Hoops of Steel

Well I’m about four weeks behind in posting. The end of the school year is always a crazy time. Things are still pretty busy but I’ve been away from the blog way too long.

The next to last effect for Magic Friday this year is the ever-classic Linking Rings. Often when performing with the rings magicians claim that “The Chinese Linking Rings is the oldest known magic trick”.


In 1898 a successful Chinese conjurer, Ching Ling Foo brought his show to the United States. This may be the west’s first introduction to a multiple linking ring routine. But origin of the rings may go back to the first century in Asia Minor and Egypt. Either way the Linking Rings became a staple of the “Golden Age of Magic”. And to anyone who has seen a fine performance of the effect, it’s easy to understand why.

The apparent melting of solid metal rings through one another is visually stunning when well handled. The added element of musical sounds as the linking and unlinking occur brings another layer of texture to the effect.


Individuals who, at some time possessed a passing interest in magic have probably tinkered and dabbled with a cheap set of rings. Nonetheless, when they witness a professionally presented ring routine their amazement is just as strong as someone seeing it for the first time. Not only that but most magicians enjoy watching other magicians perform the rings with the same interest that one trial lawyer would be fascinated to see how another lawyer would handle a similar case.

The rings may be presented with elegance and refinement. Or as a raucous, almost cartoon-like comedy effect or anything in between. It all depends on the style and persona of the performer.


I have worked on routines by Tarbell, Jack Miller, and Dai Vernon. The routine that I perform is basically Vernon’s routine with a couple of Tarbell’s ideas added. Last winter I purchased a copy of Whit Haydn’s 4-ring routine. I have had the pleasure of watching Mr. Haydn perform this routine on several occasions and was always astounded by his skill, timing and interaction with the audience. Brilliant. Someday I may be able to do it justice.


All 5 performances of the rings went well for this installment of Magic Friday. It was smooth and blunder-free. There was a good hand-full of “Ooooo’s” and “Ahaaa’s” and plenty of applause but something was missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something wasn’t right. After some thought I concluded the problem was a lack of "building". The most magical moments of the routine happen during the initial stages. That first link or two are beautiful. There are a couple nice moments during the “figures” portion as well. But by the time the end of the routine comes along, the most powerful magic has already taken place. The routine (as I perform it) seems a little anti-climactic to me. I will have to give this some very serious brain sweat and figure out what I need to do to make the routine best work for me. This will also require getting out in the public and working out my solutions.
Doug Henning

The Travelers

Great accidental discoveries in science don’t just happen by accident. They present themselves in the presence of intellectual curiosity, discipline, scientific integrity, joy and passion. Only then are the unexpected elements or dynamics recognized as something new. Something important and wonderful.
Around 1911 Ernest Rutherford “accidentally” discovered that the atom consisted of mostly empty space with a dense positively charged nucleus. He was shooting alpha particles at a thin sheet of foil to measure the angle through which they were deflected when they passed by an electron. At that time it was thought that the atom was a positively charged “gel” with negatively charged bits floating around in it. (J.J Thompson’s “plum pudding” model).
Rutherford and his colleagues were investigating the structure of the atom with intention and discipline. By measuring the deflection angle of the positively charged alpha particles as they passed through the atom they were hoping to catch a glimpse of matter’s fundamental building block. Then something amazing happened. On a fluke, Rutherford set up the equipment to measure a wider dispersion of alpha particles. At once Rutherford found alpha particles flying straight back at him. This did not make sense. In his own words…

“It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me
in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell
at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you”!

The only explanation for the observed event was that the atom must have a great deal of empty space and a dense, positively charged core, or nucleus. And with that our understanding of the universe made a leap of astronomical proportion. Nothing would ever be the same. The modern era with all its technology, hopes, dreams and fears was begun. The point is this; someone didn’t just walk into a lab and say “What’s this button do”? Rather, these were brilliant minds. They set up brilliant experiments with intention. The discovery may have been unexpected, but they were already hot on the trail of something big. And that was no accident.


So what has all this got to do with some old hack trying to become a competent magician? Being a science teacher I couldn’t resist the analogy because science and art are not so different as one might imagine. There is an art to science and a science to art. For example, Einstein is famous for saying…”Imagination is more important than knowledge”. Indeed, a scientist needs the creative power to imagine how things “might” be and devise ways to investigate them. Conversely, just ask any artist about the foundations of visual composition, the physics of light or color theory. An artist’s world is full of science. And how many books and essays have been written on psychology of magic? Before anyone thinks I am about to compare myself with the greats of science or magic, allow me to state for the record… On my best day I couldn’t muster half the intellect of Rutherford on his worst day. And all the creative powers I possess focused into one concentrated beam would be like a firefly against the white hot spotlight of Jeff McBride, Whit Hayden or Daryl. But something wonderful happened today for Magic Friday. And it was an accident. Sort of.




I have always wanted to learn and perform that Dai Vernon palm-fest known as “The Travelers”. I’ve had “Stars of Magic” for about 25 years and for a long time felt the effect was way over my head. Not only does it require a fair amount of mechanical skill, but the misdirection required necessitates a set of brass ones. So while I was working on the routine for the past few weeks I had what I thought to be a great idea. I decided to have the 4th card wind up in a sealed envelope in a wallet that had been sitting on the table. I altered the handling to facilitate this ending to the effect. I wrote a snappy script for it and justified all actions and movements. I was pretty excited to see how well I could pull this off.



The first performance was successful and went very well. The reaction was warm and enthusiastic. But on the second performance, I made a huge blunder. When it was time to pull the 2nd spectator’s card from a pocket, it wasn’t there! What was I to do? I said…”Hummm, I’ll get back to you later”. I continued with producing the 3rd card and of course the 4th one in the wallet. Everyone thought that was pretty cool but wondered what happened to the 2nd guy’s card. I was stumped. I knew I goofed and everyone was waiting. I decided to take the honest route. “Okay guys, I have no idea what happened to Brian’s card”. (Of course the audience assumed I was playing them). I picked up the pack and found the card on top and acted quickly. I took the indifferent card in the front right trouser pocket, held it up triumphantly and asked Brian to name his card. He did and I smugly flipped over the card to show its face. Of course it was not his signed card. I feigned resignation to failure, executed a T.C., handed the card to him and asked him to wave it over his neighbor’s head. With that he turned the card back over to look at it and held it up for all to see. He and the rest of the audience were visibly stunned. And so was I by the reaction. A roar of amazement and disbelief went up such as I have never heard. I never, ever would have expected such a reaction from such a simple revelation as a climax. It was a blunder gone right. (I later realized that I had completely forgotten to do a O.H.T.P). It was a careless and inexcusable error. But it turned out so well.


The next two performances I played it straight and again, like the first performance of the day the response was strongly positive. But it was not over the top like the 2nd performance was. The “accident” performance. Now I was curious. So for the last performance I got rid of the wallet, slightly altered the handling and intentionally recreated the accident from the 2nd performance. I also included one of my bad-ass students. Nothing phases this guy. He is tough, brash, uninterested in educational success and cynical. Sometimes he’s downright disrespectful, but his home life really sucks so it’s easy to forgive him. Anyway, I recreated the blunder from earlier in the day. Only this time it was controlled. When that final card was turned over the reaction was just as powerful as the 2nd performance. Even Joe Badboy threw his hands over his reddened face and exclaimed “Holy s____”. I decided not to write him up for language. I also decided that this was the way for me to perform this effect.

So now it seems I am in possession of my own personal handling of Dai Vernon’s “The Travelers”. It’s uniquely scripted and has a powerful and surprising sucker punch as a climax. No wallet needed and instantly reset. This newly acquired routine fits my personality like a glove and may be the strongest effect I’ve presented this year. And all thanks to a careless mistake. An accident. But like the unexpected discovery in Rutherford’s laboratory, it didn’t “just happen”. Because I have been working my chops I was able to recover an effect that was headed toward failure. Because I have been on my manipulative toes while keeping my nose buried in the classic books, I converted a potential disaster into an unquestionable success. In the old days I dreamt about magic more than putting in the hard work to make those dreams a reality. It takes more than passion and creativity. But now I have a healthy mix of discipline and artistic integrity to join with the joy and passion I already had. I’m a little wiser now than I was back then too. I feel encouraged. I feel I may be getting closer to the day when I can drop the word “hack” and replace it with “competent”.

Cups & Balls

For anyone not familiar with it, there is an online community and magic forum called The Magic Café. It is a place for magicians: professional, amateur or beginner to ask questions and share thoughts. With 43,459 members it is a resource like no other.

I have found the people there to be friendly and generous. I read a post in one of the forums where an individual was asking about the Cups and Balls. He wanted to know whether or not it was worthwhile to learn and perform the venerable effect. One of the respondents on the thread urged the poster to keep working on the trick. The reason, he said, was that a good Cups and Balls routine by its very nature requires all of a magician’s best skills. Misdirection, pacing, timing, presentation, and
quality sleight-of-hand. Lots of sleight-of-hand. I agree completely. It’s been said that the measure of a magician’s ability can be gauged by how well he performs the Cups and Balls. More chops are brought to bear in this one effect than anything else I can think of. So this week’s Magic Friday sampling is the ancient Cups and Balls.
25 years ago I purchased a beautiful set of copper cups from the great Ross Bertram.
These cups sing beautifully when they contact one another. They also have a wide top so the Charlie Miller bit of business (with multiple penetrations) works as well on the top of a cup as it does on the table. The only drawback is the balls used must have a diameter less than an inch for the cups to nest properly. And a smaller ball can look a little less impressive sitting on a large cup. But I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
I choose not to polish my cups very often. I prefer them to be tarnished for two reasons. The first reason is because it makes them look antique. If it’s antique, it couldn’t have come from a magic shop. Right? Even though the cups are not tricky or gimmicked in any way, a shiny pristine copper cup seems too well cared for (If that makes any sense). The other reason is more practical. I took the small crocheted balls and covered them with foil a la Cellini. After a few layers I got the balls to be as large as possible while remaining less than the critical 1 inch diameter restriction. Because the cups are a bit dull with tarnish the foil balls show up brilliantly in contrast to them.

This also serves to make them look bigger canceling out the size restriction stated above. Retention of vision is nice too.
So 25 years ago I worked on Dai Vernon’s Cups and Balls routine. I don’t remember how long it took me to work it out, but eventually I had it down. The problem was, I was either too chicken to perform it for a real audience or the venue wasn’t right for it. And when I went back to college 20 years ago, my beautiful Ross Bertrum cups (along with all other things magical) got packed up into a trunk and remained there until last August.

All this week I have been feverishly relearning Vernon’s routine. Although there are 1 or 2 minor changes I would like to make to fit my own style better, but I decided to play the routine straight from the manuscript. There will be time enough for variation later. Right now what I needed was solidity. By Thursday night I felt I had it ready. There were only 2 minor parts I was a little squirrely about. But when I showed the routine to my lovely wife she was blown away. She did manage to recognize one of the mildly rough spots. So I stayed up a little later and smoothed out the 2 points that were bothering me. Now I was set.
The last two weeks I was a little discouraged because “Silk and Silver” and “3 Ball Transposition” did not play as well as I had hoped. This was going to be a test for me. I really needed a boost. Well, I got it. And then some!
All 5 performances today went very well. Not flawless but good and solid. I had two slip ups during the 4th performance. The fumble was during the very first move. Unfortunately it was not well recovered. I was forced to restack the cups, put the balls back in my pocket and start again. Once I hit my rhythm all was forgotten and forgiven. The other slip was easily recovered and looked like part of the routine. By the time I got to the end and final revelation, they were amazed and responded by
breaking into applause. My only worry at this point was I feared that my earlier error would get inside my head and interfere with the final performance. I have been paying very close attention to my performances and what can be improved and how. Indeed, that is why this blog exists in the first place. This is only a personal journal of my return to magic. The fact that it is online gives me a sense of a deadline. I know myself. If I tried to do this in a bedside notebook I’d have only 3 entries. At any rate, for the final performance of the day I stayed focused and hyperaware. All went well. A few spectators held up their hands with fingers wide apart indicating an enthusiastic “10”. I worked hard on the routine and it payed off. It was just the sort of encouragement I needed. It was a great day.

One Armed Gamblers and Space Cowboys

Due to inclement weather last week there was no Magic Friday. Since they insisted, I promised my students that they would get two tricks on the next Friday we met. That was today. There are two effects in particular I have been working on. One of them is Vernon’s “Cutting the Aces”. The other is Danny Fleshman’s “PDQ Aces in Case the Aces Leave”. I’ve also been working on Vernon’s “Ace Assembly”. It’s an alternate handling of “Slow Motion Aces” found in “Stars of Magic”. I needed a 4-ace trick in my repertoire and “Ace Assembly” was my first choice. But I am still having a hard time with the technique. It’s nowhere near ready to perform. So that went on to the back burner while I worked for a couple weeks on “Cutting the Aces” and “PDQ”. I felt these to effects would go together nicely since one ends with the 4 aces on the table while the other one starts with the 4 aces on the table. My plan was to begin with “Cutting the Aces” Then segway into “PDQ”. Although I toyed with an alternate story line for “Cutting the Aces” I decided to stick with Vernon’s original patter involving a one-armed gambler. Since I had a gambling theme, at the last minute I decided to begin with Paul Harris’ “Immaculate Connection”. (The gambler’s crimp, notch and link: Perfect). I used to do this one years ago and recently brought it out of moth balls for a rainy day. It just seemed right and would, I felt, provide a stunning and visual lead in. It’s a powerful stand alone effect but it just fit too well into the petit card act that was evolving. It seems now my students were going to be treated to a real show. I did not blend these effects into one routine. They are a string of three separate and wonderful illusions that I felt would flow nicely from one to another.

I began with the lie that I wasn’t doing a trick but a gambling presentation. I used Paul Harris’ patter just as he demonstrated on the video tape I purchased so many years ago. A very clever exposition on how gamblers mark cards. As I said, it’s quite visual, very magical and played strong.

Then I moved into Vernon’s “Cutting the Aces”. Again, I used the patter suggestion given in “Stars of Magic”. I had only one mishap. During the 3rd performance the ace of spades failed to show up on queue. I was a little disappointed but it really didn’t drive the event into the ditch either. I must have bungled the cutting during the set up. I was more careful and it did not happen again. This effect played stronger than I expected. I worried it would seem like a manipulation demonstration and smack of…”I’m so clever, see what I can do”. But my 5 teen age audiences of about 20 students each found it to be surprising and magical.


I finished with Dan Fleshman’s “PDQ Aces to Case”. I purchased Dan’s lecture notes in 1988 at a magic convention in North Carolina. I met Dan there and I must say he has got to be the nicest guy in the business! This is a beautiful routine and my first time performing it. It won’t be my last! Dan says this effect is a variation of “Where’s My Card” by Allen Akermann. I did not change any of the handling. It’s perfect just the way it is. I wrote a Star Trek themed script for it. The crew of the enterprise is introduced and boards the ship. (Card case). Three villains (chosen cards) lose themselves on the planet (Deck). A toy from a cereal box is used to beam the scallywags up to the ship, and upon opening the case, the bad guys are found trapped between the crew members. I finished by producing a 5 inch Enterprise replica from the card case. BAM! This went over great but the story line would probably play stronger to an older audience. I also need to trim the script down a little.



It was a great day. I was a little anxious this morning since I was doing a whole mini-show. I didn’t intend for it to be that way. It just seemed to build itself and I needed to get out of the way and let it happen. Each performance lasted 14-15 minutes. I felt it was entertaining and magical. In the words of my audience…”Beast Dude”!

Thought Penetration

Is it any wonder Dai Vernon is affectionately referred to as the Professor? What a mind! I wish I could have seen him perform. Fortunately there is video. Not to mention many, many books and manuscripts. Over the past two weeks I have been working on Vernon's “Penetration of Thought”. An incredibly brilliant bit of legerdemain. It was intended to be last week’s effect. However, one week was not enough time to do it justice. It took almost a week to work out the mechanics. It required another week or so to smooth it all out and make it fair and natural. That's the beauty and genius of Dai Vernon. All great Vernon effects have something thing in common. It is famously referred to as the “Vernon Touch”. It is handling that seems so natural that it appears to be a demonstration to the audience that “all is fair”. Genius. So in keeping with my soloemn oath to the master magicians both living and not, I will treat all effects with respect and perform nothing before I am convinced they would approve.


So what did I perform last week instead? An old stand-by called “Wonderbar”. That floating metal cylinder that lives in a test tube. Pretty effect, and a fine example of legerdelangue. It has always been a winner for me. After my 6th performance of it last Friday, the silvery bar was floating from hand to hand. That’s when the test tube rolled off the table, hit the floor and shattered into many tiny shards. No biggie. Being a science teacher has its benefits. Besides, the ‘ol bar of wonder bought me another week to get “Penetration of Thought” up to par.

The performances of “Thought Penetration” today were fantastic. The first performance was adequate but a little flat. This trick really needs build up and theater to drive the illusion home. By the last performance today I believe I have done the effect justice. As mentioned in an earlier post, my goal these days is to stay true to the advice of the masters. To be so well practiced and confident that the effects could be done practically blindfolded. In the old days I relied on luck or clumsy gestures for misdirection. But now that I have discovered the value of discipline and attention to detail, I am free. I am no longer a slave to good fortune and distraction. I’m not sending signals anymore that something is about to happen. Now that I am confident and have no need to watch my hands, everything is done conversationally. And as a result, effective misdirection, which eluded me in the past, is not as nebulous and mysterious to me as it once was.
Why, Oh why did I have to get old before I was able to grock this fundamental aspect of slight-of-hand. Oh well, better late than never. I will always remember that sign in a shop I saw last summer that triggered my leap back into magic.

“IT”S NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE BEEN”!

Be Natural and Use Your Head

Now That I'm officially over the hill, I just can't believe how utterly blind I was as a young man. So many things that were hidden from me when I was younger are clear to me now. It is most powerfully true in my spiritual life. But it is also true for my family life, my professional life and even to my return to magic.
For example, I have owned Jean Hugard’s “Expert Card Technique” for 30 years. It is an essential book to be sure. But perhaps the best part is the last 3% of the book. There are several essays on misdirection, humor, presentation and the like that are gold. When the author speaks of the greats of magic he has these words: “…it is not the tricks they perform that are important, so much as the illusion they create about themselves”.


Hugard goes on to instruct the reader on the proper attitude and discipline required to become a respected and well-loved artist rather than just a guy that does tricks. Gold I tell you! As a young man I entirely ignored this section of the book. “Words”, I thought. “The dusty old fashioned words of a dead guy”. Then I’d continue riffling through the pages. “Tricks” I would have thought, “Must find more tricks”.


Another good example is chapter 2 of “The Dai Vernon Book of Magic”. “USE YOUR HEAD” The Professor instructs. Even when someone sat me down and handed wisdom to me on a crystal plate, I quickly forgot what little I listened to.


Case in point, I knew master magician Jim Cellini for a short time. He had great wisdom and advice for me. Unfortunately his gems and pearls bounced right off my knuckleheaded bean and fell to the floor like rejected pixie dust. One day at my job a young lady I worked with told me she was at a club owned by Cellini. She then told me about a visiting guest of the owner. "He was a funny old man with an accent". She said he was standing up on a chair doing a rope trick. “I was afraid he would fall off the chair” she said. “He was really funny, and the best magician I’ve ever seen”! “Dear God in Heaven” I thought, “Was his name…Slydini”?

“Yes” she said, “That’s it”. (Insert foul expletive here). If I had been paying attention to my life I could have spent the night sitting across the table and learning from TONY SLYDINI! One on one with the Grand Master of close up magic! And where was I instead? I was out with my drinking buddies. No doubt dropping tequila shots, releasing many yahoos and chasing women. A waste of time, money and energy on pointless revelry and foolishness. Say the words with me now... “Owha…Tafool…Iyam”…I have a permanent divot in my left buttock from 20 years of kicking myself in the ass!

I’m just grateful that today I have a little more sense. Because of my attention to the “dusty old words of dead (and living) magicians” My present (third) incarnation as a magician has so far been successful. Last week’s presentation of the Page/Cellini color changing handkerchief routine exemplifies my point. I heartily took the advice of Cellini, Hugard, Tarbell, LePaul and countless others including my newest hero Patrick Page. Mr. Page says…”Magic should be a performance. Otherwise it’s just a dry technical demonstration. So learn six tricks, practice them well and go out there and perform them!” I love this guy! So I followed the advice of the masters. My practice and confidence were such that I was able to focus on the audience and my by play with them instead of “pulling off a sleight”. I learned this from “The Importance of the Inconsequential” Hugard (Page 444), and From Dai Vernon, whose battle cry is..."Be Natural". This is new and exciting to me. Instead of watching my hands and worring, I was watching the smiles of the audience. There was joy in what I was doing because I was free perform the routine as though it was really magic. I could focus on my presentation persona like never before. And now that I can see it, I can develop it. The handkerchief routine could stand a bit of polish and refinement, but was very successful. But the bonus is even better. That is, I am now beginning to understand what Jim Cellini was trying to tell me long ago. I now understand how to move beyond the level of one who indulges in hoodwinkeries to the level of “artist”. This is my goal. It’s a lot more work. But the payoff is priceless. Will I ever get to that level? If I don’t, it won’t be for lack of trying.




The Passages on the mystique of magic from Hugard, Tarbell, Vernon or any other quality book on magic are often just as valuable as any of the effects therein. Such essays teach how to turn an ordinary trick into a miracle. They also show ways to influence how an audience responds to and remembers the magician long after the tricks are forgotten. I am taking the time and relishing the words of the Masters. I am learning now what I was not ready to learn as a young man. Be natural and use your head. Great advice for anything worth doing. The masters speak their wisdom. I will continue to listen with enthusiasm.

As with so many aspects of my life, I was blind, and now I see.

Winged Silver WIP

The more I work on this winged silver routine the more I like it. In "Modern Coin Magic" Bobo credits this effect to Nelson C. Hahne. I’m currently working on the “Improved Version” of it. What strikes me about this effect is its reliance on timing and misdirection. The sleights themselves are not difficult. I have a decent and natural looking classic palm so that’s not a problem. But I have to admit that I’m really struggling with the timing and misdirection. For example, a coin must be vanished by tossing it invisibly from the right hand to the left hand. Moving the coin from the finger tips and into position is easy in and of itself. The problem is making it look magical. The other difficulty is the move that creates a clean finish at the end. Again, not a difficult move, but I feel like I’m making circles on my stomach and tapping the top of my head. It seems so easy, but I’m having a hard time following the path of the “thrown” coin with my eyes while making myself clean. I am getting it. It’s slow going, but it’s coming along. Good thing too. Friday will be here soon. This is the first “new” routine I have worked on since getting back into magic. It is deliciously frustrating! I love a fine coin routine. Once I get this worked out, I’ve got my eye on Dai Vernon’s “Five Coins and a Glass”. Brilliant elegance! I hope I can do it justice.


On another note, my classic pass is improving. I have it up to about 90%. Soon I'll be ready to perform it with confidence. One hundred to two hundred times a day. That's the ticket. I have also cleaned up my invisible turn over pass a la Paul LePaul. This will hold me until my classic pass is ready.