Tales From the Book of Thoth

As mentioned last week, “The Princess, the Sword, the Jewels & Everything” came about from working on “Cops & Robbers” (Expert Card Technique by Jean Hugard) and reading Stephen Minch’s “The Book of Thoth”. The result was a unique and successful bit of “bizarre” magic, if you will. That being done, I found two effects in Minch’s book that appealed to me. One is called “Towering Prediction” and the other is “Lunar Fating”. I decided I would perform both for “Magic Friday”.

“Lunar Fating” is a very pretty effect. At first I passed it over since it deals with a top stock. I don't remember ever performing a card effect involving a stock. It always seemed like too much preparation and too little flexibility. But I was intrigued by the effect and the aesthetically pleasing visual at the conclusion. (Not to mention an unexpected revelation). Minch tells us this effect is an adaptation of
Harry Lorayne’s “Coincidently Yours” from his book “Close-Up Card Magic”. But in order to feel confident in the effect I had to work on my false shuffling. I’ve never been great at false shuffles. That’s because I never spent enough time to make one look natural and convincing. I remembered there was a beautiful false riffle shuffle described in “Stars of Magic”. This is part of Vernon’s legendary “Triumph” routine. Adapting this shuffle to tarot cards was not difficult. I also polished a fantastic false overhand shuffle I learned from Ian Kendall in his marvelous series “Basic Training” in MUM. (Dec. 2009). And now, the greatest secret I have learned in magic. I learned it years ago, but I never tire of being reminded of it. Give no attention to the slight. Broadcast no indication that something important is happening. Casualness wins the day. And that is what I did. I briefly showed the tarot cards as I mentioned they were the same ones we used last week. (Which were thoroughly examined at that time). I false riffle shuffled 2 or 3 times (and a few running cuts) very casually as I explained that I discovered something unusual about the cards and called for two helpers. Once my helpers were in place I momentarily asked them if they had their psychic mojo on etc. During this short by-play I (again casually) did 2 false overhand shuffles while looking at my helpers. My goal was to make it look like I was toying with the deck before beginning the trick. I must have been successful because this routine played BIG. I am so glad to have put aside my prejudgment of stock routines. As a result I have acquired a beautiful routine that leaves a very strong impression.

The other effect was “Towering Prediction”. It’s an old principle. Nine cards are laid out and the spectators make a series of jumps. One card is removed after each jump. Finally, if instructions are followed, everyone ends up on the same card. I saw Kevin Spencer perform this last summer in a wonderful stage show. Spencer’s version involved travel destinations. It was extremely well presented and played powerfully. I think I also remember David Copperfield using this principle on one of his television specials in the ‘80’s. Since I have a “Smart Board” in my classroom, I scanned in some tarot cards a made a “PowerPoint” with the cards fading out after each jump. It looked great. I even worked it out so each class would wind up at the end on a different place and card than the other classes. (Teenagers talk to each other).

Results: I expected “Towering Prediction” to be the big winner today but I was wrong. All audiences unanimously preferred “Lunar Fating”. I understand why, it’s a beautiful routine, but I really expected my audiences to be totally blown away by “Towering Prediction”. It was successful, but not as strong as I thought it would be. I must rethink my presentation. I believe some people suspected that the effect was mathematical in nature. I need to find a way to make the number of jumps seem more random. One possible solution might be to present the effect in the light that although everyone has endless choices of directions and combinations of jumps, everyone will (by psychic means) choose the very same paths. It’s worth a try.
To conclude, Stephen Minch’s wonderful little book “The Book of Thoth” has provided/inspired at least 3 very successful bits of professional level magic. In fact, there is one more effect from that book I am looking at. Until then…

The Princess, the Sword, the Jewels & Everything

It’s been said that great scientists do their most powerful work before their 30th birthday. Einstein himself will tell you that science is first and foremost a creative and imaginative endeavor. So a real concern I had as I threw myself headlong back into magic last summer was whether or not I still had the imagination and creativity I once enjoyed.

As is the case with most magicians, when I was a teenager I spent countless hours alone in my room coming up with all sorts magical ideas and solutions. Most of them of course were impractical at best. But what fun! There were even a couple that served me well. One of these that stand out in my mind is something I performed for as long as I had doves. After producing a dove from a handful of multi-colored ribbons, the ribbons were turned white and the dove, rainbow colored. Oh, the many hours spent painting a live dove with food coloring. There is probably nothing that looks more like mental illness than a magician working out a solution to a problem! At any rate, this bit of business was only a small part of a 12 minute choreographed routine from back in the day. But people who saw me perform all those years ago remember this more than anything else I did.



Today’s magic Friday sampling was an effect I had unintentionally created over the past two weeks or so. To begin, several months ago I started working on “Cops and Robbers” from “Expert Card Technique” by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue. This is a beautiful effect with a very strong visual component. Four kings are placed face down on the table. A selected card is cut into the deck. The deck is dropped onto the face down kings. The deck is immediately spread and the kings are now face up in the middle of the deck with the chosen card sandwiched between them. I wound up putting the trick on the back burner as I was having difficulty with on of the sleights. Then last week, quite by accident, I ran across a book by Stephen Minch I purchased 20 years ago. It’s a 45-page book of card magic using Tarot cards
called “The Book of Thoth”. I had completely forgotten that I owned this book. As I read through the book a thought came to me. “Why not do Cops and Robbers with Tarot cards?” As soon as I began working on it I decided I wanted a double climax ending. This called for an entirely different handling and forced me to clean up my top change. Soon the thing took on a life of its own and looked nothing like “Cops & Robbers”. Here’s the effect.



A tarot deck is given for examination and mixing. Upon receiving the deck the magician removes (among others) the 4 Knight cards. The patter revolves around a super thief known only as “The Magician”. The performer searches the deck and produces “The Magician”. This card is shown and buried into the deck. The four knights are then placed in different parts of the deck which is then cut one time. A spectator freely selects a card from the deck and marks it. The chosen card is placed face down in front of the spectator and a small sword is placed on top of it. The performer removes the top card from the deck, shows it and explains that it is really “The Magician” in disguise. This card is then cut back into the deck. After a magic pass or gesture with the sword, the deck is spread. The knights are seen to have magically gathered together and reversed face up in the face down deck. Between the 4 face up knights is a face down card. (Presumably, the magician). This prisoner card is turned over to reveal… the spectator’s chosen and marked card! The sword is removed from the spectator’s card on the table, the spectator’s card is turned over revealing that it has changed into… The Magician.


There’s more to it than that really. The Tarot cards with their 14th century artwork facilitate story telling. So that’s what I did. Using some kid’s craft beads for jewels and other cards to represent a king, a princess and a dark tower the story really wrote itself. But was the effect itself direct? Magic should always be uncomplicated and direct, right? On the other hand telling a story using magic is nothing new. I’ve heard it called “bizarre” magic. Whatever it’s called, performing magic within the context of a story makes sense to me. It takes the pressure off the audience, and the focus off the “cleverness” of the magician. The story becomes the star and the audience gets to help tell it. Everybody wins. The problem is I was concerned about the magic getting lost in the story telling. I didn’t want
the “magical moment” to get watered down. I was also doubtful that the story I wrote for the effect would be interesting enough to create suspense and hold the audience’s attention. I decided the only way to find the answer was to go with my gut and try it out.



The first performance, in my view, was weakly presented. Also, the “Magician” failed to show up at the end as he was supposed to. I think he may have gotten lost during a triple lift. The second performance was much better. One knight got lost during the “facing” so only three knights showed up back at the castle with the prisoner. This had no ill effect the magic and actually added a bit of comedy…”The Knight of Cups must have lost a drinking contest with a serving wench. I don’t think we’ll be seeing him anytime soon”. During the 3rd performance I just plain forgot to face the knights all together. Everything else worked fine though. I just lost a nice visual component. Even though these first 3 performances came up a little short, there was enthusiastic applause when I reached “The End”. The 4th and 5th performances were dynamite! Everything came together as I hoped. After each performance I did something I had never done before. I polled my classes. I really wanted to know what they thought. So I asked them to rate the effect on a scale of one to ten. They were very honest and told me what they liked about it and what would have made it better. I didn’t think to poll the first group but the second group scored the routine at 8.8. The group that I forgot to face the knights for awarded me an average score of 6.8. I thought that was fair. The last two groups were all 9’s and 10’s! Some of them remarked that they really enjoyed the story! I felt like I had come up with a decent presentation but it played much stronger than I expected. Especially toward the end of the day once I worked out the rough spots got into the rhythm of the effect.



I’m so excited that most of my audience ranked my own effect right up there with the classics I've been performing. However I would not want to set everything I do to a full story. That would be contrived and probably pretty boring. But it reminds me that even the most simple and direct effects should have a recognizable beginning, middle and end. And best of all I’ve got a unique and powerful new effect that proves to me that there’s still some creativity left in these old bones.

Mentalosity

For weeks, no, months I have been working on Vernon’s “3 Ball Transposition”. The more I work on this effect the more I have to keep postponing it from “Magic Friday”. The progress continues but it’s going to be a while yet before I am satisfied with my ability in the handling and presentation.


I looked over the effects on my “working on” list and everything was either not yet performable or just didn’t appeal to me for one reason or another. I noticed there was only one mental/psychic effect highlighted in blue in my repertoire spreadsheet. (Blue = successfully performed and ready at will, Green = work in progress, Red = would like to add to repertoire). I thought it would be worthwhile to add another mental effect. But what? There’s only one place to turn in times like this. Tarbell. About 26 years ago my Dad gave me all seven books in the Tarbell course as a present. Did I mention I've got the world's greatest Dad? These books are an absolute goldmine.



In Tarbell #5 I found a brilliant center tear bit credited to none other than Dai Vernon. The word genius is carelessly thrown around these days but in my humble view, Dai Vernon meets all criteria needed for that category of intellect.

Anyway, as much as I loved the routine, I wanted something bigger. Something that involved multiple participants. I certainly didn’t want to tear up and burn 3 pieces of paper one at a time. As I was rolling things over in my mind I thought of a nice “Epic Board” performance I saw a while back. I like the “one ahead” effect but didn’t want to mess around with a board. So after a bit of thought I worked up a handling using envelopes instead of a board. The next day it was off to Office Depot for envelopes, glue sticks, notepads etc.


The result was an Epic Prediction type effect. Instead of writing the predictions on an Epic Board, I wrote them one at a time on a pad and placed each of them in a numbered envelope. The three prediction envelopes in turn went into a larger manila envelope. Instead of using a selected card as one of the predictions I used that Vernon center tear business from Tarbell #5. An added bonus to this handling is that a spectator can remove and open the prediction envelopes. Something that cannot be done with an "Epic Board".



The audiences were all blown away by the 10 to 15 minute routine. I call this effect "Epic Three Envelope Prediction". Although I've never heard of anyone doing an "Epic" type routine in this way, I'm sure I'm not the first to think of it. The most enjoyable part of performing this routine was "writing" the name of the departed spirit on a piece of paper while reading the flames of the center tear. When the performance was over some said it was the best thing I’ve performed for them so far. A very successful day!

However, a couple of people didn’t realize what had happened. Once they were hit on the head by a neighbor and told the predictions were written on the display (by a 4th student) AFTER the predictions were sealed in the envelope, they too were mightily impressed. There was a valuable lesson here for me. That night when I got home the mailman had kindly delivered this month’s MUM. (The magazine of The Society of American Magicians).

In it, columnist Charles Reynolds expounds on several crucial elements every successful magician knows. One of these elements is the importance of never letting the audience lose track of the effect…

“We cannot expect an audience to react to a magical effect
If it is not clear in their minds what the effect is, or if the
action leading up to that effect (the “moment of magic”)
is confusing and unclear.”

Wow! This was precisely the information I needed to be reminded of! The older I get the more convinced I am that there are no coincidences. There are instead growth opportunities all around us. The hard part is remaining aware and open to them when they present themselves.

Micromorphosis

Another one of my favorite books is “The Card Magic of LePaul”. This book is jam packed with fundamental sleights and solid magic. Many of the effects in the book can be blended together to build a significant presentation. I prefer books to DVD’s. I think that’s partly due to my being a cranky old fart. But I enjoy pulling a beautiful effect from the written word. Videos are great. For example, I own and use a few oldies like Harris, Roth and Kaufman to name a few. Although these have been very helpful I get a greater sense of accomplishment from books. Maybe I just like doing things the hard way.


Back in August I started working on my own handling of “The Substitution Envelope Mystery” from page 143 of Le Paul's wonderful book. I did some more work on it this week for presentation on Friday. It’s a great transposition effect. The handling I came up with involves a re-telling of the famous Metamorphosis illusion. This illusion was invented by John Nevil Maskelyne, but most often associated with Houdini. This handling of LePaul's card effect involves 3 spectators each with a part to play. A magician, his assistant and an audience “inspection committee”. I always try to make the audience the stars whenever possible. This routine suits itself nicely for that. In fact, the spectators have possession of the cards, envelope and rubber bands almost the whole time. The beauty of it is, after a little mental misdirection the audience is convinced that I never really handled the cards at all.

During one of the performances I performed a clumsy Turn-Over Pass. Just plain carelessness really. Only a couple people noticed. They don't know what they saw. They just saw something unnatural. That's still a couple of people too many. That'll learn me! During another performance I had a total wreck while executing the Classic Pass. I thought I was done for. But I covered for it by lifting one of the two packets with my right hand and doing a casual overhand slip shuffle. I did it while I was talking and hoping the audience would think I was just casually toying with the cards. It seemed work. During another performance one young man was "burning" my hands just as I needed to do the Classic Pass. He was so determined I couldn't have removed his stare if I yelled "Fire". So I handed him the envelope and asked him to "hold it up and open it slowly"... (He had to look at it because he thought there might be something in it)..."to make sure it's empty". By then the deed was done.
The original LePaul trick is a beautiful effect. I hope my handling of it does it justice. I enjoyed performing it and all 5 of my audiences were mystified and entertained . There are a few points to work on. I definitely need to tighten up the script. I built all the misdirection into it that I needed, but it drags just a little. I also need to punch up the first revelation. Too many spectators were aware that the trick was not over and knew that something else was coming. And finally, as I do hundreds of times every week I must continue to work on my Classic Pass. Forever and ever.
Amen.

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.


.

Patrick Page. 1929-2010

On Thursday February 11th the world of magic lost one of its greatest practitioners. After a long illness, master magician Patrick Page passed away. He was 81 years old.
Patrick Page was born March 17th 1929. He was the youngest of 6 children growing up in Dundee Scotland. As a young boy he was bitten by the magic bug. Since then the world of magic gained one of its most brilliant and generous friends. Mr. page has written many books on magic. “The Big Book of Magic” published in 1976 is considered by many to be a must have in any magical library. A magician’s bible, as it were.


Mr. Page has also written many other books on topics such as sponge balls, thumb tips, and the topit. I recently purchased another book by Page called “Visual Comedy”. This book is full of all sorts of gags and bits of business to get laughs between and during effects. Very practical stuff.
Patrick Page was also famous among magicians for his encyclopedic knowledge, razor-sharp wit and generosity. Although he would have hated to hear it, he has been called a genius of our craft. He was also hilariously funny.
Sadly, (Even though his topit book was part of my library for 20 years), I didn’t even realize who he was until last year. When I began my re-entry into magic I discovered Patrick Page. I fell in love with him right away.

When I saw some of his performances on the web I knew that this was the kind of performer I had been striving to be. His manner was kind, friendly, a bit mischievous and smooth as silk. A true gentleman. And he did it all. Stand up, Parlor, stage, close up and children’s shows. He was also a regular at the 4F gatherings.


I have referred to Mr. Page as my unwitting mentor because even though I never met him, his style and manner match most closely to my own vision as a performer. In a word, he was my kind of magician. I wish I could have met Patrick Page or seen him give a lecture. I have some of his books and a couple DVD’s. I suppose that will have to do.
I don’t think I have ever been this saddened by someone’s passing that I didn’t even know. I feel like someone who was starving for friendship finally finding a best friend. Then, to have that friend move away after only a few months.
There is now a void in the heart of anyone who loves magic. There will never be anyone like Patrick Page again. I have to believe at this moment he is with old friends and legends swapping stories and having heaps of fun.
So long for now friend.

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”!