The Genii Forum

Richard Kaufman wrote: ....an artifact from when dinosaurs ruled the earth.

Very wise, hip dinosaurs, I might add............

Once hip, now middle aged with aching hips.

I own Richard's Almanac Volume I in hardback with a dustjacket. Is the version I own the same as the Collected Almanac? I already have the feeling that it is not. Just trying to figure out what I have, thanks.

Mark, what you have is only the first year of Richard's Almanac, reprinted in hardcover with a green dustjacket. Sales were poor (it was a mistake to reprint only volume 1 in book form), so I didn't reprint vols.2 and 3 that way. Some years after the magazine ended, in 1991 or 92, I took all three volumes, added a large amount of new material for an introduction, did a cumulative index, and published "The Collected Almanac."

Richard Kaufman wrote:Welcome, Beyond Control. I'm glad you're enjoying The Collected Almanac, an artifact from when dinosaurs ruled the earth.

Thanks for the warm welcome Richard. I'm at least glad I'm exploring through the artifacts rather than exploring some of the one-trick ponies we see today.

I always recommend the Collected Almanac very highly

Richard Kaufman wrote:Mark, what you have is only the first year of Richard's Almanac, reprinted in hardcover with a green dustjacket. Sales were poor (it was a mistake to reprint only volume 1 in book form), so I didn't reprint vols.2 and 3 that way. Some years after the magazine ended, in 1991 or 92, I took all three volumes, added a large amount of new material for an introduction, did a cumulative index, and published "The Collected Almanac."

Thank You, Richard. Looks like I will be picking up The "Collected Almanac".

When you get it check out Racherbaumers "Convincing Technicolor Oil & Water" page 377. This effect is nothing short of killer. Enjoy.

Yes, Lee, that routine is indeed a killer.

Just want to echo what an awesome book (and bargain) this is. I've been working on some stuff that I missed the first time around. I was reading/working on a Mike Skinner Ace Routine called SentiMental Aces yesterday while listening to the iPod.

Get this if you don't have it.

" hope I am not off the mark on this. But has anyone performed the marked dime penetration to inside of perrier bottle. (No gimmicks.)"

Spent several months practicing this in 87. Did it a few times. Strong effect but the hours of practice to keep it in trim were killer. Eventually stopped doing it - still a great effect tough.

Randy

You might try it again. It's a lot easier with a plastic water bottle or a Sobe tea bottle. I don't notice much loss in impact.

The later version in Life Savers has a different grip on the bottle which I find much easier. It leaves the third and little fingers free to help guide the coin. I also find it easier with a plastic water bottle.

Psychic Twins - Maven.

I like "Triskadeckaphobia"--a devious mathematical force of the number 13. But just about every effect in the Collected Almanac is a winner.

Not every trick, but thanks for the compliment. I think the average quality of the tricks in The Collected Almanac is higher than usual for most collected periodicals. It was just a matter of being in the right places at the right times.

is there any book that Mr. Kaufman has done that isn"t first rate..i think not

Oh, I have published a few crappy books. Sorry to admit it, but sometimes you're too far down the road to stop the train.

Max Maven has a cool coin(!) trick in this magazine.

What are the primary differences between the bound collected Almanac and the original loose issues of Almanac? Is it true that some of the Bull columns were removed from the collected Almanac?

prodigy wrote:What are the primary differences between the bound collected Almanac and the original loose issues of Almanac? Is it true that some of the Bull columns were removed from the collected Almanac?

Interesting that you asked that question. As it turns out I purchased a complete loose file from George Daily a few months ago and the first thing I did was to look for the Bull columns that supposedly were edited out of The Collected Almanac. My search is not finished because I'm slowly going through each issue side by side with the book, and so far, it all looks identical.

The collected book has a fairly large section in the front with the story of the magazine, and several tricks explained that were not in the originals. There's also the 36 picks bit, which is fun if you like shortcuts.

prodigy wrote:What are the primary differences between the bound collected Almanac and the original loose issues of Almanac? Is it true that some of the Bull columns were removed from the collected Almanac?

I own both the loose version and the collected version. There were no Bull columns I can find that were left out. I think Richard states in the collected version that everything is there and nothing has been revised in the text of the actual newsletters. (Could you possibly be thinking of maybe The Collected Heirophant? I seem to recall reading some things may have been left out there--I could be wrong).

I do think the collected book is far superior to own rather than the loose copies. Lots more information, tricks, and history.

(PS: An interesting thread could be made regarding expurgated history in collected editions. For example, the Michael Ammar chastisement in the original Vernon Revelations DVDs (subsequently added back in), the Lorayne Fulves beatdown in Afterthoughts, Sadowitz's tricks in Pabular, etc.)

Nothing was edited out of The Collected Almanac. It's just yet another b*llsh*t rumor.

And how could anything have been left out? The original magazines themselves, which comprise the bulk of the book, were simply photographed to make printing plates.

I published The Collected Almanac because my mother had died that year, and I was finding it difficult to work and needed to produce a book to pay some bills. Little did I know it would sell so well.

I finished looking over both publications and all Bull columns are in The Collected Almanac. I did see a few ads that are tucked in the pages of the loose version that are not in the bound version, but that's about it. As the Chief Genii said, it's all a rumor.

Yes, Leo, I did not want to reprint any of the ads in the book, and so removed those.