuspecting Svengali force I came up with many years ago. I guess it's likely that others have had the same idea, though.
So have you ever seen or even used it in your long pitching career?

Here's my idea: You have all the force cards separated underneath the regular half. Casually spread face up through the different cards. Then turn the deck face down, cut it at the break and riffle shuffle (or faro) the two halves together, without squaring them. Instead, spread them into a huge double fan and let a spectator take one. Naturally, he will pick one from the outer bank (unless he probably is a drunken Blackpool lard). It will be a force card, and you're all set to move into your routine.

Any thoughts? Thank you!
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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » February 28th, 2020, 11:04 pm

Never heard of it. Interesting idea.

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Peacock's Tail Force :D

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 28th, 2020, 11:43 pm

That reads as impressive and clever. :!: Is the pack stripped so you can shuffle and reset? :?:
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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Dave Le Fevre » February 29th, 2020, 1:59 am

Philippe Billot wrote:jeu biseauté
I assume that that's a Stripper Deck?

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » February 29th, 2020, 3:38 am

Dave Le Fevre wrote:
Philippe Billot wrote:jeu biseauté
I assume that that's a Stripper Deck?


Yes. If you read all the books of the 19e century, everybody said "Jeu biseauté" (or Bisaute), even in english.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » February 29th, 2020, 3:45 am

Also named Inverted or Tappering or Beveled or Basiled Cards, it seems the term Stripper come from cardsharp at the end of 19e century.

See Fools of Fortune by John Philip Quinn (1890)

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » February 29th, 2020, 7:48 am

I always knew that biseaute meant the stripper deck. In fact I heard it before I heard the phrase "stripper deck". I think I read it somewhere from Professor Hoffmann.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Zig Zagger » February 29th, 2020, 9:45 am

That's right, it's described in Chapter IV of "Modern Magic," pp. 60-64.

As Hoffmann writes, "A still greater improvement upon the ordinary long-card pack is the biseauté or tapering pack, in which, though only one pack is used, any card may in turn become the long card. A biseauté pack consists of cards all of which are a shade wider (say the thickness of a shilling) at one end than the other."
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Re: Peacock's Tail Force :D

Postby Zig Zagger » February 29th, 2020, 9:48 am

Jonathan Townsend wrote:That reads as impressive and clever. :!: Is the pack stripped so you can shuffle and reset? :?:

Thank you, performer and JT, for your nice comments!

Yes, the deck could also be stripped. If I'm not mistaken, a Svengali Deck with extra stripper qualities would be a Trilby Deck then, non?
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Re: Peacock's Tail Force :D

Postby Philippe Billot » February 29th, 2020, 10:18 am

Zig Zagger wrote:
Jonathan Townsend wrote:That reads as impressive and clever. :!: Is the pack stripped so you can shuffle and reset? :?:

Thank you, performer and JT, for your nice comments!

Yes, the deck could also be stripped. If I'm not mistaken, a Svengali Deck with extra stripper qualities would be a Trilby Deck then, non?



Yes. A Trilby Deck (Joe Stuthard - 1948) is a combo.Svengali and stripper.

Have anyone the original presented like this?

TRILBY DECK
A COMPLETE CARD ACT FOR THE
NON-SLEIGHT-OF-HAND PERFORMER

A COMPLETE ROUTINE OF TEN MINUTES THAT YOU CAN
IMMEDIATELY ADD TO YOUR ACT.

TWENTY-TWO TRICKS to build a Routine, or to use as Individual Tricks!
NO SLEIGHT-OF-HAND. EXCELLENT for the POCKET,
DRAWING ROOM or PLATFORM.

Complete with Cards and Booklet of Instructions. Printed on Art
Paper with Stiff Cover. Over 20 Tricks. 22 Photographs and Line
Drawings.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Dave Le Fevre » February 29th, 2020, 11:30 am

I assume that stripping the deck requires the long edges to be tapered.

The Trilby Deck has no tapering on the long edges. The ends of the deck are bevelled, so it's like a Svengali Deck but instead of cards being long and short they're bevelled left and right.

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Dave Le Fevre » February 29th, 2020, 11:37 am

I should have added that yes, a Trilby Deck does include an End Stripper Deck. But I don't think that it does what's required in this instance. (Though maybe I've not understood correctly.)

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Ariel Frailich » February 29th, 2020, 12:01 pm

Philippe Billot wrote:Yes, french magicians use a lot of english terms in magic (slip cut, under cut, double cut, etc.) but they don't know what is a Svengali Deck. I think it's because we are proud to have created two words in magic : jeu biseauté and jeu radio. And that's enough for us.

Oh ! I forget: in France every minor magician think if one french magican creates a trick (Ah ! Ah !) he is a genius...


I was thinking more specifically of terms that exist in French or can easily be translated, such as "double coupe" and "empalmage Tenkai". I get the impression that the use of English terms instead of French equivalents is strongest with Québecois magicians.

I'm surprised that there are only two French names used — or known — in other languages, given France's rich history of magic. Isn't the name "boules Excelsior" also French? (I know the trick isn't.)

As for the creation of tricks, does that make people like Merlin, Duvivier, Bloom and Bilis demi-gods? :)
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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Ariel Frailich » February 29th, 2020, 12:18 pm

Zig Zagger wrote:Performer, may I ask you about an alternative, unsuspecting Svengali force I came up with many years ago.


This is lovely. Thank you for sharing!

For what it's worth, I seem to remember that there are a few tricks — perhaps in the Encyclopedia of Card Tricks — in which the deck starts out divided, and tricks in which the deck is dealt into two piles.

Silly idea: make a regular fan and hold it toward a spectator at some distance from you. "You're too far, let me make it easier for you" and do the double fan :)
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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Zig Zagger » February 29th, 2020, 6:36 pm

Ariel Frailich wrote:
Zig Zagger wrote:Performer, may I ask you about an alternative, unsuspecting Svengali force I came up with many years ago.

This is lovely. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you, Ariel!
For what it's worth, I seem to remember that there are a few tricks — perhaps in the Encyclopedia of Card Tricks — in which the deck starts out divided, and tricks in which the deck is dealt into two piles.

Nice, I will check this out.

Silly idea: make a regular fan and hold it toward a spectator at some distance from you. "You're too far, let me make it easier for you" and do the double fan :)

I like it! :D
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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby Philippe Billot » March 1st, 2020, 3:53 am

Ariel Frailich wrote: As for the creation of tricks, does that make people like Merlin, Duvivier, Bloom and Bilis demi-gods? :)


How did you guess this? :lol: :lol:

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Re: Does anyone here speak French?

Postby performer » March 1st, 2020, 7:47 am

He guessed it because Ariel knows everything!


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