Upside Right

I am happy to report to myself that Saturday night’s performance went very well. The audience numbered about 300. I did 3 routines. A one-coin routine, Gene Anderson’s newspaper trick and I finished off with my own handling of the old silk to egg bit with a sucker finish. All went relatively well. Life is good! Thank God I did not repeat the dancing cane fiasco!


Okay, so I was really nervous because this was my first real performance in 20 years. Once on stage I began with a quick joke and the surprising appearance of a silver dollar. Then comes a snappy series of choreographed vanishes and reappearances. The bit ends with the appearance of a giant silver dollar. I love this routine. It is 100% sleight- of-hand and based on Eric Ford’s “Ferdinand’s Fortune”. It’s a knock-out opener suitable for close-up or stage. I am so stubborn. Years ago I inserted a coin roll (As described on page 201 of “Modern Coin Magic” by J.B. Bobo) into the routine. The roll was slow and chunky because of the recent injury to my right hand. I could have done the bit without the coin roll. But I was determined to do the routine as I had done in the past. The coin did not dance across my fingers as it once did but it did not slip or fall. It still looked good. Stage one engaged. Yes!


Next up, Gene Anderson’s newspaper trick. This was a good choice because it gave me the opportunity to tailor the routine to the audience. Fake news stories about the ministry team for example. A few people caught a glimpse of a “hidden” something during a very brief malfunction. The effect and presentation were so strong that the quick “flash” did not detract from the entertainment value of the overall effect. Stage two ignited. Niceness.


I finished with the silk to egg routine. An oldie but goodie for sure. The audience was with me the entire time. Stage three ignitions; orbit achieved. When I cracked the real egg at the end there were gasps and vocalizations of “No Way!” It just goes to show that with the right presentation, timing and build up, even the simplest effect takes on a grand quality. I learned that from David Ginn.


Usually I am very hard on myself. (See “Wizardry in the Sanctuary” below). But even with the minor imperfections I am thrilled! It may not have been the best performance of my life, but it was certainly one of the most important. The first one in 20 years and it was a clear success. I can now make myself available for fund raisers, community outreach, or hospitality. God has been very good to me. I have had many second chances. Ironically, had I not injured myself, I would not have been on that stage Saturday night. With all the other responsibilities and distractions in my life, I would have lacked the motivation. I would have stalled and procrastinated. I had been praying to find a way to deepen and strengthen my faith, but there was something I still needed to learn. The object of my search was in my back pocket all along. When I injured my hand by being stupid, God had my attention and provided me with the opportunity to see more clearly what I had been missing. It’s counter-intuitive really. I did not rededicate myself to performing magic in spite of my injury, but rather, because of it. Going through physical therapy gave me the focus and discipline I needed to rebuild and strengthen my sleight-of-hand skills. It was what I needed to take it seriously. It was a way to give meaning to a senseless injury. And it was a blessing all the way around. I recovered (pretty much) from the injury. I got my legerdemain back on line. (Still much work ahead). I’ve got a successful performance under my belt, and I now have something worthy to offer back to God. That’s what I was praying for from the start. It is so radical how God sets things right by turning them upside down!

The Pass

Over 100 years ago in one of the most important books ever written on the subject of card manipulation, S.W. Erdnase describes in detail several methods of executing the pass. (Or “shift” as it was referred to in gambling parlance). In “The Expert at the Card Table” Erdnase dedicates nearly 20 pages to this slight. He goes on to say that…”The conjurer employs the shift in nine tenths of his tricks”. Harlan Tarbell in Volume I of his monumental course in magic refers to the pass as…”One of the most important slights in card magic”. That was published in 1927. Paul LePaul in 1959 calls the pass the very “backbone” of card magic. He goes on to say…”The fact that this time-honored slight has survived through the centuries and is still used by all the better manipulators should prove that it is basically sound and well worth mastering”.



Suffice it to say, the pass should not be ignored by anyone wishing to become proficient at card manipulation. Now here’s the rub. The pass is certainly one of the most difficult slights to learn. Card man extraordinaire, Richard Kaufman puts it this way…”If you practice it 100 times a day for a year you will start to get the idea of what the pass is all about”. Whoa! It is the stuff of card work and separates the men from the boys, as it were.

Back in the day I had a decent turn-over pass, but my classic pass was junk. I got to where I thought it would never come so I relied solely on the turn-over pass. As I now try to work out my old routines as well as new ones, it’s clear that doing the same pass all the time would arouse suspicion. And one thing any slight-of-hand artist knows it is this… It does not matter if the audience is unaware of WHAT you just did. If they sense an unnatural or jerky motion, or that you did SOMETHING, the illusion is shattered. So, the pass I shall learn. Classic, Modern, Braue, Zingone and Charlier. But for now I will continue to work on the classic pass and clean up my turn-over pass. At this time my classic pass is about 85% up to scratch.


If you are reading this and you have mastered the pass; I salute you sir! If you know about the pass, but don’t think it’s important, please reread the 1st paragraph. Once the pass is mastered, a whole new world of possibilities is at the beck and call of the card worker.
After all, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it!

Please share your experiences!