Silver and Glass

I always loved “Touch of Midas” from Bobo’s “Modern Coin Magic”. It involves the magical appearance of 4 coins one at a time. It’s not easy but it’s a pretty and very practical effect. After all, if one is a magician, why not just produce from the air what is needed?
Long ago Jim Cellini asked me to do a trick for him. I was prepared and went right into “Touch of Midas” using half dollars. My handling and presentation were pretty sloppy though. Cellini was very kind and did not convey the coins to my colon! (Which he had every right to do)! Instead he remarked that I needed a bit more practice. (Understatement). He then asked to borrow the coins and went into a flurry of multiple vanishes and reappearances that made my head spin.

Not long after that I met Dan Fleshman at a North Carolina magic convention. It was the first day and I didn't know anybody. Dan came right up, introduced himself and started an interesting conversation. He did not mention he was one of the event’s lecturers. (Along with Daryl and Steve Beam to name a couple). During his performance/lecture he blew my mind with his coin and card work. All the while his demeanor was friendly, confident and soooo smooth. Truly, Fleshman has got to be one of the most decent and gentlemanly pros out there!

Indeed, for most of us our goal is not to challenge, fool or trick people. Who likes being fooled? The goal of a joke is not to tell a lie, but to create laughter. By the same token the goal of magic is not to trick people, but to entertain, amuse and create a sense of joyful wonder. To tickle the inner child. It’s not a battle of wits. It is (at best) an astounding joy ride. I see my role in this not as a “wonder worker” but rather, a “tour guide”. If that involves a little back stage deception so be it. We want the audience to like us personally. Unless of course we’re playing a character of some kind. Personally, I could never pull off the “fast talking wise guy” act. The reason is simple. I’m neither.

During that convention in 1988 I purchased Dan Fleshman’s lecture notes. In “Close Up with Dan Fleshman #2” there is a snappy little “Coins to Glass” number. So last week I started working on it. 22 years late but who’s counting. I found the perfect glass at the Goodwill store. (Goodwill is a magician’s paradise)! And I built a routine that combines “Touch of Midas” with “Coins to Glass” and a few sundry vanishes, reappearances and flourishes. My coins of choice are 1923 silver Morgan Peace Dollars. I like their weight, milling, visibility and the beautiful singing they create when tossed into the air or a glass. As a bonus 1923 is also the year my Dad was born.


As recent as last night there were still a few bugs in the routine. I must be blessed that I have my planning period during 1st period this year. This gave me time to smooth out the wrinkles. After about 40 minutes I felt it was ready to go. I was a little worried about the heal clip / Han Ping Chien action. I was afraid that my hands, being so close together at the crucial moment, would broadcast that there was something devious afoot.
As it turns out my fears were in vain. Each performance was smooth, magical and exciting. It looked good. It sounded great and my 5 audiences were enthusiastic in their response. I even told them that this was my first time performing this effect and asked if it was a keeper. The response from each audience was the same: “Awesome”!
Everything was going so well that before the final performance of the day I kind of got into my own head and missed the glass during one of the moves. Nothing was exposed though. (Big sigh of relief). I just picked up one of the coins and dropped it into the glass with the others. Apparently nobody thought anything of it.

God has been very patient with this thick-witted old knucklehead. Years ago I buried the gift He gave me under a tree. It just might have stayed there for the rest of my natural life too. I am grateful for the wake up call I received just about a year ago. Since August I have been working harder than ever before to become a skilled and competent sleight-of-hand performer. It doesn't feel like work though. I am getting there. I am a better magician today than I have ever been. Tomorrow I will be better still. Today's performance was everything I hoped for it to be. The difficult sleights, careful routining, and practice paid off in a successful and pretty performance involving 4 silver dollars and a champagne glass. I only wish Jim Cellini were there to see it.


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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”!

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!