Alex Elmsley - The Bashful Ghost

Elmsley

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Created by Alex Elmsley and Described by John Derris

ONE OF THE DELIGHTS of Alex Elmsley's work is that his mind is open to any method required to achieve a magic effect. While some magicians master a repertoire of sleights and produce all their effects around them, Elmsley does not. He produces a range of effects that baffle most magical minds because his methods are not stereotyped. Another who would use a Hook Coin as readily as a palm was Dai Vernon. Alex Elmsley pulled the following stunt on friends at The Magic Circle one Monday evening, and it was so audacious that few reasoned the method. A card was selected, remembered, and returned to the pack. The cards were then freely shuffled and cut by several spectators. The pack was placed on the floor and covered with a newspaper. The cards were commanded to cut themselves at the chosen card. When the newspaper was removed, the cards were seen to be cut at right angles in the form of a cross. And, when the upper half of the pack was removed the chosen card was revealed on top of the lower half This simple plot succeeded because of Alex's reputation and the build-up that he used to surround the presentation. Alex was sitting beside a table on which rested a glass of his favorite falling-down water and his evening newspaper. Some time earlier he had deposited about a quarter of the pack face down under the newspaper and left it there. John Ramose used the same kind of subterfuge from time to time, preparing long in advance and then waiting, patiently, for the right moment. Inevitably someone asked Alex to do a trick, so he brought out a pack of cards (minus the quarter already under the newspaper). He allowed a card to be chosen, remembered, and then replaced in the pack. He controlled the card to the top and immediately palmed it. He then divided the pack in two, and gave the halves to different spectators to shuffle. (Each spectator gets only a portion of the deck so that neither will realize the deck is short.). After the shuffling, Alex took back the halves of the deck, reassembled it, and secretly added the palmed card on top. He placed the pack on the floor, then casually picked up the newspaper (and quarter deck hidden beneath) with one hand and placed it over the pack, covering it. He did this in as loose-handed a manner as possible, while at the same time making sure that the portion of the deck which was secretly added was at right angles to the cards below (fig. I is an x-ray view).

file://F:\Dateien\Robert\Zauberei\Internet\Elmsley.htm

28.06.2005

Elmsley

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A sip of whisky while Alex extolled the impossible conditions, and then noted the presence of a ghostly gambler who could always cut a pack to any position. Alex asked a spectator to lift the newspaper and reveal the cut pack. The top half was removed and the card on top of the lower half turned over to reveal the chosen card. Many people that evening were fooled because they believed, from what they had seen Alex do in the past, that he possessed some super new idea involving a complex method. Alex later said that his inspiration for this casual piece of foolery came from the Coin Tray (thought to be Hofzinser's invention) where coins hidden in a slot beneath a small metal tray are secretly added to those visible in the tray as they are poured into a spectator's hands. It was also the inspiration for the stunning salt production at the end of his Cups and Balls routine.

file://F:\Dateien\Robert\Zauberei\Internet\Elmsley.htm

28.06.2005