"Poor Charlie" by Scotty York

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

I heard or read often mentions to this routine "Poor Charlie" but have unfortunately never seen it and don't even know what the effect looks like.
Could you please describe this effect with the different phases if applicable ?

Thanks for your help.

FM

[Guest]

Originally posted by Franck Magician:
Hi everyone,

I heard or read often mentions to this routine "Poor Charlie" but have unfortunately never seen it and don't even know what the effect looks like.
Could you please describe this effect with the different phases if applicable ?

Thanks for your help.

FM

This is a signature performance piece and involves Derek Dingle's poker hand based trick, and some props.

The routine is written up in Scotty York's book, For Your Eyes Only.

I hope there is a performance of this stuff available on video. Only heard good things about the guy. :)

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply Johnathan!
Until I get hold of these sources, would you mind describing the different phases of the effect?

Thanks !

FM

[Bill Wells]

"Poor Charlie" Smith is a Scotty York modification of Derek Dingle's "Poor Charlie" card routine. Derek's routine was developed from Bruce Cervon's "Dirty Deal" which in turn was based on Alex Elmsley's "Dazzle".

Scotty's handling and modifications appear in his "For Your Eyes Only" manuscript (which at one time was available from Denny & Lee.
Derek's routine appears in "The Complete Works of Derek Dingle" by one Richard Kaufman (who probably can sell you a copy)

Dazzle is written up in "The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Vol. II, by Stepen Minch.

I don't have time at the moment to check out where (if anywhere) the Cervon handling is in print. However, it was commercially available at one time and may still be.

All the routines involved a series of back changes of a packet of cards. A single back changes and then all the backs of the packet change to match the "stranger" back. The endings of the various handlings differ from all jokers back and front to royal flushes. The means whereby all this is accomplishes differs in the handlings with different counts and techniques being used depending on whose version you use.

All the routines require a special set of cards with the different backs, etc. The cards are different for each of the routines mentioned above. At one time sets of the cards for most of the variations were available from Cards by Martin. They may still be - I don't know.

[Bill Wells]

I forgot to include that the York handling appears on The Scotty York Video - The Silver Fox Hisownself - Vol. 2 produced by A-1 Multimedia. The other handlings are probably on video tape as well, but I don't have the tapes to check.

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

Originally posted by Bill Wells:
The other handlings are probably on video tape as well, but I don't have the tapes to check.

Elmsley's routine is on the Tahoe Sessions videos, Vol. 1.

-Jim

[Guest]

"The Dazzle Act" offers much more than the poker hand. It includes a card stab, several changes, a prediction effect that spawned various Birthday Book type effects, and Elmsley on the psychology of deck switching, which is invaluable. If you haven't seen D"Dazzle" done, or read and tried it, you are missing a lesson in card conjuring par excellence...

Best, PSC

[Guest]

Originally posted by pchosse:
"The Dazzle Act" offers much more than the poker hand.

The Dazzle card trick was on the Elmsley tape, though I don't recall a larger act by that name on the tapes. Is this written up somewhere else?

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

Originally posted by Jonathan Townsend:
The Dazzle card trick was on the Elmsley tape, though I don't recall a larger act by that name on the tapes. Is this written up somewhere else?

It's in The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Vol 2.

Contents: http://www.obsolite.com/magic/toc/colle ... msley2.php

-Jim

[Richard Kaufman]

I just described Poor Charlie in the May 2004 issue of Genii! And Gary Plants is the only person authorized to make the sets of cards for Derek's handling of the trick.

[Guest]

Originally posted by Jonathan Townsend:

Originally posted by pchosse:
[b] "The Dazzle Act" offers much more than the poker hand.

The Dazzle card trick was on the Elmsley tape, though I don't recall a larger act by that name on the tapes. Is this written up somewhere else? [/b]

If you look at the "Dazzle Act" in Volume 2 of Elmsley's complete works, and then go back to the vhs/dvd's of Alex Elmsley you will find that most if not all of the effects are in the videos, just not performed in the order of the actual act.

I have Scotty York's routine and I like it, I also like Dazzle.
I also have the Cervon effect, but I feel it is not as strong as the other two.

If you don't have Elmsley's books I would recommend them, they are wonderful.

[Pete Biro]

Cervon's Dirty Deal was marketed by Ken Brooke. I am not sure if Stevens still has any or not. I believe Cards by Martin has some of the original stock left.