Magic of Ascanio - Vol. 2

Table of Contents A Preface by Roberto Giobbi ............................................................ .................................................... Foreword by Aurelio Paviato ....................................................................................................................

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Chapter One: The Ascanio Spread and its Variants The Ascanio Spread and its Variants ................................................................................................. The Ascanio Spread - Standard Handl ing ................................................................................... Rotating the Fourth Card ............................................................................................................................. The Vertical Spread ........................................................................................................................................... The Ring Finger Grip ...................................................................................................................................... The Three-Card Ascanio Spread ........................................................................................................... The Teneri fe Spread .......................................................................................................................................... The Palmas Spread ............................................................................................................................................ The Palmas-5 Spread ....................................................................................................................................... The Vegas Spread ............................................................................................................................................... The Vegas Spread Vari ation ....................................................................................................................... The D'Amico Spread Ascanio Style .................................................................................................. A Word on the Spreading Actions ......................................................................................................

23 24 31 32 33 35 36 38 41 42 42 45 47

Chapter Two: The lay-Downs and their Combination with the Ascanio Spread The Burning Double ........................................................................................................................................ 51 The Studio Lay-Down .................................................................................................................................... 52 By the Waist ............................................................................................................................................................ 53 The Rubbed Lay-Dow n ................................................................................................................................. 54 55 Rubbed and Overl apped ............................................................................................................................ The Scattered Lay-Dow n ............................................................................................................................. 59 The In-Transit Lay-Down ....... ,..................................................................................................................... 60 Petal Pickin' ............................................................................................................................................................ 61 Chapter Three: Early Versions Earl y Versions ......................................................................................................................................................... Oil and Water Featuring the Ascanio Spread ........................................................................... Father Ace and Sons (Version 66) ....................................................................................................... Father Ace and Sons (Version 67) .......................................................................................................

65 66 93 102

Chapter Fo ur: His Mentors Mentors .................................................................................................................................................................... From One Packet to Another ................................................................................................................... O il and Water ....................................................................................................................................................... Bang! Four Aces .................................................................................................................................................. From the Pocket of One Spectator to that of Another .......................................................

111 11 3 11 6 120 123

Chapter Five: His Comrades H isComrades ....................................................................................................................................................... One in a Billion. Dany Ray ...................................................................................................................... A Card Control. Fu Manchu ................................................................... ...............................................

131 132 138

Chapter Six: Ascanio on Mario Ascanio on Marlo ........................................................................................................... ................................

143

A Marlo Effect ...................................................................................................................................................... The Torn and Restored Card of Marlo and LePaul ...........................................................

144 147

Chapter Seven: Beloved Favorites Beloved Favorites .............................................................................................................................................. If You Don't Pay Attention... ....................................................................................................................

165 166

Aunt Enriqueta's Aces .................................................................................................................................... The Trick I Would Show Dai Vernon ............................................................................................... Sleightless Oil and Water (or so it seems) ................................................................................. Aces with Love ...............................................................................................................................................

171 183 194 207

Chapter Eight: Other Favorites Other Favorites ................................................................................................................................................... The Wriggling Aces ......................................................................................................................................... Don't Blink! Revisited .............................................................................. ...................................................

237 238 248

Chapter Nine: Two Classics Two Classics ........................................................................................................................................................... A Baroque Transposition ............................................................................................................................. The Mechanical Strength ofThought ............................................................ ...............................

257 258 261

Chapter Ten: Minor Masterpieces Minor Masterpieces ........................................................................................................................................ Dolores' Trick ................................................................................................................................................... The Pathology of Cards ................................................................................................................................

X-1=0 ....................................................._................................................................................................................... Triumph .................................................................................................................................................................... Eight-Card Oil and Water .......................................................................................................................... The Nine Facts ................................................................................................................................................... Antagonistic Aces .............................................................................................................................................. A Hunger for Dreaming ..............................................................................................................................

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275 276 280 285 288 294 300 303 307

performers such as Juan Tamariz, Camilo Vazquez, and Jose Carroll, to name just a few-the group was about to be treated to the explanation of the trick just performed. Or perhaps I should say: Arturo de Ascanio gave an academic talk on the scientific and artistic structure of a piece (to borrow a Hofzinser expression). It slowly dawned on me why the trick just performed was a pi('>ce de resistance. Arturo explained to us every movement and each word that he used in the routine, why he did this rather than that, where you had to look and where not to look and, above all, for how long. He also discussed when to tighten and relax your body, and even at what angle the feet (which were under the table!) should be positioned. I immediately understood that the impression the trick just performed had made on all of us was, clearly and without the shadow of a doubt, due to the understanding and conscious applicJtion of the underlying cJuses. Need I say I was impressed? Actually Arturo's version hJd no longer anything to do with Daley's originJI version. Obviously the concept proposed by the originator remained, but Arturo 's scientific analysis and artistic interpretation elevJted it to J new height and brought it into another dimension. Listening to the explanJtion of a trick by Arturo is like reJding philosophy. It's not just Jbout content and it's not just about form. It's Jbout something intangible created as J product of the two: about a third dimension that creJtes depth and instills life to an otherwise flat picture. He makes you stop and ponder Jbout notions thJt are fundJmental, and not only Jbout magic. I loved listening to Arturo when he talked personally and also to read whJt he wrote as this gives me a chJnce to stop Jnd follow my own thoughts that were triggered by Jn utterance of his.

TJiking ath. Turn the Aces face down book wise on top of the deck, sc>cretly adding the Queens, which arc immediately laid face down at D to complete the switch (Fig. 193).

Only the fou rth Ace is left, and it's quite near. just a few inches away, but inches are like miles for a piece of cardboard. Referring to the Ace of Clubs (which awaits at C) as "the fourth Ace" is a verbal subtlety to convey the fact that the other three Aces are at D.

Take the Ace of Clubs in the right hand and let its face be seen and bring it from C to D as if symbolizing a distant trip. leave it face down over the other three cards at D for a moment and move your hands away. The spectators will see four face-down cards at D and are beginning to imagine that they are the four Aces. Also, your gesture has implied that the transposition will be taking place from C to A, when it's actually going to be the other way (swallowing the bait). Take the Ace of Clubs in the right hand, let its face be seen, and leave it face down at C. Sweep the cards at A and B to the left to make some room. Ask a lady for her name (Mary, for example). I am sorry, but the script demands you to be Enriqueta because this card is... Aunt Enriqueta! If there are no women in the audience, just ask the question and answer it yourself with a high voice: Enriqueta.

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Put the top card of the deck face up on the table with one of the sides toward you as you say, referring to the Queen of Spades, It's a Queen! The Queen of Spades! That's why this trick is called Aunt Enriqueta's Aces (point at the three fa ce-down cards at D), and turn that card face down, laying it perpendicularly and somewhat overlapped over the three cards at D. Perform a brief shuffle retaining the top stock. You may do this through a Hindu Shuffle as follows. Take the deck in the right hand from above by the sides, near the inner end. Take a packet from the top in your left hand. As you take a seco nd packet, the first packet is stolen back under the right hand cards, with a break in between. Continue drawing packets into the left hand until you reach the break and finall y throw the right-hand packet on top. Take the deck in right-hand Biddle Grip and perform a Swing Cut, transferring about half the cards to the left hand. Put the remaining right-hand cards on top, obtai ning a little-finger break under them. The right hand takes the deck once again in Biddle Grip and the break is transferred to the right thumb. With a sharp counterclockwise turn, the right hand then tosses the packet above the break to the left hand and lays the remaining portion on top to complete the cut and leave the upper block as it was before the shuffle. As you explain what you're doing, take the top three cards of the deck (Aces) and lay them onto the Ace of Clubs at C and table the deck to your left. As if to stress what you have done, take the four cards at C in the right hand and put them in the left hand, which takes them in dealing position. Without pausing, deal the first three of those cards singly, overlapping them from right to left at C. Show the face of the fourth card (the Ace of Clubs) and lay it, also overlapped, at the left end of that spread. After a brief pause, say, Watch! Tap the Ace of Clubs with your right forefinger and leave it where it is, without showing its face. Bring your right hand dramatically towards D, take the top card of that pile and turn it over to revea l the Queen of Spades, appearing puzzled because the Ace of Clubs was supposed to be there. Say, Oh, I know what

happened! Here is Aunt Enriqueta, along with Aunt Christina ... the mother-inlaw and the sister-in-law. Insert the Queen of Spades you now hold under the front ends of the three cards at D and, w ith it, turn those cards face up together, toward you, leaving them at D. Take the top card of the C pile and turn it face up to expose the face of the Ace of Clubs as you say, And running away from so many women, along with the older brother, here are the father, a son, and the other son! Building anticipation, use the Ace of Clubs to turn over the three cards at C, one at a time, to reveal the Aces. 182

The Trick I Would Show Dai Vernon which years later became The Trick I Showed Dai Vernon One day in May 1968, during the first Certamen Magico de Madrid, a group of magicians got together in a cafe for one of those informal sessions that constitute the spice of such gatherings. Among them were Ascanio, lrfgoras, Roden, Tamariz, juan Anton, Varela, Puchol, Marre, and Etcheverry. Conversation began to revolve around Dai Vernon and somebody started playing with the idea of what would happen if The Professor suddenly turned up at the cafe. People began to wonder what trick they would show him. What would they open with? The idea tickled Ascanio's imagination and he soon started searching among the tricks in his repertoire for one that was subtle, refined, simple, and effective, in other words Vernonesque, to begin that imaginary card session with. He opted for his version of Daley's Last Trick. 18 The description that follows is a revised version of that trick that Arturo thought would be better than any other in his repertoire to fulfill such a commitment and start a conversation with Dai Vernon.' 9 The second part of the story came about in Brussels, in 1979, during the FISM Convention. In a bar full of magicians of assorted nationalities, Ascanio was sitting at a table with juan Tamariz, Alberto Reyes, and jorge Haddad when The Professor happened to come in and somebody introduced them to him. That was when Ascanio had the occasion to perform that trick for The Professor himself, in broken English, as a prelude to their conversation. Then he endearingly changed the title to The Trick I Showed Dai Vernon.

Set-Up Table Version Put the Ten of Diamonds on the face of the deck, followed by the Nine of Hearts, the Eight of Spades, and the Ten of Clubs. Although these cards could be taken out of the deck openly, this is done to save time. Remove the Ten of Hearts and the Nine of Diamonds from the deck, put the deck in its case and carry it in your briefcase or in one of your pockets. Put the two cards you removed next to the card case so you can take them along when you reach for the card case. For this presentation you must be seated at a table.

18. See The Dai Vernon Book of Magic, by Lewis Ganson, chapter 21. 19. The trick, as Asca nio performed it that day, was published in //usionismo N° 240, November, 1968.

Standing Version If you are performing standing, set the cards on top of the deck as follows, from the top down: Ten of Diamonds, Nine of Hearts, Eight of Spades, Ten of Clubs, Ten of Hearts, and Nine of Diamonds. Put the deck in its case.

Impromptu Performance The trick can easi ly be performed impromptu. If that is the case, begin by openly removing the Ten of Diamonds, Nine of Hearts, Eight of Spades and Ten of Clubs. As you do so, secretly slip the Ten of Hearts and the Nine of Diamonds to the top.

p Once seated at a table, take the deck out of w herever you put it and, along with it, the Ten of Hearts and the Nine of Diamonds. With your hands below the table edge, set those two cards face down on your lap. For securing the cards there more safely, you can insert them halfway under a fold of your trousers, around the upper thigh. Take the deck out of its case, now in full view, and as you patter, remove the four cards you had set on the face and table them face up as a packet, with the Ten of Clubs on the face. Set the deck aside to your right as you focus all attention on the card case, which you take in your left hand, showing it empty. Close the flap and set the card case on the table, slightl y to the left of center, w ith one of the sides toward you, as you explain: The card case also plays a role here. It is empty, a