Genii OCT 2013 pen--_6899

THE CO CONJURORS’ CON NJURORS’ N JURORS’ MAGAZINE

Genii OCTOBER 2013 • $6

1

Burger

Eugene

Murphy-1

2

2

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

L&L’S LATEST WORLD’S GREATEST!

L&L PACKET TRICKS! It seems to be commonly believed that the genre of card magic known as packet tricks – that is, card tricks that use a small number of cards rather than the entire deck – are a relatively recent invention in the history of conjuring but this is not the case. While it’s true that packet tricks became insanely popular in the magic community of the 1960s and 70s (Jon Racherbaumer even coined the word “packeteer” to describe magicians who specialized in these types of tricks), effects with a small number of cards date back to the late 1800s. Though many use the term “packet trick” disparagingly, the truth is that, if well-conceived and performed, they can often be more astounding than effects performed with an entire deck of cards.

PACKET TRICKS - VOLUME 1

PACKET TRICKS - VOLUME 2

PACKET TRICKS - VOLUME 3

The Close-Up Illusion – Larry Jennings Pinochle Pinnacle – Martin Nash Pink Floyd – Michael Close Virginia City Shuffle – Michael Ammar The Four Card Trick – Alex Elmsley Maxi-Twist – Bill Malone Intuition / Out of the Blue – John Guastaferro Modern Jazz Aces – Darwin Ortiz

Back Flip – Daryl Marked for Life – Michael Ammar Motel History – Paul Wilson Universal Card – John Mendoza Factory Misprints – Michael Ammar Twisting the Aces with a Twist – Larry Jennings Jumping Gemini – Darwin Ortiz

Reset, Reset – Bill Malone Eight Card Brainwave +2 – Paul Wilson Cardeater – Pavel Fairy Tale Frogs – John Guastaferro The Twins – Michael Ammar Bullet for a Cowboy – Dan Fleshman The Capitulating Cards – James Swain Twisting the Aces – Michael Ammar

LOOKING FOR SPECIAL SALES & INCREDIBLE DEALS? SIGN UP FOR OUR E-MAIL NEWSLETTER AT LLPUB.COM

just $19.95 each Check out our new website

LLePUB.com

LLPUB.COM or 1-800-626-6572

for downloadable eBooks from L&L Publishing. Check back often for weekly specials!

L&L PUBLISHING ALWAYS OFFERS FREE SHIPPING IN THE U.S.

E-Mail: [email protected] Phone: (530) 525-5700 Fax: (530) 525-7008 PO Box 100, Tahoma, CA 96142 OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

3

McBride 4 December 3rd - 4th

Mask, Mime and Magic (with Jeff McBride)

February - March Medicine and Magic CME Seminar 27th - 2nd

4

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

EDITOR

ART DIRECTOR

VOLUME 76

PHOTOGRAPHERS

REVIEWS

David Britland John Lovick Will Houstoun Eric Mead Danny Orleans David Regal Dustin Stinett Joe M. Turner ONLINE MANAGER

Brad Aldridge CONSIGLIERE

R.A. Farmer

PUBLISHERS

FEATURE 58

Eugene at 74: The Master in His Prime

50 78

The Tradition of the Ontario Invitation by Stephen Minch Real Secrets: One Year Later by Richard Kaufman

Genii:The Conjurors’ Magazine, Volume 76, Number 10 (ISSN 0016-6855 USPS 216-060) Printed in the U.S.A. Genii is published monthly. Subscription rates, one year $58; two years $112; three years $158. Copyright © 2013, The Genii Corporation, 4200 Wisconsin Ave., NW, PMB 106-384, Washington, D.C. 20016. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the copyright owner. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional entry offices. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for service to start. No refunds will be given on subscriptions once placed. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Genii: The Conjurors’ Magazine — Attn: Circulation Dept., 4200 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 106-384, Washington, D.C. 20016. Phone: 301-652-5800. Fax: 301-652-8035.

www.geniimagazine.com

COVER PHOTO BY RICHARD FAVERTY Mr. Kaufman's Portrait by Zakary Belamy

by Robert Charles and Mike Burke

80 Wager of the Month Club 82 City Walk

COLUMNS 10 12 14 18

22 28 35 34 41 44

Genii Speaks by Richard Kaufman On the Slant by Jon Racherbaumer Now Performing The Academy of Magical Arts in Genii 18 19 20 20

From the President by Neil Patrick Harris Thirty-Fiveism Contributed by Neil Patrick Harris Knights of the Magic Castle by Joan Lawton Magic Castle Performance Schedule The Chamber of Secrets The Watch Box by John Gaughan Conjuring La Forza del Destino by Jim Steinmeyer The Expert at the Kids' Table Swinging with Two Bats by David Kaye

Intellectual Property Laws and Magic

Answering Some Legal and Ethical Questions by Sara Crasson

Eugene's Notebook Entertaining by Eugene Burger The Genii Session Red/Black Redux by Roberto Giobbi

LIGHT FROM THE LAMP 94

Richard Kaufman Elizabeth Kaufman Daniel Solomon Jane Solomon Printed in memory of William Larsen, Sr. & William Larsen, Jr. Publisher Emerita Irene Larsen Editor Emerita Erika Larsen

Send Away for a Free Trick See page 79

OCTOBER 2013

97

Tricks Reviewed by David Regal

94 95 95 96 96 96 97

Tiny Plunger by Jon Armstrong, Mathieu Bich, Garrett Thomas Uprising by Richard Sanders ONE: Twist, TWO: Fusion by Axel Hecklau Wedge by Jesse Feinberg Mintalist by Peter Eggink and Uday Jadugar E-RASE by Julian Arlandis TTTCBE by Roberto Giobbi

PHOTO BY MARK BERRY

David Britland Eugene Burger Sara Crasson Al Cohen Dani DaOrtiz John Gaughan Andi Gladwin Roberto Giobbi David Kaye Ian Kendall Chris Kenner Homer Liwag Max Maven Jon Racherbaumer Jim Steinmeyer Tom Stone Caleb Wiles

NUMBER 10

PHOTO BY GARY BEECHEY, COURTESY OF GARY SLAIGHT

COLUMNISTS

ame Your N ddress Your A e ty, Stat Your Ci Code l Posta

58

50

Videos Reviewed by Joe M. Turner 97 98 98 99 99 99

World’s Greatest Magic Secrets of Packet Tricks, Volumes 1-3 The Magic Circle Lectures by Craig Petty and David Penn Celestial Mechanics by Dave Davies Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks—Volume 2 by James Went, Liam Montier, Ryan Schlutz,Iain Moran, Owen Packard The Eden Project by Geraint Clarke The Artful Remote Viewer (audio) by Bob Cassidy

100 Books Reviewed by Eric Mead

100 Mike Caveney Wonders/The Conference Illusions by Mike Caveney 102 Ensuing Impuzzibilities by Jim Steinmeyer

104 Subscription Information/Advertisers Index

PHOTO BY ANITA AND STEVE SHEVETT

Margret Daham

q Your Stamp

THE CONJURORS’ MAGAZINE

Elizabeth Kaufman

ADVERTISING & OFFICE MANAGER

h

I

Richard Kaufman

Zakary Belamy Kari Hendler

e 1

Genii

GENII OFFICE

301-652-5800

18

LIFETIME SUBSCRIBERS and SUPPORTERS: Alexander L. Young • Bill McFadden • Michel Andenmatten • Mike Vance • Walton Magic, John Walton • Josh Mandel • David Mitchell • Karl Miller • Deano Ewtushik • Tim Jackson • Ray Kosby • James Martin • Randy Sinnott • Winton Gibbons • Jay Patel • Jaac Mandrake • Jim Weyand • Richard Forster • Joe Gallant • Perry Vincent • Thomas L. Newman • Ross Hironaka • Mark Dombroff • Diamond Jim Tyler • Dr. Theophilus E.Green • Gary Dismukes • Chris Wilson • Al D’Alfonso • Charles A. Rodriguez • Dr. Joe Vitale • Thomas Resciniti • Eric Leclerc • Rick Hebert • Alan Wong • Jim Neff • Kenneth Sodaro • Andrew Pinard • Michael Jaffe • Karen Ivers • Robert Somerdin • Seuss Hawkeye Metivier • Jeff & Mary Mielke • Stephen B. Smith • Joseph Cassidy • Weuler Elias Moura • Jimmy L. Rhodes Jr. • Kenneth G. Mutzabaugh • Mr. Eerie • Dan Sheen • Philip Peh • Andreas Krall • Kimikazu Matsumoto • Rex Liu • Yukishige Yanagawa • Herve Listeur, Creations Magiques • Francisco Laguna • Kenneth Chmielewski • Marios Sokratous • Jeffrey Cowan • David Williams • Kenneth Mackay • Chris Murphy • Ben Mueller • Bruno Depay • Andres Reynoso • Ricardo T. Rosenkranz, M.D. • Gary Kosnitzky • Mark Goldstein • Pierre Emmanuel Chaut • Benoit Louppe • 20 Anonymous

A

Pen

6

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

nguin

7

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

7

REGAL

8

8

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

BEFORE YOU FORGET

Order the HARRY

LORAYNE “rememoir”

Before I Forget

“Once you start reading this book you won’t want to put it down until you finish reading this book.” 94 chapters and many photos . . . tell how a terribly shy poor kid born and raised on the mean streets, the ghetto, of New York City’s Lower East Side became “The World’s Foremost Memory-training Specialist”—“The Yoda of Memory Training” (Time Magazine).

Lorayne

Learn about the man behind the legend . . . Learn how “stomach cramps” started it all . . . Learn about his fierce animal instinct for survival … Learn about the “image, the bluster, the brilliance,” the showmanship . . . Learn about the “pivot points” that arranged/changed Harry’s life . . . Learn how typhoid fever was a GOOD thing . . . Learn how to handle a wet tuxedo! . . . Learn how magic saved his life—and how a card trick almost got him killed.

9

Prepare for some very interesting reading about an interesting life . . . plenty of laughs, and perhaps a tear or two . . . meet some famous people—see them through Harry’s eyes.

o Be Forewarned—this is NOT a magic book—no tricks (except perhaps the tricks life can play on you) are taught. VERY limited printing, so ORDER NOW—$46.95 plus $8.95 postage/handling, total—$55.90. Out of U.S.A. add $18.00 (total, $73.90). Check or Money Order preferred, payable to HARRY LORAYNE & mail to: HARRY LORAYNE, 1 REED POND COURT, WATER MILL, NY 11976. Or—PayPal to [email protected].

Before

I Forget (a “rememoir” says mel brooks )

o

Harry Lorayne

Autographed ONLY on request. To see what other Lorayne products are currently still available, go to harryloraynemagic.com.

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

9

Genii Speaks2 301-652-5800 • [email protected] www.geniimagazine.com

N

AT

W

Richard Kaufman

SPAIN'S VERSION OF

CH

THE BBC'S TV SHOW THE MAGICIANS

THE SUMMERS

keep getting warmer and it’s making me grumpy. So, more than ever I look forward to the fresh cool air that seems to whoosh into suburban Washington D.C. toward the end of September, blowing out the humidity, and from there it’s only another 30 days to my favorite holiday, Halloween, when the leaves turn and I can watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, without feeling guilty. First let me welcome our 2,000 new subscribers, the magician members of the Academy of Magical Arts. When the AMA was first created by William Larsen, Sr. in April 1952, it existed solely in the pages of Genii. His sons Bill, Jr. and Milt created The Magic Castle as a home for the Academy of Magical Arts (gone were the sciences!) and its members. From that point on, Genii and the Academy of Magical Arts remained linked until I purchased Genii from Irene Larsen in late 1998. It therefore seems perfectly appropriate that we have now brought Genii and the Academy of Magical Arts back together. The addition of these 2,000 new subscribers makes Genii, once again, the largest-selling independent magazine devoted to magic in the world, which would have made Bill Larsen, Jr., a very happy guy. These digital subscriptions are brought to you in conjuction with the Conjuring Arts Research Center and Ask Alexander. We’ll also have a new section in Genii each month devoted to The Academy of Magical Arts and the goings on at The Magic Castle—you can read a message from President Neil Patrick Harris (and an amazing trick) on p.18. And, here’s a big perk for our existing subscribers: you will now be able to make reservations and visit The Magic Castle once per year as long you are a subscriber to Genii. You will be required to obey all club rules and have dinner. All of the details will be published in the next issue, so if you've always wanted to go to The Magic Castle, but weren’t a member, now you can! For those of you who have been on the fence about renewing or extending your subscription, we’re running a special (while supplies last): purchase a one-year subscription and receive all four issues of The Looking Glass (a quarterly mag that I edited along with Jon Racherbaumer and Stephen Hobbs which contains great close-up magic)— over 100 pages, for free (you just pay the postage). If you purchase a two-year subscription, you’ll receive a copy of my big hardcover book Jennings ’67, absolutely free (again, you take care of the postage). See the details on p.105 or go online to www.geniistore.com before we run out of these terrific bonuses. No other independent magazine gives you its digital issue for free, all of its back issues for free, and free stuff, too! Note that if you are already a subscriber, you can choose between these free gifts merely by extending your subscription for one or two years. 10

GENII

This Halloween issue our spooky cover features my longtime friend and magic sage, Eugene Burger. I first met Eugene in 1983 at the S.A.M. convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was a lovely person. Though I really wasn’t impressed by his spongeball routine in the close-up show, I greatly enjoyed his effect “Dracula and the Sorority Girls,” where a chosen card is discovered thumbtacked to a card box. In fact, as a sleight-of-hand nut from New York, at first I didn’t really understand Eugene’s overtly theatrical performance style even though just a few years earlier I was a would-be actor studying at the Stella Adler Conservatory. It was not what most folks were doing. Soon enough, however, Eugene and I became fast friends and in 1985 I was able to rescue his book Spirit Theater from various failed publishing efforts and finally bring it to market. I have greatly enjoyed seeing Eugene mature as a performer— this is not something that is often discussed, because he seemed to pop up, full blown, out of nowhere in the early 1980s. The Eugene we have seen over the last two decades is not the Eugene of then, as he himself understands when he talks about how the writing of his books was really his journey to find himself as a performer. Today he is at his peak as both performer and teacher, bringing all of his 74 years of wisdom to bear. He pioneered a different style of thinking about the performance of magic in the United States, with himself as the perfect exemplar of his writings (unlike other leaden-handed writers who hit you over the head with their demands about what makes magic strong, and whose performances are often shockingly distant from even their own ideas about magic). Eugene has always talked about acceptance in magic—about how magic is a “big umbrella” that has room beneath it for many types of performers. He is a sage, but not a snob, and that’s why everyone loves him. His interview begins on p.58. • This year Real Secrets, that cool trick-of-the-month club I devoted a cover to last year, hit a big fat bump and almost jumped the shark, but responding rapidly to customer feedback has given it a new jolt, and this month we bring you a big article with two tricks and props for both, printed on our pages for you to scan or photocopy and reproduce. While both tricks are excellent, “City Walk” is amazing and you’ve never seen anything like it before. And now here’s a real secret: there’s a third trick for Genii readers waiting for you, free of charge, from the Real Secrets team if you send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to RS at Real Secrets, P.O. Box 6132, Folsom, CA 95763-6132. • Small conventions to which a select group of people are invited have been taking place in Canada for decades— join Stephen Minch on p.50 for the story of how these little-known gatherings have just come to an end. • Holy Yowser! The trick in this month’s “Conjuring” is beyond great. Steinmeyer rarely disappoints, but his effect this month is something that could go into your repertoire in a

FACE TO FACE

MAHDI GILBERT

MATT FIELD INTERVIEWS STEPHEN MINCH

CH

MORE GENII SPEAKS

O

ST

N

AT

W

CH

LI

W

N

AT

W

N

AT

SPEAKING OF MAX

EN

CH

OIL AND WATER

few days and never fail to be the effect most talked about at your stand-up performance. Worth the price of your subscription it is! I won’t tell you anything—you need to read it all the way through, starting on p.28. • In the “Genii Session,” Roberto Giobbi shares the red/black mini-card-act that he teased us with the month before last. • Attorney Sara Crasson completes her five-part series on the law and intellectual property as it applies to magic. • David Kaye gives you some advice on heavy lifting in an article titled Swinging with Two Bats in “The Expert at the Kids’ Table.” • John Gaughan’s “Chamber of Secrets” has many tricks with pocket watches—there’s one on p.22. • And after much cajoling, our cover boy Eugene Burger and master magician Jeff McBride begin a series of conversations in “Eugene’s Notebook,” which is accompanied by a video in our digital edition. • We also have our monthly audio columns from Jon Racherbaumer and Max Maven, as well as another

excellent “Face to Face” Matt Field video interview. Finally, at the top of this page you’ll find a performance of “Oil and Water” by Mahdi Gilbert. Someone filmed him doing it for Dani DaOrtiz in a hotel room. Mahdi has no hands, and through an amazing amount of dedication has managed to surmount an almost impossible challenge: performing sleight of hand card magic. Mahdi’s a quiet guy, but his skill speaks loudly. • Our reviewers top off the issue and that’s all she wrote! My good buddy—everyone’s good buddy—J.P. Jackson died at the beginning of August. His health had been poor for several years, but he just kept going like the good natured guy he was. We spoke more often since I began writing the book on Tenyo earlier this year. He loved collecting Tenyo— in fact, he loved collecting everything. Past I.B.M. President, and J.P.’s closest friend, Jack White remembers him below.

By Jack White

JOHN PETER JACKSON died in San Diego on August 8, 2013, after a brief illness. He was better known as “J.P.” and in addition to having a keen sense of humor, he had an avid love of magic, carnivals, circuses, county fairs, and all outdoor amusements. Born in Chicago, J.P. grew up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. His father would often travel to Chicago on business and instead of bringing a toy home to J.P., he would bring a gag or magic trick. Most were S.S. Adams Magic Products and J.P. didn’t take any time becoming proficient doing his tricks and performing local shows. He still had the first trick his father bought him, “The Sore Finger,” and proudly displayed it in his huge collection of magic. After graduating from high school in Stevens Point, J.P. entered the Army Academy at West Point, New York. He spent some time there and then transferred to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Subsequently he served in the U.S. Navy for 30 years. Upon entering the Navy, J.P. sold his small collection of magic apparatus to Joe Berg at the Princess Magic Shop in Chicago. For the next 20 years, J.P. forgot about magic, until one day when he walked into a northern Californian magic shop and was once again bitten by the magic bug. He began building an apparatus collection of fine craftsmanship and unique modus operandi. Soon after acquiring much of his antique apparatus, he realized it was important to understand its history and that of its creators and builders. He spent many years hunting down lost and forgotten magic effects, while at the same time creating a huge magic library. J.P. also stayed current with today’s magic and produced for sale a number of his own “Color Changing Knives.” J.P. was active in the International Brotherhood of Magicians, serving two years as president of Ring 76 in San Diego. He

PHOTO BY WAYNE WISSNER. COURTESY OF MAGICANA

John Peter (J.P.) Jackson (July 10, 1937–August 8, 2013) was also active at many other magic conventions and in magic collectors organizations. J.P.’s home was like a haunted magic castle. It is a huge two story wooden frame structure with collectible magic stacked high throughout every room. In recent years J.P.’s phone would ring all day with calls from magicians and magic collectors asking if he knew where they could find a certain prop or instructions on how a piece of apparatus worked. J.P. was extremely generous in sharing information as well as showing off his collections whenever asked. J.P. is survived by his sister Jean Schaefle, and three sons, Patrick, Michael, and Jay. He will be sadly missed by magic collectors and magicians around the world. Let me tell a little story about J.P. One Halloween, J.P. suggested to me (we were both Ring 76 members), that we should perform the “Spirit Painting” for the Ring’s Halloween Show. J.P.’s Shadow Painting was one of only three copies made by legendary magician Paul Fox. J.P. had a penchant for tinkering with his magic, and thus was so with his Spirit Painting apparatus. So after much rehearsal, J.P. and I were ready to perform the illusion. It was just that the Spirit Painting was a little worn out and did not respond on cue. To stall for time, I called to the spirit for a sign, any sign, that the spirit was present. Immediately two fire trucks stormed past the building with sirens blaring. As the crowd turned to see the commotion, J.P. nudged the motor on the Spirit Painting. When the audience turned back to the show, the Spirit Painting was materializing before their eyes. • OCTOBER 2013

11

i

Jon Racherbaumer

O

ST

LI

On the Slant

EN

PRACTICE MAKES … ? Remember the witty answer to “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer is identical to the advice repeatedly given to us by our mentors when we ask about ways to improve. They say, “Practice, practice, practice.” Legends such as Dai Vernon added that one must love to practice and it should be a satisfying, life-long pleasure. He would also add an important caveat: The practice should be deliberate. That is, you must practice techniques that are correctly conceived and proven over time. If you practice wrongly for the 10,000 hours Malcolm Gladwell gushed about in Outliers (2008)— which I reviewed in this column—it will be for naught. But there have been subsequent studies that other factors can come into play. For example, Michigan State University psychology professor David Z. Hambrick and five other psychologists sifted through data from 14 studies of performers—six of chess players and eight of musicians. Writing in Intelligence, they reported, “that a full quarter of the master chess players they examined achieved elite status after only 7,500 hours of practice. And more than 20 percent of the best players made even quicker work of the process, becoming masters in 5,000 hours or fewer. Meanwhile, a sizable contingent of lower-ranked players trudged through more than 10,000 hours in the company of pawns and kings without making the grade.” Having innate smarts counts a lot, as well. Others exhibit extraordinary tenacity of purpose and they grind it out for years and then eventually achieve mastery. That being said, there is now a book that should delight members of FastFood Nation … The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything Fast (2013), a 274-page confection by Josh Kaufman. (Remember those thrilling words from yesteryear? “I’ll give you a SuperPower Memory in Thirty Days!”) Author Kaufman is apparently offering ways to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less. Imagine learning the Kennedy Center Deal and the Diagonal Palm Shift in less than 20 hours! Imagine mastering the Ramsay “Coins and Cylinder” in 1,200 minutes! Seriously? Nope. If you take out the words “any” and “anything,” Kaufman’s claim has a chance of being believed and, to be charitably fair, his 10-point plan is a good one if you want to master attainable skills such as playing the ukulele, mastering the gamed of Go, learning touch typing, or programming. To this short list you could add learning the Double Undercut, the Retention Coin Vanish, the Faro Shuffle, the Striking Vanish, the Wand Spin … to name a few. What I found practical and immediately useful was his systematic approach to learning such attainable skills. Chapter Two (“Ten Principles of Rapid Skill Acquisition”) 12

GENII

Time moves in one direction, memory in another. WILLIAM GIBSON

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant. Emily Dickinson

outlines a system. First, define your target performance level. In other words, figure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to apply when you’re done. Next, deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we define as being skills are actually bundles of smaller mini-skills. If you break down the basic skill to smaller components, it’s easier to figure out which ones are more important and then initially practice those. Two other aspects are key. Eliminate barriers to practice by removing common distractions. Also eliminate unnecessary effort and mainly focus on deliberate practice. Finally, create fast feedback loops by obtaining accurate, real-time information about how well you’re progressing during practice. It will reveal the nuances of learning something new through trial and error. Ask Me No Questions and I’ll … Savvy entertainers, clever psychics, and winning card players are good at reading people. They have the ability, coupled with the knack, to make hot and cold “readings.” They can tell what “tells” mean and portend. They can ferret out what’s factual. They can spy the lies. What they haven’t empirically learned the hard way, they have picked up from books such as Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How To Detect Deception (2013). Considering that some studies suggest that most people lie on the average 10 times daily, we are pretty much surrounded by mendacity (big and small). Therefore, perhaps we professional liars who tell amusing “white lies” for a living should be better at it than everyone else? The game we love to play is to get others to reveal while we cunningly conceal. If you agree, check out the 258-page handbook by Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, and Susan Carnicero. (Most reviewers crowed that this book “is a game-changer.”) One blurb blurted: “Imagine how different your life would be if you could tell whether someone was lying or telling you the truth. Be it hiring a new employee, investing in a financial interest, speaking with your child about drugs, confronting your significant other about suspected infidelity, or even dating someone new, having the ability to unmask a lie can have far-reaching and even life-altering consequences.” If you get out your yellow highlighter, you can quickly skim past all of the examples and underscore key points and passages. I found many surprises. For example, the authors point out that averting eye contact, usually assumed to signify evasiveness, isn’t a reliable nonverbal signal that a person is lying because many people look away during most conversations. More telling signals are hiding the mouth or eyes, throat-clearing or swallow-

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. VINCE LOMBARDI

ing, biting or licking the lips, and what the authors call “anchor point movement,” shifting weight and position around the body at rest as a way to reduce anxiety, like fidgeting in a chair. To better observe this tendency, the authors like to have their subjects sit in a chair that has wheels or that rocks and swivels, so that the anchor point movements become obvious to the observer. Another clue consists of what the authors call “grooming gestures,” like brushing hair or adjusting a tie or shirt cuffs, which can signal anxiety. One last cue, which seems straight from central casting: sweating profusely. If the subject takes out a handkerchief or simply mops his brow with the heel of his hand, that could signal deception. Stacking a Holodeck: About 15 years ago my eyes caught a book title that immediately grabbed me: Hamlet on the Holodeck. What the heck was this? Being enthralled by holography and reading everything about it I could lay my hands on at the time, I figured this book was loaded with magical possibilities. Think about it. Any technique that permitted three-dimensional images to be created using lasers, interference, diffraction, or snf light intensity recording had deception written all over it. Around the same time I learned about another thing with the prefix “holo” in its name—the holodeck. Trekkies knew about this. The holodeck was this cool, enclosed room wherein objects and people could be simulated by a combination of transported matter, replicated matter, tractor beams, and shaped force fields onto which (you guessed it) holographic images could be projected. More magic. This was a fantasy machine. Once I delved into Janet H. Murray’s book, I began imagining how the emerging cyber-technology would effect how magic media is produced and shared. How, for example, would an independent magic magazine such as Genii look? How would it be different? Author Murray specifically was interested in how the art of storytelling might be transformed by hackers and other cyber-specialists. She argued, among other things, that computers were reshaping “the spectrum of narrative expression, not by replacing the novel or the movie but by continuing their timeless bardic work within another framework”; that we were on the brink of a brave new era in which “cyberdramas” would reinvent storytelling as a participatory medium. She was also predicting that computer games, with their simplistic win-loss equations and often violent dynamics, would increasingly give way to “the collective construction of elaborate alternate worlds,” and these worlds would

be interactive, allowing audiences to participate in the storytelling process. She was the one who first introduced me to terms such as “immersive” and “agency.” The basic idea is to make participants (users) an interactive part of the process and experience. To apply this notion to a magazine (if one can still call it that), one can imagine that the user is totally immersed in it and it feels consensual and hallucinatory. The simulations would be so compelling and realistic that users would be hard pressed to differentiate them from the real world. The user would be entranced by the spell that this new process would cast. Although Murray’s book was published about 15 years ago, it is still a must read for anyone interested in interactive storytelling. Along these same lines I was thinking about the possibility of creating art installations wherein a spectator enters the environment and has a conscious, psychic experience that is transformative. In other words, the spectator interacts with the environment. Think: Fish in water. A new kind of Magic Theater would create the “water” that the “fish” would become immersed in. The spectator is not aware of this, yet is dramatically affected by it. They would be called “immersants.” “Immersion” into virtual reality is a metaphoric use of the experience of submersion into water applied to representation, fiction, or simulation. Immersion can also be defined as the state of consciousness where a “visitor” or “immersant” awareness of physical self is transformed by being surrounded in an engrossing environment; often artificial, creating a perception of presence in a non-physical world. The term is widely used for describing partial or complete suspension of disbelief enabling action or reaction to stimulations encountered in a virtual or artistic environment. The degree to which the virtual or artistic environment faithfully reproduces reality determines the degree of suspension of disbelief. The greater the suspension of disbelief, the greater the degree of presence achieved. I think we are inching our way toward these ends. The electronic rendition of Genii already has audio and video icons that enliven the interactive experience. Yes, it is still representative and mediated, but you can now imagine a more immersive form. It will be an alternative world you can enter, interact with, and even transform. I can hardly wait. www.JonRacherbaumer.com Onward…• [email protected]

OCTOBER 2013

13

D

NOW PERFORMING All Performers Subject to Change

LAS VEGAS

NEW YORK

Compiled by David Neubauer www.dnmagic.com

BOSTON

MONDAY NIGHT MAGIC

THE MYSTERY LOUNGE

David Copperfield—An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion 7 & 9:30 pm & also 4 pm Sat., MGM Grand

Criss Angel—Believe

7 (except Wed. & Thurs.) & 9:30 pm (Dark Sun. - Mon.), Luxor

Gerry McCambridge—The Mentalist 7:30 pm (Dark Wed.), Planet Hollywood

ILLUSIONS - Jan Rouven 7 pm (Dark Wed.), Riviera

Jeff McBride’s Wonderground

3rd Thurs. each month, 7:30 to midnight, The Olive (3850 E Sunset Dr.)

LaughterNoon—Adam London

NEW LOCATION: The Players Theatre 115 MacDougal St. • New York, NY 10012 • (212) 615-6432 (Between: Bleecker St. & West 3rd St.)

mysterylounge.com The Comedy Studio 1236 Mass Ave • Cambridge, MA 617-661-6507 • Tuesday Evenings • 8 p.m.

OCTOBER 7: David Corsaro, Harrison

OCTOBER 1: Jon Stetson, Steve

Greenbaum, Todd Robbins; Emcee Michael Chaut; Close-up: Richard Cohn, Noah Levine OCTOBER 14: Rocco, Michael Chaut, Jeff Moche; Emcee Harrison Greenbaum; Close-up: Mike Patrick, Noah Levine OCTOBER 21: Torkova, Peter Kougasian, Peter Samelson; Emcee David Corsaro; Close-up: Joe Maxwell, Michael Chaut OCTOBER 28: RJ Lewis, Jon Stetson, Rich Bloch; Emcee Harrison Greenbaum; Close-up: Peter Kougasian, Ben Nemzer

4 pm, The D

MAGICAL NIGHTS OF UNFORGETTABLE WONDER

Mac King Comedy Magic Show 1 & 3 pm, (Dark Sun. & Mon.), Harrah’s

Magical Mix

Christopher Karpiak, 7-10 pm (Dark Tues.–Wed.), Mix Lounge Mandalay Bay

Please refer to www.magicalnights.com for more information regarding the show's location going forward.

Mike Hammer Comedy Magic Show 7 pm (Dark Sun. & Mon.), Four Queens

Murray—Celebrity Magician With Douglas "Lefty" Leferovich 4 pm, Guest Act: Chris Randall Laugh Factory, Tropicana

Nathan Burton Comedy Magic Show

CHAMBER MAGIC

chambermagic.com The Waldorf Towers Hotel 100 East 50th Street • New York, NY 10022 • 866-811-4111 Every Friday and Saturday

Starring: Steve Cohen

4 pm (Dark Mon.), Saxe Theater, Planet Hollywood Current Guest

CONNECTICUT

Penn & Teller

COMEDY MAGIC MONTHLY

www.comedymagicmonthly.com Last Tuesday of each month • 8 pm Performers change monthly Bru Room @ Bar 243 Crown Steet, New Haven, CT

9 pm, (Dark Thurs. & Fri.), Rio

Seth Grabel—Variety Magic 6 pm, (Dark Sun. - Wed.), Clarion

Tommy Wind—A Unique Magic and Music Experience

6:30 pm, (Dark Tues.), The TW Theatre (Vegas Blvd between the MGM and Planet Hollywood)

New Books� Close-up� Stand-up� Parlor�

Dances with Coins� (Stage, close-up,� EZ� , cheap, amazing)�

Miser’s Mug�

Your First� Ring Routine�

Vernon Hug & Kiss� Business Card ESP� Close-up Troublewit� (Made with typing paper)�

Go to amazon.com books� Search on�

Al Schneider Magic�

14

GENII

Kradolfer, Bob Riordan OCTOBER 8: Joe Howard, Danny Hustle, Bryson Lang OCTOBER 15: Steve Kradolfer, George Saterial, Joel Acevedo OCTOBER 22: Joe Howard, Bob Riordan, Alex Foolski OCTOBER 29: Halloween Spectacular, Dr Magogo, Danny Hustle, Steve Kradfolfer

PHILADELPHIA GRASSO’S MAGIC THEATRE

103 Callowhill Street Philadelphia, PA 19123 215-413-2917 All Sunday shows are at 3 p.m. www.grassosmagictheatre.com [email protected] OCTOBER 6: Stu Rudnick OCTOBER 13: Ed Schmitt OCTOBER 20: Dave Darwin

CHICAGO MAGIC CHICAGO

magicchicagoshow.com • Stage 773 1225 West Belmont, Chicago, IL (773) 327-5252 • First Wednesday • 7:30 pm • Hosted by Robert Charles and Benjamin Barnes

OCTOBER 2: David Ranalli, Shawn

McMaster, Luis Carreon, Reed and Ashton Masterson

THE MAGIC CABARET

magic-cabaret.com The Greenhouse Theater Center 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL • 773-404-7336 • Wednesdays • 7:30 pm

Starring:

Joe Diamond and David Parr

SUPERNATURAL CHICAGO

SupernaturalChicago.com Excalibur Nightclub 632 N. Dearborn, Chicago 800-979-3370 • Every Friday at 7:30 pm Presenter: Neil Tobin, Necromancer

LONDON, UK CONJURING AT THE COURT

Drayton Court, 2 The Avenue, West Ealing, London W13 8PH, UK www.conjuringatthecourt.com [email protected] £10 • 44-777-55-87708 Producers & Emcees Russell Levinson and Stephen Barry Doors open 7:30 pm, Show 8 pm

OCTOBER 31: Stu Turner, Nicholas

Einhorn, Michael Pearse, Christopher Howell. Compere Stephen Barry

SIMON DRAKE'S HOUSE OF MAGIC

www.houseofmagic.co.uk

G

CARNEY 2013

A YEAR’S WORTH OF QUALITY MAGIC DELIVERED TO YOU ONLINE EACH MONTH!

January

MORA BALLS & NET February

Carney

July

IMPROMPTU COLLECTION August

15

THE VANISHING BIRDCAGE RE-IMAGINED March

FIXING FUNDAMENTALS

LEON’S HAUNTED DOLL HOUSE September

CHOPTRICKS

April

October

EDDIE FECHTER’S 8-12

COMMERCIAL CARDS

May

November

FOUR GONE

TOUCHES ON THE CLASSICS December

June

TIME SPACE COIN-TINUUM

E XC L U S IV E S E C R E T S

OKITO’S ELIXIR SILK / CHARLIE MILLER’S LEFT HANDED KNOT & SPIRIT KNOT

MONTHLY ONLINE VIDEO SUBSCRIPTION Presenting a year-long program in magic instruction. Each month, John Carney offers subscribers a brand new lesson, most of which have never appeared in book or video before. Topics are as diverse as John’s own interests: Cards, Coins, Stage, and Technique. Plus, universal lessons applicable to any magic you undertake. This is “A” Material from John’s repertoire—not trendy magic “products,” gimmicks, or silly rehashes. You will see his process as he demonstrates how to make your own material evolve, through thoughful creative choices.

Only $

A NEW LESSON EACH MONTH

90 for One Full Year of Magic!

WATCH ONLINE ANYTIME, AS OFTEN AS YOU WISH.

Suscribe anytime in 2013 and have access to all twelve lessons. You must have an internet connection to view these streaming videos. Subscription only, not available separately. Not available on disc, or from dealers. FOR MORE DETAILS & TO PURCHASE, VISIT

CARNEYMAGIC.COM

Go to “Books and Videos” and Pay by check , Paypal, or credit card through Paypal

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

15

KAUFMAN Full 16 Color Page

16

16

GENII

Only $60, and We Pay Your Postage in the U.S.A. Pay by Credit Card, PayPal, Check, or Money Order (in US Dollars) Order online at www.kaufman.geniimagazine.com with Visa, Mastercard, Amex, or Discover Order by PayPal: Send $60 to [email protected] via PayPal with your name and address Order by Phone: Call 301-652-5800 during east coast business hours. Order by Mail: Richard Kaufman, 4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 106-292, Washington, D.C. 20016 Please include address, phone number, and email address with all orders. OURForeign ADVERTISERS LOVEMust TO HEAR THAT YOUfor SAW THEIRPostage. AD IN GENII Orders Add $20 Airlift

INT’L MAGIC

17

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

17



i ~

sssssssssssssssssss BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

r 8

D D D D DW D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

The Academy r of Magical Arts

r 8

elcome to Genii subscribers, Magic Castle members, and … Wow, here’s the great part … Both! You’re probably wondering why I’m here, as the President of The Academy of Magical Arts at The Magic Castle, in the pages of Genii. And the answer is that I’m thrilled to be able to occupy a page in this historic issue. For the last year or so, we’ve been actively planning this wonderful bridge between Genii and the AMA. Fittingly, it just happened after Genii’s 75th anniversary (last year) and the year of The Magic Castle’s 50th anniversary (this year). And not to get all “historical” on you, but the AMA was originally proposed by William Larsen, Sr. in the pages of Genii.. So you see, there’s always been a tight little knot—or think of it as a gift bow—connecting the magazine and the club. In the 1990s, that all changed. And I suppose it was for good reasons, because both enterprises had their struggles and difficulties. Both went through a period of transition, and both came out, I’m proud to say, at the top of their game. So it made perfect sense that Richard Kaufman, the current editor of Genii,, Erika Larsen, the former ediedi tor (and the vice-president of the Board of Directors of the AMA), and yours truly (President) hatched a plot to reconnect Genii and the AMA, for the benefit of our members and Genii subscribers. I’ll make a long story very short. A little bit of synergy and, presto! You’re holding the results in your hands. I like to think that Genii and The Academy of Magic Arts were not only meant to be together this way, but that both will benefit from this wonderful reconnection. During my term as President of the Academy of Magical Arts, we’ve seen a fantastic renaissance in The Magic Castle. For those of you who haven’t visited recently, I hope you get the chance. Being President isn’t always glamorous. The Directors

18 18

Together

are often busy with issues of membership, food, scheduling, maintenance and (here was a recent one) resurfacing the parking lot! Our general manager, Joe Furlow, is a master at keeping all of this humming along effortlessly. So sometimes we forget just how important the Academy of Magical Arts can be to the world of magic. Fortunately, our club has, in recent years, benefited from the work of the Board of Trustees, a collection of innovative magicians, who have

Genii Again

to do it all. Just two years ago, The Magic Castle suffered a tremendous calamity with the Halloween Fire. It came back, even better than ever, and is entering the new century with a new sense of energy. I won’t actually say, “phoenix rising from the ashes,” but you get the idea. That’s why I’m really pleased that Genii is being offered to magician members of the AMA, so they benefit from this “state of the art” magic publication. One more bit of history. “Genii” is an interesting name. It’s a variant spelling of “genie,” the guy in the bottle. Usually, the double “i” at the end of the name denotes a plural. In other words, William Larsen Sr., when he founded his maga magazine in 1936, may have always intended that Genii was the work of a number of clever, magical beings, not just one. In the last 75 years, we’ve seen exactly that. There were two distinct Genii behind the creation of The Magic Castle, Milt and Bill, Jr., and every night at the club, we see the benefit of magic partnership. It’s the performers, technicians, staff, servers, and members, all coming together, that make the magic. After you say “Open Sesame,” that’s when the magic really begins, behind the scenes. Now I’m not really going to get a chance to write for Genii very often. So my “magic geek” side can’t resist the temptation of contributing the very first trick to the new 2013 Magic Castle Genii pages. I was just shown this trick, and I instantly thought it would be a marvel to share with Genii readers. In the spirit of a traditional genie (singular) of days gone by, I’m not going to tell you anything about it. I’m not going to tell you where it’s from, the source, or the inspiration. It’s for you to enjoy. I’d just point out that it’s something of a miracle, and I’m happy to describe it here, before I crawl back into my bottle. Enjoy! And I hope we see you at The Castle very soon! Neil

~

X et A Messag President 9 kept the “magic” part of the Castle in the forefront. Similarly, our entertainment director, Jack Goldfinger, and our stage manager, Bryan Lee, keep the standards high and keep delighting our audiences. For me, I can’t say enough about the folks at The Castle who make it all happen. The Larsen family (here we go, history again!) is still remarkable. Milt Larsen, the creativity behind The Magic Castle, is an incredible talent. Irene Larsen, Past President, is the heart of the club, and Erika Larsen (currently my vice President), seems to be able

(P.S. Don’t forget that as a Genii subscriber, you’re entitled to a bonus visit to The Magic Castle each year.)

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GENII GENII

 m s i  e v i F T h i rt y

sssssssssssssssssss BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

You then quickly deal five more cards. There are now exactly thirty-five cards in a face-up pile on the table. You notice the bottom card, the last card dealt. This is your key card. We’ll say, for this example, that it’s the Two of Hearts. “You’ll notice that I’m cutting the cards, so we’re mixing the order. Now your card isn’t where you just thought it was.” The cards on the table are turned face down and the rest of the deck is put on top of it, completing the cut. “That means that a new card is now at your secret number. Since you’re so good at keeping secrets, I’m going to turn my back. I want you to turn your back to everyone, and quietly deal cards off the top of the pack. Deal them one-by-one, into a pile. And I want you to deal exactly your secret number. Do it quietly so that no one knows how many cards you’ve dealt. Have you done that? Good. Square up that pile of cards on the table, and hold the rest of the cards in your hands.” Here you instruct another spectator to stand and help you. “I’d like you to step over to the table, look at the top card on the pile, the card he’s just dealt. Remember it, then put it back on top of the pile. “Have you done that? Good.” Now you address the first man again: “Take all the rest of the cards in your hand and drop them on top. Square up the deck and hold it in your hands.” The second spectator is invited to return to his seat. “This is what I mean about keeping secrets. You have a secret number. You’ve thought of a secret card. And then, using your secret number, this gentleman thought of a different secret card. Neither of you knows what the other person knows. And for some strange reason, I seem to know less than anyone else here. Let’s see if I can change that.” Addressing the spectator holding the deck: I’d like you to hold the deck face down in your hands and start to deal cards off the top, dropping them on the floor. Mentally count until the spectator has dropped ten cards.

“Stop! If I told you that the next card was your card, you might be surprised. But it isn’t. Your card is exactly seven cards from the top of the deck. How could I know that? After all, you shuffled the cards, and you thought of the card at your own number. Maybe it’s just intuition. Maybe it’s just a guess. Seven cards. Count them with me, dropping the cards one-by-one. One ... Two ... Three ... Four ... Five... Six ... Stop right there. Tell me the name of your card. And turn over the next card.” The spectator finds his card. Now you take the remaining cards from the spectator and invite him to sit down. You spread the cards face up, showing them to the second spectator. As you spread them, look for your key card (in our example, the Two of Hearts), and note the card just above it in the face-up packet. This is the second spectator’s card. Once you glimpse it, turn your attention to the second spectator. “Do you see your card in this half of the pack? It really is there? Good, then take these cards and shuffle them. I don’t want to know where your card might be. You’re keeping one more secret, and I’m going to make one more guess. Just one guess. Let’s see how I do.” Take the packet back and spread the cards with the faces toward you. Pull out the spectator’s selection, which you glimpsed a moment earlier. Place it face down in his hand, then have him name his card before he turns it over. The second deal of the secret number resets the spectator’s selection in the proper position. According to this formula (dealing 35 cards at the start), the first selection will always be 17 (52 minus 35) from the top, and the key card will always fall on top (in a face-down packet) of the second selection. Yeah, yeah, I know. It ends up with the oldest, most over-used kid’s trick in magic. The key card. And, once you try it you’ll see. It’s just right. •

D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D



r 8

T

his mathematical card trick is the perfect miracle to perform in a group when you’re called upon to do “something.” Begin by borrowing a deck. That’s right. Borrowed cards. At the beginning, you don’t even touch them. “Can you keep a secret? Of course you can. But the history of humanity is a history of secrets that were kept, and then secrets that were mysteriously discovered. Sometimes secrets are blabbed. That’s not very mysterious. But more often than not, secrets have a way of revealing themselves. I’m going to ask you to keep a secret. You’re going to make a decision, decide upon a secret number. And you’ll do everything possible so that I don’t discover it. but here’s the surprising part. If I get this right, if I can get the correct mental vibrations, I won’t need your secret. “Do you have a deck of cards?” Be sure that it’s a full deck, without any jokers. Have the cards shuffled. “I’d like to have someone step up here and help me. This will be all about your choices. If I’m successful, it’s because I made a mental connection to you. If I fail, it’s because you’re great at keeping secrets. I’d like you to think of a number, your secret number. A number between, let’s say, one and thirty. I want to limit you to about half the deck of cards, so think of a number between one and thirty. Have you got it? That’s your secret. I’m never going to discover that number. But I’ll try to do something even more amazing. “I’m going to deal through these cards, and I want you to remember the card that happens to fall at your number. Don’t stop me when you see your card. Don’t react in any way. Put on your best poker face and just look at the cards as I deal through them. I won’t cheat. I won’t look at you. I’m going to just look at the cards.” Here you deal cards from the top, oneby-one, turning each card face up and dealing into a single pile on the table. As you deal, you count off each card. “That’s the first card. Two. Three. Four ... .” You continue to count, until you’ve reached the thirtieth card. As you pause and look up at the spectator, you say: “Have you thought of one? And you’ll remember it?”





r 8

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx OCTOBER OCTOBER 2013 2013

19 19

sssssssssssssssssss BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

r 8

D D D D D Okay, I get it D D D D D D D D D D D D D Magic D Castle D Schedule D

22

at22

By Joan Lawton

.

I’m a woman so I can’t be a Knight. I guess that makes me a Lady or a Dame. I think I prefer Lady. In either event, it’s time to catch you up a bit. We’re very happy to have Genii, at least part of it, back in its original California home. Thank you, Richard! The Magic Castle is back in the hands of the Academy of Magical Arts (AMA) and has been for some time. We have a fantastic manager, Joe Furlow, at the helm. Joe came to us a few months after the infamous Halloween fire last year and things are running very smoothly now. The AMA is in the black. The performers are happy with the apartments now arranged for them. The food is better. The club is cleaned con-

stantly. Thank you, Joe! Our Board of Directors now includes (just in case you didn’t know) magician members Neil Patrick Harris (president), Erika Larsen (vice-president), Randy Sinnott (treasurer) and Jim Steinmeyer. The associate members on the Board are Brian

Tolman (secretary), Maurice Newman and Sara Ballantine. You’ve probably heard of her father! The Board of Trustees is comprised entirely of Magician Members as that Board handles the artistic side of the club’s activities. Jon Armstrong is the chairman, with

Board of Trustees

k  

r 8

Misty Lee

OCTOBER 7-13

“Women In Magic Week” Produced by Dale Hindman

Close-Up Gallery

~

Performers are subject to change due to circumstances and availability

20

SEPT EMBER 30-OCTOBER 6 Early: Cameron Francis Late: Mark Matsumoto

Close-Up Gallery Early: Suzanne Late: Joycee Beck

Parlour of Prestidigitation Early: Robert Dorian Late: David Gabbay

Parlour of Prestidigitation

Palace of Mystery

Early: Lisa Cousins Late: Joan Dukore

Peller Theatre

Liberty Larsen (emcee) Luna Shimada Miss Katallin Juliana Chen

Bruce Gold Chris Randall David & Dania

Palace of Mystery

Eric Buss Woody Pittman

W. C. Fields Bar Rich Cowley

Friday Luncheon Cameron Francis

Saturday & Sunday Brunch Parlour Tim Mannix

Lecture on the 6

th

Cameron Francis

~ Woody Pittman

Peller Theatre

Kimberly Bornstein Jeanine Anderson

W. C. Fields Bar Misty Lee

Friday Luncheon Suzanne

Sunday Brunch Parlour

Jeanine Anderson

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

GENII GENII

Lecture on the 13th Mark Mason

sssssssssssssssssss BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB Max Maven as vice-chair. I am the secretary. We don’t have a treasurer because we don’t handle the money! The other Trustees are David Regal, John Lovick, Mark Wilson, and Rob Zabrecky (who is producing some special tricks and treats for Halloween Week.) Hopefully, both Boards make you feel secure about the AMA. Let’s skip to August and some of the events in that fairly recent month that began with the culmination of our annual Future Stars of Magic Week. This spotlights members of our wonderful Junior Program in each of the Castle’s performance venues. Don’t think these are just kids playing at magic. They work hard to get into the program and shine at this annual event, sometimes out-shining their adult counterparts. Speaking of our Juniors, congratulations to Mario Seki and Eli Tannenbaum who placed first in stage and close-up respectively at Tannen’s Magic Camp. Performers throughout the balance of the month came from throughout the U.S. and Europe. These included (in no particular order): Father Jim Blantz, our librarian, Bill Goodwin, Erix Logan, Brian Gillis, Denis Behr, Helder Guimaraes, Jon

r 8

AMA Award of Merit honoree William Scott Anderson

Stetson, Jamy Ian Swiss, Farrell Dillon, and Mike Douglas—whose name has magically changed to Mondre. September saw a special tribute night for members of the Los Angeles Fire Department and Police Department. The invitation went out to the fire companies who responded to the Halloween fire and to the police stations that protect the Castle. These heroes were treated to dinner and our booked shows for the week, plus strolling magic by volunteers Tom Ogden, Paul Green, David Gabbay, and Crow Garrett. Speaking of tributes, we’ll be hosting our Second Annual Veterans Week from November 11 through 17. Every act in every room at the Castle will be a veteran of one of America’s armed forces. Close-up will feature Harry Monti and

Jason England, with Jeff Ezell and The Bornsteins in the Parlour. Our incredible treasurer and retired Marine Colonel and Purple Heart recipient, Randy Sinnott, is set to emcee in the Palace of Mystery but we’ll see what happens. He’s a very busy attorney and might have to bow out. The acts in the Palace are confirmed and will be Denny Haney, Puck, and AMA Award of Merit honoree William Scott Anderson. Aye Jay and Eddie Medrano will be holding forth in the Peller Theatre, while Mayseo will be working in the Museum. Jack Goldfinger lets me book this very special week. (I think it’s because he likes having a week off.) Mark Collier will be handling the W.C. Fields Bar and Bill Joslin will be at the Palace Bar table on the weekend. To me, it’s a great honor to show how much we at the Magic Castle appreciate those men and women who fight (or fought) so hard for freedom. If you’re around during that week and join in our tribute! That’s it for October! Look for this special AMA section in next month’s issue of Genii, the oldest and largest continuously published independent magic magazine. •

D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

k OCTOBER 21-24

OCTOBER 14-20 Close-Up Gallery

* Acts return to complete their full week. November 1-3

Parlour of Prestidigitation

Early: Daniel Sylvester Late: Will Houstoun

Early: John Carney Late: Luis Magic

Palace of Mystery Chris Mitchell Tina Lenert Les Arnold & Dazzle

Peller Theatre

Dan Trommater Shawn McMaster

W. C. Fields Bar Jamy Ian Swiss

Friday Luncheon Jamy Ian Swiss

~

Parlour of Prestidigitation

Chris Mitchell

Saturday & Sunday Brunch – Parlour Shawn McMaster

Lecture on the 20th Martin Mercy

Early: Eric Buss Late: Jimmy H.

Palace of Mystery Dave Cox Steve Owens David Zirbel

OCTOBER 25–31

“Halloween Week” Produced by Rob Zabrecky

Close-Up Gallery

Early: Deadeye Dick Late: Paul Vigil

Parlour of Prestidigitation Early: Pop Haydn Late: Steve Valentine

Palace of Mystery Rob Zabrecky Conjure

Peller Theatre/Inner Circle The Mums Brett Loudermilk Scott Land

Friday Luncheon October 25th Paul Vigil

Saturday & Sunday Brunch Parlour Oct. 26-27

~ Eric Buss

r 8

Early: David Regal Late: Todd Robbins

Close-Up Gallery

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Frank Thurston

Lecture on the 27th Steve Valentine

Deadeye Dick

OCTOBER 2013

21

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS JOHN GAUGHAN

AS TOLD TO DUSTIN STINETT

PHOTOGRAPHS BY KARI HENDLER

THE WATCH BOX ON SOME LUCKY OCCASIONS, while brows-

ing antique and curio shops, I’ll come across a piece that the proprietor does not realize is a magic prop. This is one such item. It looks like a small, lockable jewelry box.

22

GENII

Because the mechanics for opening its secret side panel are so well hidden—it is actually inside the bottom—unless one knows what to do, it is virtually impossible to find. The effect is very direct: A watch is borrowed and locked into the box. The volunteer can do this himself and keep the key. The magician takes the box and places it on a table or hands it to someone else in the audience—who is admonished not to shake the box so as not to damage the watch. After an appropriate magic moment, the box is shown empty and the borrowed watch is found inside a loaf of bread or some other impossible location. This particular piece is British made and dates back to the 1920s or 30s. It’s one of the few pieces of gimmicked apparatus that Edwin Sachs recommends for use in his classic book, Sleight of Hand. He did so because it still requires some dexterity since the watch is stolen away in the conjuror’s hand. Professor Hoffmann also describes it in his seminal work, Modern Magic. Made entirely of mahogany, the bottom of the box is actually of two pieces of thin veneer separated by small blocks around its perimeter. The space between the two veneers is a small fraction of an inch, but it’s enough to allow the bottom panel to be squeezed, though

PHOTO BY DAMON WEBSTER

O

it takes a considerable amount of pressure to do so. In fact, a very close look at the bottom shows fingernail impressions left in the wood where it was squeezed by the performer who used it all those years ago. If one is looking at the open box from the front, the side that secretly opens is on the right. Once closed, the box is held by both hands, thumbs on top, fingers on the bottom with the front facing forward (so now the secret panel is on the performer’s left). Pressure is applied to the bottom at its left edge and the left thumb pushes inward on the upper portion of the side panel. The upward pressure of the fingers release a catch hidden in the bottom that holds the side closed. The inward pressure from the thumb pivots the side open allowing the watch to slide out into the left hand. Then the left thumb pushes the side pack back to its locked position. The whole procedure takes just a second or two to accomplish. All that the magician has to do next is find a mysterious and entertaining way to reproduce the watch! •

OCTOBER 2013

23

Full Color Page Blue Crown

24

24

24

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Collectors

25

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

25

ALAKAZAM

26

26

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Full Kaylor Color Page 27

27

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

27

qCONJURING PHOTO BY BILL TAYLOR

JIM STEINMEYER

WWW.JIMSTEINMEYER.COM

LA FORZA DEL DESTINO ONE OF THE HUMBLING aspects of writing for a magic magazine is that my columns will soon become additional grains of sand on the dessert of magic literature. Many of those grains are precious and jewel-like; many have yet to be discovered. But every day the dessert gets larger and larger; the colors become more uniform and all distinctions are lost; yesterday’s sand is replaced with today’s. When I say it like that it’s pretty depressing, isn’t it? The good news is that it’s always worthwhile going back and looking for those tiny, underappreciated gems. This month, I’m going to bring you one of them, all dolled up in a new presentation. More about the history of the trick later. Right now, here’s the effect. “If I were doing a mere magic trick for you, I’d simply say, ‘Pick a card,’ and then I’d get on with it. But there’s nothing mere about this magic. Instead, I’m going to eliminate all the fancy stuff, all the tricky stuff, the false shuffles, the fingers that push secretly like this, to make a card go like that. In other words, no tricks. Just the real thing. Fate, chance, luck, coincidence. You know. Magic. “So instead, I’ll say, ‘Pick a paper bag.’ I’ve brought three paper bags, and I’m going to hand them to three people in the audience. Don’t open them. Don’t peek. That’s part of the surprise” (fig.1).

1 28

GENII

C

The magician carefully selects three people, giving them brown paper bags that have been folded over on the top. As he hands them out, he says, “You’ll notice that there’s something small inside that will rattle around. Don’t open the bag yet.” When he hands out the third bag, he says, “You’ll notice you’ve got something bigger inside of your bag. Actually, it’s a bottle with something nice inside of it. If everything works out, you’re the one with the bottle, and you’re the one who starts the celebration. Understand? But right now, no peeking.” He invites the first person with a bag to come up on stage. He asks the man’s name. (We’ll say it’s Allen.) “Allen, please reach in the bag and take out what’s inside. It’s a red deck of playing cards with a rubber band around it. Please take off the rubber band and hand it to me.” He does. The magician puts the rubber band in his pocket. “And I’ll take the bag from you, too. I want everyone to see that it’s empty. “Allen, please open the cards and take them out of the case.” The magician takes the card case from him. “You’ll notice that all the cards have been put in order. That is, Ace through King of each suit. That lets you look through the cards and make sure that every card is there, and there’s only one of each card. Please shuffle the cards, and then cut them. Shuffle them as much as you’d like, so you know they’re mixed up.” The magician directs him to a table. “I’m going to ask you to pick a card, but we’ll let fate, chance, luck, coincidence take over. No tricky stuff. So I want you to be convinced that I’m not doing anything tricky.” He gives Allen the card case and asks him to put the deck back inside. Then he takes the case from him. “And please have a look at the paper bag, so you know that it’s empty.” He does. The magician pulls open the flap of the card case and then shakes the cards inside the bag, so all of them are spilled inside. He takes the case and puts it in his pocket. “Allen, I’ll hold the bag up. Please reach inside. Mix

up the cards with your hand. Let your fingers grab one of them. Then let it go, mix them up again, and pick a different one. Have you got one? Would you like to change your mind? Because once you decide, fate takes over” (fig.2).

2 The magician has the spectator lift the card from the bag and show it. Let’s say that it’s the Six of Clubs. “If I were telling your fortune, I’d say that you picked a positive card, that represents the fact that you’re about to face your challenges and conquer them. So I’m going to slide that card, the Six of Clubs in my pocket, and ask you to take your seat. Allen, you’ve done a great job. Let’s see where destiny takes us.” Allen gives the bag back and takes his seat. Now the magician invites the second spectator. Let’s say that her name is Beatrice. “Beatrice, you’re probably wondering what I put inside of your bag. Go ahead and take a look. It’s a blue deck of cards. With a rubber band on it.” The magician takes the rubber band and the bag. “I don’t want to touch the cards. Please take them out of the case.” He takes the case. “And you’ll notice that they’ve been arranged, in order, Ace to King. Maybe some of this looks familiar to you by now. So as you go through those cards, please take out the card that matches Allen’s card. The Six of Clubs.” Beatrice gets a confused look on her face, and says, “It isn’t here.” “Are you sure? Do you see the Five of Clubs, and the Seven of Clubs? But there’s one card missing? Is that the only card missing? Beatrice, it’s almost as if something, or someone, foretold our destiny, and beat us to the punch. Spooky stuff. Even if it is a card trick.” Beatrice is sent back to her seat and the magician puts

her deck aside. “That leaves one more person.” The last bag is brought onstage. Let’s say the man’s name is Cody. “Cody, I haven’t touched that bag since I handed it to you. I didn’t influence Allen’s choice, or Beatrice’s eyesight. But somehow fate has decreed that one card would be foretold, and now it’s time to celebrate. Take out the bottle!” Cody reaches in the bag and removes a clear wine bottle with a cork in it; the bottle is empty except for one playing card. It’s the blue card that matches Allen’s selection, the Six of Clubs (fig.3). This elaborate presentation is built around an amazing card force. It’s the invention of Don Schrager, and you’ll find the secret hiding in the March 1973 issue of The Linking Ring, where it was explained as “Pick Any Card, Under Test Conditions.” This presentation starts with Schrager’s paper bag force, then uses the additional two bags to reveal the 3 selections. Okay. Here’s the easy part. The best bags to use are “12 pound” brown paper bags, roughly 7 by 131/2 by 4 inches; you can buy them by the bundle at paper supply stores. In one bag is a blue deck of cards arranged in order, with the Six of Clubs removed. That card is inserted into a clear (not green) wine bottle, with the labels removed. Roll the card slightly, insert it into the bottle, then use a stick to reach inside the bottle and press the card flat again. Put the cork back into the bottle and put the bottle in the paper bag. The remaining paper bag has the red deck. This deck is unprepared, but the card box has been prepared with two small strips of cellophane tape, closing the little side slits where the flap meets the box (fig.4). This helps hide the deck, inside the case, when the flap is opened; in other words, it prevents the audience from seeing too much of the deck. You don’t have 4 any idea where we’re going, do you? So here’s the last part of the puzzle. You’ll need a matching red one-way force deck, to force the Six of Clubs. These cards are taken out of their box and placed in the inside breast pocket of your sports coat on the left side. (If you’re left handed, you’ll probably want to use the other side.) The rubber band around the card box is very important. This is your excuse to go into your inside pocket. When Allen takes the rubber band off of the deck and hands it to the magician, he reaches inside his jacket, placing the rubber band into the upper breast pocket. At the same time, he lifts out the deck, the loose one-way force OCTOBER 2013

29

y

CONJURING

5 deck, and drops it into the top of his left sleeve, so that the deck falls down the sleeve (fig.5) It stops at the magician’s elbow, as his arm is bent, holding the edge of the coat. He instructs Allen to shuffle the deck and return it to the case. The magician takes the bag in his right hand and the deck in his left. The flap should be open. He dips the deck in the box, into the bag with his left hand, shaking his hand as if shaking the cards out of the box. Of course, by lowering his left arm, the loose cards fall from his sleeve. At the

6 same time, he squeezes the box firmly between his fingers, so none of the cards leave the card box (fig.6). When the box is taken from the bag, the magician casually puts it in his pocket. He then shakes the bag up and back, asking the spectator to reach inside and remove a card. The rest of the routine is self-explanatory, of course. The card is missing from the blue deck, and is located inside the bottle in the final bag. •

Elmwood 1/8 page color

30 WWW.GENIIMAGAZINE.COM

CARDS•CARDS

CARDS•

Bicycle, Bee, Squeezers, Aviator, Tally-Ho Circle and Fan Back, Collector Decks, and Much More!

www.kardwell.com 30

GENII

MORE IMPUZZIBLE THAN YOU’VE EVER IMAGINED!

T

he Impuzzibilities books, Jim Steinmeyer’s collection of “strangely self-working conjuring,” have become famous for the remarkable wonders between their covers. Designed to be performed on stage, close-up, or through the media of telephone, DVD or video, these are incredible effects that allow you to fool yourself, and then fool your audience! (Some of the effects have no explanations; just follow the patter and witness the marvel!) The fourth book in the series, Ensuing Impuzzibilities is the largest and the most varied in material. The book contains twelve marvels of self-working or psychological magic. Here are just a few highlights. Eight Card Espial is a “hands off” routine in which the spectator shuffles a packet of cards, eliminates some, and you name the card on the face of the packet. One Fortune Serves Eight is a special stack for a “just think of a card” effect, in which the stack automatically tells you the information you need. Flummoxed is an

unusual routine based on Eddie Joseph’s incredible Staggered, a series of coincidences in which best friends seem to find each other. Ryan Swigert’s Moraskill is an insightful variation on Stewart James’ famous Miraskill, a double prediction presented as market research. Kuniyasu Fujiwara’s Automatic Ace Triumph is a completely hands-free (go ahead, do it over a telephone!) Triumph routine. You won’t believe this effect is even possible. And then add in Jim’s newest techniques for Equivoque, an improved version of Dining Out, his menu prediction, and a re-imagining of the astonishing impromptu effect, The Pairs Repaired. The Impuzzibilities books are unique; they’ve offered useful effects that have found their ways into the performances and promotional materials of professional magicians around the world. Ensuing Impuzzibilities continues the tradition. You’ll delight in these effects, you’ll marvel at them, and then you’ll really use them, in incredible ways. 48 pages. The price is $19. (Impuzzibilities, Further, and Subsequent, are $16 each.)

JHS PROD 31

y e R ’ S e I n m e J I m S t

SubSeq uent I IeS ImpuzzIbIlIt

lle cti on An oth er Co

y of Str an gel

Sel f-Work ing

Co nju rin g

. JIMSTEINMEYER COM AND THE FIRST THREE BOOKS ARE STILL AVAILABLE AT THE WEBSITE...

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

31

IBM SAM FISM

CONTEST OF MAGIC

Who will win the IBM Gold Medal or the IBM Gold Cups? Who will win the FISM North American Championship?

IBM/SAM

32

Who will win cash and performing contracts valued at over $30,000?

Who will win the SAM Gold or Silver Medals? Who will win the People’s Choice Awards for Stage and Close-up?

Who will have the chance to compete for the 2015 FISM World Championship of Magic?

IF YOU WANT TO WIN CASH, TROPHIES, CONTRACTS OR THE FISM NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP OF MAGIC, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER – AND SIGN UP NOW. Here’s how: • • • • • • •

Register now before the Convention is Sold Out – www.ibmsam.com Download Contest Rules and Entry Form – www.ibmsam.com Submit the Entry Form with your Convention Registration. Submit the act you will present to www.Vimeo.com before March 31, 2014. You will be notified by April 15 if your act is accepted for the competition. If accepted, you must pay a $50 USD contest entry fee. All contestants must be a member of either the IBM or SAM and can join while preparing your video.

CONVENTION REGISTRATION Now through December 31 – $395 Details at www.ibmsam.com

contest questions? Joan Caesar, Chair [email protected]

CONVENTION HEADQUARTERS Renaissance St. Louis Grand Reservations 888-236-2427 Rates: $115 single/double Add $20 for each additional occupant

convention website www.ibmsam.com for more information about the hotel, contests, special events, registration forms, dealers, committee contacts and quick links.

IBM/SAM 2014 C o m b i n e d

if you’re good enough to enter you could be good enough to win! 32

GENII

C o n v e n t i o n

IBM/SAM 2014

St. LOUIS, MISSOURI JULY C o1 m b i n14 e d C

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

o n v e n t i o n

St. LOUIS, MISSOURI JULY 1-5, 2014

WONG-1

33

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

33

FASTER, EASIER & SMARTER MARKED DECK

Walton

Markings hidden in plain sight

34

Available in Red & Blue

Learn many professional techniques of how to best use this tool in the GT Speedreader DVD

Don't take chances with the impact of your magic, be in total control with the GT Speedreader Marked Deck system. 34

GENII

Contact Murphy's Magic Supplies OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Ad design by James Howells

Read secret markings in a fraction of a second

PHOTO BY FREDDE LIEBERMAN

THE THE EXPERT GENII AT THE SESSION KIDS' TABLE ROBERTO GIOBBI DAVID KAYE

o

SWINGING WITH TWO BATS WHEN A BASEBALL PLAYER is getting ready to take his turn batting, he will often pick up two bats and swing them together. This way when he swings one bat at the plate it will feel lighter, and he will swing with more power. That’s how magicians should think about doing magic shows for children. I think you can learn to be a better entertainer for adult audiences by getting experience performing for children. Performing for children is like swinging with two bats. After working really hard to entertain children, entertaining adults will be a breeze. Some people think kid shows are easy to do. I suppose kid shows are easy to do badly. But to really do a great magic show for kids you have to hold their attention and really entertain them. And that’s not easy. Kids can be a tough audience. You might even feel you need those two bats for self-defense. Children are a critical audience. If you don’t hold their attention during your show they will let you know. If kids aren’t impressed with you, they’ll tell you. If they don’t like you, they’ll tell you. And if they’re bored, they’ll just leave. Have you ever seen a kid bored to death while shopping with his parent? Parents euphemistically call this “a meltdown.” I call it, “Please god, don’t let this happen at my show.” Performing for children is like performing for drunk adults. Drunks will tell you if they don’t like your act, they will grab your props, try to ruin your show, and tell you how they think you’re doing the magic. And so will kids. And just like drunks, children will pee anywhere they damn well want to. Performing for kids and family audiences will strengthen several skills you need in order to be a great magician. The first thing you will learn is that entertaining your audience is more important than your tricks. If you are a magician you must perform magic. But you must also be entertaining if you want people to pay to see you. Performing magic for children teaches you that entertainment is primary. You can

do miracles for children and often they won’t even care, unless you are also entertaining them. The second skill you can develop is to perform magic as a character. We all know that we are “actors playing the part of a magician.” After all, children do believe in magic. So having magical powers is an easy leap for them to accept. But you can perform as a completely different character. And children are more accepting of a strange character than adults are. Performing for children can give you practice working in character, like choosing tricks that are consistent with your character and staying in character through your whole show, which isn’t easy. There used to be a guy here in New York who performed for children as an old man character. But by the time he was half-way through his show he lost his old man voice, dagnabbit, and was speaking like a good ’ole New Yawk-uh. My philosophy of kid show magic is that the best kid show magicians are those whose routines have a high rate of Interactions Per Minute. These are the moments that the children interact with you, verbally and physically. Performing magic for children forces you to increase your IPMs. If you don’t you will loose your audience. If you aim for a high IPM in your show for children, you will learn how to more easily create those moments of interaction in your adult show. Here are more reasons to do kid shows. Everyone knows you become a better performer by going out there and performing as much as you can. More flight time means better shows. Performing for any audience at all is better than not performing. You can add to your flight time by doing magic shows for kids. You can also work on that great routine where you use a child from the audience in your adult show. You can even perform some close-up magic for the parents after your show to advertise your adult show. In fact, performing at kid shows may be the best thing to happen to the new manipulation act you are working on. EXPERT AT THE KIDS' TABLE, continued on page 39

OCTOBER 2013

35

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND MAGIC SARA CRASSON

ANSWERING SOME LEGAL AND ETHICAL QUESTIONS THROUGH THE FIRST HALF of 2013, this series has sparked heated discussions. Some interesting questions emerged about intellectual property rights for magicians and magicians’ ethics.1 This article attempts to address some of those questions and add clarity on various points of confusion.2 First, this series has been based largely on law in the United States. While it has discussed some international examples, intellectual property laws, and other relevant laws and court procedures, outside the United States may be very different. For that matter, laws and their interpretation can be different in different states and courts even within the United States. This series has attempted to give a basic understanding of some applicable U.S. laws and interesting cases to give a broad idea of the law as it applies to the needs of magicians in the U.S. The law in your jurisdiction may vary. Anyone considering taking legal action would benefit from consulting an attorney about what laws apply in their situation. Although this series may have discussed a general rule or a similar case, your outcome could be different. INTERPRETATION OF THE KLOK CASE The last column described the Dutch case brought by Rafael von Herck against Hans Klok. There was some debate about the impact of that case, and how it was interpreted. As noted previously, access to the court 1 While the author is a lawyer, the author is not your lawyer, this article is not legal advice, and rules in your jurisdiction may differ. You should consult an attorney before taking legal action. 2 For a detailed discussion of these issues, see the author’s article, “The Limited Protections of Intellectual Property Law for the Variety Arts: Protecting Zacchini, Houdini, and Cirque du Soleil,” in the Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, (now Jeffrey S Moorad Sports Law Journal) Vol. 19, Issue 1, upon which this series is based. In this article, citations are omitted. 36

GENII

documents was limited.3 However, based on the available text, it seems that the Dutch court considered, among other issues, whether the plaintiff had a valid claim for the infringement of the following elements: the handthrough-body effect alone; the knocking-off-the-head effect alone; and the combination of the two effects into a routine. In evaluating an infringement claim, a court must first evaluate whether protection is available, in other words, whether the plaintiff owns copyrights which can be infringed upon. Only then will it consider whether those rights were infringed upon. That court seems to have determined that while neither the hand-throughbody nor the knocking-off-the-head effects were originated by plaintiff von Herck, he could receive protection for his performance of the knocking-off-the-head effect and for the combination of the two effects, because they were performed with original elements or presentations. It decided he could not gain protection for the handthrough-body effect alone, since von Herck’s performance of the effect was not sufficiently original. Some interpreted the coverage of the case as suggesting that the illusions themselves cannot be protected by anyone. The misinterpretation was partly due to an unclear wording. The intent was to convey that the court held certain portions of the performance to be protectable, regardless of the status of the individual illusions. The court did not address whether another party, such as the originators of the illusions, had any enforceable rights in the illusions themselves. The impact of this decision is unclear. Depending on the Dutch legal system, this decision may or may not be 3 The Dutch court published a version of the opinion online which seems to have been heavily redacted to allow the details of the illusions involved to remain confidential. Between the redactions and the machine translation to English, it became a challenge to understand some fine points of the court’s decision with much precision.

binding on any other courts, or even indicate how other courts would rule on similar issues. Additionally, the court’s decision appears to hinge on the theatrical elements of the performance rather than the effects themselves. It is difficult to determine what protection would be given to the effect, independent of the presentation. For example, what protection would von Herck have if Klok performed the effects together, but with a different presentation? While this case does illustrate a magician’s success in protecting his work, its application to situations where the imitation is less exact may be limited. COPYRIGHT MAGIC AS A “NON-DRAMATIC” PERFORMANCE. Certain objections were made, some vehemently, to the characterization of magic as a “non-dramatic” performance in the context of copyright protections. To clarify, the description of variety performances as generally “nondramatic” does not mean that they are not artistic, expressive, arresting, or emotional works. Many variety or magic performances are all of those things. However, under the law, there are specific legal requirements which the performance must satisfy in order to receive the protections of a “dramatic” work. To qualify as “dramatic” under the legal definition, the performance must tell a story so that the audience sees the events unfold. This is not a statement about the quality, creativity, or entertainment value of a performance. It is merely a legal distinction between types of performances. A performance can be wonderful, moving, and still “non-dramatic” in the eyes of the law. For reasons beyond the scope of this series, U.S. copyright law provides “dramatic” performances with more protections than “non-dramatic” performances. In litigation, the parties could argue about whether the performance at issue in the case was “dramatic” or “non-dramatic.” This would not necessarily be an easy or obvious decision, and might be hotly debated. Some magic performances would likely qualify. However, most magic performances do not tell a narrative story which the audience sees unfold, and would fall into the second, lessprotected category. COPYRIGHT PROTECTS EXPRESSIONS, NOT IDEAS When a qualifying work is “fixed in a tangible medium” by recording it or writing it down, the creator can get copyright protection. However, that only protects the fixed expression of the idea, and does not give the creator an exclusive right to express that idea. If, as discussed in greater length earlier in this series, there is only one way to express the idea, the expression is unlikely to receive protection, because to stop people from using that expression would be to prohibit people from using the idea. So, while a choreographed ballet is copyrightable, the hand motions required to perform a sleight are less likely to receive protection, since they are required to accomplish the goal of hiding a coin, or picking up two cards while appearing to pick up only one. A common example of this idea is the cookbook. A cookbook author can own the copyright on the book, but

doesn’t own the underlying recipes (how to make the dishes) themselves. Accordingly, the cookbook author cannot stop readers from executing the recipes and preparing the food. To clear up a little confusion, the reason cookbooks are frequently the example of this kind of non-protectable material is because this is an issue which has been thoroughly litigated and determined by the (U.S.) courts. The fact that so many cups of flour and sugar and butter are needed to bake a particular kind of cake “merges” with the idea of that cake. The author of the cookbook does not own the idea of the cake, itself, and so cannot stop others from performing the steps to bake it. One can, however, copyright something that is a combination of individually unprotectable elements. A series of sleights could be strung together into a copyrightable routine, just as a series of unprotectable dance moves could make up a ballet. It is difficult to predict exactly where that distinction will lie, though, or how many elements would be required. THE PROBLEM OF ENFORCEMENT Even though intellectual property laws do cover magicians and their work, if magicians want to take advantage of the available protections, they must sue to enforce their rights. These suits are relatively rare. For a variety of reasons, magicians generally choose not to sue each other. First, litigation is expensive and can be a distraction from one’s everyday business. Litigation can also be risky. Since there have been relatively few cases where magicians have sued other magicians, there are few court decisions providing specific examples and boundaries which would allow a potential plaintiff to gauge whether a suit will be successful. Finally, even if a magician wins, the plaintiff still has to collect on the judgment. Because of all the uncertainty, and because of the potentially limited recovery, magicians frequently decide not to sue. This does not mean magicians can’t do anything about those who copy their work without permission, but most of them find it impractical to enforce their rights in the courts. ETHICS FOR MAGICIANS Magic is not just an industry, however. Magicians are also participants in a community. Many magicians who compete with each other for work are also friends and collaborators, helping each other develop new material. To preserve a sense of community and to encourage magicians to respect each other’s work, among other reasons, the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians have each adopted ethical guidelines.4 Those guidelines are broad, however, and it is not always obvious how they apply to a particular situation. Many hypothetical fact patterns have been raised over the last few months. While this article will discuss a few specific questions, this discussion is by no means definitive. Many answers would be fact-dependent and many ethical issues are still open to debate. 4 While the author currently sits on the Ethics Committee of the Society of American Magicians, this article represents only the author’s opinions, and does not reflect the opinions of the Society of American Magicians or its Ethics Committee. OCTOBER 2013

H 37

1. Should you still use material from a book or DVD that you owned, but have sold? The legal answer to this question is not simple. First, the material in the book or DVD may or may not be protected by copyright. If the material included is more like a play, it is more likely there will be copyrights involved. If it is more like the cookbook example, however, instructions on how to accomplish a particular goal, it is less likely the law would give the author the rights to stop a reader from performing that material. Assuming the material in the book is protectable under copyright law, a license could be required to perform it, just as a license is required to mount a production of a play, even after the producers have purchased copies of the script. However, the tradition in the magic community, and the assumption of most magicians purchasing instructional media, is that buying the book or DVD entitles the purchaser to perform the material. While it was pointed out that some authors have challenged this assumption by asserting limits on performance rights, that appears to be more the exception than the rule. Legally, it is unclear how a case like that would play out. However, since this was posed as an ethical question, it seems that if the performance rights come with the purchase of the instructional material—the prop, DVD, or book—it would make sense that those rights travel along with those materials. Any subsequent purchasers of the DVD or instructional book would believe they had the rights to perform the effects described in that media, so it may be the best practice for a magician to keep the book or DVD as long as that magician is using the included material. Of course, holding on to the instructional materials does not give the purchaser permission to make copies of those materials, or to upload them onto the internet. 2. May a magician perform material from a library book? Another magician asked about the ethical implications of performing material learned from a book borrowed from the local public library. Setting aside the legal issues discussed above, what happens when the magician has legitimate access to a book, but hasn’t actually purchased it? The magic books available in libraries are usually elementary texts published by the mainstream press and meant for raw beginners, rather than higher level material distributed by to-the-trade publishers. Many of the library books either imply or specifically state that the author expects the reader to perform the material explained in the book. Also, most of the effects in the library books are likely to be older, basic, and common effects, and not sophisticated or novel inventions of the authors. So, speaking generally, it seems likely that a magician could ethically use effects published in a public library book without purchasing the book. However, if the book had a presentation or patter original to the author that the magician wanted to use, it might be better practice to make the purchase. 3. Crediting versus permission Some questions revolved around the difference between crediting the creator or author of a work and gaining their 38

GENII

permission to use the work. Crediting the originator of material used is an act of intellectual honesty, providing a trail which others can follow. In academia, failure to credit sources can be a firing offense. Where submitting a paper or article implies that the thoughts embodied in the work are the author’s own, it is vital to point the reader to the sources of the data and ideas used. It is not clear that magicians are subject to the same expectations. A lay audience may not know or care whether the ideas, effects, and jokes used by a magician are original. During a lecture or in instructional books or DVDs, however, expectations are different. It seems to be the best practice to provide information on where the author found different elements, and which elements are original. Permission, however, requires not just acknowledging the originator of material, but reaching out to get the originator’s consent to use the material. When intellectual property rights are involved, crediting the originator is not enough to avoid potential liability. A theater company mounting a production of a play risks being sued if it fails to obtain a license, regardless of whether the play’s author is named in the program. In the magic world, it is generally assumed that when a magician sells a book or instructional DVD, purchasers get permission to perform that material. Best practices for a magician who wants to perform unpublished material by another magician would be to contact the inventor and ask for permission. Even though lawsuits are less likely in the magic world, it seems to be the respectful thing to do. 4. Ethics of online behavior Finally, some questions were raised about the ethics of communicating with other magicians online. The internet has opened up a new way for magicians to interact, and it has brought some challenges. Until fairly recently, if someone wanted to learn higher level, sophisticated magic, another magician had to help that person gain access to the information, either by directing the student to a book, or giving lessons. Learning magic frequently involved a great deal of personal involvement between teacher and student. New information was often parceled out slowly, with the teacher determining when a student was ready, or had “earned the right,” to access new material. Now, regardless of whether a person is a dedicated student of magic, he or she can find sophisticated material revealed just by searching YouTube. Many magicians are struggling with the appropriate use of the new technologies. While there is nothing wrong with teaching magic to interested people, it is widely accepted in the magic community that exposing secrets to the merely curious is a violation of the magician’s code of ethics. While the internet can be a wonderful tool for reaching out to others interested in magic and for magicians in distant places to communicate, most sites do not distinguish between dedicated students and the idly curious. It is unclear where the line lies between reaching out to teach magic remotely and merely exposing magic. Another issue, which is not restricted to the magic world, is how people deal with each other when they

communicate through bulletin boards and other websites. Where magicians used to interact with each other mostly in person, meeting at clubs and in magic shops, many now communicate through the internet. It is a club that is always open, with members all over the world. However, people communicating on newsgroups or commenting on blogs are not always civil. While magic clubs usually offer support, encouragement, and camaraderie, something about the distance, or using a pseudonym, or not having to look someone in the eye, allows people to say things online which they might never say face-to-face. This spring, a young magician in Arizona who participated on a magicians’ message board committed suicide. Las Vegas Weekly wrote about the suicide and noted “[s]ome magicians have criticized other [message board] members for bullying [him], and it’s no secret that magicians’ forums can be rough.”5 Bullying is not behavior that sustains a sense of community or encourages magicians to respect each other, and falls well outside ethical bounds. The same ethical standards that apply to magicians’ conduct in-person also apply to online behavior. In fact, the best practice would be to take special care with online 5 Rick Lax, “A young magician takes his own life, local magicians react,” Las Vegas Weekly, 4/19/13, available at http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2013/apr/19/ young-magician-takes-his-own-life-local-magicians-/.

G

comments, since they can be seen by more people, and may be read long after the echo of a verbal insult would have faded. Debate is healthy and valuable, but to devolve from discussing the subject at hand to making personal attacks on people with whom one disagrees is unhelpful and inappropriate. This is an issue plaguing many online communities, but the magicians’ code of ethics could provide a civilizing influence others lack. IN CONCLUSION This series has discussed how United States law provides some protection for magicians’ work, but for the protections to be effective, magicians must enforce their rights in court. Most do not. To an extent, the magic community has stepped in with standards and principles it enforces through social pressure. Some of those standards duplicate the available legal protections. Other ethical guidelines, created to encourage a sense of community and allow competitors to also be comrades, ask magicians to go beyond the legal minimums in treating each other with respect. Magicians’ ethics remain an under-explored area. They should be part of an ongoing conversation between teachers and students and within the magic community in general. The art of magic will benefit from a continuing, thoughtful, spirited, and civil discussion about ethics. •

EXPERT AT THE KIDS' TABLE, continued from page 35

You want honest criticism, don’t you? So often we see other magicians reacting to bad magic with, “good job!” instead of giving constructive criticism. While adult audiences will applaud politely regardless of quality, children will damn well tell you when you flash. You can be sure of that. As a bonus, you can take kid show gigs and it won’t interfere with your regular adult work. Kid shows take place between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., leaving your schedule open for your adult gigs. All these advantages and opportunities are not just for magicians. They apply to all children’s entertainment, including juggling, puppets, and storytelling. I asked balloon artist Buster Balloon, perhaps the best balloon performer in the U.S., about this topic and he was right on target. “I think that a lot of people become performers/entertainers out of ego, and they believe

that entertaining people is all about impressing them. ‘Oh, look how clever I am. Now love me.’ Adult audiences, within reason, will put up with that crap because we are for the most part a polite society. But kids don’t have that filter. The great thing is, once you understand all of that, it immediately makes you infinitely better as a performer for adults as well. Because that is what all audiences want.” I’m not saying you should go out and perform magic for children even though you don’t like children. But if you get asked to do a kids show, do it. See how it feels. If you like it, terrific. If you hate it, also terrific. But if you agree with me that it can help you to be a better performer, then go for it. At the very least, when you do your next show for adults, you will think to yourself, “That was easy.” •

OCTOBER 2013

39

World Magic Shop

40

40

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

EUGENE'S NOTEBOOK

PHOTO BY RICHARD FAVERTY

In Which Eugene Burger and Jeff McBride Have a Chat

EUGENE BURGER

N

W

AT

CH

ENTERTAINING Jeff: What is entertainment, and how does it differ from

theater and art? Eugene: That’s a great question … a question that tormented me for years. It was our friend, Bob Neale, who freed me from questions of definition when he pointed out that, for example, there is not one “magic” to define, but many magics. Even if we can’t define these terms once and for all, we can very often recognize entertainment or art when we experience them. Jeff: Eugene, you have strong opinions about audience participation that crosses the line and becomes audience abuse. Could you explain your feelings and the difference between the two? Eugene: Audience members are so very vulnerable when they are brought on stage. It is easy to get the rest of the audience laughing at the helper on stage. Perceptions change: I think there are a growing number of people who find this sort of thing distasteful. To step over these lines, I think one needs to be a master at this kind of comedy. A master can make an audience abuse act entertaining. Jeff: What is an “audience abuse” act? Eugene: An audience abuse act is one in which the purpose of the act is to take a poor member of the audience and to verbally abuse them, or to put them in abusive situations. Jeff: Can you give us an example of this? Eugene: I remember once, seeing a rather famous magician in a stage show put a kid in a head chopper and then, with this kid on his knees, start moving the head chopper around the stage [sighs], and the kid is gurgling. At one point the magicians says “How’re you doing down there?” and puts the microphone down and the kid goes “ghhhghhh!” That’s how the kid was “doing down there.” Jeff: Wow, is that entertainment? Have you personally ever crossed the line from entertainment to audience abuse; can you give us an example from your life where you stepped over the line? Eugene: Well, there is the story that you have heard me tell many times of my second week as a professional magi-

cian when I began a show for a couple at the bar. The man said, “Excuse me, we were having a conversation.” Jeff: What was the life lesson you took away from the experience? Eugene: As you know, that experience was really troubling for me—but it taught me very early in my professional career never to begin a show without getting permission. That experience also moved me away from audience abuse and toward always treating audience members with respect. Jeff: Is there a place in society or onstage for ultra-edgy audience participation? Have you ever seen it done well? Eugene: Absolutely! Yes there is! But, as I said, one must be very good at it to make it entertaining and not turn a growing portion of the audience away from the performance. Some comedians like Don Rickles or Joan Rivers are masters at insulting audience members. Interestingly, in both cases there is an unspoken lovableness about each of them, there is a secret that we share with them that they don’t really mean what they say. Jeff: Audiences, especially Vegas, college, and comedy club audiences seem to respond to edgy audience participation acts. Vegas is full of “naughty hypnotists,” so there seems to be a large market. Eugene: Yes, but they aren’t all good at it. Again, I am not saying audience abuse acts are wrong or that one should not do them. I am only saying that they are very difficult to make entertaining for large numbers of audience members. Jeff: Do you ever use foul language or expletives in your performances or lectures? Why or why not? Eugene: Yes, sometimes I like to shock a sleeping audience awake. The truth is that if you do an audience abuse act, you may get lots of laughs. People enjoy laughing at the misfortune of others sometimes. And some people enjoy watching that kind of thing all the time. But there are people who don’t enjoy it at all … Jeff: To play devil’s advocate, there are some pretty funny audience abuse moments in magic—Amazing Jonathan EUGENE'S NOTEBOOK, continued on page 103

OCTOBER 2013

41

Murphy 2 42

42

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

LOSANDER 43

THE GENII SESSION

n PHOTO © ZAKARY BELAMY

ROBERTO GIOBBI

WWW.GIOBBI.CH

RED/BLACK REDUX AFTER having published last column’s trick that leaves you with the red and black cards secretly separated, several readers have asked me what my favorite routine is that would take advantage of this starting position. I hesitated in publishing it here, not so much because I want to hold back a piece that has served me so well over the years, for laymen and magicians alike, but more because the effects and the methods are not original with me. However, I’ve repeatedly been told by competent friends that the way I have put the individual elements together, the story I’ve woven around it, and the little bits and pieces as well as some wicked stumbling blocks I’ve introduced that fool even magicians, would make it worthwhile for this column. As your wish is my command, here it is. THANKS TO (MOSTLY) VERNON: A RED-BLACK ROUTINE This is actually a small card act which will last about 15 minutes. The deck having been separated into the reds and the blacks after performing “Red and Black Intuition” from my August column, give it one Perfect Faro Shuffle to obtain a red-black alternating order. Needless to say that if you wanted to avoid the Faro Shuffle and the trick before it, you could simply do a deck switch, which is easy now because there is a whole book dealing exclusively with the subject. [Editor’s Note: See Roberto’s acclaimed book and DVD—all in one—The Art of Switching Decks, published by Hermetic Press]. As a matter of fact, one who wrote in was my friend Alfredo Alvarez Valdivia from Barcelona, and he commented that it might not be a good idea to use a red-black effect after the preceding one, as the audience could make a causal connection. He certainly has a point here, so you might want to opt for the deck switch rather than the beautiful little trick from my last column. After the Faro Shuffle, or after the deck switch, I always throw in an additional False Overhand Shuffle—since you only need to retain the cyclical order and not the absolute order of the cards, excellent choices would be the Optical 44

GENII

Shuffle (Card College 2, p.260) or the Cyclical Shuffle (Secret Agenda, p.84), the latter being my pick in this case; and remember at the end to have the deck cut by a spectator as this legitimizes the shuffling procedure in his mind. The Third Color (Vernon) The initial trick of the routine is an amusing and baffling teaser that has several functions. First, it introduces the theme of red and black in an untypical way, as well as the presentational plot of “card intuition.” Second, it starts to involve the audience in a humorous and non-aggressive way. Third, it appeals to women, who notoriously don’t like card tricks. Fourth, it further delays the use of the setup deck, while at the same time using and retaining it, but giving the impression that the cards are mixed. That’s not too shabby for a trick that, on top of this, is even easy to perform. The trick in question is Dai Vernon’s “The Third Color” from Stephen Minch’s Chronicles Volume 2 (p.180). Besides requiring proper handling of the Double Deal (dealing two card as one), it depends greatly on an emotional hook. Dai Vernon’s interpretation is excellent, of course, and you should check it out. I have adapted this to my style and, following a suggestion by Juan Tamariz, will start by asking, “Who believes women have a better sense of intuition than men?” This will start a droll debate and you offer to test this in the following experiment. Actually the “human intuition” is the leitmotif of this whole routine. I will therefore start by addressing a lady, maintaining that I think she has great intuition, whether she believes it or not. Deal the first three cards face up in a pile on the table, pointing out the color of the third card, which we will assume to be red. Ask her what she now intuitively feels is the color of the third card down in the balance of the deck. You justify using the third card by explaining that in this way nobody can know its color, even if the cards were marked, which of course they are not. Since the cards are arranged in alternating order and since the third card just dealt was red, you know that the third card down now is black. The rule is simple:

the color of the third card is always the opposite of the color of the last face-up card dealt. Therefore, if the lady says black, you simply deal three cards face up one after the other on the cards already dealt and prove that her intuition was correct. If she says red, you need to deal a double card on one of the three counts (see Card College Volume 1, p.211 and Volume 4, p.934). I like to Double Deal on the first card, looking up as I deal it, and then looking down again at the cards as I deal the next two cards fairly. Since you’re dealing onto a face-up pile there is a small tolerance for cards that are not perfectly aligned. Repeat another two times, contriving to get the correct color. I should mention that although a Double Deal is really not difficult to do, especially in the context of this trick, I still make things even easier and safer for myself (the professional’s credo!) by obtaining a break under the top two cards as I ask the lady for the color she wants. Also, the dealing of the first two cards on the “discard pile” should get less attention, and the third card is displayed in another space toward the lady. This takes the attention off the discard pile and makes it more difficult to detect the red-black order. Another ruse to protect the secret can be employed each time no Double Deal is necessary: take the top two cards together face down and, with them, turn the third card face up. Turn it again face down, take it under the other two cards, turn these three cards face up, but squared, so the alternating sequence cannot be seen, then place them face up on the discard heap. Combining these techniques will make the show of the cards quick, safe and deceptive. After getting it correctly a few times with the lady, address a man, explaining that men always get it wrong, which of course will meet with the approval of all the women in the audience and will cause protests by the men. Regardless of what color the man chooses, deal the cards so that the opposite color comes out, “You see, that’s what I mean!” Immediately turn to the lady and ask her for a color, then deal the cards so it comes up correctly. Repeat. Turn again to the same man who will get it wrong once more. Address the lady, “Please, show him … .” Regardless of what she says, she will be correct. This is not only baffling, but also quite funny, but the repetitions have to be done at the correct pace, otherwise they get lengthy and boring. I recommend exercising common sense and not overdoing this. A few times back and forth as described will create the desired effect and can be entertaining at the same time. If you like, false shuffle and cut the cards you are holding in between the back and forth interaction with the female and male spectators. The neat thing about this effect is that you can now pick up the dealt cards en bloc, turn them face down, and replace them on top of the remaining cards, thereby restoring the red-black order of the complete deck. You are ready to use this in any way you like. The stud-type dealing procedure somehow seems to suggest that the cards gets mixed. Follow with a casual false shuffle that retains the cyclical order of the deck.

w

VERNON ON GILBREATH I follow up with “Vernon on Gilbreath” from the same book (Chronicles Vol.2, p.212), which I do exactly as detailed in the book and I recommend you do, too. Again, it is important how you frame this dramatically. Dai Vernon says, “You know, after all these years I know cards so well, it sometimes scares me. The other day I was doing a thing with the cards and I actually got the feeling I could tell the red cards from the black just by their feel.” This is an intriguing statement and logically continues the “intuition” plot established by the introductory trick. Here is a brief outline of the handling: have the spectator give the deck one riffle shuffle and have various spectators finish off by giving the cards several straight cuts. Briefly show that the cards are well shuffled by spreading them face up between your hands. As you do this, notice whether the top and bottom card are of the same color. If they are, leave the deck as it is, if not, pick up a break between any color pair. Turn the deck face down, retaining the break. Go under the table, justifying this by saying that you now cannot be accused of looking at the cards, you just feel them. As soon as your hands are out of sight, cut the deck at the break, so that the top and the bottom card are now of the same color. Thanks to Mr. Gilbreath, who discovered this principle, every pair from top down will consist of a black and a red card. Because of the shuffle you don’t know the order of the colors within the pair, but you know that it is always a complementary pair. Now simply turn the two top cards face up, leave one on top of the deck held in place by the left thumb and take the other in your right hand. Throw one card to the left and the other to the right on the table; let’s assume you have the reds on the left and the blacks on the right. Go back under the table and repeat the same actions. However, as you come up from beneath the table, hold the hands close to each other—you will be able to see the colors about a second before the cards come into view. If you see that the left has a red and the right a black card, continue the movement, but if the colors are opposite, quickly exchange them. You can vary this by taking the top two cards and sticking them in two different places into the deck, which you then bring up spread between the hands—it should look as if you had taken any two cards somewhere from the deck. Do this in rapid succession for about five or six pairs, then push the color packets aside (we’ll need them later) and use the balance of the deck to go into your next experiment, which exploits yet another characteristic of the Gilbreath principle.

COLOR INTUITION I don’t have a source for this one, so I will briefly describe it—it was shown to me several years ago by Alberto Reyes, a famous brain surgeon and inspired amateur magician from the Canary Islands, who was a very good friend of Ascanio. Hold the balance of the deck face down in dealing position. (Needles to say, you can throw in a false shuffle at any time before or during the proceedings.) Start dealing the OCTOBER 2013

45

THE GENII SESSION cards face down into two packets, alternating them. If you did the previous experiment with six pairs, you will have 40 cards left and each packet will now contain 20 cards. Thanks to the Gilbreath Principle, the color of the top card in the left packet is now complementary to the top card of the right packet, so if one card is red, the other will be black. The same holds true for the cards second from the top and so on—what a great thing. The dealing needs to be managed correctly so as to avoid the thought of a mathematical trick and also to keep the audience from falling asleep. So the first thing is to practice dealing cards into two packets rapidly but without making mistakes. Second, think about what to say and how to make the process interesting. It’s perfectly okay to say what you are doing, and that you need the packets to be of equal size, so you deal them, rather than just cutting them (you’ve already dealt a third by saying this). Then address a spectator and ask him to choose one of the two packets (another third dealt). When he does, you may ask if he’s sure or if he wants to change, etc. (the last third has been dealt). Take the packet of his choice and ribbon spread it face up on the table from left to right. Believe it or not, the order of the colors in this spread cues you to the order of the colors in the other packet. Pull any red and any black card partially out of the spread, calling them “reference cards.” Take your packet and hold it face down in dealing position. Look at the first card on the left of the spread—this is the top card. If it is red, it means that the top card of the packet you are holding is black, and vice-versa. Therefore, take the top card of your packet and put it face down on the downjogged black card. Look at the second card, which will tell you the color of the next card on top of your packet. Take it and place it on the appropriate color. Continue like this until the cards are exhausted. Don’t be obvious about looking at the cards on the table, and don’t forget to include the downjogged cards in the count. If you want to better hide the method, you can transfer three or four cards from top to bottom before you spread the reference packet on the table. You will then, of course, start by looking at the third or fourth card from the left and work your way in cyclical order. Eventually turn over the cards on each reference card and show that you have somehow managed to separate the colors. Don’t make the mistake of reducing this trick to its rather simple method. This is quite mystifying provided you manage to capture the spectator’s imagination, his mind (logos) and his heart (pathos)—something an artist must always do, regardless of his discipline, otherwise he won’t be an artist. For that reason careful thought should be given to the phenomenon that you want this effect to represent. What are you demonstrating with this trick? Are you once again just using intuition, but in a different way and what way is this? Why do you spread the other cards? Maybe by looking at them your intuition is stimulated so that you know what your cards are? Maybe the cards talk to you? Maybe you merely know that you have to do it this way, but you don’t know why it works? (Well, this might 46

GENII

actually be an amusing truth in a double-sense, as many of us don’t really understood why Gilbreath works.) As you deliver a short epilogue, reinforcing the previous effects (that’s a big subject and another column …), casually gather the cards. In the process contrive to get all the red and all the black cards that have been separated in this effect to the top of the deck, including those put aside from the preceding experiment. If you have done everything correctly, you should have about one third of one color on top, followed by roughly another third of the other color and a small third of mixed cards. This will vary and is not crucial. OUT OF THIS WORLD (KENNEDY) I close this routine with John Kennedy’s wonderful version of “Out of This World” (or if you know it, Lennart Green’s variant with alternating colors). To do this I first spread the cards between my hands so that everybody can see their faces. Since about a third of the cards on the face consist of mixed colors, they will assume that the rest of the cards are also mixed. I then ask a spectator which color he wants and put the respective card in front of him. The second spectator gets a card of the opposite color. As you make some kind of (maybe amusing) comment about their choice of colors, tilt the cards toward yourself and spread a little further and check that the approximate top third of the deck is all one color—let’s assume red—and the next third is all blacks, followed by the mixed third. In the process you can make some small corrections, just in case a wrong card has sneaked into the “wrong” section. Finally obtain a break between the two color sections with the left fourth finger. Spread the cards showing the red-black mix on the face of the deck. Turn everything face down retaining the break, then cut off the cards above the break and drop them in front of the spectator who has the red card. Repeat, dropping the black cards in front of the second spectator. Immediately respread your cards to show they are mixed. To reinforce this conviction, without seeming too obvious, you could say, “Now each of us has about a third of the deck, but of course we don’t know how many Clubs or Hearts or Kings or Eights we have—probably an uneven mix. Let’s shuffle the cards so nobody knows which card is where.” Handled smoothly and with nonchalance, this looks very convincing and everybody except those who have read this column will swear they are holding a mixed bunch of cards. From here on I perform my version of John Kennedy’s “Out of This World” aptly titled “Intuition,” and which you can find in my Card College Light book on p.9. The way I create a dramatic hook is to say that all they have seen so far was not really based on intuition. I wait a few seconds and allow some speculation, then explain that I use a simple chemical product called “Intuitionin.” Since I’m from the city of Basel that has an important chemical industry, this is believable and amusing—you must find something that works for you. I will then show a little pill box—I take an Okito Box to justify its use later—and offer two spectators the opportunity to test this. Simply use

L small sugarless candies, mints, or what have you. You may also use a spray or just an amulet. I take two male spectators, who will eventually succeed in the experiment. This also allows me to reestablish the balance between women and men, just in case somebody took the initial challenge too seriously. JOHN, IT’S YOUR TRICK! As a little anecdote I will tell you that in 2007 I met John Kennedy again after almost 20 years at the World Magic TMC-Ad.pdf

10/7/08

Seminar in Las Vegas, where Lennart Green and I gave a two-day workshop. One night I sat with John at the bar and I performed an abbreviated form of the routine just described, climaxing it with his “Out of This World.” Due to the routining he didn’t recognize it and it fooled him. He asked, “How did you do this?” And I had to answer, “John, this is your trick!” If you go through the effort of practicing and performing this routine, I think you’ll will find it very rewarding. •

11:06:37

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

MY

K

OCTOBER 2013

47

Vernet

48

48

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

THINKING IMPOSSIBLE THE

by

HERMETIC PRESS DON'T BE DECEIVED Ramón Riobóo

BY THE KIND FACE ...

If you fear being fooled,

49

STAY AWAY FROM THIS MAN! Find out why Juan Tamariz asks him to do card tricks. Over 300 pages of card magic that has fooled the finest. 39 tricks and routines built on subtlety and psychology. Low on sleights, high on deviousness. Foreword by Juan Tamariz. A hardcover book.

$40

HERMETIC PRESS, INC. 1500 S.W. Trenton St., Seattle, WA 98106-2468 hermeticpress.com

Phone: (206) 768-1688

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

+$5 US shipping $20 Canada/Mexico $24 Overseas Airmail

Or Your Favorite Dealer— Dealers contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.

OCTOBER 2013

49

THE TRADITION OF by Stephen Minch

The Ontario Invitation

Photos by Gary Beechey Photos Courtesy of Gary Slaight

Certain progressions seem obvious and inevitable. Take for example, Abraham, Eliaser, David Leendert, David Tobias, Eduard, Theo, David—the Bamberg dynasty; or in the world of magic periodicals: The Jinx, Phoenix, Pallbearers Review, Magick. But this is sheer hindsight. There was nothing inevitable, and many things highly uncertain, that fostered such lineages. In Ontario, Canada, another seemingly obvious yet improbable progression has occurred for 38 years, one that has remained small and quiet, but is nonetheless remarkable: The Courtright Get-Together, The Ibidem Event, The Oban Event, the Inn Event, the Stewart James Get-Together and, most recently, Thirty-One Faces North. The responsibility for these intimate and remarkable gatherings of magicians lies with five men: Mike O’Dowd, P. Howard Lyons, Bob Weill, Allan Slaight, and David Ben. On a late June weekend, this year, the most recent generation of Ontario invitationals was officially brought to an end.

On the patio, from left to right, artists Max Dean and Pat Lyons sit beside Stephen Minch as Adam Rubin demonstrates his version of Pat's famous "Vanishing Leprechaun" puzzle, but this time with real butterflies on clear acrylic panels 50

GENII

Let’s backtrack a bit. Stewart James was a prolific, delightfully eccentric and greatly respected Canadian inventor of magic. He was also a lynchpin in the tradition of Ontario invitational gatherings. Stewart regularly attended Abbott’s Get-Together and the Collectors Convention. But those two trips expended his propensity for travel. Since Mount James could not and would not move to other magic gatherings, in June 1975, fellow Ontarian Mike O’Dowd brought a small conference to him. He called it the Courtright GetTogether, and it became an annual event for 16 years. Held in the folksie town of Courtright, Ontario, where James had lived his entire life, it was off the beaten track; but the 35 magicians who were invited to the Get-Together found their way there. Their number was dictated by the maximum capacity of Courtright’s Castaway Inn. By the way, Stewart was not invited to any of these gatherings. He was simply expected to crash them. The last Courtright Get-Together convened in 1991. Sometime around 1979, P. Howard Lyons—director of a highly prestigious accounting firm in Toronto, and the creator and editor of the wonderfully eccentric, influential and sporadically periodical close-up journal, Ibidem—thought it would be fun to host a gathering of magicians, picked mostly from those stalwarts who contributed to Ibidem. Stewart was one of these. Lyons collaborated on this idea with Bob Weill, a corporate management consultant from across the border in Buffalo, New York. Weill spent a lot of time in Toronto and was an old hand at organizing magicians’ conferences, having worked with the magic dealer Gene Gordon in putting on the first Piff Paff Poof Convention in Fort Erie, Ontario, in 1933. With Weill’s help, Piff Paff Poof became an annual event for 10 years. Lyons and Weill followed the successful pattern of the Courtright invitationals: a very small gathering, invitation only. The first Ibidem Event occurred in October 1979 at the Oban Inn at Niagara-on-the-Lake, partly in celebration of the publication the preceding March of Ibidem, No. 36, after a hesitation between issues of nearly 10 years. It was such a success with the participants, it continued annually until 1985. During the last few years, Bob Weill assumed full management of the gathering when Howard’s accounting responsibilities grew too heavy. Then, in 1987, Howard died unexpectedly. Weill continued to organize the yearly gatherings, limited to 35 to 40 magicians. He revamped the Ibidem Event, mainly by changing its name. For a while it was called the Oban Event, named after the historic Oban Inn where the participants gathered. In 1990, when fire destroyed the Oban Inn, Weill was

Left to right: Hostess extraordinaire, Emmanuelle Gattuso greets editor of Slaight: Off Hand, Karl Johnson (Behind, left to right: Steve Beam, Max Maven, Jason England, and Dick Hatch)

forced to move the gathering to the Old Stone Inn at Niagara Falls, Ontario, and the name consequently changed to The Inn Event. The change of venue did more than alter the name. The new location allowed a slightly larger attendance of around 50; and while the focus remained on close-up magic, those invited grew more eclectic, and the invitees were a Who’s Who of magic. Weill continued to organize the Inn Events for several more years, until he grew too frail. In 2000, he died. Stewart James was among the regulars in attendance at this chain of Events, as was his longtime friend and admirer, Allan Slaight. Slaight was the owner of Toronto’s Standard Broadcasting Corporation and an inventor of clever card magic in his own right. The year following the 1991 Courtright Get-Together, Allan Slaight took over the organization of the Courtright gatherings and renamed them Stewart James Get-Togethers. These continued under his patronage and guidance until Stewart’s death in 1996. Saddened by the loss of his long-time friend, the annual invitationals in Ontario stopped for a few years. But the tradition was by now deeply ingrained in the Ontario magic community, and Slaight rose once more to the challenge. In 2003 he gathered forces with the respected Toronto professional magician David Ben, and between them they conceived yet another version of the Ontario close-up invitational. Stewart James had been a focal point for all the previous gatherings, and it was in his shadow that this new rebirth of the Ontario invitational was built. It took its name from a diminished reference to Stewart’s (truly) legendary card effect, “Fifty-One Faces North.” Slaight and Ben sent out invitations for their first Thirty-One Faces North conclave in Toronto. The reason 20 faces were dropped was entirely pragmatic. Slaight and Ben set up the maximum number of chairs that could be comfortably packed into the main room of a private-school space in the heart of Toronto, which they had chosen for the gathering. That number of chairs was 31—and when they had finished arranging them, they noticed the chairs all faced north! Ten years later, on June 28–30, 2013, Allan Slaight, his son Gary and David Ben hosted the ninth and final Thirty-One Faces North gathering, combined with a one-off event they called the ELC or El Lucko Conference (El Lucko being Slaight’s main expressed ingredient for his success in business). In a long tradition of very special gatherings, this one was exceptional among the exception-

al. Everyone there knew it would be the last gathering of the group. And everyone banded together to change a funeral into a celebration. For the first and last time, the 31 guests convened, not at the usual school site of the past eight gatherings, but at the magnificent, five-star Hazelton Hotel in the tony Yorkville neighborhood of Toronto. One rule of Thirty-One Faces North is that there is no registration fee. All the attendants have to do is get themselves to Toronto and pay for their incidental expenses. Each year Allan Slaight has magnanimously hosted two catered dinners for the entire group, the first at a charming restaurant, the second in the beautifully appointed home of Allan and his wife, Emmanuelle Gattuso. There is also a free and well-stocked bar open every night, after the shows, to keep conversations and sessions fueled well past the hours labeled p.m. Another rule: Everyone must contribute in some fashion to the gathering, with a performance, a lecture, or in some other way. Everyone is an active participant. One more rule: Everyone attending must get along. This is a gathering not only of highly talented magicians, it is also one of friends. From the first meeting of the Thirty-One Faces, this group became a wide-spread family that met annually to celebrate close-up magic. The camaraderie was more than an asset; it was a necessity, given that Allan Slaight and David Ben share, among many things, an

TOP: The charming John Carney wows the group ABOVE: Close-up show with Bob "Who needs a hug?" Sheets OCTOBER 2013

51

LEFT: Jamy Ian Swiss addressing the group in "The Great Debate" ABOVE: Richard Kaufman listening to Jamy Ian Swiss argue in favour of the proposition that Richard Kaufman has contributed more to magic than Jamy Ian Swiss

unholy sense of humor that would rise predictably in unpredictable ways at least once each year. For this last gathering, they took a huge risk in exercising their prankishness. Two invitees who had been present at all the Thirty-One Faces gatherings were Richard Kaufman, a name that appears with obligational regularity in Genii; and Jamy Ian Swiss, whose name used to appear here with great frequency until last year when Richard dismissed Jamy from his long-time post as book reviewer. Published commentary about this editorial decision was relatively restrained and brief. Private feelings were more expressive. So, as organizers of a gathering of friends, what do you do when two of those friends are feuding? Do you drop them from the list, or worse, invite one but not the other? Slaight and Ben came up with a unique solution. They arranged an evening event to follow the opening communal dinner: a classic team debate. The proposition for argument: Richard Kaufman has contributed more to magic than Jamy Ian Swiss. The debaters: Richard Kaufman, seconded by Steve Beam; and Jamy Ian Swiss, seconded by Michael Weber. Rather than a debate, this promised to be some new extreme sport. However, the event, remember, was orchestrated by Slaight and Ben. Arguing the pro side of the proposition: Jamy Ian Swiss. Contra: Richard Kaufman. You probably had to read that twice. That’s right, Jamy argued that Richard had contributed more than Jamy, and Richard argued that he hadn’t. Eric Mead introduced the premise and moderated the debate. Jamy and Richard entered into the spirit of the exercise, and the result was roughly 15 minutes of laughs and embarrassment, and a theatrical climax that took in the whole audience. It was a bravura solution that dealt with a difficult problem in a way few would have chanced, and fewer still could have pulled off. Who was the winner? Answering that is what editors are for. The following day began with an eclectic close-up show. Emceed by Jamy Swiss, and with periodic interjections by Ricky Smith demonstrating a handful (literally) of Diagonal Palm Shift variations—one per installment—the performers were Adam Rubin, David Solomon, Ricky Smith (here sans Diagonal Palm Shift), Richard Hatch, and Steve Beam. This was followed by a program of works in progress by Gordon Bean, John Bannon, Bob Farmer, and Bill Goodwin. Then came a series of minilectures by Bob Sheets, Michael Weber, David Ben, and John Thompson. While all these performances are deserving of comment, I will single out Adam Rubin, who unexpectedly fulfilled a role only Tom Ransom had managed to do at past gatherings. 52

GENII

Adam displayed new and creative versions of Sam Loyd’s Get off the Earth puzzle and the Pencil Puzzle. In doing so, he raised the ghosts of Howard Lyons and Mel Stover, lovers of such intellectual recreations, and reinforced an historical connection. Over the nine episodes of Thirty-One Faces North, a number of magic’s icons have been fêted; among them, Tommy Wonder, John Thompson, Max Maven, Billy McComb, Jay Marshall, Charles Reynolds, Herb Zarrow, Steve Forte, Roberto Giobbi, Gaëtan Bloom … I could go on, but you get the idea. For this first and last gathering of the El Lucko Thirty-One, the centerpiece was the début of David Ben’s biography of Allan Slaight, Slaight: Off Hand. This was entirely appropriate, since Allan has been not only the patron saint of the Stewart James Get-Togethers and the Thirty-One Faces gatherings, but has led a remarkable and uniquely quirky life in magic and in Canada’s broadcasting industry. This was pay-back, and well deserved, for all that Allan has done for magic. The book was débuted at a catered dinner party, Saturday night, hosted by Allan and his warm and lovely wife (not trite flattery here, but simple truth), Emmanuelle. Those at this party included not only the Thirty-One attendees, but also friends of Allan and Emmanuelle not involved with the world of magic. This provided a nicely varied audience for a parlor show. David and Allan had a wealth of talent present from which to choose, and that task must have been challenging, but no one could fault their final choice. Max Maven emceed and introduced John Carney,

David Ben presents his copy of Slaight: Off Hand to Allan Slaight for his autograph.

Bob Sheets, and John Thompson. Each was in top form, but the hero of the evening was John Carney. His presentation and execution were, as usual, flawless. But he won this night because of the strikingly professional manner in which he handled a spectator of determined uncooperativeness. In a set fraught with difficulty and a challenging social dilemma, John prevailed through superb humor and grace—and without a single insult gag, although the temptation must have been overwhelming. On a private note, there was a second hero at this weekend gathering—David Ben. All the attendants knew that David was going through a terrible personal ordeal. His wife Jan had for some weeks been battling brain cancer, a battle she was to lose just days after the Thirty-One Faces gathering. Despite the immense emotional and physical toll her illness was costing David, he was determined that this last gathering would happen, and he was entirely successful, with the aid of his second right arm, Julie Eng, in a way that

belied the cruel pressure that bore down on him. On the last day of the gathering, a late Sunday morning, the final event took the form of a second close-up show. The cast consisted of Bill Goodwin, John Carney, Michael Close, Jason England, Bob Sheets, and Max Maven. Given the lineup, it was as much of a train wreck as you would imagine. The incessant superiority of the acts ruined any chance for ups and downs. The audience, understanding the problem, was gracious. That’s it. The end of 10 years of a remarkable set of gatherings, and the end of a remarkable series of magical invitationals, traditional to the province of Ontario. But it is impossible to say when dynasties and traditions come to an end, until time delivers the obituary. Ontario may all too likely rise again to the challenge, and if that happens, it is to be hoped that those invited will be as lucky as those who received invitations for the events hosted by Allan Slaight and David Ben. •

Standing, from left to right: Michael Albright, Michael Weber, John Carney, Xander Weber, Richard Kaufman, Karl Johnson, Stephen Minch, John Bannon, Max Maven, Jason England, Jamy Ian Swiss, Steve Beam, Bill Kalush, Julie Eng, Ricky Smith, Nick Sacco, Daniel Zuckerbrot, Adam Rubin, Bob Farmer, Bill Goodwin, David Ben. Seated: Mike Close, Dave Solomon, Charlie Randall, Gene Matsuura, Johnny Thompson, Allan Slaight, Eric Mead, Dick Hatch, Bob Sheets. Missing: Gordon Bean.

OCTOBER 2013

53

Magic Trick Store 54

54

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

sansminds simple . direct . killer effects

Full SM Color Productionz Page

55 55

Unwritten by Lyndon Jugalbot

Customize your own message every time

Drop in your spectator’s hand and let them feel the ink appear ! - Visit SansMinds for more details -

W W W . S A N S M I N D S . C O M OUR ADVERTISERS TO HEARMagic THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII Dealers contactLOVE Murphys Supplies

OCTOBER 2013

55

56

Dave’s Killer

56

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

57

Happie Amp

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

57

PHOTO BY MARK BERRY

58

GENII

P RIME R T E S A M EUGE NE@74 THE

S I H IN

Robert Charles and Mike Burke interview Eugene Burger

Genii: We’re here in Eugene Burger’s Chicago apartment. Eugene, let me begin with what may be an indelicate question. How old are you? Eugene: Not at all. I’m 74 as of June, 2013. Genii: And? Eugene: And … well, it is pretty freaky! (Everyone laughs) Honestly, I never imagined I would live to be 74! It always seemed so old! But, as most readers will one day discover for themselves, at this age, inwardly, one doesn’t feel old at all! Genii: The times that you have performed at Magic Chicago, many people said to me that Eugene is now at the top of his game. Do you feel that way as well? Eugene: Yes, I do. I have never felt stronger as a performer or in my teaching work. Genii: And you have also lost quite a bit of weight. Eugene: Yes, over 60 pounds. In its own way, it has been quite magical. Genii: You are often referred to as “Magic’s Mystic Guru.” How does that make you feel? Eugene: (Laughs) Well, it actually feels pretty good! (More laughter) In the 1980s, I appeared on Volume Four of the Greater Magic Video Library that Joe Stevens produced. Weeks after the filming was finished Joe called me and asked if it would be okay to use the phrase “Magic’s Mystic Guru” on the video cover. I thought that was very funny and so I said yes. And that is how it started. Do I think that I am “Magic’s Mystic Guru?” No—though, if you think about it, that is probably precisely what Magic’s real Mystic Guru would say.

OCTOBER 2013

59

Genii: Let’s start with your college days. You graduated from

North Park Academy in Chicago, a private school, and then went on to Beloit College in Wisconsin and then to Yale University’s Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. Do you recall any special teachers in those three formal settings of education? Eugene: Oh, yes. But there was one other school. After Beloit I attended Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, for a year—which I now refer to as my year in the convent. (Laughter) And after a year at Luther Seminary, I went on to Yale. At Beloit, David Soper was an exceptional professor. He was a gifted writer of several books. He was also instrumental in teaching me about writing. He would take the papers I wrote for him and tear them apart and help me put them back together again. He taught me that all real writing is re-writing. He also turned me on to the world of the mind. Another teacher at Beloit was Kirk Denmark, the chairman of the theater department. He taught me the power of silence as well as stretching or elongating the sounds of words. Genii: How has your own classroom experience, teaching at the University of Illinois, influenced your teaching of magic? Eugene: It’s an interesting question. While my performances are highly scripted, there are no scripts for my lectures. Genii: Do you think magicians should create their own scripts or use scripts written by someone else?

60

GENII

Eugene: That’s an excellent question. Years ago in Magic magazine, Richard Kaufman and I had a debate about scripts and he made the point, which I didn’t really appreciate at the time, that an actor only rarely writes the play. I think working with students for almost 30 years of teaching magic, I’ve slowly begun to appreciate much more how every student really is different. And that means not only different in terms of their interests and their dreams, but also different in terms of their gifts. For some of my students writing a script is a joyful and fun thing to do; for others it is an albatross, it is a rock around their necks that is drawing them down into the suffocating pool. This realization led me to the question, “When does originality begin?” And I think that my earlier error was that I thought it had to begin at the beginning. When we have performed a piece of magic a few times, we learn things about it. When we have performed the same piece of magic hundreds of times, if we have performed it with conscious attention, we learn a lot more. After a thousand performances we learn even more. Perhaps then, when we know more, we are ready to rearrange things and look for originality in our performance. Do I think that it might sometimes be more intelligent to use the script that comes with the book or the DVD? Yes, I do. At least at the beginning. It is all right to do that—if you bought

When does originality begin? I think that my earlier error was that I thought it had to begin at the beginning.

it! On the other hand, if you borrowed the book or DVD from a friend and you are using material in them, then perhaps you owe the author or publisher money. If you bought it, of course, you have the right to do the script word for word. And my suggestion now is don’t be so quick to change things, because the author of the original script had some reasons for these verbal decisions. In my trick “Thought Sender,” I ask four questions and I respond to each answer given by the audience member by saying, “Absolutely right.” Well, figuring out what those four questions were and how concisely we can ask them took me a great deal of time. So the first step is really understanding the script as written by its creator. Only then is it wise to start making changes in the script. Genii: So you now feel that originality comes later. What about mimicking performers? Is that a natural process? Eugene: I use to believe that it wasn’t, but now I think it is, because almost everybody I know has elements, not so much necessarily of mimicry, of being influenced by other performers. There’s a sense in which I was influenced by Don Alan, Alex Berecz, and I was even influenced by watching Bela Lugosi movies. Do I want those people completely out of my life? Out of my performances? Well, I don’t want to imitate Don Alan, but I’d like to think there’s a part of Don Alan that still is here, that influences and has some impact on what I’m doing. I like to think that he’s still present with me in some way, so yes I think being influenced by people is part of the process. Genii: It’s almost like reading in a sense. When we read we absorb information and then we transform the information into our own opinions. And so do you think it’s a similar process with performance? If you just stop at the mimicry, basically what you’re doing is just reciting what the author has written. Eugene: Reciting a script that another has written is called acting and that’s a noble profession, isn’t it? In the 20th century in magic I think there was a push (and I have to say I was responsible for it, too) toward making magicians feel that following

the script as given—being an actor—was somehow not as good as being the writer of the script. And I think that was certainly a mistake, but it was one that was corrected for me again by working with many magic students and realizing that everybody doesn’t have the same gifts.

OCTOBER 2013

61

What if writing a script isn’t my gift? Well, then I have choices. One choice is to use the script as given in Tarbell or on the DVD or whatever. Another choice is to use that script for a while, hire someone to write one for you, or start working at writing a script yourself and engage someone to evaluate it for you. Let it be someone who knows what they are talking about! Genii: Earlier you mentioned that you were influenced by Don Alan. Later it was Frances Marshall’s writings who introduced you to the magic of Matt Schulien. Are you influenced by any performers today? If so who are they and what have they brought to your magical thinking? Eugene: Yes, the late Irv Weiner, who performed as Mr.

62

GENII

Fingers, taught me that you can do close-up magic for a 1,000 people if you know how to play it. He would perform a “Torn and Restored Cigarette Paper” for a thousand and frame it as the smallest piece of magic in the world. He began by telling this rather emotional story of how he became known as Mr. Fingers: his parents were both deaf so he communicated with them in sign language and the kids in the neighborhood called him “Fingers”—and that just stuck. And so he would teach the audience to say, “I love you” in sign language and then he performed the world’s smallest trick, the “Torn and Restored Cigarette Paper.” He blows the paper into the air with his empty hand and then he says, “I love you” in sign language. And that would get him a standing ovation. So I learned a lot from Irv and I got to know him a little toward the end of his life. Jeff McBride has been another big influence, because he is another person who, with a suitcase, can fill a stage with action, magic, and color. I learned so much from him just watching what he does. He’s another person who’s endlessly learning magic and encouraging all of us to learn and never stop learning. And he is so generous! And, of course, Max Maven. Most every one of my routines has gone under his watchful eye. I don’t always agree with him and sometimes I make my own (wrong!) choices. (Laughter) Max has been a huge help to me over the years if only in teaching me the difference between work and career. Sometimes you take work that you shouldn’t. You take it only for the money, but then you spend the money and it’s gone, whereas career is making decisions that are going to

help you in the future, help create the performer you want to be. Genii: Let’s talk about when you first met Jay Marshall. What did you learn from him? Eugene: I met Jay when he married Frances Ireland. He frightened me. Genii: How did he frighten you? Eugene: Because he was such a consummate professional. It was rather intimidating for a 15 or 16 year old. But Jay was also enormously influential to me. Genii: What do you mean? Eugene: Well, first of all let’s look at Jay’s repertoire. It would all fit in a very small shoulder bag with lots of other non-magic things. The biggest thing in his repertoire was the “5 Linking Rings.” He had “Troublewit,” a “Vanishing Cane,” “Lefty,” the “Serpentine Silk,” “Juan Escadaro Newspaper,” and periodically he might do the Anderson “Newspaper Tear.” This is all material that can play for a 1,000 people or more. Jay was one of the most important people in my career development, because he was always a big supporter. When magicians would come to Chicago, he would bring them to the restaurant where I was

working and he would prep them by saying, “You’re going to see something really great here.” So, people saw great things when he told them they would see great things! And I certainly benefited from that. Jay also convinced Joe Stevens to hire me, sight unseen, for the Desert Seminar, my first appearance at a national magic convention. Genii: In what other ways has your thinking evolved over the decades? Eugene: I think I’ve become more tolerant on one level. I have a better understanding that students have different gifts and so I no longer expect everyone to have the same gifts. Genii: And what do you attribute that to? Eugene: Working with a lot of students. Working with Jeff McBride is great. During the classes, we’re up until maybe 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning talking about each student, what they did and what we want to suggest that might make their work stronger and more powerful. The role of the teacher is to help the student open doors. Genii: Walk us through the history of your magic performance career. You started performing close-up. When did you meet

During the classes, we’re up until maybe 2 or 3

o’clock in the morning talking about each student— what they did and what we want to suggest that might make their work stronger and more powerful. The role of the teacher is to help the student open doors. OCTOBER 2013

63

Jeff and when do you and Jeff start teaching and how did that evolve? Theater Eugene: Well, Spirit Theater—the séance show—happened in the 1970s when I was working as the Director of General Assistance, the welfare program in Evanston—a suburb north of Chicago. I started working there in 1974. By 1978, it was time to move on. At that time I was living with Dennis Rook, Marcella Ruble, and Erik Counce. They were very encouraging about convincing me to quit my job and become a magician. They said, “That’s what you want to do.” And of course I felt as though I couldn’t just do that, but eventually I did. I realized that you have to follow your dreams and this had always been a dream of mine. So I quit my job and became a magician. I met Jeff McBride in the 80s. One day, in the late 80s, he called me and said, “I want to do this magic convention, just a small convention. We’ll talk about deeper things, symbol, history, and metaphors. Would you be interested?” I said, “Absolutely” and then Mystery School was born. We named it after the Mystery Schools of ancient Greece and Rome and it seemed like an

64

GENII

interesting play on words. In the Mystery Schools of old, you were separating yourself from every day life for a period of time and becoming more reflective. And those Mystery Schools of old weren’t exclusive; you could belong to the I.B.M., S.A.M., and Mythra! (Laughter) They weren’t exclusive and so we felt—we weren’t saying this was the only thing, the only path; we were saying this is another possibility. At the beginning many magicians made fun of this and thought it was a joke. They would say things like, “They’re drumming nude in the woods” and all of that nonsense. On one level, yes, it was amusing. And we just went through that period and it grew until we were up to almost 100 people. And then it seemed as if it had grown so much that it wasn’t what it had started out to be and it was time to do something else. Jeff and I decided that it was time to divide this into two different programs. One was Master Class, which was for people who didn’t want to talk so much about symbolism, they really wanted to work on their magic show. They were less interested in history and more interested in the present and the future. For those still interested in symbols and metaphors, there are other things such as the Magic and Meaning Conference. This is for people who are interested in metaphor and symbolism and what might be the deeper meanings in magic as an art. Genii: How long have you and Jeff been teaching together? Eugene: Since 1991. Genii: And when did you start your own individual teaching as a magic instructor? Eugene: Well, I became a magician in 1978. I think by 1982 I had a few students. Genii: How are the rewards different from teaching one-onone here in your living room to teaching in a Master Class setting, or a lecture situation, for example like at Ray Goulet’s in Boston or at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, or teaching through your books? For you, as a teacher, how are the transactions different and how are the rewards different? Eugene: Let’s start with the books. They were really writ-

PHOTO BY IRVING DESFOR

ten to help teach myself, to put my own reality in order. It was very much like Jaroslav Pelikan, who left the University of Chicago and became professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale the year I arrived in New Haven. One of the things he said was, “Universities are places where professors are paid to study and students get to look over their shoulders.” On one level that’s horrifying and on the other level it’s kind of interesting. My books were written for me and if other people find value in them I’m very pleased, but they were helping me put my own house in order. Teaching in a lecture setting is really a show, and since my lectures are not just about magic tricks they might go off on more psychological, philosophical, or historical paths depending on the lecture. I try to make all my lectures different in some way so I feel as if I am talking to the people that are actually present at the lecture and not the people I imagined when I was back in Chicago thinking about the lecture. And of course that’s part of lecturing without notes. In a magic lecture I will have a file card that tells me the tricks I’m going to talk about and that’s all I’ll have. It’s satisfying and it’s also basically a show. Teaching at home in Chicago is very rewarding. Almost everybody here is doing close-up magic or a form of mentalism. Magicians often come to Chicago for a weekend to work with me on different things—and, if they are married, their wives often go shopping! Teaching with Jeff is always a magical experience. He has such energy, such passion for magic, and he is a brilliant teacher. It is also exciting because now you have two people involved in the teaching process and sometimes we play movie critics who don’t agree. That doesn’t happen all that often. Much more often during a performance in class, we’ll look at each other and read each other’s minds. I will know exactly what he’s thinking and he knows exactly what I’m thinking at that moment. And there’s a lot of that going on, so that’s fun and interesting. We’ve been doing this for so long that we’re very attuned to each other. And we’re also attuned to splitting off and not feeling we have to pretend there is always a united front. There is no united front,

there’s only trial and error in magic and in any form of performance. You keep trying until you get it right. And how do you know when you have it right? Well, as Don Alan often said to me, “Watch their faces.” And their faces tell you if you got it right. Genii: It occurs to me, too, as we’re talking, of another place where you’re teaching. You do a very specific lecture for business executives called “How Magicians Think.” And you recently gave a version of this for a Conference in Sun Valley. Eugene: Yes, I did. Genii: And I know that your session got the highest marks of all the sessions by those who attended. And there were some heavy-duty speakers! Eugene: Yes, I am happy to say that there were—and that my session did get the highest response. Genii: What you do for these corporate talks is not an after dinner show, it’s not your standard lecture material. It’s something very specific and different. Is that a show? Is that a lecture? Is that teaching? Is it Amalgam? Eugene: It’s Amalgam. It’s all of the above, part show, part

OCTOBER 2013

65

sing my song. What happens will happen and I can’t allow myself to get caught up in the idea that no one is getting it. Genii: Eugene as you look back on your 35-plus year magical career is there anything you would do differently? Another way of asking this is: what advice would you at 74 give if a 40-year-old fellow named Eugene Burger who was just breaking into show business and wanted to become your student? Eugene: Oh, dear me! (Laughter) Well, first of all there’s two ways of moving into professional magic. There’s the way I did it and the way my good friend Ross Johnson did it. I was dumb and lucky. He was smart, because Ross was a high school teacher who had health insurance and other benefits, so he really wasn’t anxious to stop teaching. But he suddenly found that he had so much performing work he had to stop teaching. I, on the other hand, had just quit my job and went into it—and was lucky. One of the things we don’t talk about enough, I think, when we have these conversations is how large a role luck, good fortune, plays in all this. The truth is that the magicians who do the most shows are the best performers. I would want to impart that to this 40-year-old Eugene. And what I would tell this person would be that at the beginning money can be a demon. Imagine someone who says, “I’m not going to perform for less than $1,000.” Well, if you’re new to magic perhaps you should do some free shows too and not just worry about $1,000. That is, the $1,000 becomes a wall beyond which you’re not going to have this experience. Penn Jillette has a great phrase: “flight time.” Magicians need flight time; an opportunity to just do it and let it develop and—learn how to do it better. I would also want to remind this 40-year-old me of something that Max Maven said: that if he had one bit of advice to give to all magicians it would be to slow down. And I would suggest that this doesn’t simply mean slow down in the sense of slowing your act down, or not talking so fast and being PHOTOS BY MARK BERRY

philosophy, and trying to explain what magic is and what bearing it has—this idea of magic—what bearing it has on business and our business lives. Genii: Out of all these different forms of teaching is there one that you prefer above all others? Eugene: My favorites are definitely working with Jeff and working alone with students in Chicago, because in both cases you see a lot more progress than you do in the other settings. Genii: It’s an ongoing relationship. Eugene: Yes, exactly! It’s an ongoing relationship and you see change. Whereas when you’re speaking to a large group of people, some might get it and others might not. But, the BhagavadGita says, “To action alone we have a right and never at all to its fruits; the fruits of action should not be our motive.” And I think what that means is that wise people release the results of their action. If I preach a sermon some people may understand it and some may not, either way I have to release the outcome and just

66

GENII

too glib. It might also be extended to suggest slow down in the sense that you’re most likely not going to become a success overnight. That is going to take time. Now, of course, there are exceptions to this, but don’t let the exceptions cloud your vision. There are exceptions, but for most people it takes a while. It takes luck, good fortune, and being attentive and conscious of what you are doing and all those things. But, at the same time, I would not ever discourage anyone from trying to go into entertainment as a way of making a living—especially if they feel truly called to enter this path—because there are great opportunities in show business. And I would stress the idea that the House of Magic indeed has many rooms and that this suggests another important idea: fellowship across differences. I think this is an important idea that, if it were honestly practiced by more people, would bring greater peace to our world. Genii: We’ve talked a lot about interpersonal teaching one-onone here in Chicago or in classes with Jeff, lectures, and the corporate environment. What have you learned about performing magic on television and did you learn that from Paul Daniels? Was he the teacher for you on that or was that the early doing of Don Alan? Eugene: Well, I was on the Don Alan show as a teenager as was my friend Jack Gould. Fortunately, no tape exist of my performance! (Laughs) Genii: At least none that we know of. Eugene: I’m just hoping none exist. (Chuckles) Yes, Paul Daniels and John Fisher, whom I will forever be indebted to, were the first people to bring me out of Chicago to do an inter-

national television program. It was a live Halloween show. When I got to London I met with several magicians before I did the show and some were saying, “Aren’t you terribly nervous about performing live before millions of people?” Toward the end of the week I was replying, “Well, I wasn’t until I got here but now I’m getting terrified! (Laughs) The first show took place in one of the historical castles in Kent. I was escorted to a large room. Next to that room that was being used for the shoot, there was another large room filled with over-sized paintings of someone’s ancestors and all the furniture was covered with white sheets and the mirrors were dusty. I was put in the room to wait for my turn, and of course I could hear what’s going. I’m all alone in this room for 20 minutes—though it seemed like hours—and my heart is just pounding! I’m thinking that I’m going to have a heart attack like Tommy Cooper. I’m going to walk out there, have a heart attack and drop dead! And then Paul introduced me and the door opened and I walk out. Paul and I made eye contact and I knew everything was fine. He just zoned in on me and everything was okay. Paul Daniels is astonishing and just an inspiration to me. He gave me a great introduction and I thought I did a really good set. Eventually they sent me a video of the show and I was horrified, because I suddenly saw that at no point was I making eye contact with the camera! I was playing to the four people that were at the table. It was painful to watch and I thought I had failed. Now, the next year I was lucky enough—lucky, lucky, lucky!—to get invited back to do another Halloween special with Paul. This time I

OCTOBER 2013

67

PHOTO BY PETE BIRO

understood. My work with the camera was much better. As a person, I’ve always thought that rather than dwell on misfortune, I need to learn the point and move on. So, what I learned from my first experience on the Paul Daniels show was that the television camera is another person—except it’s the Queen of England. Genii: In that case it probably was! Like everyone else, she was watching Paul Daniels. Eugene: I hope so! Genii: How did John Fisher and Paul Daniels find you, through your books?

68

GENII

Eugene: Through the books and Jay Marshall. Jay would travel to England several times a year. He was always my advocate and Spirit Theater had been published by that time. Paul and Debbie and John Fisher were wonderful to me. Paul and Debbie were so kind and thoughtful. They made me feel very much at home. I got to perform on three Paul Daniels shows and a few shows with John Fisher—Heros of Magic being one of them. Paul and John were pivotal in helping me create a career here in the U.S. and at putting me before a much larger public. They put me in a setting where I could be fun and it all worked because it was Halloween. Genii: Over the years you have performed with other magicians. Talk to us about that. Eugene: In the 1970s, I started the Spirit Theater Company to produce a séance show, Hauntings!, with my friends Marcella Ruble, Dennis Rook, and Erik Counce. Then in the late 1990s, I performed in a show with the Shakespeare Festival of Los Angeles. There were many shows with Jeff McBride—which continue today. Some years ago, I did the Nocturnal Trio show with Tina Lenart and Max Maven. I’ve done many séance shows with Larry Hass and his students both at Muhlenberg College and also at Austin College in Texas. Over the years, I’ve done several ensemble shows at Magic Chicago, the monthly Chicago magic show now in its ninth year. And, finally, for the last three years I have been doing a show with Michael Carbonaro called Dark Stories. So I have performed with many other magicians in different shows over the years. The important thing here is that I have found, for myself, that working with others has been a great help on my path to being a magician. Working with other creative performers has been a source of real growth for me. Genii: I’d like to steer the conversation toward genres in magic. What do you think about the genre of street magic and how it’s overtaken the younger performers? Eugene: Well, I think it’s great. I think we have to be encouraging of all forms of magic as things change and evolve. The good thing about street magic is that a kid is much better off engaging other kids with magic tricks than sitting at home playing a mindless computer game; living in real space rather than virtual space. I think that there are many people who are interested in magic in a casual way. I don’t want to use the word “superficial,” because there’s a value judgment involved. But they may read books

the relationship

between doctor and patient— when magic tricks are added to it— creates a whole different dynamic. on magic, they may watch magic on television, maybe they’ve purchased some tricks and perform them for family and friends. And then there are people who are more serious in their relationship to magic. And there are others who are even more serious. Finally we get to people who make their living doing it and they’re usually really serious—sometimes! So there are many different dimensions of possible engagement with magic. I think that if someone wanted to make a profession performing magic they would realize that street magic may not be able to provide them with a livelihood. Yes, it works for some people but will it work for me or you? You might have to figure out a different way to make money. So, if you want magic to be your income then you may have to move in a slightly different direction. If, on the other hand, you want to be a doctor or some other profession, then street magic is just fabulous. Because it means you can engage people—and patients—right where they are. And that’s wonderful. The Magic School has a program called Magic and Medicine. This is a program that has been greatly helped by Dr. Ricardo Rosenkranz and also by Larry Hass, who is the Associate Dean of the Magic School. Genii: You are now able to give continuing education credits for doctors who attend this course. Eugene: Yes, this has been a very exciting development due to Ricardo’s hard work. My point is that, in this course, we found that some doctors don’t want to perform for their patients. They

may want to have magic they can perform while lecturing for pharmaceutical companies while others want to have tricks to do for nurses’ retirement parties. And others do want to perform for their patients. They tend to believe the relationship beween doctor and patient—when magic tricks are added to it—creates a whole different dynamic. I’ve had many doctors say to me, “Since I started performing magic my patients talk to me more.” Pediatricians use magic as a way of calming children by putting their mind at ease. So magic combined with the medical profession is an area that I’m really interested in. And there is the wonderful essay by Jay Inglee in the Mystery School book which describes how he has used magic in family therapy. Genii: And you may think of the historical connection going back to ancient healers. There are roots here that are still very much in that relationship, because there’s the ritual of the doctor’s visit. Eugene: Yes, exactly. Jeff always says, “Magic is medicine, both for the performer and the viewer.” Anything that makes you feel better is medicine. Genii: Other than a possible religious experience, do you still recommend attending a liturgically high Roman Catholic or Anglican Church service to watch how the priest displays and handles the objects and how does that relate to magic? Eugene: Absolutely I do! It’s giving objects a sense of importance. Priests seem to understand this. It’s the difference between throwing a deck of cards on the table as opposed to taking it out and holding it almost reverently. Not reverently because it’s a deck of cards, but handling it as if it has importance and that goes to a part of the teaching that I really stress in my classes: my audience will never think my magic has more importance than I think it has. Or to say this in another way, my audience will never think my magic has more value than I think it has. It all begins with me and the more value my audience thinks my magic has the more zeros go on the end of my paycheck. And that’s the practical side of Eugene Burger. (Laughter) But I think it’s true. It’s about value. Genii: I’ve heard you say that an older performer can get away with a lot more than a younger performer, especially with direct challenges. Do you still think challenging an audience participant is appropriate and how can it be used theatrically? Eugene: I have one piece in my repertoire that is a direct challenge and that’s the Mullica Wallet routine. I say to the audience member, “In 48

OCTOBER 2013

69

seconds your mouth is going to drop open.” That’s pretty much a direct challenge. That’s the only routine I have like that and, yes, I found that as I got older that routine was easier to play, because you have a certain amount of authority when you’re older. Genii: So, if I understand you correctly, you’re saying that it depends on age. Age definitely does play a factor. Eugene: Yes, absolutely. Challenges, I think, raise a larger question: What state of mind do you want your audience to be in when you’re performing? If they are being challenged, you are inviting them to be in an analytical frame of mind. How is this being done? What’s the method? What’s the secret? Genii: And perhaps defensive. Eugene: Yes. defensive! In some cases, I just tell the audience how I want them to respond. I say, “Many people think the only way to watch a magical mystery is by trying to figure it out, but I think it’s much more fun just to enjoy the mystery as a mystery and maybe try to figure it out later tonight. So just put your analytical minds on vacation for five minutes and see how much fun that can be.” Ultimately it comes down to what I call, passing the hoop. This is really where the two basic philosophies of magic in America part company. One group would say that if you don’t pass the

Eugene: Where do you want to start? Genii: Teaching and mentoring.

Eugene: Well, there are two views of teaching. One view is that teaching is a top down activity, where the teacher has knowledge which is imparted to the student. When a person is new to magic they need a certain amount of top down activity teaching, because they don’t know the scales yet. They don’t know the basics and so they’re not able to play any song at all. At this stage of their development, they need some top down teaching of methods, counts, secret envelopes, or whatever the game would be. When a person comes to you with the basic knowledge of all of this, then I think teaching is a very different activity. It’s not so much top down as it is trying to figure out what’s going to work for this person and realizing that it’s as much their decision as it is yours and as a teacher all you can really do is make suggestions and give options. And some of them will take hold and some of them won’t, because some of the suggestions will be good and some of them won’t be, because that’s the human condition. Just as not all laughs are good laughs, not all of my suggestions are good suggestions! (Laughter)

the one thing on this planet

that can compete with explosions, huge stage illusions, assistants, ducks, helicopters, all of it, is the power of the Human Personality. hoop around the floating lady it’s just Mary Poppins. It’s simply theatrical special effects. Magic as an art form requires that you pass the hoop because magic has an intellectual element of challenge. That’s one philosophy. The other would say that passing the hoop is inviting the audience to become analytical and to lose the experience of magic which you can only have if you are willing to give up this analytic mind for at least a few moments—not forever, because you need it to sign contracts and count your change. This is, after all, a Capitalist society. I think reflecting on passing the hoop points us to what I perceive as the two philosophical camps in American magic. This is where they are and I suppose in the long run if I was going to be really honest with you I would say they are both wrong! Both views are wrong if they try to be exclusive and deny the other view. So in some cases, I would pass the hoop and in other cases I wouldn’t. Deciding whether to pass the hoop or not in a particular situation is one of the places where we express our own individuality as performers. Genii: Well, let’s go back to teaching for a moment. Do you see a difference, Eugene, between teaching, mentoring, apprenticing, and directing? Eugene: Oh yes. Genii: How are they different? 70

GENII

Genii: Where does that cross over into mentoring, or apprenticeship? Eugene: I think an apprentice, literally, would be someone who takes on tasks that a teacher might need done. Mentoring is much broader in that I think we’re all mentoring each other much of the time on one level or another—or we’re being divisive toward each other, like vampires sucking the energy out of situations and people. Genii: What makes a good teacher and what makes a good student? Eugene: Well a good teacher, I think, realizes that he or she is still a student. And good students are those who don’t think they know it all already. They are open to learning and if both teacher and student are open to learning then they can have an interesting relationship, because then they feed each other and ideas pass back and forth. You have to ask the student what they want to learn. What their dreams are. An exceedingly important thing about teaching is being able to listen to the student and hear what is being said. Genii: It seems to me hearing you lecture—which I have done many times—or just talking like this or watching you teach, there

the most wonderful books I read in this area is The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich. I think it is one of the great titles of the 20th century. But, yes, it takes courage just to be ourselves, because most of us for some weird reason are trying to be like everybody else. Is that nutty or what? And we’re doing this almost consciously. Yet “being like everyone else” is an impossible task; it’s rather like trying to climb a greased pole. When I look at successful entertainers I generally see distinct personalities who don’t seem to be afraid to be themselves. That may just be an illusion, of course, and they may be hopelessly

Eugene: Yes, I think character and precision are two of the lessons that I want to teach myself and others. You know, the one thing on this planet that can compete with explosions, huge stage illusions, assistants, ducks, helicopters, all of it, is the power of the human personality. That’s the one thing that can stand up to all of the rest of the noise and color. The more we can be ourselves and not try to be everybody else, the more interesting we become as individuals, as people that other people want to watch and be attentive to. And that of course takes courage. Courage is important. One of

neurotic in real life. But most of us fail to appreciate that it does take great courage to be willing to put “ourselves” out in front of others. And courage is not a word that typically appears in magic magazines or books and on DVDs! (Laughter) Secondly, precision, yes I believe in precision. One of the nicest things that was ever said about me was repeated to me by Jay Marshall, who told me that a very famous television producer said to him, “It’s always great to work with Eugene Burger

PHOTO BY MARK BERRY

are two main things that come through for me. One is character and the other is precision. You talk about how presentation is essential to every routine and every performance. And you seem to keep asking, who are you as a performer? When it comes to precision I see you emphasizing two things: the poetry of what is said and the choreography of the movement, for example your artful presentation of the “Burned and Restored Thread.” So, would you agree that character and precision are two of your fundamental lessons and what else do you find yourself reinstating again and again?

OCTOBER 2013

71

the basis on how far the fall of failure is? No, perhaps to be an artist is to risk taking the big fall. It’s similar to something I heard that Marcel Marceau once said: “Artists can’t consider their work of any value unless they’re under police surveillance.” (Laughter) Now, that’s the big fall! Genii: So, besides helping a student to understand the value of courage how do you move a student beyond imitation to find their own character? Eugene: The student, hopefully, learns to move him or her self. The teacher can provide encouragement and also speak, hopefully, from experience with this process in their own lives and magical development. I used to believe that imitation was bad at all levels. And yet when I look at my own life, as a teenager, I could virtually channel Don Alan at a family dinner. I could do all the lines with all the timing, all the tricks, and in my little twisted head I was becoming Don Alan in some weird little 13 or 14 year old way. And that’s both beautiful and pathetic. (Laughter) So in my own life there was a period of great imitation. And then there was a short period of rejection when I just got out of magic, beginning

want to feel safe! (Laughter) Another one of my themes for the past several years has been the idea that not all laughs are good laughs. I referred to this a moment ago. Magicians for much of the 20th century were literally deluding themselves into thinking that because the audience was laughing they were doing something right. Or to put it in another way, that because the audience was laughing they were getting respect and admiration as a performer. I don’t think that was the case at all. I think people were often laughing because these guys were jerks—and it wasn’t elevating the art of magic at all. If anything, it was demoting magic and magicians because it was all about being so goofy and trivial and stupid. I have a theory about this. It’s about what we might call “the distance of the fall.” If one is playing their magic as a jerk and the method becomes obvious, well the fall is only a few inches. But if you’re playing this thing seriously as a magician might want to play it, or if the performer is recounting a story that really happened, and now things mess up and the audience understands the method, well then the fall is a big fall. The fall is always bigger if we are putting some seriousness or sincerity into the program. So as long as I’m playing a jerk, the fall is a very short one. But, honestly, do I want to organize my magical performance on

in college and continuing until I was 35 and that’s when I came back to it. By then I didn’t want to be Don Alan anymore, but I didn’t want him to not be there either. I wanted there to be something of him in me. When I returned to magic, I wanted people, even other magicians, to be engaged by the presentations I was wrapping around these magic tricks. I wanted people to find this engaging and interesting and fun. Second, the precision. Don Alan was a wonderful sleight-of-hand artist. He had trained at the Chavez School of Magic. Yet he would frequently pick strategies over sleights. And certainly that is part of me as well. Genii: What’s the role of candor in teaching magic? Eugene: I think a teacher needs to be honest and kind as well as imparting inspiration and knowledge. Genii: I want to push you a little bit on this, because in your teaching—when you give notes on a performance—you are very candid. Have you always been that up front? Eugene: I was inspired by Rudolf Bultmann, a 20th century New Testament scholar, who demanded “ruthless honesty.”

PHOTO BY MARK BERRY

because he can come in on the minute.” And as I mentioned earlier, I’ve done live television shows where if I didn’t come in on the minute, Paul Daniels would either have to make up the time or drop time. Genii: How did you do it? Eugene: A great question. They had a clock by the main camera that I could see. It had a big second hand and my job was to come in on the second and that’s what I did. And, honestly, I was proud of the fact that I could do that because I didn’t feel that this was a skill that a lot of magicians, even professional magicians, could accomplish. I’ve seen many professional magicians go shockingly over their allotted time. But, look, I have a script and so I can slow down or speed up as I watch the second hand of the clock make its final moves. So, yes, I want a precise routine, but once I have a precise routine I now have the ability, the freedom, to depart from it. That’s the beautiful paradox here. If I feel particularly inspired today and think of clever things to say, I can say them. But other days I feel dull and so I stay with my planned script, because I’m not feeling clever that day, and I am safe with my script. And we all

72

GENII

Genii: After all, students are paying you for wisdom and insight.

They’re not paying you to be their friend. Eugene: Yes, but again, honesty without kindness may not be heard. I think students are paying me to get better audience responses. That’s the bottom line. Am I getting from my audience responses that I want? Genii: You’ve been a native of Chicago all your life. If you weren’t living in Chicago what other city would you want to live in? Eugene: My answer here could be romantic or it could be practical. Practical means I travel a lot so I would want to be close to an airport where I can get non-stop flights to major destinations. If I answered romantically I could see myself living in Salem, Massachusetts. I really love it there. It’s very charming and there is a real sense of history. Genii: Going back to our heroes, and this may lead us down the same path, is there anybody who comes immediately to mind who has passed on and long gone who you would have loved to learn from? Eugene: Absolutely. Al Baker comes to mind, because he was so clever and his routines are so artfully constructed. Before him

more to learn and, therefore, there’s no sense of finality. Now I think for some people that’s probably terrifying. For people who think they need psychological security. But I wonder whether this “psychological security” is secure at all. Perhaps it’s all an illusion. Personally, I find it wonderfully exciting to be in a field that has no end, where the performance can always have even more impact on our audiences. And so I think it would be great to be remembered as someone who took magic seriously and tried to give other people the permission to take magic seriously as well—if they wanted to. I’m not trying to legislate for other people at all. I’m just trying to find my own way along this magical path, which is also a path full of bramble and thorns and I am encouraging other people to strike out for themselves as well. You don’t have to follow the pack. Magic is a very deep art with profound metaphors and symbols underlying it. Magic is about transformation. Transformation is one of the most fundamental symbols and metaphors of magic. And this raises the question of my own transformation and your own transformation. Will there be transformation in our lives? And that is, ultimately, one of the deep questions of magic.•

I think it would be Karl Germain. Not only was he a true artist, he went through this sad period where he became blind. Germain was interested in a lot of the things that I’m interested in—such as spiritualism. He seems to have been a really clever stage performer with frequently novel effects and methods. Genii: A final question about finality or maybe not. We’ll see. Many of us want to be remembered for something once we experience the ultimate mystery. What do you want to be remembered for? What would you like Eugene Burger’s gravestone to read? Eugene: Well, Max Maven asked me that question during an interview at The Magic Castle some years ago. My reply was a take-off on a Zen Buddhist tombstone. Mine would read: “If he had 10 more years he might have become a magician.” I think this would point to the need we have for continued growth, growth that does not end, this sense that there’s always so much OCTOBER 2013

73

We’re waiting. Come play.

FREE MAGIC

TEASERS

CONTESTS

WHAT’S NEW

MURPHY-3

ARTIST Q&A

74

PODCASTS

TRIVIA

PRO TIPS

SNEAK PEAKS

COMMUNITY

/MurphysMagicSupplies 74

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Full Color Page Twister 75 ODD PAGE

75

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

75

!

W NE

House Presents of Magic Simon Drake's

Padlock The Paranormal with very special Haunted Key System 6

A large antique padlock which has been locked for centuries is suspended from a ribbon held by any spectator. At the magician’s command the padlock opens by itself. “Not only is this the most affordable version of Karl Germain’s Spirit Padlock ever made, it’s also completely reliable, easy to do, and fun to perform. I love it.” Richard Kaufman, Editor of Genii

Search ‘Simon Drake Padlock’ on

76

Conjuring ARTS or Drake 76

AND

Authentic Ant ique

Packaged in a hand made wooden presentation case with special secret compartment

Haunted Key included FREE! Keys are unique & may not look the same & this new version will also work in an audience members hand 100% Reliable No Electronics No Remote Control

TV performance rights on application

Email or call for details. Details on our website

WWW.HOUSEOFMAGIC.CO.UK Signed & numbered edition for collectors & magicians only 76

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

77

F o

SECRETS By Richard Kaufman

ONE YEAR LATER

LAST AUGUST we gave you a look at the plans for the modern version of the “Trick of The Month Club” known as Real Secrets. I recently sat down with several members of the masked band of merry men (you could threaten to pull my toenails out and my lips would still be sealed) behind Real Secrets to find out what has remained a secret and what has not. Genii: I don’t recall seeing Real Secrets doing much advertis-

ing—you’d think with all the free publicity I’ve given you that you’d buy an ad! Jeez!—so for the benefit of the folks who aren’t already members or who may not have heard of Real Secrets, can you give them a succinct recap? RS: In the most simple terms, Real Secrets is a service that provides custom-manufactured physical props and printed instructions for a new trick every month delivered by first class mail in North America and around the world. Sometimes the props are secret utility devices, like the one we sent out three months ago which hides in the magician’s wallet and allows him to produce printed physical evidence of knowledge of future events. The objects are designed by artists who work with our magic designers and manufacturers so they look special when they are supposed to and just like an ordinary object when that is the goal. Genii: I’ve been an enthusiastic if sometimes frustrated member since the beginning (and have paid for my subscription just like all the other members) and you’ve always given us more than one trick per month, so why don’t you announce that as a regular part of the deal? RS: From the start we knew that we wanted to always give the members more than we promised, and one way we have done that is to provide a bonus object, prop, trick, or routine with the main effect, every month. Magicians who were members for the first 12 months were promised a dozen tricks and ended up receiving about 30. Genii: Can you give the readers some idea of what they might expect in the mail, without breaking any of your own rules— whatever the heck they are? RS: We try to give our members both the first chance to see the

78

GENII

material we develop and a time period of exclusivity. Real Secrets members know that the incidental magic they choose to carry with them in their wallet or pocket is not something that is going to end up being exposed on YouTube or performed on shows like America’s Got Talent or Ellen. Because of this, when you asked us to provide a sample trick to include in the magazine last August, our design team took a physical object which they had already used to create something for our members, but designed a whole new trick for Genii, so the result would not be taking one of the 12 monthly tricks away from the members. We heard that one vocal non-member was complaining online that we had broken the Real Secrets rules and exposed one of the monthly effects, but the truth is that we did just the opposite and sent all of our members the new trick as a bonus. Genii: So two of the tricks your members received used special cash register receipts. What else? RS: Our first announcement for Real Secrets was a bright orange postcard that had a mysterious list printed on one side. It reads: “Gum, Receipts, Jelly Beans, Stamps, Bills, Photos, Einstein, Playing Cards, Rock, Paper, Scissors, People, Loyalty Cards, Diets, Walks, Business Cards, Poker, Maps, Puzzles, ESP Cards, Money, Coin Shops, Impossible Objects, Scratch Cards, Blow-In Ads, Food, Rubik’s Cubes, Stencils, Taxes, Colors, Surprises, Swindles, Coins, Memberships, Estimations, Time, Sudoku.” So far, our Members have received magic based on all but five of the items listed on that postcard and tricks using those five objects have already been designed, manufactured, and are just waiting to be mailed. Genii: And have the members been happy with the magic you have sent them? I hear generally good comments but there’s been some grumbling as well. RS: About 80 percent have been really happy and tell us so in their emails and letters. We have university professors who have incorporated some of our material into their teaching (through performance, not exposure,) and most working pros have found one or more items that have become new personal favorites. There is real value in being able to perform a great piece of magic

F FREE THIRD TRICK Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Real Secrets today for a third free trick!

FIRST STREET

SEND TO:

Real Secrets P.O. Box 6132 Folsom, CA 95763-6132

for your audiences that cannot be found with a Google search. Genii: What about the other 20 percent? RS: 10 percent of the members told us that they liked all of the tricks, but were hoping that they would want to perform 100 percent of the tricks in their professional shows. We never design, manufacture, or send out a trick that we do not love, but tastes vary, so some of the 10 percent stayed on as members and a small number decided not to remain members, so we provided them with a pro-rated refund. Genii: That still leaves 10 percent—the grumblers. RS: We are appreciative of the interest and support of 100 percent of our members, but there were a few folks who had formed their own concept of what we would be sending to them every month in the envelope. For example, while we have offered several items that could be performed in stand-up settings, the majority of the routines are designed around themes based on natural environments, like restaurants, offices, or a friend’s home, and use objects which appear to be things you might find in those settings or carry in a pocket. We had a few people tell us that they were hoping for things every month like a Motorized Reel or a Die Box. Just to be clear, we have not sent, and do not currently intend to send, either of those things to members. Genii: I can see where a small number of people would be unhappy because every item is printed—in other words, 2D. Thayer’s original Trick of the Month Club sent out mostly threedimensional props. Some expectations might have been based on that. RS: It was actually during our attempt to give our members something special that we hit our only real speed bump and learned our biggest lesson. Genii: Which one? RS: One of our primary goals has always been to offer our members truly worthy material. Of course the material is initially developed from known effects and methods, but we have always worked hard to push the envelope to find new advancements of

(

^

@

THIRD STREET

# %

*

VINE STREET

SECOND STREET

MAIN STREET

ame Your N ess dr d A r You ate ity, St Your C Code l Posta

COFFEE SHOP

STATE STREET

 Your Stamp

&

$

!

m

the underlying ideas and modern, novel effects and presentations.

Genii: I really liked the last one (sorry—I can’t say what it is, but

if you stay in hotels every so often, you would think it was cool as hell). You packed a lot of secret information into a very small space, the design is great, and I don’t think anyone has taken that principle in this direction before. So, where’s the speed bump? RS: We worked with a really smart team to move our instructions and bonus material to a digital format which allowed us to update the information even after our members had already received it. This was also the method we had intended to use for an experimental forum and the distribution of video content. Genii: And the problem was? Well, I know what the problem was, but why don’t you tell me your version? RS: In retrospect, the real problem was that we changed the game after we already had established the rules for our members. Many, perhaps even the majority of our membership was excited with the new platform … Genii: … you’ll excuse me if I interrupt. Most of your members disliked it intensely. I didn’t speak to one person, in public or private, who liked what you were doing. RS: Do you usually interrupt people that you’re interviewing? Genii: Well, yes, if they’re trying to pretend a cow patty is an apple pie. But please continue. RS: Thank you. The group which was not happy was also the most vocal group. They made it clear to us that they wanted the physical props and printed instructions inside their envelope every month. Period. And we listened. Genii: I like that part of the story, and I for one was very pleased to receive printed instructions in the mail very quickly. You turned things around in about seven days. That had to be expensive. Did that make your members happy?

r

OCTOBER 2013

79

F RS: Yes, and they let us know it. We still believe that there is a remarkable potential for something new and exciting using this system, but it will only work if the user knows that he is agreeing to use it to receive the magic content. We have plans to use it for several non-Real Secrets projects, but all of our RS members have made it clear that they want their magic in the envelope, and that is how will we deliver it to them. Genii: I have to say that Real Secrets is pretty generous with the things they send out to members—my folder of items from the first year is stuffed. And I’m sure that my subscribers will be pleased that you’re giving them two tricks this month. What are they? RS: The first effect is based upon “The Trick That Fooled Einstein” which was popularized by Al Koran and many others. It is a deceptive effect based on a great, counter-intuitive bit of linguistic deception. We wanted to build the principle into a context which made sense: in this case, a letter from the “Wager of the Month Club.” Genii: Which, I wager, you made up. RS: Correct. In addition to the theme and context, we wanted to add some kind of a kicker—a logical but unexpected surprise at the end which ties it all together and strengthens the mystery. Genii: And if I’m reading this piece of paper which you just handed me correctly, you’ve done that by making the final total relate to an amount of postage due which is printed on the envelope. RS: Exactly. The magician simply photocopies the template we have included in this issue, cuts it out, and uses a glue stick or tape to create a realistic prop he can carry in his pocket. Genii: And the second effect? RS: We love the premise of this: The local environment surrounding the magician and his spectator becomes the setting for an astounding coincidence. We have included the completed “Instruction Cards” for an exploratory game called “City Walk.” Genii: Which you also made up out of whole cloth. RS: Yes, we made it up, but it was based in part on the popular trend known as “Geocaching,” where individuals hide small trin-

kets and then share cloaked instructions which must be decoded and followed to find the cache of “treasures.” It’s big with the GPS crowd. Genii: I belong to the OCD crowd, not the GPS crowd, so tell me what the heck happens with “City Walk”? RS: You show your friend the game cards, each has a single instruction printed on it. For instance, a card might instruct the person to, “turn left,” “cross the street,” or “enter the nearest bookstore.” The order of the instructions is dictated by your friend, and then you and he go on a “City Walk,” following the random path created by your friend’s earlier decision. It’s a lot of fun, unlike anything else we have seen, and ends up with a really charming surprise. Genii: I won’t spoil the surprise for my readers, but you (and if you are reading this I want you to imagine my finger waggling in your direction) should really read “City Walk,” print out the cards, and try it if you want to freak out your friends. Okay, what’s next for Real Secrets? RS: When we were in the initial planning stages, we knew we needed to see if our team could come up with enough quality material to support the project for several years, and if we could find a way to make the custom manufacturing and shipping financially possible. By the time we accepted our first membership, we had already created, designed, and manufactured the core material for the first 24 months. Since then, we have created enough additional material to take us all the way through the third year and beyond. We keep learning, and we hope our members do as well. For example, we still regularly build in additional hidden secrets and effects into the props, as we have from the very first month. The lesson for our members and for all of us is that great secrets are hiding in plain sight all around us. One of the ongoing opportunities for all magicians is to keep looking, thinking, exploring, and experimenting to discover new and exciting ways to share mystery with our audiences. Genii: Well, you’ve got my dough. •

l WAGER OF THE MONTH CLUB EFFECT: You explain that every four weeks you receive a new bet from the Wager of the Month Club in Las Vegas. You show a small envelope from the club and ask the spectator to remove less than a dollar’s worth of change, “they say it’s not how much you bet, it’s how smart you bet.” You remove the wager from the envelope. The first line says, “We bet you we will have exactly as much money as you in this envelope.” You ask the spectator to count their change and announce the total. You count out change from within the envelope and it perfectly equals the spectator’s amount of change. You now read the next handwritten line which says, “As a bonus, we have included one coin for every month of the year to date.“ From the remaining change in your envelope you remove a number of coins equal to the current month (as an example, in March you remove three pennies as you say “January, February,

80

GENII

March”). Finally, you read the last line which says, “We bet you will discover just enough money left over to, when added to your change, pay for the postage due.” You take their pile of money, confirm the amount, and dump it in the envelope with the remaining change. You turn the envelope over and see the necessary postage written by the post office as someone neglected to put a stamp on the envelope. The change is dumped out, counted, and adds up exactly to match the necessary postage due. Preparation: Prior to performance, write $1.14 inside the “postage due” circle. In the envelope place the amount of money you just wrote in the postage due spot, plus one additional penny for each month of the date in which you use this (January = 1, February = 2 , March = 3 … December = 12). For example, if you are performing this in October, you will have $1.14 + $0.10 (October is the

F 10th month) so you have a total of $1.24 in the envelope. You will have three U.S. quarters, three dimes, one nickel, four pennies, and enough additional pennies to equal the current month in which you are performing (e.g., if doing this in

October, it is the 10th month so you have three U.S. quarters, three dimes, one nickel, four pennies, and also 10 additional pennies.) Note that this combination of U.S. coins allows you to produce any total of coins, from 1¢ to $1, in order to exactly

OCTOBER 2013

81

F match the total produced by your spectator. When you remove change from the envelope during each phase, avoid the pennies as long as is possible. In other words, try to use pennies last. If you are outside of the U.S.A., whatever amount you write in for the postage due you simply put that amount in the envelope plus one additional low value coin for each month to the present month. You should ensure that the coins you use make up any amount called for under the amount you have asked to borrow. In the coins we recommend, we have tried to minimize the number of coins while ensuring any amount called for can be constructed from your coins. We are supplying a pdf of an envelope which you can easily construct, as well as a pdf you can print on a standard business size envelope. These are editable pdfs, which means you can put your address in the “deliver to” area. Hand write the “postage amount due” so it matches the look of an actual “postage due” piece of mail. At the end, you can give the envelope to the spectator with the change in it. METHOD: 1. Remove the envelope with the change inside as you describe getting a new bet each month from the Wager of the Month Club. 2. Ask the spectator to remove or gather some change. Advise that it can be any amount less than one dollar—to avoid the need for lengthy counting. Your spectator counts his change and

announces the total. 3. Remove the wager from the envelope and read the first line of the bet aloud. 4. Remove the correct amount of change from the envelope. This will be an amount equal to the amount your spectator removed. You have won the first wager. Use quarters, dimes, and nickels whenever possible to deplete these first, saving the pennies for the next phase. 5. Read the second wager aloud. 6. Remove enough single unit coins equal to the month you are in (January =1, February = 2 … December = 12). 7. Confirm that the language of the second wager is correct. 8. Confirm the original amount of change your spectator removed. 9. Read the last wager 10. Place the spectator’s change into the envelope with the remaining change which is still inside. 11. Display the amount of postage due printed on the envelope. 12. Allow your spectator to dump out the change from the envelope and count it aloud. 13. Confirm the last wager. 14. Return the change your spectator gave to you. Background: Stadelman, Victor, Hull, Koran, Racherbaumer, Richardson. This version developed by Real Secrets.

CITY WALKa EFFECT:

You offer to share an exciting new alternative to Geocaching. Your friend is given a stack of cards with a random instruction printed on each one. He directs the process which arranges the direction cards into a new order. The stack of cards has a hole in one end so you can thread a zip tie through the stack to lock-in the random order just created. You take the threaded stack and loop the end of the zip tie through his button hole, securing everything in place. The participant tears off the first card, reads and then follows the instruction printed on it. When he has completed the first step, he removes, reads, and follows the directions on the next card. This process continues using all of the cards, or until he comes to a card which includes the instruction “stop.” One at a time the instructions are ripped off of the zip tie and followed. Your friend proceeds until he finally draws the last two cards which instruct him to: “Enter Closest Coffee Shop” … and then … “Ask If They Have What You Need. Stop” This ultimate instruction is followed and as soon as he enters the coffee shop he speaks to the cashier who hands him a small pair of scissors with the label “For Richard. You will need these to remove any remaining cards.” The scissors also allow your friend to gain freedom from the sturdy zip tie without ruining his clothing. The journey is complete.

82

GENII

Method: You will seemingly allow your friend to create a random order for the City Walk instruction cards. In actuality, you will control the exact order of the directions using Paul Curry’s classic Swindle Count. We have supplied you with the layout for a sample set of both the fronts and backs of a set of City Walk cards. These can be photocopied onto index or cover stock and then cut and perforated. You will also find a page of blank templates you can use to create custom experiences. You will also need some small zip tie cable wraps which can be found at any hardware or gardening store. For the sample presentation above, the last requirement will be a small pair of scissors or nail clippers attached to a tag addressed to your friend. To plan your friend’s City Walk, decide upon the destination where your friend will discover the scissors. Approach one of the employees in the coffee shop and ask her to hold the scissors for a friend who will come in soon and ask “Do you have something I need?” A small gratuity or even your graciousness will make them eager to participate. Now that you have selected the end of the walk, work backward and arrange the instructions on several of the cards to determine the overall path and where the City Walk will begin. Let’s create a journey using some of the cards provided. The instructions on the final cards your friend will follow read “Enter Closest Coffee Shop” and “Ask If They Have What You Need. Stop.”

F FIRST STREET

COFFEE SHOP

(

@

THIRD STREET

# %

*

VINE STREET

^

STATE STREET

MAIN STREET

SECOND STREET

&

$

!

9. Ask if they have what you need. 8. Enter closest coffee shop. (It will be across the street on the opposite corner.) 7. Walk to closest corner. 6. Turn left. Cross the street. (Two cards) 5. Turn right. Cross the street. (Two cards) 4. Ignore prior instruction. 3. Walk one block. 2. Turn right. Walk to nearest corner. (Two cards) 1. Go to nearest intersection.

C

These will be the last two cards of the journey, but the first two cards of your stack. As we are working backward, we begin with the coffee shop. If the shop is in the middle of the block, you will need the prior instruction card to position your friend so he can see the shop after his third-to-last instruction card. This back-tracking process will proceed though at least half a dozen directions. We will add a few additional diversionary cards in a moment. While you will be able to plan your actual City Walk in the actual space, we will use the map to plan our sample navigation. Study the numbers on the map as we work in reverse:

OCTOBER 2013

83

F Starting at position one, and following the instructions in numerical order, you will be led to the coffee shop on your journey. You can now add some misdirection and seeming randomness to the walk by introducing the cards “Ignore next instruction” and “Enter nearest pharmacy between steps 5 and 6.” These will create the sense that this might have been the end of the walk if not for the “ignore next” card. After preparing each step of your journey on various cards, arrange them so that the first step is at the bottom of the facedown stack and the last step is on top. It is recommended that you try to make it at least 12 to 14 steps to get to the final location. If you are writing your own cards, try to be as general as possible with instructions, such as “walk one block,” “turn right,” “turn left,” or “turn right at the next stop sign.” It is important that it does not seem as if the instructions fit the path too perfectly or the spectator will become suspicious. Once you have decided upon your destination and your path, set the necessary direction cards in the correct order, from top to bottom, with the writing facing you. This configuration will allow you to review and double check your steps before approaching your spectator. Once the directions are in the correct order, turn them writing side down and then drop all the additional direction cards on top of them. You now have a face-down stack with your journey at the bottom in reverse order. Approach your friend and tell him you were recently given an interesting interactive game where the participants control the experience. Briefly lift a few cards to show the writing on their faces so your friend has some idea of the kinds of directions he will be following. Inform your friend that he will control the length, direction, and destination of his journey based upon two kinds of choices: the choice to go on, and the choice to switch. Demonstrate by dealing the top few cards to the table into a face-up pile one by one and show that any time he says “switch” you will exchange the order of the cards as you deal them. This is the demonstration phase of Paul Curry’s “Swindle of Sorts.” When the cards are turned from face down to face up, the “switch” command actually exchanges the positions of those two cards. Replace the dealt cards writing side down on the packet. You are now ready to begin, and your friend may say “deal” or “switch” whenever and as often as he likes and yet the cards will be in your stack at the conclusion. How? Here is Mr. Curry’s genius: As the cards are dealt from a face-down packet into a facedown pile, you are simply reversing the order of the entire stack, card by card. Whenever your spectator says “switch,” simply swap the order of the next two cards and drop both of them on top of dealt pile. Because the cards remain face down as they are dealt, this apparent “switch” action results in the same outcome as just dealing the cards one by one.

84

GENII

REVIEW 1. Demonstrate the way you will deal the instruction cards face down one at a time, noting that anytime they wish they can say “switch” and you will switch the card you are about to deal with the next one, thereby altering the journey at that point. They can say “switch” as many or as few times as they wish. 2. Deal the first card off of the face-down stack and set it on the table. 3. Take the next card off of the stack into your right hand and continue to deal to the pile on the table. 4. When the spectator calls out “switch,” take the card you are holding in your right hand and push the next card off of the stack in your left hand, openly sliding the right-hand card under the pushed-off card in your left. This action simulates a “switch” of the cards. 5. Take both cards and drop them together onto the pile on the table. Although it appears as if you are switching these cards, this procedure achieves the same result as if you had simply dealt every card to the table one by one. This is the procedure from Paul Curry’s “Swindle of Sorts” which can be found in Paul Curry’s World’s Beyond from Hermetic Press. 6. Emphasize you will continue to deal one at a time and they can switch anytime they like. 7. Once all of the cards are dealt to the table, thread a zip tie it through the hole in the corner of the stack and then thread it through your friend’s shirt or jacket button hole, locking the directions to his body. 8. Instruct your friend to remove the outermost (backside out) card by tearing it off of the zip tie and to read the instructions on the other side. This will be the first step of your journey. 9. As you complete each step of the City Walk, have your friend tear off, read, and follow the next instruction. 10. Continue until he comes to a card which says “Stop” at the top; this will be the final step in his journey. 11. When your friend enters the coffee shop and reads his final instruction, subtly guide him to stand in line and speak to the correct cashier. Your friend will receive the scissors he needs to remove the zip tie and unused cards from his clothing. As you can imagine, this idea can also be used to achieve a wide variety of outcomes. For example, you can make an item vanish at the beginning of the journey and your friend will discover it at his destination. Your spectator may go on a City Walk which concludes with him walking into a restaurant only to discover a friend or family member waiting there to greet him. Background: Paul Curry, Juan Tamariz. This version developed by Real Secrets. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Real Secrets and receive an amazing third effect. Can’t tell you what it is, but it’s certainly worth your stamp to find out! Real Secrets, P.O. Box 6132, Folsom, CA 95763-6132

d

F Walk�� To�nearest� Corner�

IGNORE�� NEXT�� INSTRUCTION� WALK� ONE� BLOCK�

TURN� RIGHT�

TURN� LEFT�

IGNORE� IGNORE�� PRIOR������ NEXT�� INSTRUCTION� INSTRUCTION� WALK� TWO� BLOCKS�

GO�TO� NEAREST�� INTERSECTION�

CITY WALK CARDS 1

OCTOBER 2013

85

F ENTER�� CLOSEST� COFFEE�SHOP�

ENTER�� CLOSEST�� PIZZA�PLACE�

ENTER�� CLOSEST� RESTAURANT�

ENTER�� NEAREST� BOOKSTORE�

ENTER� NEAREST� PHARMACY�

TAKE��� BUS�TO� NEXT�STOP�

STOP� ASK�IF�� Someone�is� WAITING�

STOP� ASK�IF�THEY� HAVE�WHAT� YOU�NEED�

STOP� ASK�IF�� YOU�HAVE�� A�CALL�

CITY WALK CARDS 2

86

GENII

F TURN� RIGHT�

TURN�� RIGHT�

TURN�� LEFT�

TURN� LEFT�

CROSS� THE� STREET�

CROSS� THE� STREET�

CROSS� THE� STREET�

IF�THERE� ARE�STAIRS� GO�DOWN�

IF�THERE� ARE�STAIRS� GO�UP�

CITY WALK CARDS 3

OCTOBER 2013

87

F CITY WALK CARD FRONTS

88

GENII

Full Full Color Color Page Page

89 89 MagicKraft

89

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

89

MURPHY 4

90

90

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Magic Geek 91

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

91

Murphy (mechind repl)

92

92

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Cris Webb THE SPECTATOR IS ASKED TO THINK OF A CARD. TO BE FAIR THEY CHANGE THEIR MIND TO A TOTALLY DIFFERENT CARD

93

YOU REACH INTO YOUR WALLET TO SHOW A SINGLE CARD. IT’S A HIT & IS 100% CORRECT.

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

93

Light from the Lamp Reviews

Tricks

REVIEWED BY DAVID REGAL

I TEND TO BE a “reactor,” a quality responsible for all things good and bad in my life. I have been around long enough to experience an evolution of magic products, and for some time now I have reviewed tricks for Genii in rotation with others. Every now and then I get upset with the products I see marketed or other elements of the magic business—for it is a business—and it becomes necessary to remind myself what it is I am looking for in a magic effect. As I remind myself, I might as well let you be party to my internal conversation, as it will help you filter the comments I make in this column, and better understand my point of view. Thoughts, in no particular sequence: Yes, there are bad tricks, but this is a good time for magic. There was a time when magic props offered in catalogs fell into standard categories: Expensive wood pieces, machined brass items, gaffed cards, celluloid gimmicks, etc. The props came with printed directions that one lived with for some time in order to best translate the contents which were often written in a manner not particularly conducive to comprehension. Today we have video instruction, plus new methods of fabrication in the magic world. We may indeed have fewer skilled wood workers, but we have marvels that were pipe dreams not too long ago. Some widely distributed props are wonderfully intricate, brilliantly gimmicked, lovely to behold, or a combination of these qualities. The good magic/bad magic ratio gives us more of the good as it gives us more of the bad. We could argue forever about the ratio of good vs. bad magic introduced to the marketplace. For discussion’s sake, let’s say 90 percent of magic is bad, and 10 percent is good. As new magic floods us, on YouTube, DVDs, in books, and on dealers’ shelves (those that still have shelves), it seems that the ratio stays pretty much the same. That means the huge pile of crap gets even huger. Rather than complain about this deluge of the awful, we could note that the little pile of good is also growing. This leads to an observation about magic in general … With a lot of money one can buy expensive tricks; with a lot of time one can develop impressive skills; but no amount of money or time produces sound judgment. Without question the rarest and most valuable trait one can develop as a lover of magic, professional or amateur, is good taste. With the understanding of what makes for a good effect, where the magic lies in a plot and how it 94

GENII

can be amplified, fantastic things can be achieved. The people with good judgment are the ones who take plots and methods used by many and turn them into miracles. How does this apply to a trick review column? Purchase things you believe in. Things that inspire you. Things you want to put into the world because you think there’s a chance they could be great. Then try and make them great. Different does not mean “better.” Sometimes a wrinkle added to a known plot is a welcome addition. Indeed, most new magic effects are changes brought to existing plots. Other times, as in the case of many “improvements” to Guy Hollingworth’s “Reformation,” the changes brought to an existing effect only serve to demonstrate a lack of understanding of what made the earlier effect outstanding. The nut-off-bolt effect, originated by Finn Jon, was first done with the items concealed. Over the past 20 years numerous methods have been marketed where one sees a nut visibly unscrew from a bolt … and every one is less magical than Mr. Jon’s original creation. Method and effect are two completely different things. As readers of this column know, I preface every review of a Book Test with the statement that the cost of the test has absolutely nothing to do with its effectiveness. One of the pleasant and peculiar things about magic is the fact that method and effect sometimes have little in common. One can perform one of the greatest card tricks in the world, Al Baker’s “Pack that Cuts Itself,” with a length of thread, and the incredible “Brainwave Deck” is a 10-dollar dealer item. Similarly, mental miracles are possible with nothing but a few envelopes. Both hobbyists and pros can be attracted to the “armor” that comes with magic tricks that feel like magic to the performer—the $1,000 die that sends secret vibrations to one’s left gonad—but as cool as those items sometimes are, we can’t lose sight of the fact that the method does not have to be cool in order to produce a miracle. That dichotomy is probably the biggest secret of magic. And now to review a few things:

Tiny Plunger

Jon Armstrong, Mathieu Bich, Garrett Thomas $40 YOU HAD ME at “Tiny Plunger.” This effect, based on the work of the creative Pit Hartling and Mathieu Bich, has it all. It’s engaging, humorous, amazing, and simple to execute. When I saw Mathieu Bich perform the same basic effect utilizing a pen, one that seemed capable of magnetically lifting precise numbers of cards off the deck, I was fooled. Jon Armstrong’s incorporation of the diminutive plumber’s helper is that final “something” that gives it all a hook and makes the presentation a rich entertainment experience. In short, the performer demonstrates how the tiny plunger can be used

Please send books, tricks, and videotapes for review to: Genii, 4200 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 106-384, Washington, DC 20016. Include a prepaid padded envelope or shipping carton if you want the item to be returned.

in conjunction with a deck of cards to locate selections, lift off precise numbers of cards, read minds, and more. The routines by Armstrong and Bich are strong, and sequences can be added or subtracted at the performer’s discretion. A final video “session” on the supplied DVD, which includes the talented Garrett Thomas, explores additional possibilities. The package comes with two tiny plungers, one specially gimmicked, as well as the hour-long DVD. Considerations: Do not try to use a tiny plunger to unclog a not-tiny toilet. “Tiny Plunger” • $40 • Jon Armstrong, Mathieu Bich, Garrett Thomas • Kozmo • Your favorite dealer • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc. • www.murphysmagic.com • (916) 853-9292

Uprising

Richard Sanders $19.95 WE SEGUE from an easy card trick with a gimmick to a card effect that is based on a single sleight. This is a rising card effect built around an original move by Eric Mason (a more practical variation of an earlier move by Fred Robinson), one that I first learned from the 1978 booklet On the Up and Up by my editor Richard Kaufman and Ken Krenzel, in which the move was explored with their variations. This DVD release, a box that includes nothing more than the disk and a black silk, has my highest recommendation. How often am I afforded the pleasure to say, “For $20 you will have a routine you will treasure for the rest of your life, one that should be in the repertoire of any card worker.” Mr. Sanders clearly loves this rising card procedure as much as I do, and his additions to the trick as well as his explanations, are top notch. Simply put, if you spend some time with this DVD you will be able to perform the rising card plot with any deck of cards, at a moment’s notice. No gaffs, no altering of the cards, just a strong and mystifying piece of magic. Considerations: This will take practice, but the end result is well worth it. “Uprising” • $19.95 • Richard Sanders • Sander FX • Your favorite dealer • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc.

ONE: Twist, TWO: Fusion

Axel Hecklau €80 (€50 each sold separately) HOW NICE TO REVIEW some torn card effects that are not unfortunate retreads of Guy Hollingworth’s work. Mr. Hecklau’s marketed items generally share a couple of attributes: 1. He sells them exclusively; and 2. The work he has put into the plot is worthy of consideration. These two effects are not inexpensive, but if you want to perform these plots, rest assured you have found extraordinarily well thought out, well packaged, inclusive kits that will teach you splendid methods. Both use gimmicks in concert with some simple sleight of hand and can be mastered by anyone willing to put in a bit of time. The plot of “Twist” is easy to follow: A card is signed by a spectator, then the performer tears the card in two. One of the two pieces is now turned over, and, with the spectator’s signature clearly visible on one piece, the card is restored with one half facing the wrong way. The mismade card is then given to the spectator as a souvenir. Of course, you burn through cards by doing this, but the set comes with enough gimmicks to allow you to perform the

effect 23 times. A Hypercard effect is explained as a bonus, and the set comes with enough gimmicks to perform this bonus routine 4 times, but the main attraction here is the restoration. With effects of this nature it all comes down to the conditions, cleanliness of the actions, and the “magical feeling” produced. Mr. Hecklau succeeds on all fronts. “Fusion” is billed as a version of Doc Eason’s popular “Anniversary Waltz” plot, but it really is its own thing. The performer dedicates the effect to a couple in attendance, and writes the man’s name on a King, and the female’s name on a Queen. He tears the two cards in half, then, using a piece from each card, he restores them into a “half and half” card, half King/half Queen, but both cards are still signed. This looks remarkable, and follows a procedure similar to “Twist.” Again, this unique, doubly personalized, card is given away. You are supplied with enough gaffs to perform the routine 18 times. Both kits come with adorable display stands, written instructions, as well as an instructional DVD, gaffs, and special stuff. Considerations: These effects will eventually require refill OCTOBER 2013

95

packs of cards. Mr. Hecklau sells refills, enough for 27 performances, for about €21, including postage. “ONE: Twist, TWO: Fusion” • €80 (€50 each sold separately) • www.axelhecklau.com

Wedge

Jesse Feinberg $35 AS MY THREE VERSIONS of “Sudden Deck” will attest, I like effects that introduce a deck of cards in a novel way. Mr. Feinberg’s “Wedge” is an effect along these lines: The performer opens his card case and starts removing little k n i c k - knacks that have collected inside: A pen, dice, a key, a poker chip, a little notebook, etc. This is somewhat amusing. The magic occurs when, after having removed these items, a regulation ungaffed deck is taken from the case as well. This fooled me when I watched the performance. It looked to me like Feinberg was even squeezing the sides of the case in order to reach in and remove every last doodad inside— how did a deck get in there? The solution to this is quite surprising and a bit audacious, but it will fool an audience. In some ways I compare it to the boldness of the late Jerry Andrus. This is the kind of thing that may give the performer a tremor the first time he tries it, but I salute the creator for thinking outside of the box. Considerations: One of the items that is removed from your card case is mandatory, and cannot be substituted. “Wedge” • $35 • Jesse Feinberg • Jessesmagic.com • Your favorite dealer • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc.

Mintalist

Peter Eggink and Uday Jadugar $45 ANOTHER EFFECT that is off the beaten path: The performer hands the spectator a box of mints, similar to Tic Tacs, and instructs him to place it behind his back and pour a quantity of mints into his hand. The performer can now tell the spectator how many mints he holds. Alternatively, the performer can extend his own hand and show that it contains the exact same number of mints as the spectator’s. A variation allows the performer to display a box of mints of different colors. The spectator pours some into his hand behind his back, then the performer and discov the spectator open their hands to discover that not only do they have the same number of mints, the color segregation is the same as well. Due to the nature of the props, this has the feel of an off-the-cuff mock impromptu routine, perform rather than something one would do in a formal performing environment. There is another reason one would not want to do this routine in a formal performing situation: It will not always work. I like many of Mr. Eggink’s releases, as over the years he has shown that he has a refined understanding of what makes for effective visual magic, 96

GENII

and Uday Jadugar has produced many devious, wellmade props for the Paul Harris banner. Here Eggink and Jadugar have fashioned a cleverly designed gimmicked mint box, but the fact is people are people, and most have never poured mints out of a box that is held behind their back—when asked to do so there is a fair chance one or more mints will be dropped, and if this happens without being noticed, the effect will not work. In addition, the plot of the effect directs the spectator to care about the number of mints that come out of the box—if he chooses to replace one or more back into the box after pouring some out, the effect will not work. Finally, it’s possible for some mints to get jammed inside the box—if this happens the effect will not work. In short, although the effect may work a good deal of the time, for that to happen the spectator must be properly managed, made to pour mints behind his back in a particular manner, and leave no child behind, so to speak. A byproduct of this plot is the fact that the performer will not know if the effect has worked until the final moment, when back-pedaling is not a simple matter. Considerations: A novel plot that should only be performed when a 100 percent success rate is not critical.

E-RASE

Julian Arlandis $65 EVERYTHING IS PROVOCATIVE about this—the props are unusual and the method is crafty—but all is put to the service of a somewhat subtle effect: The performer displays a pane of glass with a black border. He draws, say, the five ESP symbols onto the glass with a dry erase marker. A spectator freely selects (no force) a symbol, and the performer uses a cloth to wipe away the symbols not chosen. He then directs the spectator’s attention to the chosen symbol and tries to wipe it away, but cannot. The ink has somehow melted to the underside of the glass. Reaching under the glass the image can be removed by the performer and/or spectator. Adam Grace explored similar territory some years back with his effect “Glass,” but this is a different plot, and it uses a new method to accomplish some of its aims. I feel this falls under the category of “Hmmm … that’s weird,” rather than being the kind of effect with immediate concentrated impact, but if the plot is one that fits the sort of magic you do, you will not be disappointed with the central method.

Considerations: You are not limited to ESP symbols. You can decide what it is you’d like to write on the board, with some considerations. “E-RASE” • $65 • Julian Arlandis • Mickael Chatelain Magic4Pro • www.magic4pro.com •Your favorite dealer • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc.

TTTCBE

Roberto Giobbi $25 “TTTCBE” STANDS for “The Trick That Cannot Be Explained,” one of Vernon’s more famous contributions to card magic. Mr. Giobbi’s effect is an outgrowth of Vernon’s routine from More Inner Secrets of Card Magic, and not offered as an improvement, but as an alternative. What you get are a booklet that explains the method and some paper items—envelopes and a few things that the audience is unaware of. With them, you can do the following inexplicable effect: The performer places a small envelope on the table, then offers a deck for examination and shuffling (a borrowed deck can be used). A spectator selects a card in what seems to be the fairest possible manner, yet it matches a prediction card that is found inside the envelope … because the prediction card is a 52-on-one novelty card, one of Mr. Giobbi’s additions. However, when the

spectator turns over the novelty card, the exact match of his selection is found printed on its back. [The Editor sticks his nose in just long enough to mention that the “52-on-1” card was invented by Theodore DeLand in 1914.] Like a lot of card tricks, the use of any force would allow the effect to occur, so it all becomes a question of the fairness of the procedure, and it is for this fairness that “The Trick That Cannot Be Explained” has gained renown. This version by Giobbi possesses some useful additions that make the process easier for the performer much of the time, and help to placate the delicate tempers of fate. It’s not enough to call this a lesson in card magic—this is a lesson in a particular category of card magic. Considerations: If you are unfamiliar with the Vernon effect, the $25 purchase will swing open a door that leads to a fascinating land. “TTTCBE” • $25 • Roberto Giobbi • The Magic Apple • www. themagicapple.com •Your favorite dealer • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc.

Videos

REVIEWED BY JOE M. TURNER World’s Greatest Magic: Secrets of Packet Tricks, Volumes 1-3

Various Performers $19.95 each L&L PUBLISHING’S LATEST entries in their World’s Greatest series are three discs on packet tricks. Such tricks were once a source of frenzied creativity and marketing in the magic world and while obviously less trendy today, they are still found in the core repertoire of most close-up performers. Of course, packet tricks come in a variety of types, from those requiring specialty gaffs and accessory props to those requiring nothing more than regular cards extracted from a deck in use. This collection explores all of these approaches, reaching back to the earliest corners of the L&L canon for examples. Larry Jennings’ “Close-Up Illusion” makes a fitting opener for the first disc, creating a mind-bending visual impossibility with just a few cards. This trick is not about suits and values, but rather the physical penetration of solid through solid. It is also fitting that Alex Elmsley’s “Four Card Trick” is included, as it marked the introduction of the Ghost Count that later became a fundamental part of almost all packet-trick card magic. Other highlights for me included John Guastaferro’s

“Intuition” and “Out of the Blue,” a combination of ideas by Johann Hofzinser and Paul Harris. On volume two, take note of Daryl’s performance of “Back Flip” by Sam Schwartz. You’ll also find Paul Wilson’s “Motel History” to be a powerful piece of magic, although you might need to adapt the storyline a bit for some audiences. J.C. Wagner’s “Factory Misprints” is a classic, ably performed by Michael Ammar, but you’ll need a few gaffs. On volume three, look for the Guastaferro “Fairy Tale Frogs” and Bill Malone’s “Reset Reset” as examples of excellent prepared and impromptu routines. The thing about packet tricks is that the routines typically revolve around similar sets of moves and effects. You have faces and backs, which can undergo subtle changes (to other cards or to backs), more significant changes (to specialty graphics), or more dramatic changes (to mirrors or other objects altogether). They can change position or orientation, or they can undergo physical effects like penetration or restoration. Some routines are constructed around multiple repetitions of the same move. This can work out fine if, as in “Twisting the Aces” (on volume 3) the cards are examinable at the end. In other cases, such as in “Pinochle Pinnacle” (volume 1), you end dirty. As a result, OCTOBER 2013

97

I think you’ll find some of the items and techniques to be interesting from technical and historical viewpoints, but the handling is tight, heavy, and suspicious by modern standards. For those who love tinkering, though, the compilation allows the student to see the evolution of the construction of packet tricks through most of the 20th century. Production value is consistent across the clips from L&L Publishing’s own catalog, but some items are included which have been acquired from other producers. As a result you will notice some variation of quality through the collection; even the worst, however, is more than adequate. The same can be said for the project as a whole. If you’re interested in packet tricks, this collection is well worth your inspection and will allow you to sample a variety of approaches and ideas for a bargain price. While I’m still a supporter of these releases based on the high value for the dollar, I can only wonder how many more ways there are to meaningfully slice the library. World’s Greatest Magic: Secrets of Packet Tricks, Volumes 1-3 • Various Performers • L&L Publishing • www.llpub.com • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc. (916) 853-9292 • www.murphysmagic.com • $19.95 each

The Magic Circle Lectures

Craig Petty and David Penn $35 CRAIG PETTY AND DAVID PENN are known primarily for their tag-team product reviews which have generated thousands of followers (plus a controversy or two). Whatever your opinions on that may be, they are nonetheless the proprietors of a successful online magic retail enterprise as well as working performers. Each of them was invited to perform and lecture for The Magic Circle in London. This DVD is simply a copy of the video recorded at those lectures; the footage has been authored into a two-chapter disc and placed inside a no-frills cardboard sleeve. Mr. Petty’s lecture comes first, focusing exclusively on coin magic. The first segment is devoted to work with flipper coins. The initial sequence explores how the same prop and moves can be used to produce a Coins Across as well as a Coins Through Table. Mr. Petty’s work with the “Mirage” coin set is intriguing as the unusual flipper allows for a range of new effects. The entire section of work with the mesh coin bag, however, left me cold. In my view, that unnatural and unexaminable prop draws all the heat straight to the gimmick, requires some awkward and suspicious loading moves, and thus seems exactly the wrong kind of thing around which to build a close-up routine. Mr. Petty’s routining admittedly makes a good effort at minimizing some of the weaknesses, getting a spectator to acknowledge the innocence of a particular part of the prop. There is also cer a pretty penetration of a coin into the bag. While I certainly won’t argue with his results if he’s making it work in 98

GENII

his own professional settings, I still found the coin bag routines to be the least convincing magic on the entire disc. Mr. Penn’s lecture opens with the production of a glass of liquid from the sleeve of a spectator’s jacket, a Patrick Page idea based on Page’s original production of a glass from his own sleeve. It’s a surprising and highly personalized experience for that spectator, and Mr. Penn’s lecture builds on that fundamental idea. A variety of stand-up and close-up magic follows, including a variation of John Bannon’s “Trick Shot Production,” a crowd-pleasing, tactile, animated, in-their-hands spoon-bending routine, some work on the Topit, and more. The production is rather meager; this was a live lecture, not a fully produced video shoot. The lack of close-ups makes it difficult to see exactly what is happening with such small props as coins. Mr. Penn’s lecture comes off better as a result of the nature of his material as well as his content. There were some valuable moments in both lectures, but as a whole I felt that this product under-delivered given the price. The Magic Circle Lectures • Craig Petty and David Penn • Wizard FX Productions • www.worldmagicshop.com • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc. • $35

Celestial Mechanics

Dave Davies $31 THIS is the kind of disc that I usually hate. It’s not that I don’t admire the skill involved in the intricate gyrations of multiple packets and swirling cuts. I do. I recognize the creativity that goes into creating and mastering these maneuvers. They can be fun to execute and mesmerizing to watch. Likewise, I don’t think it’s jealousy or sour grapes that dissuades me from flourishing. I like a good show-off moment and have learned some basic cuts for use at the right moments. I think the main reason I usually hate this kind of disc is because the ultimate effect on me as an audience member is practically indistinguishable from one sequence to the next. Unless you’re a cut connoisseur, you probably just aren’t going to appreciate some of the nuances. David Davies, the name attached to the faceless hands on this DVD, is a skillful and creative performer. He is obviously knowledgeable and respectful, and is as careful in his crediting as he is in his teaching. And even if this disc represented everything he has created—which I’m sure it doesn’t—then his output would be remarkable. There are almost 30 moves and cuts on this disc, each one per performed and broken down in detail. Many of the cuts are completely false; others are at least partially so, protecting the top stock. There are original ideas as well as variations on themes by Kenner, Buck, Tudor, and even a little Lennart

Green thrown in for good measure. What I appreciated most about the disc, however, was the final section where some of the clever moves were applied to magical productions of one or more cards. This transformed the demonstration from pure motion to something with a magical payoff. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever learn “Unstoppable Steel Tendon Form,” for example, in which four cards are produced in a fluttering but obviously strenuous display. But there are those for whom such a presentation will be a perfect fit. “Gravitational Mishap” is related to the old Air-Pressure Turnover, but with a sure method (not air) and an overtly skillful wind-up. “Burst” is another production. My favorite idea on the disc, however, is “Snapparition,” in which snapping your finger next to a deck of cards causes a card to appear outjogged from the deck. What’s more, it can be a double card and thus easily transformed into another card. If you’re looking for a lot of energy in the presentation, you’ll probably be a bit underwhelmed. It’s hands, cards, close-ups, and narration. Each cut is performed and explained in a single DVD scene, so you can’t navigate just to the explanation. Of course, with “effects” this short, it’s not much of an issue to watch it once before diving into the explanation. If you are into flourishing, this is a must have. If you’re not, but the idea of some practice-required, show-offish revelations still appeals, this is worth checking into. If you’re a semi-automatic kind of guy, run away quickly. Celestial Mechanics • Dave Davies • Alakazam Magic UK • www. alakazam.co.uk • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc. • $30.95

Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks—Volume 2

James Went, Liam Montier, Ryan Schlutz, Iain Moran, Owen Packard $30 IF OVERTLY DEXTEROUS flourish skills aren’t your thing, but you are interested in creating impossible experiences for your audience using a pack of cards, the guys from Big Blind Media are here to help. These five stellar card magicians do an excellent job of taking you through some of the best sleight-free card magic in the literature. Reaching back to one of the foundational books in the art, Expert Card Technique, James Went opens the disc with “Mind Mirror,” which exploits a subtle riffle shuffle principle. Another highlight for me was John Bannon’s “Poker Pairadox,” ably presented by Iain Moran and explained by Liam Montier and Owen Packard. It exploits a subtle pairing principle and uses a “Texas Hold ‘Em” presentational hook. Jim Steinmeyer’s work with nine cards is given a topical presentation in “Password Fallacy,” and there’s other excellent magic from John Guastaferro, Cameron Francis, Peter Duffie, and Roy Walton. Ryan Shlutz performs his own “Sense-Sational,” a triple

card location in which three spectators select cards from a haphazardly shuffled deck and the magician identifies them. This is not only a strong and well-constructed effect; it uses a number of subtle principles that are beautifully hidden. It is my favorite routine on the disc. Besides the excellent production that is a hallmark of Big Blind Media, the disc includes another excellent feature: an introductory segment about the creator of each routine. This is a great way to educate the viewer about the people responsible for creating the magic we love to perform. It’s a classy addition to a collection like this. For card magicians and those who’d like to be, this is an easy recommendation. Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 • Multiple Performers • Big Blind Media • www.bigblindmedia.com • Dealers purchase from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc. • $30

CORNER SHORTS The Eden Project—Geraint Clarke This short disc presents three iPhone-based mentalism effects. “Passcode” is a bewildering experience for a spectator, certainly impossible for them to fathom, but wholly contingent on your observation skills and perhaps some opportune circumstances. “Non-TOXIC” is a useful method for a number force, resembling the well-known TOXIC mnemonic but using a different technical method less vulnerable to spectator error. (To do this on an Android phone, you’ll need to use a calculator program that displays less information. A search for “iphone calculators” on the Google Play Store produced several suitable free downloads.) “Fate 2.0” is a song prediction from a spectator’s own playlist. If you use an iPhone, these techniques allow for some powerful mentalism without any gaffs or special downloads. I found that the idea could be replicated on my Android with some experimentation. As technology advances, these techniques may lose their viability, so if this is your kind of material, get it now. Note that the explanation chapters for “Non-TOXIC” and “Fate 2.0” are mislabeled on the menu. $25 • Geraint Clarke • www.enigmaltd.com• Dealers contact MurphysMagic.com

The Artful Remote Viewer (audio)—Bob Cassidy This is the latest in the series of teleseminars from Bob Cassidy. Hosted by Michael Weber, this one focuses on the specific effect of remote viewing (RV). The notion of sensing objects or events at a spatial or temporal distance was the subject of real-world intelligence research in the Cold War era, which provides a rich vein of presentational material for performers. In this audio recording, Cassidy and Weber discuss multiple methods for performers to demonstrate his own RV skills as well as those of audience members. The participatory RV presentations are particularly intriguing and are designed for OCTOBER 2013

99

small group settings, not theater shows. The “Exclusive Routine” is a combination of RV and telepathy, and Weber’s spontaneous variation explained during the conversation is brilliant. “The Ultimate Mind Trip” is a long unobtainable travel diary routine with principles that you’ll find applicable to other topics besides geography. Here’s the crux of the mat-

Books

REVIEWED BY ERIC MEAD Mike Caveney Wonders/ The Conference Illusions

Mike Caveney $240 IT’S IMPOSSIBLE for me to look at these books with anything approaching impartiality. I have been an admirer, a fan really, of Mike Caveney’s work for more than 30 years. Mike is also a long-time treasured friend of mine, so any pretense that I could evaluate these books objectively must be swept aside from the start. I can say, without bias, what everyone in magic already knows: that he has created an act of clever and original material, that unfailingly puts his audience into fits of crippling laughter, yet keeps the focus on mystery and the impossible. His character is that of an idiot, blissfully unaware of his own ineptitude, who continually amazes by making good on his ludicrous claims through sheer luck, magic, or some combination. In the end it becomes perfectly clear that the man on the stage playing the role of idiot is the smartest guy in the room. I love his act, and rank it among the best comedy magic shows of our time. An act like that does not come together easily, or quickly, and many ideas must be explored, tested, refined or discarded, over the course of many years as the pieces are fitted together and the act evolves. Usually the reader of magic literature is presented only with the final evolution of an effect, with no mention or discussion of the many iterations and decisions that led there. In his new book Mike Caveney Wonders, Mike Caveney has fully explained all the magic he’s performed throughout his career, and in many cases given the reader insight into his thought process, mistakes he made along the way, and a look at the hard work and continual problem solving that goes into making a finished piece of professional magic. His own apt subtitle to the book is “The long, slow process of creating magic for the real world.” Indeed. When I say he explains all the magic he’s performed in his career, it isn’t an exaggeration. The great Caveney classics he’s known for, like the “Bow and Arrow,” the “Scissors, Coat, Silverware and Chicken,” “Three Arm Juggling,” “Powers of Darkness,” and “Coffee Juggling” are all here in glorious detail. But there is also a vast body 100

GENII

ter. Most traditional magicians won’t care a whit about this two-hour conversation, but working mentalists and diligent students will listen repeatedly. The audio and two sets of PDF notes—the original planned content, plus post-notes added after the seminar—are worth the investment. $47 • Bob Cassidy • www.artfulmentalism.com• Dealers contact MurphysMagic.com

of terrific and lesser-known work that is equally interesting, and no less valuable than the iconic routines he’s identified with. To give just one example, Mr. Caveney explains his entire trade show act from 30 years ago. Looking at this material we can already see the kind of thinking and attention to detail that will become a hallmark of a Caveney routine. The sales points needed in a trade show presentation are masterfully worked into the effects in clever ways that make sense. The props he used, and the secret behind-the-scenes operation of those props, are managed in the simple yet diabolical style that would later inform so much of his thinking and construction. In fact, as one reads about the development and details of routines like “The Nailed Card,” “The Money Machine,” “Chinese Pipes,” and “Anverdi Key Box” it becomes clear that Mr. Caveney has a penchant for detail, for identifying weak points and places for improvement, and an approach to problem solving that is at once creative and built on a solid understanding of existing magic theory. Going back to study his earliest work sheds light on his process and philosophies, foreshadows many of his later innovations, and is informative in the same way studying early films of master directors reveals fundamental tools and approaches applied more artistically and skillfully in later works. The book itself is beautifully produced. It is actually two distinct volumes—the second of which is discussed a bit later—both arriving in a lovely custom slipcase with foil stamping that matches the covers of the books it houses. Both books share the same overall design elements and are beautifully laid out with full color photographs and tasteful color schemes. The heavy matte paper, the subtle font choices, and the visual variety that never becomes “busy,” make these large volumes a bibliophilic delight to hold, to flip through, admire, and read. Though everything he performs is infused with his personality and style, arguably the most famous and iconic routine from Caveney’s act is “Scissors, Coat, Silverware and Chicken.” Reading just this chapter is a tour de force master class in “the long, slow process of creating magic for the real world.” In his discussion of the history and development of this routine, we are treated to 24 pages of dense detail on the props alone, covering different solutions, their strengths and weaknesses, and we see some of the evolution that happens when an artist isn’t satisfied with “good enough.” We learn how to effectively hide a large load at the back of a see-through chair—an ingenious application of an illusion principle—only to be

told why this was eventually discarded in favor of a better method. We learn how to rig a piece of newspaper with special material so it makes a specific sound when torn, and how that discovery was made. We learn about a specially machined set of scissors that make what has always been a damn fine trick into a miracle. We are treated to five different versions of the secret load gimmick that allows dozens of spoons to be dropped from a borrowed coat using just one hand. Why five? Because the first four versions—though they worked well and any one of which would have made nearly anyone happy in performance— had small flaws that were improved with each redesign of the gimmick. The fifth and final version of the gimmick is an astonishing piece of secret equipment, allowing the performer to drop 60 spoons at controlled speed, two large silver trays one at a time, then a heavy metal water pitcher, and finally to produce a live chicken—all from a single compact load device that is a marvel of engineering. From that brief description the reader may have a sense that getting these props made for personal use is unlikely. Sure, someone somewhere may find the right machinists, spend the requisite money, and actually produce working models of all the props. Then what? There is a real problem in adapting material that is this finely honed, this tightly scripted, and this fully realized. I simply cannot imagine anyone besides Mike Caveney performing this routine in public. It’s not that someone couldn’t follow his instructions, use his script, and get a huge reaction from an audience. The problem is that through his years of performing and refining it into the masterpiece it obviously is, the routine has become a per perfect “Mike Caveney” piece. When something is as polished and perfected as “Scissors, Coat, Silverware and Chicken” is—or any of the other truly iconic Caveney pieces—there is little room for someone else to put their own stamp on it. It’s done. Therefore to perform it is to necessarily become a ver version of Mike Caveney, and not an expression of your own character and point of view. There is certainly great value in studying the evolution and all the many lessons that can be gleaned from such a piece being fully revealed in our literature, but I am convinced that those lessons must be applied elsewhere, to the development of our own work, and anyone dropping spoons and producing a chicken from a borrowed coat on stage has missed the real lessons being offered. Luckily for those looking for material to add to their own acts, there are many routines here that can be adapted and performed successfully without becoming an inferior Caveney. “The Bill in Cigar,” “The Ten Dollar Bill Trick,” and a bizarre but commercial presentation for the Ultra Mental Deck (using, of all things, a redesigned “Spike Coin”) come to mind, and many more not mentioned fall

easily into this category. I read Mike Caveney Wonders from cover to cover in three long sittings for this review. I cannot wait to read it again, slowly, to take more time to think about and absorb the information. The book represents a lifetime of experience and wisdom distilled and giftwrapped for the magic community, and seems destined to be considered a classic work. Mike Caveney Wonders is a fabulous magic book, required reading for anyone who sincerely loves magic, and cares to learn from one of our best. Oh, but we aren’t done yet, because there is another large volume of magic, produced in the same style and with the same attention to detail, that comes with Mike Caveney Wonders. Mr. Caveney is one of the founders and producers of the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History. This gathering is held every other year, since 1989, and as implied by the title focuses on magic’s rich history, present telling old stories, sharing academic research and presenting effects from bygone eras to bring our past to life. In The Conference Illusions, Mike Caveney gives the history and workings of the many illusions he has presented as part of the History Conference. These include Dante’s “Sawing a Lady in Half,” Thurston’s “OH! Chair,” “Selbit’s Bricks,” and the incredible “Million Dollar Mystery.” It is this last that Caveney claims is his favorite of the bunch. (Though in my confer own attendance of these conferences my vote has to go to Jim Steinmeyer and John Gaughan’s recreation of Dr. Hooker’s “Rising Cards,”—but that was not Mike Caveney’s presentation, and thus not included in this collection. I felt this should be mentioned, because several magician friends have asked.) One of the most striking things about the material in this book is the ingenuity of the methods our past masters employed. These are the kind of secrets I dreamed of knowing when I was a 10-year-old magician. Sliding trap doors, hidden assistants, complicated lighting and stage design, spring-loaded mechanisms, an elaborate and expensive 10-second sight gag that is actually justification for the secret of a later illusion—just flipping through the book to look at the illustrations and backstage pictures is a thrill that rekindles one’s fascination with elaborate methods. Beyond the secrets to these great illusions, and the pictures of restored props and deconstructions, Mr. Caveney has given us a thorough and heartfelt telling of the history behind each illusion. Both entertaining and endlessly insightful, it is here that his love of magic, of magic’s history and of the characters that inhabit it, really shines through. He lovingly brings these people to life, showing how their tricks were intertwined with their lives, and presenting them as brilliant thinkers, petty bickerers, consummate OCTOBER 2013

101

showmen, genius engineers, and sometimes scoundrels. Problem” but also a smart set of other effects in the genre. For someone who knows the names of Thurston, Dante, Two more books on this underexplored area of magic have Valadon, Adelphia, and perhaps knows the standard sumbeen penned and published by Mr. Steinmeyer since then, mary line on who they were, Mr. Caveney’s portraits of the carving out a prominent place in this unique niche. people, and stories of the events and personalities surMr. Steinmeyer continues this series exploring self-workrounding these effects are priceless. ing and interactive magic with a fourth installment, Ensuing When the Masked Magician was on television exposing Impuzzibilities. Like the previous titles in the series, the magic secrets to the public, Teller made a most interestemphasis here is on effects that are largely self-working, ing comment to me. He said it wasn’t the exposure that where the performer guides the spectator through a bothered him; it wasn’t that the Masked Magician told too series of seemingly random procedures that lead to an much—it was that he told too little. I thought I understood impossible or surprising climax. The collections are usually what he meant, and though it was somewhat varied, containing an interesting point I didn’t think a mixture of effects that are much more of it. His words came brilliant performance pieces, back to me again and again as I read along with ideas that are unusual routine based on he ImpuzzibiliThe Conference Illusions. Iftiesonly the more interesting as puzzles, Eddie Joseph’s incredbooks, Jim general public had an inkling of what or problems solved. ible Staggered, a series Steinmeyer’s of coincidences it really takes to present One ofin which the weaknesses collectionaofbeauti“strangely bestof friends seem to effects in this self-working conjuring,” ful theatrical deception. Perhaps the most card findgenre each other. Ryan the performer have of become most important aspect this famous book is that Swigert’s Moraskill is an for the remarkable from my point of view is a full apprenever actually names the insightful variation on wonders between their ciation of the level of detail required chosen card. A card is noted, Stewart James’ famous covers. Designed to be to actually stage one of these illusomea double procedure happens, Miraskill, performed on stage, sions properly for anclose-up, audience. Yes,the and the performer reveals prediction presented as or through market research. Kuniyasu Fujiwara’s Ace media“OH! of telephone, the secret to Thurston’s Chair”DVD or video, these are incredithe Automatic card—without saying Triumph a completely hands-free (go ahead, do procedure it effects that allowleg youbuilt to foolinto yourself, then foolwhat is a trap door belowbleand a hollow the and chair. it is. Inis the past the presentation and work over a telephone!) Triumph routine. You won’t believe your audience! (Some ofathe effects have notube explana- to make “The Million Dollar Mystery” is simply large square this weakness into a feature, or at least something this effect is even possible. And then add in Jim’s newtions; just follow the patter and witness the marvel!) covered in mirror surface running from the back of the cabthatestgoes unnoticed. The opening effect in this new coltechniques for Equivoque, an improved version of The fourth book in the series, Ensuing Impuzzibilities inet through the curtain. Of course, “Through the Eye of a lection takes a step regard, allowing the Dining Out, his menu forward prediction,in andthat a re-imagining is the largest and the most varied in material. The Needle” uses a steelbook boilerplate withmarvels a locking trap. “The to conclude by actually naming the chosen card. of the astonishing impromptu effect, The Pairs Recontains twelve of self-working or psy- performer paired. thinking about this for a moment will realize Astral Hand” is a thread trick. If you think knowing those Magicians chological magic. books areisunique; they’veforce of- of a playing are justclose a few highlights. “secrets” constitutes Here anything to an understanding what The we Impuzzibilities are talking about a remote fered useful effects that found their into the Eight Card Espial is a “hands in which card. of how those effects are performed, you owe off” it toroutine yourself Two versions arehave offered, and ways as one would imagine performances and promotional materials of professionthe spectator shuffles a packet of cards, eliminates to study the detailed descriptions offered here. I promin tackling a problem like a deceptive remote force, the al magicians around the world. Ensuing Impuzzibilities some, and you name the card on the face of the ise that you will be packet. entertained, educated, and seriously procedures offer different and effects, drawbacks. Either, continues the tradition. You’llstrengths delight in these One Fortune Serves Eight is a special stack blown away, as Mikefor Caveney joyously guides you through though, produces a very strong effect, where you’ll marvel at them, and then you’ll really use them,the performa “just think of a card” effect, in which the stack a bit of our shared history, and tells the you golden age of magic. in incredible 48 pages. price is ever $19. (Impuzzer can name aways. chosen cardThe without touching or even automatically the information you need. and Subsequent, arespectator. $16 each.) Flummoxed is an hardback with three color Mike Caveney Wonders • 9” x 11.5” needing toibilities, be inFurther, the room with the foil stamping • 456 pages on heavy art matte paper • printed end Included also are some intriguing and useful new ideas sheets with tipped in color frontispiece • 570 color photographs for performing equivoque forces with cards. As anyone ’ S m e y e R S t e I n • The Conference Illusions • 9” x 11.5” hardback with two color who has experience with choice” using cards J I m“magician’s foil stamping • 256 pages on heavy art matte paper • printed knows, a problem sometimesSuencountered bSeq uent is a sudden but ItIeS IbIlexample, end sheets • 330 photographs • both books in custom matching necessary change in procedure. if the spectaImpuzzFor slipcase with foil stamped side • available from Mike Caveney’s tor is asked to name “red” or “black” and the performer Magic Words; www.mcmagicwords.com; $240 eliminates the named cards, it is suspicious (or transparent!) if the next elimination must be made by keeping the Ensuing Impuzzibilities named cards and eliminating the others. Mr. Steinmeyer Jim Steinmeyer $19 ARE had created a new and clever wayWEBSITE... of describing the cards AND THE FIRST THREE BOOKS STILL AVAILABLE AT THE DAVID COPPERFIELD once performed a card effect on a that allows a perfectly natural dual interpretation of the national television special, inviting the home audience to spectator’s choice. This way, the procedure can remain the get a handful of cards, and follow along, as he led them same once it is established by the first choice. Though his through a random procedure that eventually revealed a verbal flourish is perfect and workable, this is a principle chosen card. This was Jim Steinmeyer’s now famous “Nine that is ripe for exploration and innovation. Card Problem.” It’s a mathematical card trick, dressed up As in other volumes of the series, not all the effects are to conceal the underlying principle, that can be performed card tricks. “Dining Out” is reminiscent of other mentalwith the magician giving instructions from anywhere in the ism routines with a menu and price theme, but the simple world—over the phone, through email or text, or broadmethod here makes it a more than worthy addition. In cast into homes through the television. Amazing, right? effect, the spectator is handed a wallet and some menus Yes. The effect was first published in a collection titled, listing different diner food and prices. They choose several Impuzzibilities that included not only the “Nine Card courses at random, and add up their bill. When they open

MORE IMPUZZIBLE THAN YOU’VE EVER IMAGINED!

T

lect ion Ano ther Col

ly of Stra nge

Self -Wo rkin

g Con juri ng

JIMSTEINMEYER . COM

102

GENII

Collect the payment & ship to your buyer!

No listing fees! Pay Auction only 5% IF you sell! Re-list until it sells! The auction works the same as Ebay® MAKE

IT EA

SY!

450 ful

r ph

otos Tricks show * Coi ing Me n String ntal Myste Tricks Tri ries Bill Tri cks * Rop e Tri cks * cks Fruit Han Tricks Cup Tri dkerchief Tri cks * Magic cks for Kid s

C TRI

.95 /

CAN

$24.95

N

A Step -by-St ep Gu ide to Illusi ons, Sleigh t of Hand, Phot Rich and ogra Amaz ard Ka phy ing Fe by El ufma ats izab n

HOME

KAUFMA

CKS

2/29/12 10:07 AM

GREEN

US $19

by Richard Kaufman DELANEY

M AG I

HOME,

1

Forew ord by David Copp er fie ld

®

l-colo

Card

CLEAN

KNACK MAGIC TRICKS

TRICKS

MANY, MANY BOOKS Magazines, Periodicals, Collectables - Rare.

Post and sell your magic yourself! Easy posting, automatic invoices

MAGIC

LOTS OF STUFF Used-New-Original-Customized Vintage - Collectables - Rare

INTERNATIONAL MAGIC AUCTION

HOME

INTERNET YARD SALE

www.internationalmagicauction.com

GREEN

MAGIC

Live Auctions!

HOME,

Ensuing Impuzzibilities • 5.5” x 8.5” landscape layout • soft cover with foil stamping • 48 pages with simple drawn illustrations • available from www.jimsteinmeyer.com; $19

24hr/7days a week!

CLEAN

the wallet the exact amount needed to pay the bill is there, and not a penny more. The book does not say how the spectator is supposed to handle the tip. The real stand- out item for me was a contribution by Kuniyasu Fujiwara. It is a self-working version of “Triumph” where the spectator genuinely shuffles the cards several times. After a bewildering series of mixes with cards face up and cards face down, allowing a remarkable amount of freedom and seeming chaos, the cards are finally spread to reveal only the four Aces remain reversed. Working through it with cards in hand you will undoubtedly fool yourself. If the reader is having trouble picturing where or how they might use this type of material, it might help to realize that it is particularly effective in informal and social settings. Casually asking a friend on the phone or through Skype to grab some cards for a demonstration, or pulling an interactive effect out of the bag where everyone can participate when pressed to do something at a party, is a perfect application of these routines. As such, they are likely more interesting and useful to the wider magic community than more traditional magic. Regardless of how it’s used, the material here is a fascinating study and reveals again that Mr. Steinmeyer is a gifted creator of interesting magic. Allesi April 2012.indd

Its 19 chapters and 256 pages (with over 450 color photos) contain a wide mix of all types of magic with one thing in common: they’re great tricks but simple to do. With a Foreword by David Copperfield, Knack Magic Tricks covers a wide array of material. Order your copy today through the Genii office and Richard Kaufman will autograph it directly to you upon request. Only $20 postpaid. Credit cards, checks, and domestic money orders accepted. DELANEY

eth O’ Ke

efe Ka ufma

n

Richard Kaufman • 4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW Suite 106-384 • Washington DC 20016 Phone: 301-652-5800 • Fax: 301-652-8035 [email protected]

www.rainho.com/magicyardsale.html

EUGENE'S NOTEBOOK, continued from page 41

to be there! I knew I was grown up!

has a poor guy on stage for most of his show. The audience is in hysterics. There’s also Mac King, and his “Bear,” which is one of the most shocking moments in modern stage magic. So, would you say there are some exceptions to the rule? Looking back through the history of magic, do you have any memories of magicians creating edgy moments like this that walk the line of entertainment and audience abuse? Eugene: But I agree with you! I’m only saying these acts are very difficult to do. And I also think that many magicians who move into this kind of humor are not very good at it at all. In fact, they are bad at it! They are deceiving themselves. At the same time, I remember when I saw the wonderful two person mental act, King and Zorita. I was probably about 15 and Zorita was a master at sexual double entendre—much of which I got. I thought it was so adult! I was really excited

Jeff: I guess you could say there’s edgy and too edgy. How

do you define that edge, Eugene? Eugene: One can’t. If you want to be edgy that is great. But you must understand that no one can tell you where the edge is. That you must discover for yourself—in your own performances. As Don Alan always told me when I would ask him my very serious teenage questions, “Watch their faces!” Jeff: What’s your bottom line? Eugene: Well, the question is, what’s your target audience? Is your target audience the kind of audience that thinks this kind of humor is just wonderful and thoroughly entertaining? Or, are you looking to perform for people who might not find that entertaining at all? This is a question that no one can answer for you. It’s a question that only you can answer for yourself, and I hope you do. • OCTOBER 2013

103

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Advertisers Index Alakazam Magic .......................................... 26 Ron Allesi................................................... 103 Blue Crown .................................................. 24 John Carney ................................................ 15 Camirand Magic Company ......................... 13 Cobra-Magic.com...................................... 106 Collectors Workshop ................................... 25 The Cuckoo's Nest ...................................... 39 Cue Command from Deceptively Simple, Inc. ................. 112 Dave's Killer Magic ...................................... 56 Daytona Magic ............................................ 30 Desperate Acts of Magic........................... 109 Simon Drake's House of Magic ................... 76 Elmwood Magic .......................................... 30 Genii .......................................................... 105 H & R Magic Books ..................................... 47 Happie Amp ................................................ 57 Hermetic Press ............................................ 49 Houdini's Magic Shop ............................... 110 IBM/SAM Convention 2014 ........................ 32 International Magic ..................................... 17 Invisible Threads........................................ 111 JHS Productions, Inc. .................................. 31 Kardwell International ................................. 30 Kaufman & Company .................................. 16 Jeff Kaylor.................................................... 27 L&L Publishing ............................................... 3 Harry Lorayne ................................................ 9 Losander, Inc. .............................................. 43 Luis de Matos ............................................ 108 The Magic Circle ........................................ 47 MagiKraft ..................................................... 89 Magic Geek ................................................. 91 Magic Star Studio ........................................ 47 Magic Trick Store ......................................... 54 The Magic Warehouse .............................. 106 McBride Magic, Inc. ...................................... 4 MHMagicMagazines .................................... 13 Misdirection Magic Shop ............................ 14 Murphy's Magic Supply ............. 2,42,74,90,92 T. Myers Magic Inc. ................................... 110 Nielsen Magic.............................................. 47 Pendragon ................................................. 107 Penguin Magic ........................................... 6,7 Perfect Magic .............................................. 13 Porper Originals ........................................ 110 Rainho.com................................................ 103 David Regal ................................................... 8 SM Productionz ........................................... 55 Steven's Magic Emporium .......................... 39 System 6 Magic ........................................... 77 Trapdoor Productions ................................ 106 Twister Magic............................................... 75 Vernet Magic ............................................... 48 Walton/Turner .............................................. 34 Chris Webb.................................................. 93 Alan Wong................................................... 33 World Magic Center .................................... 14 World Magic Shop, UK................................ 40 104

GENII

ONE YEAR

UNITED STATES 2nd Class Mail 1 year $58 2 years $112 3 years $159

Subscribe to Genii or Renew for One Year and Receive

q q q

FREE: All Four Issues of The Looking Glass US Postage $5, International $10

FOREIGN SUBSCRIPTION DIGITAL ONLY (NO PAPER COPY) 1 year $58 2 years $112 3 years $159

TWO YEARS

Subscribe to Genii or Renew for Two Years and Receive

q q q

FREE: Jennings '67

US Postage $5, International $20

THREE YEARS Subscribe to Genii or Renew for Three Years and Choose Talisman or The Lost Notebooks of John Northern Hilliard for only $15 US Postage $5, International $20

SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES • Monthly paper magazine • Monthly digital magazine (any computer) • Digital Tablet magazine

• Digital Smartphone magazine • Digital access to 75 years of back issues

FOREIGN Standard Airlift 1 year $90 2 years $167 3 years $239

q q q

CANADA 1 year $79 2 years $156 3 years $228

q q q

NAME

ADDRESS

ADDRESS

CITY, STATE, ZIP+4 or POSTAL CODE, COUNTRY

TELEPHONE NUMBER

FAX NUMBER

E-MAIL ADDRESS

VISA/MASTERCARD/AMEX/DISCOVER NUMBER

EXPIRATION DATE

3-Digit Security Code

TOTAL AMOUNT

SIGNATURE OF CARDHOLDER

RENEW/SUBSCRIBE ONLINE OR MAIL, FAX OR EMAIL THIS FORM TO: GENII, THE CONJURORS’ MAGAZINE 4200 WISCONSIN AVE., NW • SUITE 106-384 WASHINGTON, DC 20016 FAX: 301-652-8035 • PHONE: 301-656-6234 • [email protected] WWW.GENIIMAGAZINE.COM Subscribe to Genii by sending us a check or money order, or pay with PayPal at genii@ geniimagazine.com. Checks must be drawn on a United States bank and money orders must be in U.S. dollars. You may also use Mastercard, Visa, Discover, or American Express. Washington, DC residents must include applicable sales tax. Please check the appropriate box. No refunds will be given on subscriptions once placed. Please allow 4-6 weeks for service to start (digital service starts within one week for customers outside the U.S.).

PAY BY PAYPAL, CREDIT CARD, CHECK, MONEY ORDER

Genii THE CONJURORS’ MAGAZINE

The Largest Independent Magazine for Magicians

Free Digital Access for all Subscribers Subscribe to Genii for One Year ($58) and Receive • 12 Monthly Paper Issues • 12 Monthly Digital Issues, viewable on your computer, tablet, or smartphone with Exclusive Audio and Video • Online Access to 75 Years of Genii Back Issues

Special Subscription Bonus Offers

One Year

Two Years

Three Years

x

x

x

58

$

Subscribe to Genii or Renew for One Year and Receive FREE: All Four Issues of The Looking Glass US Postage $5, International $10

159

$

112

$

Subscribe to Genii or Renew for Two Years and Receive FREE: Jennings '67

US Postage $5, International $20

Subscribe to Genii or Renew for Three Years and Choose Talisman or The Lost Notebooks of John Northern Hilliard

for only $15

US Postage $5, International $20

Foreign Subscribers Can Get Just the Digital Edition and Access to Back Issues for $58 a Year See Page 104 for Complete Subscription Information

www.geniimagazine.com

OCTOBER 2013 Genii • 4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 106-384 •Washington, DC 20016 • 301-652-5800

105

106 Trapdoor

magic Warehouse 2 1/4 page color

106 COBRA

106

106

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Pendragon

107

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

107

LUIS DE MATOS

108 108

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Desparate acts e l Magic b a e k i ighly L ws

er’s Revie

ep – Mark Le

“H ” y d e m o C

109

u rn al – Fi lm Jo

In te rn at

io n al

S

RA T X E D V D H OADED WIT

L

INCLUD

ING

TARY COMMEN ECTORS R I D H T I W

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

109

porperoriginals.com Joe Porper, known the world over for his originality and unequalled craftsmanship, offers the latest for the discriminating close-up worker.

T.Meyers 110

Porper Originals 1/2 page

The 110 AmaZeRING

IMAGINE... You borrow a finger ring, and can just push it through your ring and the two link... and unlink. Nothing to open or close, it’s always ready, thanks to an amazing spring-loded segment that works like Porper’s famous GHOST RING. Available online at $350.00 “I’ve been waiting for a ring like this for ring off string effects, and visible linking on and off combined with my Dean’s Box routine. This is perfect” Dean Dill

porperoriginals.com 110

GENII

We Buy, Sell Anything!

www.MunariAuctions .com

Houdini 702-914-8898 1/4 page

1-877-DINI-WHO (346-4946) 110 R

www. houdini .com

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

Invisible Threads

111

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

OCTOBER 2013

111

at s d n mi e v i at imple e r c he ely S t m Fro eceptiv D

TM

Professional sound control for your live performance

Cue Command Introductory price $595 112 *Apple ’s iPod,

iPhone a

nd iPad

are all

sold se

parate

ly

• You prepare the playlist in iTunes; Cue Command does the rest… no manipulation or user programming is needed • Works with most Apple iOS devices (iPod touch, iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini) • Play/pause, track forward/back, volume up/down and one-touch fade-cue-to-next are all controlled from the hand-held transmitter • Reliable and secure control over 100+ yard distance • The external appliance and the specially created remote transmitter guarantee error-free control of your playlists. All components are approved by Apple and meet Apple’s exacting standards Additional information and video:

112

DeceptivelySimple.com

GENII

OUR ADVERTISERS LOVE TO HEAR THAT YOU SAW THEIR AD IN GENII

iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.