NOVEMBER 2011

Steve Cohen
Page 40
NOVEMBER 2011
M-U-M • Volume 101 • Number 6

S.A.M. NEWS
6 From the Editor’s Desk
8 From the President’s Desk
10 Copperfield Honored
11 M-U-M Assembly News
21 Good Cheer List
22 Broken Wands
75 Our Advertisers
40
THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ARTICLES
23 The Power of Bending Air • by Tom Vorjohan and Daniel Herron
26 A Magician Prepares • by Dennis Loomis
28 Blast from the Past
40 COVER STORY • by Antonio M. Cabral
46 Shop to Stage • by Paul Osborne
48 James Munton: A Con Pro • by Jelita McLeod
50 Quick Look Book Nook: The Con
53 Bruce Chadwick’s Magical Wisdom

REGULAR FEATURES 10 Photo by Billy Farrell/bfanyc.com

30 Nielsen Gallery: Fu-Manchu • by Lupe Nielsen

32 Basic Training: Adaptability • by Ian Kendall
36 Under/Over • by Joshua Jay
55 Informed Opinion • New Product Reviews
65 Tech Tricks • by Bruce Kalver
66 Mental Breakdown • by Christian Painter
68 Unlimited Possibilites • by Roger Blakiston
70 Anytime, Anyplace – Any Deck • by Aldo Colombini
72 Theory & Art of Magic • by Larry Hass
74 The Kran-Zone • by Nathan Kranzo
76 The Dean’s Diary • by George Schindler
76 Basil the Baffling • by Alan Wassilak
78 Confessions of a Paid Amateur • by Rod Danilewicz
30
Cover Photo by Clay Patrick McBride

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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to M-U-M, c/o Manon Rodriguez, P.O. Box 505, Parker, CO 80138.

4 M-U-M Magazine
 MAGIC - UNITY - MIGHT
Editor
Michael Close
Editor Emeritus
David Goodsell
Associate Editor
W.S. Duncan
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Art Director
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Society of American Magicians,
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NOVEMBER 2011 5
 FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
MICHAEL CLOSE

S
teve Cohen, this form to perform at someone else’s magic show. Even with a legiti-
month’s cover subject, mate invitation, I won’t do it. It’s a matter of respect.
has achieved remark- Last month, compeer Barry Fingerhut wrote about restoring
able success through strategic the Houdini gravesite after some vandals had defaced it. The
branding, shrewd marketing, following information came in a few weeks later: “Missing since
and consistently delivering 1975 when vandals destroyed the original bust that marked the
a top-notch, professional entertainment experience. In January, Houdini grave site at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New
Steve makes a move into a prestigious performance venue, Carn- York, a new, exact replica has been installed through the courtesy
egie Hall. You’ll read how Steve prepared for that show (and much of the Houdini Museum of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Since the
more) in Tony Cabral’s story on page 40. (Tony, whose artwork original loss of the bust, several copies have been replaced by
has appeared before in M-U-M, painted the portrait on page 44.) the Society of American Magicians, but these were subsequent-
As we near the end of the year, several columns will end their ly destroyed or stolen. The new bust is made of heavy concrete
runs here in M-U-M. The first of these (I’ll discuss the others next and has been placed on the grave by the museum co-directors
month) is the serialization of Joshua Jay’s Under/Over, which Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz. Both are members of the
began in January of this year. These articles have offered a unique Society of American Magicians, which has maintained the site
perspective for young magicians and their parents. I hope they for many years. They were assisted by escape artist Steve Moore.
have been of value to you. My thanks to Josh for allowing Under/ The replacement was sanctioned by the surviving members of the
Over to appear here. Houdini family and the manager of the cemetery.”
There was an incorrect photo credit in the September 2011 I’m sad to report on the passing of three very creative, important
M-U-M. The photo of Suzanne, her husband Louis, and her son people in past thirty days. My old friend Earle Oakes, who was
Ian at the Magic Castle awards was taken by Hal G. Scheie. Mr. an artist and illustrator with a passion for magic tricks, died of
Scheie has been the Internet event photographer for the Magic a stroke Sunday, September 18, 2011, at the age of eighty-eight.
Castle for many years; we apologize for the mistake. For forty years, Earle and his two brothers produced architectural
I received the following news from compeer John Pellatt: renderings of most of the major building projects in Philadelphia.
“There is now a tribute online to the late, great Canadian chil- Working from an architect’s plans, he would create a depiction
dren’s magician, Johnny Giordmaine (1898-1974). He was the first that enabled clients to visualize what the finished building would
magician to ever appear on Canadian TV. He was also the magic look like so they could make decisions about exterior treatments.
mentor to hundreds and hundreds of young magicians, many of Earle became interested in magic as a boy, having purchased
whom are still working professionally around the world today. a copy of Greater Magic from Jack Chanin. He was fascinated by
Read about all this and more, and discover why he is still con- the book and began practicing diligently; he soon was creating and
sidered by those who remember him as ‘Canada’s most beloved performing his own routines. In the early 1990s, after he retired,
children’s magician’ at www.johngiordmaine.com.” Earle applied his artistic skills to illustrating magic books; most
The following just arrived from Dean George Schindler: “Mike recently he has been the primary illustrator for Genii magazine.
Miller, producer of the S.A.M. convention shows, has announced He was also skillful in origami and drew illustrations of various
that three more exciting acts have been added to the great roster of origami designs as well. Earle was a gracious and gentle man. He
talent to appear at the Society of American Magicians annual con- will be missed.
vention in Las Vegas, July 23-26, 2012: Sarlot and Eyed is the im- This in from Lupe Nielsen: “Norm and I are very saddened
pressive young magic team you read about in the October M-U-M. by the loss of our friend, Burton Sperber, who passed away on
Their Tucson show has been a hit in Arizona for many years. They September 30, 2011. We knew him through magic and his con-
will be on our opening show with Christian and Katalina, another tributions to the field. He published several books, and had an
young and talented team of magicians you may remember from incredible collection of magic books and ephemera. He was an
their short comedy stint at our banquet last year. This time you’ll expert card man and a talented mentalist. When I found out that in
see their whole hilariously funny act. John Cassidy, a balloonist ‘real life’ he was a landscaper and horticulturist, I really thought
nut from Pennsylvania who always tears the house apart with his that was so cool. He owned the largest landscaping company in
energetic talent, will also be on the line-up.” For more informa- the US. He made the world around him more beautiful and what a
tion, see the convention ad on page 71. precious gift that is!” An excerpt from Sperber’s Miracles of My
Speaking of Christian Painter, be sure to read his Mental Friends II appeared in the October 2011 M-U-M.
Breakdown column this month. The topic is etiquette, and what As I write this column, the world is reacting to the news
Christian has to say about the way magicians conduct themselves of the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. While he wasn’t
will certainly be fodder for stimulating conversation at your next involved in the world of magic or magicians, there is no denying
assembly meeting. I agree with Christian’s viewpoint, even to this that his products transformed contemporary life. (And uninten-
extent: I was recently at a magic show in Las Vegas and a member tionally, those products gave magicians a new tool to use in their
of the staff asked me to perform for some VIPs while we waited impromptu performances. If you doubt this, just take a look at the
for the show to start. I declined, explaining that it was very bad Tech Tricks columns.) Aloha, Steve. You left us way too soon. 

6 M-U-M Magazine
NOVEMBER 2011 7
 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
VINNY GROSSO
David Copperfield on motions. So if you’d like to participate, seek to become the
delegate for your assembly and join us at our next national council
I’m sure you’ve heard by meeting.
now that I had the privilege We hold three national council meetings a year, in the fall,
of presenting David Copper- spring, and summer (at our national convention). While only
field with the proclamation officers and delegates have the ability to vote, all S.A.M. members
of “Magician of the Century” are entitled to and encouraged to attend.
and “King of Magic.” The presentation was at Copperfield’s New One of the most important parts of the S.A.M. is its commit-
York City penthouse this past September. David was celebrating tees. Committee chairs are appointed annually by the national
his fifty-fifth birthday, a spread in the fashion magazine Fantastic president but must be approved by the national council. Commit-
Man, and the award from the S.A.M. The party was attended by tees are charged with getting work done in a particular area. They
celebrities, people from the fashion industry, and the press. will often seek national council approval for projects and activi-
David was a very gracious host and gave guests a tour of his ties of significance.
penthouse, explaining the history behind so many of his collect- If you cannot attend a national council meeting and would like
ables. Any one of these would be the prize possession of most to learn about what went on, read the Blue Book. The Blue Book
people’s collection and the house was full of them! is published before each national council meeting by the national
I really enjoyed the evening and David was very apprecia- secretary. It contains the minutes from the previous meeting and
tive of the honor. He told me stories of magicians from Parent activity reports from all of the officers and committee chairs. It
Assembly 1 who were so helpful to him in his youth. What many received its name because it was originally published with a blue
people are not aware of is David’s efforts to help the youth in cover; it is available now on our Web site as a PDF document.
magic. He continuously employs several young magicians on his
show. He also reaches out to many others, providing support and Magic Center
encouragement.
Since that evening I have been approached by many members I had the pleasure of visiting the Magic Center in Parker,
regarding the proclamation. The response has been overwhelm- Colorado (just outside Denver), this past September. The Magic
ingly positive. We all have our own taste and preferences when it Center was a project started several years ago by PNP Jay
comes to magicians and performances, but looking at every magi- Gorham. It had a temporary home in Austin, Texas, and has
cian’s body of work over the past century it is easy to agree that now made the move to Colorado, where it occupies a room in a
David Copperfield has had the most prolific career. He recently building that it will eventually take over. It is off to a great start
reached three billion dollars in ticket sales, making him the in Parker with the leadership of PNP Dan Rodriguez and founda-
highest grossing solo artist (not just magician) in history. tion president Phil Milstead. So many people have been gener-
Some people have been confused by the title “King of ously donating pieces from their collections along with money to
Magic,” wondering when the S.A.M. became a monarchy and further fund the project.
what powers have now been granted to David Copperfield. To On November 19, I will join PNPs Mark Weidhaas and
clarify, Elvis Presley was proclaimed the King of Rock, Michael Mike Miller in performing a fund-raising show at the center.
Jackson the King of Pop, and Howard Stern the King of All We will also feature a couple of S.Y.M. magicians from the
Media. These artists reached the pinnacle of their craft and the Denver area. Hope to see you there!
“King” title is a way to salute them, just as the S.A.M. salutes
David Copperfield. Travel Tips
The National Council How often do you check into a hotel, ask if they have WiFi,
and learn that while they do, it will cost you $15 a day? This is one
This month we have a national council meeting in New of my biggest pet peeves while traveling. My first line of defense
Orleans. As I spend time with fellow S.A.M. members at con- is choosing my hotel wisely. I try to book hotels like the Hampton
ventions and assembly meetings, it is clear that the majority of Inn, Holiday Inn Express, etc., that I know offer free WiFi. Unfor-
our members do not know what the national council is. To put it tunately, choosing a specific hotel is not always an option.
simply, the national council is the governing body of the S.A.M. As a general rule, the fancier the hotel, the more likely they will
So who’s a part of the national council and how can you become charge for WiFi. If the hotel is a chain with a rewards program,
a part of it? The national council is comprised of the elected they will usually have a promotion code for their preferred
officers (President, President-Elect, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice customers. In these instances, I ask for the promotion code. Speak
President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Regional Vice-Presidents), with confidence and you’ll be surprised how often they just give
Past National Presidents, and active assemblies. you the code.
Each officer and each assembly has a vote. Assemblies greater It also helps to be friendly and cordial. That should go without
than fifty members have two votes and assemblies greater than saying, but you would be surprised how many guests are rude to
one hundred members have three votes (sort of like the Electoral the front desk attendants. If you want to explore how accommo-
College). Assemblies appoint a delegate to represent them. dating the people at the front desk can be, I recommend reading
Officers and delegates have the ability to make, second, and vote Aye Jaye’s book The Golden Rule of Schmoozing.

8 M-U-M Magazine
 S.A.M. National Officers
Dean: George Schindler, 1735 East 26th St.,
Brooklyn, NY 11229, (718) 336-0605, Fax (718)
627-1397, [email protected]
President: Vinny Grosso, 270 Mansion St.,
Coxsackie, NY 12051 (518) 756-1891
[email protected]
President Elect: J. Christopher Bontjes, 2313
Atwood Ct., Danville, IL 61834 (217)431-4791
[email protected]
First Vice President: Dal Sanders, 3316
Northaven Rd, Dallas, TX 75229 (214) 902-9200,
[email protected]
Second Vice President: Kenrick “ICE”
McDonald, P.O. Box 341034, Los Angeles, CA
90034, (310) 559-8968
[email protected]
Secretary: Marlene Clark, 435 Main Street,
Durham, CT 06422, (860) 349-8149,
Skype: marlene.clark, [email protected]
Treasurer: Mary Ann Blowers, 3 Christopher
Bluffs Court, St. Louis, MO 63129 (314) 846-8468
[email protected] Skype: maryan.blowers

Regional Vice Presidents

New England: CT MA RI NH ME VT
Joseph Caulfield (603) 579-9700,
[email protected]
North Atlantic: NY NJ
Pat Colby, [email protected]
Mid Atlantic: PA DE MD VAWV DC
David W. Bowers, 169 Tobin Dr., Chambersburg,
PA 17201(717) 414-7574,
[email protected]
South Atlantic: FL AL GA MS NC SC
Debbie Leifer (404) 630-1120
[email protected]
Central Plains: KY TN OH IN MI
Jania Taylor, (231)242-8242, [email protected]
Midwest: IL MN WI MO ND NE KS SD IA
Jeff Sikora, 13023 Crown Point Ave., Omaha, NE
68164 (402)-339-6726, [email protected]
South Cental States: TX AR OK NM LA
Jeff Lanes, (713)850-1770, [email protected]
Southwest: CA AZ NV HI
John Shryock III (520) 885-7999
[email protected]
Northwest: WA OR UT ID CO AK WY MT
Michael Roth, (503)493-8316,
[email protected]
Canada
Rod Chow (604) 669-7777
[email protected]
Society of Young Magicians Director
Jann Wherry Goodsell, 329 West 1750 North,
Orem, Utah 84057 (801) 376-0353.
[email protected]

Is your membership expiring? Living Past National Presidents

Bradley M. Jacobs, Richard L. Gustafson, Roy A.

Be sure to check the polybag your M-U-M was Snyder, Bruce W. Fletcher, James E.
Zachary, Frank W. Dailey, Cesareo Pelaez, David
R. Goodsell, Robert A. Steiner, Fr. Cyprian Murray,
mailed in to see if it’s time to renew. Michael D. Douglass, George Schindler, Dan
Rodriguez, Dan Garrett, Donald F. Oltz Jr., Craig
A prompt renewal saves the S.A.M. time and money. Dickson, Loren C. Lind, Gary D. Hughes, Harry
Monti, Jann Wherry Goodsell, Warren J. Kaps, Ed
Renew at www.MagicSam.com Thomas, Jay Gorham, John Apperson, Richard M.
Dooley, Andy Dallas, Maria Ibáñez, Bruce Kalver,
Mike Miller, Mark Weidhaas.

NOVEMBER 2011 9
 The S.A.M. Honors David Copperfield
On September 14, 2011, The Society of American Magicians
awarded illusionist David Copperfield their highest honor,
“Magician of the Century,” and named him the “King of Magic,”
an award that has never before
been given by the association.
The S.A.M. recognized
Copperfield for his efforts to
preserve, promote, and enhance
the art of magic throughout his
legendary career. National
president Vinny Grosso
says that Copperfield has,
“accomplished more than
Photo by Billy Farrell/bfanyc.com
anyone else in the field of
magic today.”
Among his many
Vinny Grosso and David Copperfield achievements, the S.A.M.
highlighted Copperfield’s
dedication to excellence, which has earned him the Living Legend Award from The Library
of Congress, the first Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded to a living magician,
a knighthood by the French government, eleven Guinness World Records, and twenty-one
Emmy awards. He has sold more tickets than any other solo artist in history and recently
crossed $3 billion in ticket sales worldwide. In 1982, Copperfield created Project Magic,
which teaches sleight-of-hand magic to those with disabilities as a method of physical
and occupational therapy.
In addition, Copperfield is the creator and curator of the International Museum and
Library of Conjuring Arts, which holds the world’s largest collection of historical magical
artifacts, including Houdini’s Water Torture Cell and Orson Welles’s Buzz Saw Illusion.
Copperfield said, “I’m humbled by the honor and grateful to be recognized by this great organization.”

operation hocus pocus

The S.A.M. Veterans’ Program is gaining momentum around the country. As more members learn about the opportunities and
benefits of sharing their magic with veterans and military groups, the idea gains strength with every performance.
Assemblies in Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas have recently performed for VA hospitals and submitted after-action
reports on the S.A.M. Veterans’ Program Web page. Check it out at www.magicsam.com/VHSP-home.asp.
One group, organized by Assembly 56 in Fairborn, Ohio, even incorporated a magic show for military personnel and their
families into the Jokers Gone Wild annual convention. Here is an excerpt from an article submitted by the convention organizer ,
retired Air Force officer Scott Miller:
“The Third Annual Jokers Gone Wild magicians’ convention
dedicated an evening of magic to honor the families and troops
deployed overseas from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Nearly eighty military family members and twenty-two magicians
participated in this entertaining event.
“The show started with magicians entertaining people with
close-up strolling magic as they arrived. Then they were then treated
to an hour-long banquet room show featuring professional magicians
from around the country.
“Jokers Gone Wild is an annual gathering of magicians from
around the country who get together in Fairborn to perform and share
their magic. Many of the Jokers are veterans; they are proud to honor
and thank the men, women, and families of Wright-Patterson and our
nation’s other servicemen and women for their dedication and sacrifice,
which secures this great nation and allows us the freedom to share our Jokers Gone Wild convention attendees
magic with others.”
Sharing your magic with veterans and members of the U.S. military forces has a built-in feel-good, win-win benefit that can’t
be described in mere words. Show your patriotism by wearing the lapel pin you earn for performing at a VA Hospital! Be sure
to fill out an after-action report on the S.A.M. Veterans’ Program Web page. I will thank you, veterans will thank you, and your
fellow magicians will thank you. —Scott Hollingsworth, Veterans’ Program Chairman

10 M-U-M Magazine
 ASSEMBLY NEWS
Society of American Magicians Monthly News

NOVEMBER 2011 Volume 101, Number 6

Go to:
www.mum-magazine.com
and use the easy submission form to file your report

1 Science and Knives

at opening
meeting
out newspapers for members to
learn the procedure while Ed dem-
onstrated it. Brian Quan told about
assisted in vanishing the cookies.
—John Caris
Golden Gate Assembly 2 meets
his youth when his father empha- first Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at
New York, NY— The first sized reusing and recycling every- Community Room of Taraval
well attended meeting of the thing possible. At the conclusion Police Station, 2345 24th Ave., San
season was a success, and the of the story, Brian produce fresh Francisco. Tamaka Tamaka3715@
$250 prize of magic effects won chewing gum that we could all use aol.com (415) 531-9332

4
by the Parent Assembly (Houdini and reuse as often as we wanted.
Growth Membership award) Inspired by Jim Steinmey- sTEVE mARSHALL
was voted to be donated to the er’s The Tuzot Sensu Mystery LECTURES
NY S.Y.M Assembly 69. After (Genii August 2011), Stu Bacon
installing new members Adam related a tale of twins who are able PHILADELPHIA, PA— Our
Blumenthal and Anthony Guido, to communicate with each other September meeting featured an
discussing Magic Week and the telepathically and so find each excellent lecture by the brilliant
upcoming Steve Marshall lecture, other. Of course, Stu matched Steve Marshall. Steve’s lecture
1st VP Brett Schulman closed the all the pairs of cards. Bob Kuhn featured a wonderful assortment
business meeting. amazed us with two card effects. of very practical effects culled
The after-meeting show on Feiedhoffer First he found the selected card, from his “Asian Astonishments”
September 7 began with the demonstrates Inertia which had been returned to the column that ran for three years
cracking of a bullwhip as Bob deck, in his trouser pocket. Even in M-U-M. Every effect taught
Friedhoffer presented excerpts unharmed, took her final bow after he showed the move several was a gem that could easily be
from his science magic show. with the doctor, who presented her times, we were still mystified. performed within minutes of
Demonstrating the speed of with a well deserved bouquet of Then he displayed an intriguing practice. Before performing and
sound, he explained the principle, flowers. (See the photos at www. version of three-card monte. The explaining each effect, Steve gave
and with a slash of the whip tore samp1.com) Ace, placed between a Deuce and a brief biography of the Japanese
a newspaper, bravely held by Visitors are encouraged to meet a Trey, continually moved to the originator of each trick.
spectator Pat Colby. Bob treated us for lunch any Fridays between top of the packet and then back
us to effects involving the memory 12:30 -2 pm at Café Edison- on to the middle. Again, we were all
of materials (Circle to Square), 47th Street between 7th and astounded.
the existence of the black hole 8th avenue in Times Square. Enacting another matching
(Zone Zero), the theory of rela- —George Schindler effect, Corky LaVallee used ESP
tivity (Twin Paradox), centripetal Assembly 1 meets the first cards to confirm Bob’s psychic
force and inertia (see photo), and Friday of each month at 7:15 PM powers. Bob correctly matched
a unique balloon in bottle effect at the Mt Sinai Campus in the his five ESP cards with five others
controlling air pressure. Bob’s laid Goldwurm Auditorium, 1425 hidden in a plastic holder. Rich
back, matter of fact presentation Madison Avenue- NYC Pat Seguine surprised us by producing
was well received. Colby [email protected] a new deck of cards for everyone
The feature act was presented by www.sampa1.com. at the meeting. This was a onetime
“Throwdini” (Dr. David Adamon- event. Hippo Lau narrated a spy Steve Marshall presenting
vich) who, as the name implies,
thrilled the audience with his
knife-throwing abilities. Targets
2 NIGHT OF
MYSTERY
story with more suspense than
James Bond ever had. Three
spies, three Jacks, went forth on
Nobuyuki Nojima’s Colorbands

included his assistant Lexi in SAN FRANCISCO, CA— A a mission and became engaged in Steve started things off with
an array of near-miss effects, a night of mystery it was. Beguiling so many adventures with villains Nobuyuki Nojima’s Colorbands – a
number of balloons, and a coura- tales and strange happenings that they were lost. Yet with clever slick transposition effect utilizing
geous blindfolded spectator (Eric enchanted the gathering this maneuvering they returned safely blue and yellow rubber bands. He
De Camps). Throwdini’s young September evening. Ed Arce gave to home base and their leader, the then proceeded to perform and
assistant was placed on a large a teach-in of the torn and restored Jack of Spades. John Caris, with explain a powerful Triumph effect
circular wooden board that was newspaper with a version that does Jack Langdell assisting, performed created by Nojima utilizing only
then covered by a large sheet of not require any advance prepara- Howard Adams’s classic and nine cards called Small Triumph.
paper. As the board rotated, sharp tion. A newspaper can be taken elegant ESP card routine Cidenta- Next, Steve wowed everyone with
knives were thrown at the spinning from a newsstand and the routine quin. Tamaka, Walt Johnson, and a fantastic mentalism effect by
target. To thunderous applause, performed immediately. After Rob Shapiro enjoyed the evening’s the Magic Napoleons called All
the paper was removed and Lexi, presenting the routine, Ed gave entertainment and of course Mixed Up in which he correctly

NOVEMBER 2011 11
ASSEMBLY NEWS
divined a spectator’s selected, bar inside. He also did a teach-a- of Christ,124th Street and West us also on Facebook at http://www.
folded, paper-clipped card among trick using a Starbucks paper bag Center Road - across from Hooters. facebook.com/bostonmagicians
many cards that had been mixed and coffee stirrer. Don’t forget to Jerry Golmanavich golubki@
in a brown paper bag. Steve then
taught an amazing effect utilizing
a calculator called Crazy Calcula-
visit our new Web site, www.bal-
timoresam.com —Rudy Jackson
Kellar-Thurston Assembly #6 is
cox.net (402) 3909834
www.omahamagicalsociety.com 11 Linking Rings
Night

tions, which had to be seen to be

believed.
Following a brief intermission,
always looking for new members
and visitors in the greater
Baltimore area. We meet every
9 WORKSHOP SERIES
INITIATED
IN ASSEMBLY 9
Cincinnati, OH— President
elect Leland Pennington opened
the meeting with a discussion of
Steve continued to perform and first Thursday @ 8:00pm. Held the importance of 2012, which
teach a number of fine effects at the Magic Warehouse, 11419 BOSTON, MA— Assembly 9 is the ninetieth year for Queen
including an impressive four-Ace Cronridge Drive, suite #10 Owings opened its 2011-2012 season with City Mystics Assembly 11. The
trick by Alan Wong called Mills, Maryland 21117 (410-561- the first of a series of workshops assembly is planning an anni-
Diamond Twist. Steve then fooled 0777). organized by veteran member Gil versary show for August 2012.
everyone with a great effect by Stubbs, whose goal is to foster the The board also made Betty and
Wong entitled Wong Guess in
which a three-digit prediction
written on a dry erase board
7 Two
Mental Cases
teaching of classic effects to newer
members. Gil himself taught the
first workshop, using the famous
Bill Winzig lifetime members
to recognize their continuous
generous support of Assembly 11.
intended to mirror the suits of Omaha, NE— This evening Dai Vernon card routine Twisting The theme for the magician of the
three freely selected cards went mentalism was the highlight and the Aces to illustrate the useful- month was linking rings or work-
awry after which the correct selec- the presentations were accurately ness of the Elmsley count. (For in-progress. First up was Larry
tions were made to appear on the predicted by Omaha Magical the record, Twisting the Aces Payne, who presented his new
board with the aid of an eraser. Society magicians Dan Rasmussen was first brought to the attention routine involving telekinesis and
Finally, Steve ended the evening and our Dean, Walter Graham. of the magic world in 1960 in the “Skelly” the puppet. A spectator
on a high note by performing Dr. Dan led off the evening with a book Dai Vernon’s Inner Secrets secretly selected one of four
Shigeru Tashiro’s Lemon Predic- book test that revealed birth dates of Card Magic, written by Lewis colored cards (red, blue, green,
tion in which he unfolded a large by reading the minds of several Ganson.) and yellow). “Skelly” the skeleton
flat piece of paper with the word in the audience. He continued Following Gil’s instructive puppet did a dance routine to the
“lemon” written on it in Japanese by showing a calculator that was performance and commentary, music of “Putting on the Ritz.”
characters and proceeded to still in the blister pack. After Assembly 9 held a meeting that, Larry then showed the spectator
produce what seemed to be an opening the package he asked among other business, voted in four colored ribbons on a stand
endless supply of real lemons. three spectators to enter numbers a new member, Matt Schick. that matched the colors of the four
Steve was so entertaining and to produce a number revelation. Matt is already an accomplished cards. Magically, three ribbons
such a pleasure to watch that we This was followed by showing us magician, having learned from popped off the stand and the
highly recommend him to any six numbered paper sacks. One compeer David Oliver during his color of the card the spectator had
assembly looking for an excellent “secret” sack contained something membership in the John Calvert selected remained on the stand.
lecture. —Peter Cuddihy valuable. Assistants were asked to Assembly 29 of the Society of Dr. Fred Smart then performed
James Wobensmith Assembly 4 roll a die and reveal the contents Young Magicians (sym29.webs. his work-in-progress: a mystic
meets third Thursday at 7:00 p.m. of the matching sack – a playing com). rope routine. A knot dissolves
at the Bustleton Memorial Post, card in each. The final sack now The evening’s main event and a square knot is not. The
810 (American Legion) 9151 Old belonged to our mentalist, who was a lecture/demonstration by clever banter was entertaining.
Newtown Road. www.sam4.org found a billfold with American Assembly 9’s own David Cresey Don Hinton then showed us his
money in it! Dan is known for his (cresey.com), who began by enter- work in progress which was a

6 Visit to the MAGIC

Live convention
expertise in mentalism and now
our spectators knew why.
Walter Graham carried the show
taining us with a series of deftly
executed false cuts. He then dem-
onstrated an effect that consisted
clever selection routine. Don had
five envelopes and four spectators
selected four of the five envelopes.
Baltimore, MD— President from there with effects taken of tearing a chosen and signed When each spectator opened
Jeff Eline, Howard Katz, and from past magazines: Hawbeck- card into quarters along with five their envelope they each found
his son, Sean Katz, attended er’s Projected Thought (M-U-M other cards, mixing the fragments a “large bill,” such as a pelican’s
the MAGIC live convention. 1/55 –anyone else have this one?), of all cards together in a paper bag, large bill or a hat with a large
This was held in Las Vegas, Cody Fisher’s X-Card (M-U-M then blindly retrieving from the bill, etc. Don who had the last of
Nevada, in August. Howard was 8/01), and Harris Solomon’s bag all four pieces of the chosen the five envelopes did have the
also the Magic Warehouse dealer Trap Slate (M-U-M 1/55 again). card. Next, David showed how a large bill – a twenty-dollar bill.
there. All three reported attending He also performed Bert Al- rose shaped from a table napkin Patrick Thermes then performed
great magic shows and lectures. lerton’s Directoscope Concen- could be incorporated into an a memorable linking ring routine
The headliners were Mark Kalin trator (Linking Ring 3/45), and effect that included tearing and accompanied by a beautiful ar-
and Jinger. At our meeting we The World’s Tour (Linking Ring restoring the paper rose. At the rangement of “What a Wonderful
discussed doing a Christmas show 2/44). Next, he presented some urging of members familiar with Life.” The judges selected Larry
at the Reisterstown adult senior standards: Tanner’s Classic Pre- David’s dexterity, he closed with Payne as the magician of the
center. diction, and Billy McComb’s an amazing display of coin manip- month.
Starting out with magic tonight McComical Deck. From the ulation involving several impres- Queen City Mystics, SAM
was Tony Anastasi doing some Tarbell books he extracted Ghost sive vanishes. Assembly 11 generally meets on
wonderful rope magic routines. Card, and then concluded with As usual, Ray Goulet hosted the the 2nd Friday of the month at
Joe Bruno did an impromptu three a Magic Square idea. Walter is meeting in his Magic Art Studio Haines House of Cards in Cincin-
cards across. He also repeated a seventy-year member of the and offered a few pithy comments nati, Ohio. – John Martini
this routine with no envelopes. S.A.M. and continues to spread to put the demonstrated effects
Howard Katz performed using
a lottery ticket with matched pre-
diction routine. Closing out the
his magic and humor throughout
Omaha at numerous social events.
Perhaps we all could have
into a historical context. —Jim
Ellison
Herman Hanson Boston Assembly
13 A Variety
of Magic

meeting was Jeff Eline doing a predicted two masterful perfor- No. 9 meets the second Wednesday Dallas, TX— After brief
stand-up three-card monte. He mances. —Jerry Golmanavich of the month except December, business and a raffle, the formal
also did a sympathetic matchbox Omaha Magical Society meets July, and August, at 7:30 PM at The stage show began, hosted by
routine. Jeff did a dinner knife on the third Monday of most Magic Art Studio, 137 Spring St., Prama Kumar. The first performer
through card box with solid metal months at the Southwest Church Watertown, MA 02472. Look for was Mark Jensen. Mark handed

12 M-U-M Magazine
 ASSEMBLY NEWS
out four cards to each member of
the audience. The cards were torn
in half, and one of the halves was
with a mentalism experiment.
Jeff stared at a picture of Marilyn
Monroe, while Mike Squires
17 Fall Back
to Magic
the other cards and dealt onto the
board. Rick wielded the knife and
stabbed the correct card.
saved (unseen) by each audience projected a different image into Springfield, MA— Vacation Soll Levine brought the Book
member. After shuffling, discard- Jeff’s mind. When Jeff was time is over and it’s time to show Of Magic. Opening it, he drew a
ing, and passing around the other asked to identify the person on all the great magic we bought picture of a dove on a blank page.
halves, eventually each spectator the image, Jeff answered “Albert and learned over the summer. Ed He closed, and then opened the
had one half of a card left in their Einstein,” the person that Mike Kazar started us off with his funny book revealing a 3-D foam dove.
hand – perfectly matching the half was thinking of! No Knot routine. He said it’s all in Brian Miller performed No. 2
they saved. James Munton wrapped up the the way you move the ends: a very Pencil.
Aaron Maynard began with a evening by discussing one of the nice color changing circle from
balloon mime act. Aaron followed most famous con games of all time which three white ones slowly turn
this act by producing popcorn – the three-shell game. to all pink ones. It’s called Omede-
from an empty popcorn box while Dallas Magic Club Assembly taiwa. Rich Gilbert presented
promoting popcorn sales for the #13 meets the third Tuesday of SloMotion, causing a Life Saver
Boy Scouts. each Month at 7 p.m. Crosspointe to spin on a coffee stirrer thru
Church and CommunityCenter his psychokinetic energy. After-
www.dallasmagic.org for direc- wards, he made a Krackle and
tions Check out the Dallas Magic Mr.Goodbar switch places with
Club on Facebook! Sugar Rush. Conrad MacIntre did
a signed and restored card tear

16 September
Meeting
by David Stone called Tool. He
had a spectator sign a blank card
and hold onto it. A Two of Hearts
Worcester, MA— After was then randomly picked from
a long hiatus over the summer the deck and the picture card was
we finally got together for our transferred to their hand, called St. Pierre prepares his classroom
first meeting. It was great to see Color Deception.
old friends and new faces. The Tom Gentile brought out an old
Joann Maynard and meeting was called to order by coin tray and presented Pennies Dana Ring performed a trick
James Munton vice president Dennis Pimenta from Heaven, by making three he found on the Internet that was
at 7:15 p.m. There were ten pennies double in value. He later invented by former Assembly 21
Ted Gillum concluded the show members and guests present. The had us laughing with a rabbit/duck member Fitch Cheney. Five cards
with a mentalism routine. Four assembly welcomed its two newest silk. We thought it was a rabbit were chosen by a spectator. Dana’s
spectators were asked to select members, Jerry Schiowitz and but he turned it around to a duck assistant Steve Wronker handed
both an envelope and a chair on Paul Kafig. After a short business (a lame duck for sure). Joe amazed him four of the cards and Dana
stage. When the envelopes were meeting, we then proceeded to the us with his Color Deception disks. was able to name the fifth. Dana
opened, they each contained a festivities of the evening. Each Michael Wald had us all guessing and Steve then taught the trick to
prediction that matched the chair member was to perform a magic with Bill Goldman’s Invisible everyone. Dan Sclare revisited his
the same spectator had chosen. effect and teach it to the rest of Deck routine. A spectator chose a rope trick from last month wherein
The spectators were then asked to the club. John Chumsae did three card from the make-believe deck he was able to link two ropes while
randomly move to different seats, wonderful card tricks. John Cain and Mike picked from the real one. his back was turned. This time,
and Ted revealed another predic- performed the cut and restored It was the Four of Diamonds. He however, he was able to un-link
tion with the second seating order. handkerchief as well as a rope then continued with a Dai Vernon them behind his back as well.
After the formal show, Mike effect. John Kelly amazed us with face-up or face-down card trick. Finally, Pat Guida showed
Squires planned to teach a trick several routines including his self- Joe Bednar ended the night with a group of cards to Dan, who
only using five red cards. Unfor- coloring picture effect. One new his mission statement, by changing mentally picked one. Pat then
tunately, the cards kept changing member Jerry Schiowitz, did a silk a Chinese coin to American coin had Dan silently spell the name
one-by-one into black cards! production while our other new and then back again. The pizza of the card while dealing. Pat
Eventually Mike gave up when he member, Paul Kafig, performed a was all eaten and the raffle was read Dan’s mind and was able to
showed that all of the cards were Chop Cup routine and a great card won. Some magic was sold and name the card. Plus, the card itself
now black. effect. George Lawton did a very some magic was given. Now time was the next card in the deck.
Paul Seigel invited three spec- nice version of Starkle. Dennis to go home and relive all our fun, —Dana Ring
tators to make three specific Pimenta did the torn and restored only to come back and do it again. Assembly 21 meets at Angelo’s
choices, eventually narrowing newspaper effect. —Karen Gibson On Main 289 South Main Street
down the selection of a famous We also had a silent auction from Dr. I.R. Caulkins Assembly #17 West Hartford, CT Dana Ring
person to Eleanor Roosevelt. Paul some of the items that belonged to meets the first Friday of every [email protected] (860) 5239888
then reached into an envelope, our dearest broken wand Al Russo. month at 7 pm at the Grande www.ctmagic.org
revealing an image of none other Nine out of the twelve items sold. Meadows Tennis Club, Dwight
than Eleanor Roosevelt, albeit a
baby picture of her!
Richard Schmidt displayed three
The evening ended with some
delicious strawberry shortcake
provided by Peter Lentros. As
Road,

charter.net
East

(413)
Longmeadow,
MA Tom Gentile tdgmagic@
533-7653
22 CLOSE-UP
COMPETITION 

bottles of colored liquid – red, usual another great evening of www.assembly17.org Los Angeles, CA— Compe-
yellow, and blue. One by one, magic and camaraderie was had tition for the assembly close-up
Richard poured each of the liquids
into a metal bucket, thus mixing
the contents together. Richard
by all in attendance at the Magic
Barn. Until we meet again…
—John Bryant
21 Back to
School
trophy was the program for the
September 19 meeting of the
Southern California Assembly.
then reached into the bucket with a Assembly 16 meets first Monday Hartford, CT— The theme This Assembly has a long history
plastic cup and removed only one of each month at 7PM at the Magic was magic with back-to-school of awarding a variety of trophies
colored liquid. He then separated Barn in Ashland MA (except July supplies. Rick St. Pierre showed at the annual awards and instal-
out the other two, showing an and Augustt). Dennis Pimenta different colored highlighters lation banquet to those members
empty bucket in the end. [email protected] (508) 883 plus blank cards, a board, and a who have excelled in various per-
Brian O’Neill selected Jeff 3575 www.sam16.com large knife. One card was marked formance categories. Before the
Hallberg and Mike Squires to help with a marker and shuffled into show began, assembly president

NOVEMBER 2011 13
ASSEMBLY NEWS
Jim Callen conducted a short being divined using a special disk scripts go into various presenta- magic so compelling to magicians.
business meeting to take care of adorned with Chinese characters. tions, the best of which was by Many of those attending noted
those matters that needed to be The evening concluded with the Mohamed Bey. Street magicians what originally attracted them
attended to. Recent member James auction of a very nice magic per- often use a nickel plated version to cards. There was also dialog
Wilson received his new member formance table built by member from Supreme Magic. It is good regarding the three moves most
package. Dick Shafer and donated by him to for ring and string penetration. essential in card magic. The
Michael Perovich was the the assembly. Henry Springer was —Carol Garrett consensus was the double lift,
producer of the close-up program/ the high bidder and lucky winner Atlanta Society of Magicians, the break, and the false cut. An
show. Mike also emceed the show of this nicely made table. Julian V. Boehme/Walter S. Bell important observation made by
and managed witty, clever and Southern California Assembly 22 Assembly #30 meets the second Dee Saul is that card magic is like
truly funny introductions for each meets the 3rd Monday each month Thursday at Picadilly Cafeteria, playing a guitar. It is easy to play
performer. The first performer at 8:00 P.M., St. Thomas Moore I-85 & North Druid Hills Rd. Web it poorly, but is very difficult and
was John Engman, who used a Parish Hall, 2510 So. Fremont site: http://www.sam30atlanta.org takes much practice to play it well.
bright green shoelace to perform Ave., Alhambra, CA Information: The other magicians who
a nice knot tying routine and
a ring and string routine. Matt
213/382-8504
31 Amazing Card
Magic at Harry
performed included Sean Hull,
David Lee, Jay Newby, Joe Scott,
Savin was next, reminiscing
about early Magic Castle days and
being taught a four Ace trick by
30 What Ellis? Riser Assembly #31

Indianapolis, IN— More

Don Miller, and Barry Rice.
—Dale Benson
SAM #31 meets the first Monday
Dai Vernon. Matt performed the Atlanta, GA— MC Debbie than twenty magicians of all ages of the month at 7:00 pm unless
effect nicely, using Kings instead Leifer introduced our first made it to the combined S.A.M. there is a conflict with a holiday
of Aces. The third performer, performer of the evening, Dan Assembly 31 and IBM Ring 10 weekend. Unless otherwise
Henry Springer, cleverly tied Garrett. Dan performed the new September meeting, which was announced the meeting location
together a series of card and coin effect, SloMotion [reviewed by held at The Forum retirement is the Irvington United Methodist
effects into a smoothly performed Dan in this month’s Informed center so that Harry Riser could Church, 10 Audubon Road on
routine. Doug Slater, a frequent Opinion]. All were astonished. be in attendance. the east side of the city. See our
Magic Castle performer, was next. Joe Turner followed up that The theme was favorite card website for details: www.sam31.
Doug did a card packet effect, X brilliant display with a variation tricks. As you can imagine, nearly com. Steve Spence sspence@
Marks the Spot, with an X on a of Elmsley’s Between Your Palms, everyone had a favorite card mediationalternative.
card becoming a round spot. Doug moving playing cards back in time. routine – except for a few hard com (317) 507-4534
also did a matrix effect with dice Let’s do the Time Warp again! and fast coin guys! Ten magicians www.sam31.com
and concluded with a Chop Cup Mal Simpson performed an performed and we saw everything
effect using a crushed dollar bill
and a bright red cup. At this point,
an intermission was scheduled for
exercise in empathy. Using two
decks of cards, he matched three
selections made by a spectator.
from the classic Curry’s Out of
This World presented by George
Nataros to a Stinky Card Trick
35 LET’S TALK ABOUT
TRICKS

all to enjoy the buffet of foods, Jim Mangham showed us an created by Taylor Martin. Dee Poughkeepsie, NY— Our
treats and beverages provided by Aldo Colombini rope trick with Saul did a variation of Larry Jen- September meeting began with
hospitality chairwoman Corrine jumping knots and a knot that nings’s Invisible Palm, but added Joe Quitoni leading a Broken
Murphy. changed color, becoming a part coins to the card effect. Signifi- Wand Ceremony for Peter White,
of the rope. Jim passed out cantly, out of the ten card routines, owner of P&A Silks. Over the
sample ropes and taught there was only one “pick a card” years, Peter attended many of
the trick to the assembly. trick. our meetings, lectured on several
Gene Hendrix performed occasions, and gave advice to
cups and balls with paper many of our assembly members,
cups and wadded dollar past and present. After discuss-
bills as the balls. At the end ing a number of upcoming local
he displayed his cardboard shows, we were dazzled by our
sign proclaiming that he guest lecturer, Joshua Jay, who
would perform cups and gave us two hours of incredible
balls for tips. effects.
Merritt Ambrose Joshua began the meeting with
performed magic with a Hitchcock, a wonderful effect with
glass and a walnut. He put the torn corners of cards ending up
Bill Yamane, Michael Mezmer, Henry the glass under an English Harry Riser (far right) enjoys a in unlikely places. Able assistants
Springer, Michael Perovich, Doug Slater, pea can, tapped it with card routine performed by Joe Ariel Stein, Terry Morgan, Derrin
Matt Savin, John Engman, his magic spoon, and the Scott and Barry Rice Berger, and Kevin Manning helped
and John Richmond
walnut appeared in the with this knock-out effect. Joshua
covered glass. A highlight of the evening was stunned us with his handling of
The show resumed with Bill Rick Hinze performed a three Harry Riser, our club’s namesake, Troy Hoosier’s Charming Chinese
Yamane performing several card card monte by propping the cards teaching us several one-handed Challenge. Ariel assisted again
effects and concluded with Marc against ketchup bottles (what else routines. Harry is recovering from with a devious watch prediction
DeSouza’s Die of Destiny. John in a cafeteria). I think Rick was his stroke and is still working on effect. Derrin and Frank Monaco
Richmond then demonstrated a channeling Juan Tamariz during regaining function in his left arm found a dollar transported to
series of simple tabletop puzzlers. his performance. John Miller had and hand. Thus, he has developed Joel Zaritsky’s wallet in Bill to
Closing the show was Michael a card selected then performed right-handed routines. He taught Anywhere. Kevin helped again
Mezmer, one of our professional psychochronotelekenesis – who us the right thumb break and dem- with Transporter. We were amazed
performers, in oriental style attire knows? Anyway, the card on the onstrated other lessons in smooth all over again by Any Card at Any
and using “The Mysteries of the table changed colors and turned card handling. As always, Harry’s Number. Joshua finished up the
Orient” as a theme for his props over of its own accord. teaching was clear, to the point, evening with an amazing three-
and his performance. Michael Our Professional Development and interspersed with interest- coin effect. We all learned a very
did a grandmother’s necklace was presented by Rick Hinze. ing and relevant stories from his effective coin vanish – provided
type effect using chopsticks Rick introduced us to the Jardine magic career. you remembered to bring a coin
and tassel cords and concluded Ellis ring, which is a brass ring There was enlightening discus- from home. If you have the oppor-
with a mentally selected number with a shell. Several old manu- sion regarding what makes card tunity to see Joshua lecture, it’s

14 M-U-M Magazine
 ASSEMBLY NEWS
King Trick, and Paul Amerson Benson Bowl Routine. Until next held a very special contest at our
wowed us with the Hollywood time, Sayonara! See you at the September meeting. The challenge
Squares. Drake Stanton did his diner. – Lou Johnson was to perform an act, a routine,
awarding-winning act, the Mul- L.I. Mystics Assembly 77 meets an effect, or a set that lasted five
tiplying Coca Cola Bottles, and at 7:30PM on the second Monday minutes. The only judge was the
Doug Gorman performed Mutanz of the month at The Community timer – the person coming closest
by Bob Farmer and Roy Walton. United Methodist Church. to five minutes was declared the
Dwayne Stanton donned his For more information, check winner.
Superman Cape and entertained www.limystics.org. Joe Caffall’s rope routine
us with Lucky Dip by Wayne included the Hunter Bow Knot
Dobson, and Don Moravits did a
card effect called Quadruple Co-
incidence. At the conclusion of the
88 The Colombini
Farewell Tour
Lecture
and a Cut and Restored Rope,
along with a few laughs. Hugh
McDonald performed The Spider-
Joshua Jay Performs performances, door prize winners Man Elastic Five-Minute Card
were Doug Gorman and Drake Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, MI— Miracle, which included a variety
time well spent. Thanks to Joshua Stanton. Aldo and Rachel Colombini gave of effects. Sy Hoff had a spectator
Jay for once again visiting our club Brother John Hamman Assembly a fantastic lecture! Aldo, with his selected at random and asked him
and inspiring us to be our best. 52 meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first rough, funny, Italian accent and to think of any card. After some
—Craig Kunaschk Thursday of the month at La Rachel, with her softer, smooth Q&A leading to a word joke, he
Al Baker Assembly No. 35 Madeleine Restaurant, located at English accent, make an excellent used a jumbo deck to reveal his
(usually) meets at 7:30 p.m. on the 722 N.W. Loop 410. The restaurant comedy team. prediction of the chosen card.
second Tuesday of the month at the is inside Loop 410 on the access Their magic routines were fairly Alan Leeds showed us a rope
Milanese Italian Restaurant, 115 road between Blanco Rd. and simple, yet very effective. routine with some very nice moves
Main Street, Poughkeepsie, NY. San Pedro. For more information, This was their last lecture tour, and the Silk To Egg effect. John
compumagic.com/sam35 contact [email protected]. though they will still do magic Jones performed a coin routine in
and lectures at different conven- which a silver coin and a copper

52 Science
Fiction Magic 77 Double Whammy
at the L.I. Mystics
tions around the world. Rachel
is in need of rest from the heart
surgery she had back in November
coin went through several changes
and transpositions.
Hugh, at 5:02 was the winner,
SAN ANTONIO, TX— Long Island, NY— The and Aldo just isn’t staying as with Joe a very close second.
September 8, 2011, Brother John Long Island Mystics kicked off young as he’d like. Their love of To start the regular perfor-
Hamman Assembly 52 held its our new season with not one but magic is obvious, as Rachel stated mance part of the meeting, Arthur
monthly meeting at Hung Fong two lectures in our first meeting at the close of the lecture: “When Hastings had a card selected and
Chinese Restaurant. President for 2011-2012. Up first was some you do magic, for a few minutes shown around. The card was
Joe Libby called the meeting to close-up magic for all levels by or sometimes a half hour, you can returned to a small packet. Arthur
order. We had eighteen people in magician and author Joshua Jay. asked series of questions, and the
attendance, including members, From his opening line with a triple spectator could lie or tell the truth,
wives, and guests. Welcome whammy called Hitchcock, he as Arthur spelled the answer to
to the Garcia Family: Nick, Erika, held us spellbound. Timeless just each in order to eliminate some
Nickoll, Brayan, and Sharon. This made our jaws drop...twice, once cards. In this way he eliminated all
meeting was moved to a new date for the presentation and once for the cards except the one selected.
and location, for this month only, the method. He closed with some The four packets of eliminated
due to the recent TAOM Conven- of his time-tested repertoire before cards each had one of the four
tion. Paul Mims, Dealer Chairman the dealer break. His offerings Aces. Ken Gielow also had a card
of the TAOM 2011, thanked those were slim...and powerful! selected and shown around, then
present who volunteered their time The second half was blazing with returned to the deck. After failing
at the TAOM convention, and he Voodoo followed by his version of to find the card by sleight of hand,
recognized those local magicians Card at Any Number. Josh even Aldo and Rachel Colombini he put the deck on the floor and
who performed and competed at segued to handle the question, magically caused it to cut itself to
the convention: Drake Stanton, “What if things go wrong?” Jay’s transport them to a world where the selected card. Hugh McDonald
Tori Stanton, Mark Travis, and Jim response, “If you know about it they can forget about all their stepped up again and asked if
Cox, who competed in the close-up and they don’t, you are in control.” cares and all their troubles, and for anyone had any spare chains
contest; Joe Libby, Cody Sanders, When Joshua made three coins a few moments you’ll have them in (funny because it sounded like
and Patty Winkler, who competed vanished leaving his hands empty, the palm of your hand.” She also “change” when he said it). He did
in the Stage Competition; Don our hands became full of applause said it’s not about the method, it’s some linking of the links (based
Moravits, who performed a Gospel (and tricks to talk about!) about the effect, that and done on a Jay Sankey effect). Claiming
Church Service; and Ed Solomon, Fast forward to the following in combination with enthusi- to be the last alchemist, he then
who performed and was honored Monday, our doors opened for asm will produce the best magic! produced a gold ball. Then the
in the Bizarre Show. another lecture. We said, “Kon- —Randy A. Smith ball got bigger, became transpar-
Congratulations to S.Y.M. nichiwa” to our magic liaison Hank Moorehouse Assembly 88 ent, and vanished. —Joe Caffall,
member Drake Stanton for taking of Japan and columnist, Steve meets 2nd WEDNESDAY 7PM Secretary
1st place in the Jr. Close-Up com- Marshall. What tricks did he teach? Faith Lutheran Church, 1255 E Assembly 94 meets at 7:30 PM
petition with his Multiplying Coca They were all from his “Asian As- Forest Ave, Ypsilanti, MI. Randy on the second Monday of each
Cola Bottles. tonishments” column in M-U-M. A. Smith, Phone:313-562-3875 month. At this time, our meeting
Tonight’s theme was Science Dig out those back issues for Email randy.remarkable@gmail. location varies from month to
Fiction Magic, and starting off some goodies with rubber bands, com or visit www.aamagic.org for month. Email jocaff@pacbell.
the performances was Joe Libby, playing cards, (Diamond Twist more details. net for current info. Meetings are
who revealed a thought-of card was the favorite of the night), and normally preceded by a Learners’
with the help from his cell phone.
Ray Adams provided us a choice
lemons. Lots of lemons. His table
of goodies from Japan was eye- 94 Five-Minute
Challenge
Workshop at 6:30pm.

of which two effects we liked best,

Pen Through Tongue or Head
Twister. Michael Tallon did a nice
catching and different and most of
the items have never been offered
in the US. If you ask nicely, he’ll
Silicon Valley,
Following a suggestion from
CA— 95 Fool Us

card effect that he called the Four perform his Asian influenced Eugene Burger, Assembly 94 Vancouver, Canada—

NOVEMBER 2011 15
ASSEMBLY NEWS
favorite Joshua Jay. To say he Pom-Pom Pole, and a prediction Markus Clegg is running the
was fantastic would be an un- involving a tongue twister. CIMA Facebook page and keeping
derstatement. Joshua introduced Bob Holdridge was the first it nice and lively with posts and
new effects, including a knockout person to perform during our discussions on a number of topics.
stopped watch trick that took evening Comedy Magic show. Markus Clegg is working through
everyone by surprise and a clever He successfully predicted that the Tarbell Volume I on YouTube. You
bill to spectator’s wallet. He also Jack of Hearts would be selected can find him there at “Magic By
demonstrated refreshed handlings using a Jumbo Comic Prediction Markus.” He has some really nice
of some of his more classic effects, card inside of a flashy envelope. videos up.
including his three-coin vanish. Scott Alcalay followed with a Chris Bontjes gave us our book
Joshua will always be a highly rec- comedy Torn-and-Restored-Nap- review with How To Live To Be
Shawn Farquhar amazes club ommended visitor on the lecture kin effect. 100 by John Calvert. He even got it
members. circuit. Magical Nathaniel then signed by Mr. Calvert on his 100th
This year’s SAMCON will performed his original effect birthday. How cool is that?
Congratulations to Assembly be held at a new location: The using Rubik’s Cube. Roy Porfido JR opened the magic for the
95’s FISM Grand Prix World Peabody Marriott, 8A Centennial helped him by having him move evening with his Rope To Flag,
Champion Shawn Farquhar on Drive, Peabody, Massachusetts, the cube from its solved state Mouth Coils, Change Bags,
fooling Penn and Teller on their twenty-seven times. Using some Multiplying Candy Box, and
TV show, Fool Us. Shawn stunned Rubik’s Cube trading cards, the Candy Bars Across. Professor
volunteer Penn and the London seemingly random format that Roy Higgins shared his Sprites for
audience with his FISM award- determined for the cube actually Dinner routine. Chris Bontjes
winning signed card to sealed matched the exact pattern on each performed Three Chinese Coin
deck card act. Shawn was the first of the six cards, one side at a time. Trick similar to a copper/silver/
act on and the first to fool Penn & Ric Ewing was next. Using brass effect. Andy Dallas showed
Teller that episode. The September Rudy Adamek’s cell phone, Ric us his Ghost Card and an Empty
2011 meeting was held at the home explained that even though cell Box that sounds like something is
of Jens Henriksen in Crescent phones and cameras all seem to be in it when shaken. Markus did his
Beach. Starting off the evening of digital these days, it is still possible rendition of 3 Fly and Jim Percy
levitations was Ray Roch with his to use film to amaze an audience. ended the evening with his Triple
Moola Money Maker presentation Joshua Jay wakes up the crowd. He somehow used a blank piece Impact. —Ken Barham
ending with a levitation of a $5.00 of film to superimpose a selected Assembly 120, Champaign, IL –
bill. Rod Chow performed Dick with all invited to the annual card onto a digital picture of Rudy Andy Dallas Assembly meets the
Barry’s Energizer Bunny Electric Open House the following day at Adamek on Rudy’s iPhone. third Wed. 7pm, (except Nov. and
Straw levitation. Lon Mandrake Diamond’s Magic, in Peabody. It’s And Jerry Barrilleaux, receiving Dec.) For location call Jim Percy at
successfully attempted a Balducci an unforgettable treat. Informa- a helping hand from Kara Ewing, 217-494-2222 or Ken Barham Sec,
Levitation. Dennis Hewson did tion on SAMCON and on Witch transported a jar of peanut butter 2318 Winchester Dr, Champaign,
a card levitation. Henry Tom City SAM Assembly 104 can from Kara’s hand to Jerry’s table IL 61821 Phone: 217-841-5616
showed us an impromptu rising be found at www.sam104.com. and then back again before turning Email: [email protected]
card. Shawn Farquhar showed us —Bob Forrest the peanut butter into a jar of jelly.
a prototype of his new hotel key
card routine, and finished with
a demonstration of a yet another
Witch City Assembly 104 meets
the first Wednesday of each month,
7 p.m., at the First Baptist Church
Rod McFadden then proceeded
to demonstrate what he called his
Dervous Nixlexia with a series of
127 Lecture by
Steven Marshall

beautiful card routine themed to of Salem, 292 Lafayette Street, tongue twisters that ended up with Wallingfort, CT— The
music. —Rod Chow Salem, Massachusetts. Secretary, the bawdy naming of a selected September meeting was short
The Carl Hemeon Assembly No. Bob Forrest captainalbrightsq1@ card. Next, Zappo demonstrated a because, everyone was eager to
95 meets the first Tuesday of each comcast.net (339) 227-0797 Card Warp routine. start the lecture. The September
month at members’ homes. Rod www.sam104.com Bob Holdridge returned to the 20th meeting was called to order
Chow [email protected] (604) stage, and Kara was pressed into by President Chick Kelman at 7:10
669-7777 www.sam95.com
112 Comedy
Magic Night
service as the volunteer yet again.
As Kara thought of the Queen
p.m. in Wallingford, CT.
A short NEMCON report was

104 A Magical
Season Begins Concord, CA— After Kara
Ewing won the attendance reward
of Clubs, it mysteriously faded
out inside a large envelope into a
blank card leaving the other three
given by Bill Hoagland and he said
we have booked Nathan Kranzo,
Banachek, and David Acer for
Salem, MA— The new season drawing, Bob Steiner did the Trick Queens without their sister. NEMCON 2012, with a few more
and the fun began early, as always, of the Month. Bob succinctly The evening ended on a high surprises to come.
with our beloved Len Lazar con- explained what makes magic point. Jerry Barrilleaux did an We didn’t have performers this
ducting the pre-meeting Bill tricks magic and demonstrated absolutely splendid workshop on month; we had a lecture from
Towne School of Magic. Among the principles in his mini-lecture ventriloquism. He did a complete Steven Marshall. Steve writes a
other effects Len offered a killer, by performing the Stroop Effect, lecture on the subject, even column in M-U-M that is non-card
impromptu card rise. Paper Balls Over the Head, the showing his vent figure’s inner magic. His lecture was from things
The meeting that followed workings. —Larry Wright he has put in that M-U-M column,
included former member John Diablo Assembly 112 meets and a few of his own items. We
McLaughlin’s return to Assembly third Wednesdays at the learned how he got to Japan,
104 and the valiant induction of Round Table Pizza in Concord, where he lives now. He started out
new member Eric Robitaille by California Doug Kovacich working for Disney and moved to
injured President Bill Jensen. DouglasstheMagicman@hotmail. Disney in Japan when the position
Exciting progress on our Saturday, com (925) 435-4824 http:// was available. We basically
November 5, SAMCON con- sam112.com/ learned some very good magic
vention was reported on by our
producer, Steve “Doc” Rogers.
Doc confirmed the roster of Shawn
120 Magic by
Members
that we could make ourselves, or
he had some of it to purchase that
night. It was a fun night; on top of
Farquhar, David Regal, Ken Scott, Jerry Barrilleaux shows inner Champaign, IL— Bob Kirby all of that he had a film crew there,
and Royal Sorell. workings of Reggie, is looking into setting up a PACE and they were filming a documen-
Our lecturer was returning his vent. benefit show for us. tary for him about his life and

16 M-U-M Magazine
 ASSEMBLY NEWS
a sword thru the neck. Hunter the Fort Worth Magicians Club Beaver, PA— The Mystic
“volunteered” to be his victim. featured the Allied Arts and Tag- Magicians of Beaver Valley,
After some great by-play, the A-Magic. Various members gave Assembly 157, elected the officers
trick worked as planned and reviews of the recent TAOM for 2011-2012 and swore them in.
no one was hurt. James Alcon convention in San Antonio. We There are to be several lectures
followed with an explanation of held officer elections – results in the area that several members
the Bermuda Triangle. Showing will be posted on our Web site. are planning on attending. John
a quantity of pennies, they were We then began the first theme Hromada placed first in close-up
assembled into a triangle with of the evening – the Allied Arts. and stage at a competition he
thirteen coins in each “leg.” When Doug Wilson shared his passion recently attended in Kentucky.
Steve Marshalll with a perfect a coin was added to any stack, the for wood carving and showed us Amber Liggett won first place in
prediction. total in each line still remained a cane that he carved. Doug also the regional competition in June
at thirteen. James had a card carves beautiful wands. Libby for National Business Entrepre-
adventures in Japan and the U.S. chosen and placed the deck into Sharpe shared one of her mari- neurial Competition for Youth and
—William Hoagland a paper bag and mixed. Blowing onettes and juggling with dragon is now competing in the National
Assembly 127 meetings are held up a balloon dog, the dog went sticks. David Thomason showed in October. Plans were made for an
third Tuesday of the month. We into the bag and came out with it us a book of his photography, auction/flea market for November.
meet at Libero Pensiero Society in between his legs. James followed focusing on clowns and magic Tom Chidester emceed the
Wallingford, CT. with a quick Chop Cup routine. themes. Geoff Grimes showed us performances. Don Moody did
—James Alcon an example of his interest in video Chameleon Block, which he

128 A Lot
of Magic
Alcon’s Gate City Wizards,
Assembly # 128 meets the last
Tuesday of the month at 1207
production. Rick Burcher played
the harmonica and brought his
Stradivarius musical saw for us to
made from plans in an old magic
magazine. It uses a block with
different colors on each side and a
Greensboro, NC— We had Westminster Drive, Greensboro, look at. Christopher Lyle is a very tube. Colors on the block change
a good turnout at the August NC 7:30 pm phone 852-4596 skilled balloon artist and twisted magically when covered with the
meeting. Allen Elster led off the up a great balloon hat. tube. Jim Weyand showed a blue
evening’s magic talking about
subliminal messaging. Showing
eight blue-backed cards, he had
129 Barry Mitchell
Lecture
Next we played Tag-A-Magic,
in which one person starts by
performing a trick and then tags
and a yellow rubber band that he
wove around his thumb. When he
took hold of one color, it came off
a spectator choose one and think Pensacola, FL— The another person to get up and intact.
of it. When Noah revealed the Gulf Coast Magicians Guild’s perform. President Bill Irwin Eric Davis entertained with some
chosen card, Allen showed that September meeting was called to started off with an amusing magic shoehorn comedy. He then did two
he had “forced” Noah to choose order at 6:30 p.m., fifteen minutes square and a haunted key routine. card tricks. Ray Lucas had a par-
that card…only that card had a earlier than our regular meeting His magic square routine was a ticipant choose a card and place
red back. All the other cards were time so we could host the Berry comedy gift that kept on giving it back in the deck, which was
shown to have blue backs! Mitchell lecture. throughout the rest of the evening! shuffled. Ray picked the wrong
Tony Econ followed with some President Nathan Nickerson Geoff Grimes showed us his color card several times and pulled a
of his expert card magic. He had conducted a brief business changing knives trick. John Hat- hanky from pocket. It had the
Marrisa Peacock take two cards, meeting; topics were on our zenbuhler performed an amusing chosen card printed on it.
the King of Hearts and the King upcoming events – a public show little trick with a paper stick man Rich Howard performed the
of Diamonds and while she held and our awards banquet. Info can being shot out of a straw canon. Burmese Swinging Bells; when
one, it turned into an indifferent be found in upcoming newsletters Bob Utter shared an interesting the color above a bell was chosen,
card. Tony showed the Kings were and on our new blog. number trick in which a seemingly that bell started to swing. Merlin
in his pocket…not in either his or Special Thanks to Betty Broomall random number was chosen and Oldham performed his second
her hands! Tony also showed four and Joan Moody for taking care of he revealed a prediction that trick for membership. He did
Aces and placed them onto the the refreshment table and to all matched the number. Larry Heil patter about grandkids, ADD,
table face-down. When turned who brought all the goodies, Isaac performed the very mysterious and how a belt worked instead of
face-up, they had changed into the Brady for handling the raffle ticket Claw of Destiny tarot card trick. drugs. He presented four cards,
four Kings. sales, Nathan Nickerson and Dale Ash Adams performed his rope three Threes and a Queen. He
Visitor Hunter Sandlin was in Bosarge for conducting the raffle, of mystery routine and an inter- then tied in his first patter in with
attendance for the second month and to all who continue to support esting bar bet. The other Ash in picking the Queen. No matter how
and showed his expertise with the club. the club shared a card trick. Mike the cards were arranged, it always
coins. Showing four silver dollars, The Barry Mitchell lecture Rubino performed a pick-a-card turned up a Three.
he counted them one-at-a-time was a huge success; all who trick in which the chosen card Jim Tate performed a rope trick
into his other hand. One coin attended came away with some became a burned image on his with a story about Harry Houdini
traveled invisibly to his previ- valuable info and some cool arm after doing Smoke by Alan and the mystery of the long and
ously shown empty pocket. Then new toys! Thanks Barry for Rorrison. Al Fox performed a card short rope. Trent Rapp did some
the others joined the first coin. sharing your ideas with us. calling routine. Mark Miertschin comedy one-liners. He showed
We even heard one of the coins For those of you that could not shared his ring on chain routine. his watch and that it was running.
drop when it arrived! Erik Dobell make it, I am sorry! It is a must see Nathan Himes ended a fast paced He turned the stem and showed it
followed by borrowing a twenty- lecture. —Bill Metsch and fun evening with the Grey stopped at 9:25, and then showed
dollar bill, folded it, and placed The Gulf Coast Magicians Guild Elephants in Denmark math/mind it again and the hands were gone.
it into a coin envelope. Mixing Assembly 129 meets the 3rd trick with some interesting verbal —Judy Steed
several other envelopes with the Thursday of the month at the Bay equivoque. —Al Fox Assembly 157 Mystics meet the
first, he commented that all had View Senior Center, Pensacola, Meets on the first Thursday of each second Thursday of every month
a piece of paper in them so they Florida. At 6:45 pm. Nathan month at 7:00 P.M. at the Tarrant at the Towne Square Restaurant in
all felt the same when handled. Nickerson nate@nathannickerson. County College River Campus. Beaver, PA.
He had envelopes eliminated com www.gulfcoastmagic.com for t wor th magiciansclub@
one-at-a-time until only one was
left. Handing the envelope out,
the twenty was removed and 138 Allied Arts &
Tag-a-Magic
hotmail.com
www.fortworthmagiciansclub.org 161 Chris Capehart
Lecture

Erik mentally divined the serial

number on the bill.
Noah Gray tried his hand with
Ft. Worth,
September, 2011
TX— The
meeting of
157 Elections,
Lectures, and
Awards 
SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ—
September starts our year of
lectures and magic. After a two

NOVEMBER 2011 17
ASSEMBLY NEWS
month vacation our magicians met his famous three-ring routine - it & rings, the nine-penny trick, and Richard Gustafson, the namesake
in the dining room of the Stage was astonishing. a wine cork trick. Each came out of our assembly had suggested that
House Restaurant for dinner and If you have the opportunity smoothly, went back into its own we concentrate more on teaching
catching up. Our President Doug to have master magician Chris ticket pocket, leaving the real each other magic at our meetings;
Thornton started the meeting with Capehart lecture for your assembly pocket empty for normal use. He we’re off to a good start.
announcements and presenting you will be treated to detailed in- then proceeded to test drive his We had about eighteen attendees
the awards to our 2011 competi- struction and performance theory, new Stocking Stuffer effect (also at our September meeting, which is
tion winners: 1st Place Guru Sub- which is guaranteed to inspire you produced by Larry) in which seven more than our total paid member-
ramanian, 2nd Place Christopher for years to come! volunteers with stockings on their ship last year. In addition, sixteen
Smith, 3rd Place Gene Soucek, We invite you to join us for fingers are eliminated via the people paid their dues at this first
Fourth Place (tie) Bob Simek and next lecture, when the magical PATEO (Point At Two, Eliminate meeting! This has never happened
pitchman Al Callus will visit. One) force to find the one stocking in the history of this assembly!
—Christopher J. Smith with a present. The others had I think that we’re in for a good
David Copperfield Assembly chocolate coal. It worked deli- year, because there are still a few
#161 meets the second Monday ciously. people that we hope to bring back
; Stage House Restaurant 366 Ideas were shared and learned into the fold. One member was not
Park Avenue Scotch Plains, and gave us all new tricks for the able to attend. Professor REM had
NJ 07076 Assembly Web Site: holidays. a stroke/stomach blockage and
www.sam161.org SAM Assembly 170 is the Pikes has been in the hospital for over a
Peak Prestidigitators and meets month. We all send our best wishes

170 Holiday
Magic
4th Tuesday monthly at Sand
Creek Police Dept Community
Room - 4125 Center. Park Dr.,
for a strong recovery. —ERYX
SAM Assembly 181 of Hight-
stown, NJ meets the first Thursday
Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO 80916 of the month at the United
CO — Jubilant PNP Mark Methodist Church, 187 Stockton

Chris Capehart
Weidhaas gave a quick report
on the national convention in
Pittsburg and handed out associ-
181 Magic with
Organic Objects
Street, Hightstown, NJ (That’s
NJTPK EXIT 8) Check our web
site at: magicsam181.com for more
Doug Thornton. ated posters and pins. We’ll send Hightstown, NJ— We info.
Norm Rosen then spoke about Dick Bowman to represent us started another magic year at
the great work our members do
by performing magic at local
hospitals for various patients and
at New Orleans and will plan to
attend the 2012 Las Vegas Con-
vention. An October magic show
Assembly 181 with a workshop
conducted by our new president
Stephan Sloan. The subject was
194 The Pitchman
Pitches a Strike

veterans. A number of certificates will support the proposed SAM magic with organic objects. This Yonkers, NY— At our
of recognition were presented. National Magic Center in Parker is further defined to be props September Meeting (our first since
Next the President talked about Colorado. An existing facility is that don’t look like magic props, June), a gathering of over fifteen
his trip to Magic Live in Las available for a song and we are but instead look like things a members and guests were treated
Vegas and the opportunity to singing that tune in support. person might have with him in to an unusual lecture by Al Kallus,
spend a little time with our very Mark’s “Inspector Magic” led his pockets, wallet, briefcase, The Magical Pitchman. As good as
own David Copperfield (recently off the holiday magic theme etc. Steve displayed a plethora of his magic was, his story line was
named “King of Magic” by the with his Halloween “Frankly products and demonstrated a few even better. Al started perform-
national S.A.M.). Doug was an Fun” show. Mark demonstrated of them. He performed Sugar Rush ing magic as a kid, but reality set
honored guest at David’s museum the “Mr. Bones” that rearranges and Photo Synthesis, a couple of in as a young adult so he founded
and magical warehouse. Doug the skeleton blocks in a closet. currently hot products. He also and ran his own ad agency for
shared his experience with us For Christmas, this effect was showed us a change bag that he forty-eight years. After he retired
along with a nice collection of changed to a homemade “Santa in had fabricated out of a couple of he returned to magic and resur-
photos. My favorite picture has a Chimney” effect. Starburst bags. He had also printed rected his pitchman act and was
David Copperfield levitating Doug Herkamere’s Prediction is Larry up a deck of lottery cards that were invited by Bill Wisch to perform
about three feet off the ground. Mahan’s innovative product in extremely well crafted and were it at a Metro Magic gathering. The
After all of this very exciting which his favorite elf successfully an update of an Annemann effect. act provides an entertaining sales
information, our lecturer, award predicts a volunteer’s free choice Steve is a salesman
winning Chris Capehart was in- of Christmas symbols. Larry of auto body supplies
troduced to a hearty round of noted other holidays could also and often performs the
applause. Chris spoke to us about use this colorful three-way out quick pocket effects
his life experiences as a street system. for his customers.
performer, close-up, and stage New member Larry Scott A number of other
magician. He taught us the impor- bravely performed a silks routine members performed
tance of crowd control, and how at his first meeting. Dick Bowman effects they use. We
to keep everyone’s attention. He showed his Heads or Tails coin all got a full routine
also gave us some of his personal trick in which he predicts which of the Color Changing
secrets on how to fill your hat to coin each of two volunteers will Knives by Bruce
the brim with each performance. be holding. Langrock. Bruce
Thirty-five years in magic has also Dave Wintermute reported carries his knife set and
given him some quick comeback he’s started experimenting with always has some magic
verbal skills that had us laughing Doc Eason’s concept of pocket to show to whomever
at his comedic magical presen- management. Doc suggested ad- he meets. This year
tations. Chris’s handling of the ditional “ticket pockets” in the our meetings will be
Miser’s Dream was one of the pants helped him produce several loosely themed around
many highlights of our night different tricks smoothly. Dave our ten workshop
together. Everyone enjoyed his gave his first experimental demon- topics. Members are
coin effects, coins across, continu- stration by pulling out a card trick, asked to flesh out the
ous coins, one in the hand two in the1 to 5 coin trick, the Devil’s theme by contribut-
the pocket, and the total vanish. Hank, Thumb & Silk, the Siberian ing an effect or two
Chris talked about and showed us Chain Escape, the magnetic thumb of their own choosing.

18 M-U-M Magazine
 ASSEMBLY NEWS
pitch that also includes magic to il- different card. juggling three very long knives. He received a standing ovation.
lustrate whatever is being sold, in Dan Kennedy presented a nice She got help from new member The feature act of the evening
this case Dr. Killums U-Sic-Um. oil and water card routine in which Rob Tarry in her unicycle act. Rob was The Action Brothers John and
In addition, Al is now doing cards were mixed and when dealt kept her afloat on the unicycle in Max, assisted by the lovely Miss
close-up and walk-around at con- out on the table they were back a very funny bit. Eddie Boswell Direction. In real life, we know
ventions and corporate functions. in original order. Chuck Kleiner followed with a nice Chop Cup this trio as Craig Sergent, Lew
Following this background, he performed a very clean matrix routine. Kent Cummins came on Newton, and Jacqueline Heinzen.
then provided a most interesting effect and taught the group the after the intermission and juggled Their set began with a version of
“inside look” at the life and tech- workings behind the effect. Bruce a variety of items, opening with the sub trunk that exchanged Miss
niques of the pitchman (now seen Meyers performed a great multiple three scarves that he pulled from D for John. When the trick was
more on television commercials silver dollar production from a a bag that changed patterns and over, they just closed her back in
than on the streets) as they had folded bill, ending with a giant colors many times. By the end of the box and pushed it off! This
worked for years in city centers, coin production. his act, Kent had juggled every- was followed by magic with rings,
carnivals, and boardwalks. He Jim Earnshaw presented a quick thing from balls to chickens. He card effects, a pantomime piece
explained the lingo they used, the coin through hand trick using a then gave us his version of “tips that involved several members
way they gathered and then held spectator’s hand. Reymarx Gerda on getting tips.” John Maverick, of the audience, a series of tricks
a crowd, the devious practices finished the evening with a multi- a long time street performer, with a spectator that was done
that gave them an edge over the card revelation in which he was closed the evening with a routine twice (once in slow motion), and
smartest observers, and illus- able to divine the color of a dozen to music that included one effect finally, a comedy levitation with
trated some of this by showing cards from a shuffled deck. —Jim after the other. He began by a surprise ending. The Action
several approaches to how the Earnshaw flipping spinning cards into a top Brothers were very creative and
Svengali deck was demonstrated Emerald City Wizards meets the hat and finished by tearing a sheet showed excellent use of music!
and sold. If you are interested 1st Thursday, 7:00pm at a King of paper and producing a long Jim Harris and Steve Haffner did
in a very entertaining and in- County Library branch, WA mouth coil. Each of the presenters a great job putting this wonderful
formative lecture on a fascinat- Jim Earnshaw jimearnshaw@ took questions after his or her act. evening together and a good time
ing part of the history of magic, comcast.net (206) 2256715 —Ron Cartlidge was had by all. —Tom Crecelius
then I encourage you to invite Al www.emeraldcitywizards.org Austin, Texas Assembly 206 Anyone wishing information
Kallus, The Pitchman to your club. meets the third Monday at about our club meetings, which are
Our next meeting will be a grand
annual auction, then another
lecture in November, followed by
206 BUSKING
MAGIC
the Omni Hotel Southpark
Southwest corner IH 35 & 290/71
West.
held at the St. Matthews Baptist
Church in Louisville. Contact:
[email protected]
our holiday party featuring Bill Austin, TX— Assembly
Wisch. —Fr. Dermot Brennan
Come and join us at the Catholic
Slovak Club on Lockwood Avenue
206 welcomed around forty-
five members and guests for its
September meeting on busking
215 Annual
Picnic 226 Going, Going,
Gone -- An
Assembly Auction
in Yonkers NY at 7:30 PM on magic. Ron Cartlidge introduced Louisville, KY— On
the third Wednesday of each new member Angel Bravo from September 10, 2011, LMC Williamsburg, VA— At
month, September through June. Killeen, Texas, and Will Mannis members and friends gathered at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, we were
Jim Stranges, Pres. magicjim1@ introduced new member Rob Sherrell Nunnelly’s home on the honored by the presence of John
optonline.net (914) 478-1473 Tarry from New York. Mike Ohio river for our annual picnic. W. Jennings, Virginia Deputy to
Gold announced that Ring 60 Sherrell lives right on the water David W. Bowers, Regional Vice

200 September
Meeting
had offered a successful bid at
T.A.O.M. to host the 2015 conven-
tion. Peter the Adequate was back
and the view is simply breath-
taking! The afternoon began
with our traditional flea market,
President for the Mid-Atlantic
region. He has been a member of
S.A.M since 1969 and hopes to
Seattle, WA— J.R. Russell from Branson, Missouri, and will highlighted this year by the sale visit all Virginia Assemblies in his
started the evening off with a nice again make Austin his home base. of longtime LMC member Jack first term. As he said in his brief
dollar bill production from a blank Paul Mims thanked members of Wilson’s equipment. Jack’s health address, “It’s always nice to put a
piece of paper. J.R. also provided the assembly who attended and is declining and he wanted to face with a name.” Thank you so
each member with a photocopy helped out at this year’s T.A.O.M. share his things with fellow magi. much for coming to see us.
to perform the effect. George in San Antonio. Dan Page gave Bob Escher and Pete Miller had The rest of the meeting was
Zuk performed a very nice coin the group information on this organized all of Jack’s stuff and devoted to an auction of magic
paradox in which he kept adding a weekend’s Doc Seaton Magic sales were brisk all around! There items of longtime members Jerry
coin to a set of coins, after which Sideshow, which will be presented was also lots of action around Blount and Jim Baker. Ninety
the number of coins remained the by the assembly at the Pecan the open close-up table that percent of the money earned from
same. John Cameron presented a Street Fall Festival on 6th Street. was set up under a big oak tree. Jerry’s items will be sent to him;
routine that can only be described Many of our members, about Ray Smerling served as our ten percent goes to the club. All
as “further.” A simple pick a card seventy, will either be performing master of ceremonies and kicked income from Jim’s effects was
trick turned into one magical (almost twenty-four) or working things off with some magic of donated to the club. We thank
effect after another, after another, as volunteers at the event. Trinity his own. Ray produces a cabaret Elaine Baker for her generos-
after another. . . Street will be named Magic Street show that you will be hearing ity. We thank Harold Wood, once
Roger Sylwester performed a for the day and the city council more about in the future. First up again, for his role as master auc-
nice version of Michael Close’s will present a proclamation this was Spencer Korcz. Decked out
“Erma” card trick built around a Thursday to honor the event. in his bright blue suit, Spencer
story about Martin Luther and the This will be a two-day event, produced his friend and fellow
Lutheran church. Hugh Castell September 24 and September 25, LMC member, Cody “Comet”
performed “the trick that is pretty for one of Austin’s biggest magic Clark and then entertained with
darn hard to explain” in which a events of the year. Chairman Dan cards, silks and sponge balls.
selected card is lost in the deck, a Page and his wife Lee have done His act included a patriotic piece
hole in punched in an indifferent a superb job of putting this event in honor of 9/11. Spencer was
card, a tag is placed through the together. Both are members of the followed by Sherrell Nunnelley,
hole, and the card is inserted back assembly. our host and dean of the Louisville
in the deck. When the person pulls Connie Leavy opened the night Magic Club. Sherrell performed
back out the tag the chosen card is on busking magic with a comedy Brainwave, a torn and restored bill Harold Wood, auctioneer,
connected to it instead of the in- performance that included trick and a monte-style card effect. displays items up for auction.

NOVEMBER 2011 19
ASSEMBLY NEWS
tioneer.
The bulk of Jerry’s treasures is
books and were not included in the
Nightmare is a dream. Keith dem-
onstrated the count and the added
“tugs” that assist in the illusion
266 SEPTEMBER
SURPRISES
balanced a fork and spoon inter-
locked together from a matchstick
hanging only from the edge of a
auction. His auction items ranged and hide a very important move Lakeland, FL— With both glass. Then Simon Carmel had a
from a pop-out snake to a ribbon from the audience by its natural our president and vice president member pick one of five coins on a
production to a lock box. Among appearance. It will fool even the away, the meeting helm fell to table when he wasn’t looking and
Jim’s items were a bunch of trick most hardened magician who does yours truly, who blasted us past had another member put that coin
cards, a break-away wand and not know this technique. After the business hijinks so we could under a cup and take away all the
other wands, oversize cards, and a the meeting, Keith held a small get to the magic. New member other coins. Simon turned around
Hindu basket of snakes. workshop to help others learn Cy’s Robert Hilferding was welcomed and correctly said which coin was
It was not only an evening of method. and inducted by Dean Bob Macey under the cup. Simon also did a
fellowship and magic but also an Scott McDonald took to the stage to our merry group of magi. disappearing coin under a napkin
evening touched with sadness in his usual flamboyant fashion After that, Bob kept Robert on trick and various others.
and nostalgia for two honored and gave his report on Dunninger’s stage and manipulated his mind Mel Panzer surprised everyone
and beloved members who are Complete Encyclopedia of Magic. by controlling his every move in a with a matchbook trick in which
no longer with us. We miss them Scott discovered one of the very card selection. Bob knew all along he lit all the matches inside at
very much. Eleven members were early descriptions of what has now what Robert was going to do. Bob once and at the end, one match
in attendance by the end of the next got Elmo Bennett to be his remained “unlit” still attached
evening. —Phil Thorp assistant for Barrie Richardson’s to the matchbook. Mel also did
Meetings are generally held at version of any card at any number, routines with various dollar bills
7pm on the 4th Wednesday of a routine that had us all baffled. changing the total dollar amounts
each month are in room 009 The acting president put down in his hand and a spectacular
(basement) of the Williams- his quill to tell a story of how he coin trick with six coins. Manny
burg Presbyterian Church at 215 started in magic and the legacy Riskin switched one small coin
Richmond Road, Williamsburg that his mentor gave him. His into a larger one while in his hand.
23185. Phil Thorp assembly226@ memories were well received by He also took a sugar packet and
gmail.com (757) 229-2329 the room. Elmo was up next with moved it back and forth with a
h t t p: //s it e s .g o og l e .c o m /s it e / a card effect that he performed for make-believe thread.
samassembly226/ Home\ James Marshall confounds with Joyce and Jim Zachary, which kept Herb Arno did a disappearing
cards. the room in stitches. saltshaker trick and then made

252 Back to
School become known as the Topsy Turvy
Bottles or the Crazy Crayons,
Before closing up shop for the
night, Al showed a phone app in
which president Obama revealed
eight coins appear one at a time
from one hand to the other. The
talented and funny Billy Byron
Fairfax, VA— Summertime which on page 280 of the Ency- the chosen card to the amused did his version of a Torn and
is over and it’s back to school. To clopedia is listed as The Mystic group. Restored napkin and ended up
start off the new school season at Bottle. Scott demonstrated the Another magical meeting from with two restored napkins. Billy
Assembly 252, “Book Reports” original premise and then showed the Lakeland wizards…come visit presented an amazing “New
were due and presented to the how when researching magic, us when you’re in central Florida. Math” trick by having a member
class. The theme book reports you may get the basic idea for an A good time is guaranteed for all. pick a number and the amount of
can take on different connotations illusion, but by thinking “outside —Al D’Alfonso cash in his pocket and at the end,
as was evident at the September the book”, you can always come Jim Zachary Assembly 266 meets was able to predict these same
gathering of the Assembly. up with ways to take the magic to the second Monday of the month two numbers using this new math.
Alan Wheeler took the stage first. the next level. at 7PM at the Lakeland I-HOP, Barry Rubin and Phil Labush
He had read two books over the Former Assembly 252 member I-4 & US 98. Al D’Alfonso both made a beautiful rose out of
summer vacation and regaled the James Marshall (visiting all the [email protected] a paper napkin. Bernie Kraus did
class with his report on Diamond way from Charlotte, NC) demon- (321) 437-3814. a great trick using a cloth napkin
Jim Tyler’s book Close-up Magic strated some new card tricks that and a toothpick that was broken in
Secrets and Al Schneider’s book
Al Schneider’s Magic. From the
latter, Alan demonstrated Al’s
he has in production for a new
DVD being produced by Barry’s
Magic shop in Rockville, MD.
274 RESTAURANT
MAGIC
half and restored. Simon Carmel
did a fabulous restaurant magic
trick using a paper bag to catch
handling of the Bobo coin switch His demonstrations included new BOCA RATON, FL — On an invisible ball being tossed by a
to the delight of the assembly. His handling for Director’s Cut. Watch September 12th we had a fas- member. Peter Fox did a fantastic
handling was smooth, natural- for his DVD in the spring of 2012. cinating magical evening with bending fork routine and then
looking, and very effective. —Scott E. McDonald Simon Carmel as our emcee. Our showed how the edge of a zip-lock
Keith Pass dug through his library NOVA S.A.M. Assembly 252 members were only allowed to bag becomes a great moving trick
and admitted that, in addition to meets each month at the Knights present Restaurant Magic tricks for children. —Arnold L. Rosen
the regular collection of books, of Columbus Hall behind St. using the thirty listed items that Assembly 274 meets at the JCC in
his collection of lecture notes was Leo’s Catholic Church, 3700 Simon said could be found in Boca Raton, FL the first Monday
overflowing. One in particular Old Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA any restaurant. Arnold Rosen’s of each month. Contact President,
was from a lecture many years ago 22030 Scot E. McDonald scotty_ trick tied two plastic straws into Mel Panzer (561) 304-7091 
conducted by the late Cy Keller. [email protected] (703) 491-7989 a few knots and then immedi-
Cy’s handling of The Professor’s http://www.sam252.com/ ately pulled them apart. He also

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www.mum-magazine.com
and use the easy submission form to file your report.

20 M-U-M Magazine
 GOOD CHEER LIST
Please take a minute and spread a few words of cheer with a card or note to one of our less fortunate members.

Ben “Benjalini” Ankri Joseph H. (Ben) Grant Frank J. McNaughton, Sr Pat Ryan
3111 Aurelia Ct. 400 Commonwealth Ave, Unit 9 1926 Apple Street, 43 Fairbanks Rd.
Brooklyn, NY 11210 Warwick, RI 02886 Williamsport, PA 17701 Churchville, NY 14428

Peter Anthony Charlie Gross James J. Morrisey Matt Savin

5100 O’Bannon Dr. Apt 72 16745 Gertrude Street, 24 Grove St. P.O. Box 7693
Las Vegas, NV 89146 Omaha, NE 60136-3023 Wayland, MA 01788 Alhambra, CA 91802-7533

Roger Barr Roy Horn Anthony Murphy Helene Schad

883 B Leverpool Circle, c/o Siegfried & Roy 11 Angel Rd., 2440 Viginia Ave.
Manchester, NJ 08759 1639 N Valley Drive, North Reading, MA 01864 Bensalem, PA 19020
Las Vegas, NV 89108
William H. Brewe Nahmen Nissen Grant Schofield
1698 Montrose Edward Kelly PO Box 1856 (The Great Granzini)
Cincinnati, OH 45214 224-15 64 Avenue, Colfax, CA 95713-1856 9303 Quailbrook Ct.
Bayside, NY 11364 Bakersfield, CA 93312
John Clark Cesareo Pelaez
603 W Country Club Rd. Bob King The Cabot St. Theatre Sybill Simons
Egg Harbor City, NJ 08215 304 Suburban Court, 286 Cabot St. 65 West 95 St. Apt 3A
Rochester, NY 14620 Beverly, MA 01918 New York, NY 10025
Lawrence Clark
204 Hazelwood Ave Robert D. Knigge Larry Poague Sam Stecher
Buffalo, NY 14215 PO Box 5, 34221 West 90 Circle 1000 Loring Ave Apt. C-23
Jones Borough, TN 3765 Desota, KS 66108 Salem, MA 01970- 4253
Daniel Cudennec
“Dany Trick” Stanley R. Kramien Jim Relyea Mario Susi
225, Stang-ar-Veil- 11205 SW Summerfield Dr. 241 W. Lakeshore 6 Bristol Rd.
d’an-Traon, Mellac-29300, Apt 161 Rockaway, NJ 07866 W. Peabody, MA 01960
Quimperle, France Tigard, OR 97224-3391
Harry Riser Larry Taverner
Dan A. Dorsey Richard Laneau 8505 Woodfield Crossing 805 LaPaz Ct.
98 Woodvalley Dr. 4020 55th St. N. The Forum Bakersfield, CA 93312
Fayetteville, GA 30215 St. Petersburg, FL 33709 Indianapolis, IN 46240
Jack White
Joe DuPerry George Gilbert Lott Dale Rumsmoke 4288 Arguello St.
1947 North Soldier Trail 1725 Great Hill Rd. 430 Perrymont Ave San Diego, CA 92103
Tucson, AZ 85749 Guilford, CT 06437 Lynchburg, VA 24502

Send additions, changes, or deletions to: Anthony Antonelly, Chairman, Sick and Convalescent Committee,
(215) 820-3192 ext. 1512. Email: [email protected]

Need to Write an Assembly Report?

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Go to www.mum-magazine.com and click on “Easy Report
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For tips on writing an assembly report, click on “Assembly Report Info”
on the home page.

NOVEMBER 2011 21
 BROKEN WANDS
Peter W. White
Peter W. White, 63, of Germantown, New York, died Friday, August 19, 2011, after
a long battle with cancer. Peter was a long time member of both the I.B.M. and the S.A.M.
Peter was a music teacher and accomplished jazz percussionist, and played many in-
struments including the Hammond B-3 he had at his studio. He also co-owned P&A Silks
along with his partner and wife Cynthia, in Germantown, where they manufactured silks
for magicians. He lectured and performed magic throughout the US, Canada, and Europe.
A Broken Wand Ceremony and celebration of his life was held on August 24, 2011, in Ger-
mantown with a packed house. Peter’s unrivaled passion for silks and silk magic put him in a
class all by himself. His belief in producing a quality and perfect product gave the magic
community a collection of the highest quality silk-screened silk handkerchiefs made indi-
vidually by hand in his own factory.
He is survived by his wife Cynthia, whom he married December 9, 1990, in Somers,
New York.
John Kermit Dickerson
John Kermit Dickerson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and bid farewell to his magical
life on September 15, 2011, in Denton, Texas. Kermit mastered many feats in his life but
was unable to overcome the challenges of Parkinson’s disease.
Kermit graduated from DePaul University in Chicago and worked for Atlantic Richfield
Company for thirty-two years. He worked for the company in several cities, but one of the
most exciting was Alaska, where he was an auditor on the pipeline project.
After retirement in 1985, Kermit was a partner in Kermit’s Cinnamon Roll Shop in
Redondo Beach, California. In 1988, he sold his share of the business and moved to Walnut
Creek, California, where he pursued his second career as a substitute teacher. Elementary
school children in California, Nevada, and Arizona were amazed by the magical substitute
teacher, “Mr. Dickerson.”
In 1997 Kermit and his wife, Mary, built a new home in the forest of northern Nevada
and lived there until they moved to Denton, Texas, in 2006. Kermit loved to travel, and he
and Mary did so to over thirty countries.
He was a man of many one-liners – oh how I wish I had written them down. He had a
generous spirit and loved to make people laugh. As talented as he was as a magician, one
wonders how much of it was just an excuse to share some of his brilliant, original one-line
zingers. A couple of his proudest moments were having his bits of humor published in
Readers Digest or aired on TV
He was always ready to perform at our club meetings, and he had some incredible
routines. We are sorry to see him pass, but his life these last few years was very difficult.
– Chuck Lehr Dean of Assembly 13, Dallas, Texas

Vinny Moccia
It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of Vinny Moccia, past president of
S.A.M. Assembly 77, The Long Island Mystics, on September 20, 2011. Vinny was a friend
and was a member of multiple magic clubs. He loved magic and helped new magicians get
started. Vinny was an inspiration to many magicians. We will miss Vinny. – Bill Gleason

22 M-U-M Magazine
 This summer, our SIG (Special Interest Group) lectures at same sculpture except that the proportions were changed: a
the I.B.M. convention in Dallas, Texas, were filled with energy long body, a long neck, or two long ears. With this, you don’t
and fun! We created some new balloon enthusiasts and we have to change anything except the color!
believe we converted some experienced twisters to the point of This will be the most versatile balloon in your repertoire.
view that bigger balloons are easier and much more impressive. If you are a street performer, you can make these all day long
When a group of fifty card-carrying magicians audibly “ooh” and expect to get two to five dollars for each one. If you are
and smile when we finish a balloon, we feel like we are doing a birthday party performer and the mother tells you that she
something right. is planning a super hero party, then you are going to be the
One balloon that we showed at the lecture was a “big and highlight of the day. Either way, this translates into money in
easy” hat. This month we are going to take this to the next level your pocket.
and teach you the “boy balloon” that will make you a star… But there is a drawback. You need to contact your favorite
actually, you will be a super hero! By following this template, balloon supplier (several are regular M-U-M advertisers)
you can make five different balloons that are immediately rec- and order a couple colors of the 260Q balloons as well as a
ognizable and incredibly popular. You will make a perfect super bag of the five-inch round Marvel Hero assortment (which
hero without doing any drawing on the balloon. The hardest includes the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Wolverine), or
and most time consuming part of this creation is blowing up the the five-inch round lime green Alien Heads, or the five-inch
balloons and tying them; the twisting is nearly insignificant! round Spiderman head. For what this will be worth, these are
How would you like to be able to twist the Incredible Hulk, small inconveniences. Our goal is to never have you twist a dog
Spiderman, Iron Man, Wolverine, and an Area 51 alien? If you again! This hat brings us very, very close to realizing that goal.
work for children at all, these five hats should make you smile! Enjoy, and as always, send us your thoughts and comments to
Remember the first balloons you learned years ago? They were [email protected].
the wiener dog, the giraffe, and the bunny – basically all the

Super Hero or Alien Hat Incredible Hulk: purple 260Q for the hat base and lime
green 260Q for the arms

Iron Man: red 260Q for the hat base and yellow 260Q
for the arms

Wolverine: black 260Q for the hat base and yellow 260Q
for the arms

Spiderman: dark blue 260Q for the hat base and red
260Q for the arms

Alien: two lime green 260Q balloons for both the hat
base and the arms

Step 1: The base of this hat is the standard “helmet.”

Fully inflate the appropriate hat base color for whatever
character you are making. For these pictures, we will
You’ll Need: For each different super hero, you assume it is the Incredible Hulk, so it is purple. Measure
need different colors. Since this is simply a parody of the balloon around the person’s head (Photo 1) by holding
the character, colors are critical. Although there is an the nozzle and wrapping the remainder around the head
assortment bag for the Alien Head balloons, we prefer the to see where the balloon comes back in contact with the
lime green. Combine the appropriate head with each of the nozzle (Photo 2). Hold this point and remove the balloon
following color schemes: from the person’s head.

NOVEMBER 2011 23
 1 2 3

Step 2: You now know how big the head is. Lay the nozzle and bend the balloon toward this spot so that about one
overlapping the place where you are holding for the size inch of the balloon overlaps (again, Photo 9). Pinch at
(Photo 3). There will be about one inch of balloon overlap- this position (again, Photo 10), and twist the folded loop
ping as shown. Gently squeeze the two balloons together to lock it into place (again, Photo 11). This is the second
at this point with your finger and thumb (Photo 4), and hand; the arms should now look like Photo 12.
then twist the loop a couple of times to lock this into
place (Photo 5). Step 6: To put the arms onto the hat, estimate the center
point of the arched balloon going up over the helmet, and
Step 3: The remainder of the balloon will go across the pinch it lightly with your left forefinger and thumb. Simul-
balloon and attach on the opposite side of the loop. To taneously pinch the arms in the approximate center with
do this, essentially repeat Step 2 by laying the remainder the right forefinger and thumb (as seen in Photo 12). Bring
of the balloon across and onto the loop with about one the two balloons together and transfer the pinching to
inch overlapping (Photo 6). Squeeze and pinch at this joint your left forefinger and thumb only (Photo 13). Now wrap
(Photo 7) and wrap the one-inch bubble that has been one side of the arm around this joint a couple of times to
formed around base a couple times to lock it into place secure (Photo 14).
(Photo 8). This completes the helmet portion, so set it
aside or slide it onto your arm as you continue with the Step 7: Don’t leave the arms sticking straight out! Gently
next balloon. bend each arm in your hands to give them a little shape
and position them on the hat (Photo 15). All that is missing
Step 4: Inflate the balloon for the arms, leaving about is the head. Blow up the appropriate five-inch round head
two inches uninflated. For the Hulk, this is the lime green (for the Hulk in this case), and pull the knot into the
balloon. On the nozzle end, you are going to make a four-way joint where the arms are connected (Photo 16).
bubble followed by a six-inch fold twist. This is done in Position the head so that the character is looking forward,
one motion, as follows. From the nozzle, grab the balloon and put the hat on the person’s head.
about seven inches from the nozzle and bend the nozzle
toward this spot so that about one inch of the balloon For the dedicated reader who stayed with us through this
overlaps (Photo 9). Pinch at this position (Photo 10), and description, you will agree that there is virtually no twisting
twist the folded loop to lock it into place (Photo 11). This involved in this creation. We are including pictures of all
is the first hand. five of the final balloons (Photo 17); they are all made
exactly the same way. Two balloons plus a pre-printed
Step 5: Most of the air should have moved to fill the un- head, and you have an awesome-looking hat. Entertainers
inflated portion of the balloon, but gently squeeze the who work with children are already flipping the pages in
balloon to soften the arms so you can make another hand this issue to find a supplier to get the necessary balloons.
at the other end. Repeat the process from Step 4, where While we like the super heroes, the Alien Hat is always
you grab the balloon about seven inches from the end one of the most popular. Have fun with this. 

4 5 6

24 M-U-M Magazine
7 8 9

10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17

NOVEMBER 2011 25
 A Magician Prepares... by Dennis Loomis
A Visit with Richard Himber a completely different side of the
man. He was kind and generous,
In May of 1961, I visited New York City with my high school and every bit the gentleman.
graduating class. My classmates were probably looking forward When I got to his apartment,
to seeing the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. I he had the door propped open. I
was excited about visiting Tannen’s and “Himber’s.” called his name and suddenly there
You see, I had mistakenly assumed, because of his numerous he was, the face I knew so well from
full-page ads in Genii magazine, that Richard Himber ran a big all of the pictures in his ads in Genii. He
magic shop. At the tender age of seventeen, I had no idea that he got me a soft drink, and asked me some questions about myself.
was a celebrity: a well-known bandleader. And so, when I arrived, When I told him I played the piano and drums, he lit up. When
I was surprised to find no listing for Himber in the Yellow Pages I asked him if he played an instrument, he sort of dismissed the
under magic suppliers. When I looked in the white pages, I did question, mumbling something about the violin.
find an “R. Himber.” When I called, Himber answered the phone Then he got out some coins and showed me some coin work
himself. I explained that I was a visiting magician from out of with pure sleight of hand. I was very impressed, and he kindly
town and would like to buy some of his magic. I didn’t tell him tried to teach me a couple of coin moves. I had done very little
how young I was, but I imagine he had a good idea. I asked if coin magic and was hard pressed to stumble through what he
I could come over to his shop and see some of his creations in showed me.
person. He briefly said yes, we set up a time, and he gave me the I told him I was interested in a “couple” of his effects. In truth,
address of 160 Central Park South. I still thought I was going to I wanted to see demonstrations of all the wonderful items I’d read
a magic shop. about in Genii. And, for the next two-and-a-half hours, he did just
about that. I’d mention something, and he would run to a drawer
or cupboard, dig around, and come out with the prop. Many of the
effects he demonstrated completely, and most of them fooled me
very badly. One in particular that blew me away was a book test,
but done with the current issue of a popular magazine that was
sitting on his coffee table. This was May of 1961, and he used the
May 1961 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
He also demonstrated the forcing dictionary he sold under the
name For Professionals Only. That also knocked me for a loop.
I asked about the Staggering and Towering effects, and he
explained that to perform those you needed a bigger audience.
However, he got out one of the gaffed rings and showed it to me.
He opened and closed it, and outlined the routine.
He did two or three of his bottle effects, a cut and restored
ribbon that totally fried me, and a card prediction effect using a
leather wallet. He had not yet marketed the now famous Himber
Wallet, but he had two or three prototypes. The one he used was
totally different from the now common wallet that bears his name,
which is based on the Jacob’s Ladder principle. The wallet he
showed me was open at first and a pad of writing paper was in
view. Nothing was written on the top sheet. He closed the wallet
and handed it to me to hold. He then had me pick a card. (I was
pleased that I recognized the slip cut force he used.) He then had
me open the wallet myself, and written on the top sheet of the pad
was the name of the card. This wallet actually “locked” and would
withstand brief examination. (The only way to discover its secret
was to pull very hard on the leather frame around the note pad.)
He also did a coin in bottle effect in which I signed the coin!
(To be exact, I signed a sticker affixed to the coin.) When the coin
was in the bottle, I could still see my signature. When he removed
the coin from the bottle, he handed me the coin with the sticker
and my signature still on it. Again, I was dumbfounded.
When I got there, it was the Essex House apartments. The All the while, he was a perfect gentleman. He never tried very
doorman saw that I looked confused, but as soon as I said the hard to sell me anything, and didn’t seem to care whether I spent
name “Himber,” he directed me to the great man’s apartment. any money or not.
I found out later all about Himber’s reputation as the Peck’s Finally, I had to get back to the hotel. I bought the forcing dic-
Bad Boy of magic: how he played harsh practical jokes on his tionary, one of the rings, and the coin in bottle. He quickly showed
friends, and how egocentric he was. But, as a seventeen-year-old me the gaff on the dictionary, and mentioned that the coin in bottle
amateur magician from a small town in upstate Michigan, I saw was well explained on the instructions. Then, he asked me where

26 M-U-M Magazine
 sharing it with him.
In the fall, I went to the University of Michigan as a freshman.
While there, I put together an act for fraternities featuring a lot of
mentalism. I used Himber’s dictionary in those shows. I dropped
Himber a note about it and told him how effective the dictionary
test was. This time I did not hear back from him.
I was destined to hear from him just once more. By this time
I had been spending a lot of Saturday afternoons at Roy Kissell’s
Fox Fun ‘n’ Magic shop in Detroit. I told Roy about my visit with
Himber; he told me about Himber’s dark side. In particular, he
told me about Himber’s propensity for practical jokes.
A few weeks later, I had an idea. I had purchased the Coin
in the Bottle effect from Himber. It was a folding coin with a
matching shell. When the coin was pushed into the shell it locked
and formed a solid coin. If you looked closely, you could see the
cuts. But Himber came up with the idea of the sticker or press
apply dot to get around that. With the shell finger palmed, you
displayed the coin, and placed it into your hand on top of the shell.
(Not in the shell, but on the “outside” of it.) You put the sticker
on the coin and got a spectator to initial it. You could still fold up
the coin after a fashion and stick it into the bottle. At the end of
the trick, you shook it out in the usual manner; usually the sticker
allowed this. (Sometimes it was a big struggle.) Then, you’d just
allow the coin to go into the shell and squeeze it to lock it home.
Then you could hand it out for examination. When Himber had
shown it to me, it worked beautifully. But, I often had big problems
getting the coin out cleanly and into the shell. I don’t think I ever
performed it. Incidentally, he made these up with English Pennies.
I have no idea why.
My idea hit me when I was walking down the corridors of the
University of Michigan Chemistry building. In one room, a glass-
blower was working on lab equipment. I wandered in and struck
up a conversation, and even did a couple of card tricks for the guy.
I was going. When I told him, he suggested that we share a cab. I The next day I came back and told him what I wanted done. My
had planned on walking, because I had just spent a goodly share idea was to take a regular English penny and have him actually
of the money I had brought along. But, I also wanted to spend a put it into a Coke bottle. I would send it to Himber with a little
few more minutes with him. We shared the cab ride, and he did note saying that his “locking folding coin had locked while in the
some card tricks for me as we rode. We got to his destination first. bottle.” And I’d demand a refund.
He jumped out, spoke briefly to the cab driver, and gave him some Unfortunately, the glassblower told me that this was impos-
money. Himber never said goodbye; he just flashed me a big smile sible. If you heated a Coke bottle, it would shatter. It wasn’t the
and waved as we pulled away from the curb. The driver took me right kind of glass. I was disappointed and started to leave when
to my hotel, and I asked him what I owed him. “Nothing,” he said. he called me back. He said that he had an idea. If we could make
“Mr. Himber took care of it.” I don’t think that Himber told him a Coke bottle out of Pyrex glass, then he could probably get a coin
his name. He was, after all, pretty well known in New York, and inside. He told me to bring him a regular Coke bottle of the right
the driver had picked us up at the Essex House. (His band was size and a few of the coins. The next day I did. He told me to come
known, at one time, as the Essex House Orchestra.) back in a week. He made a cast of the Coke bottle and then blew
That was the only time I saw him in person. But here are two Pyrex glass into the cast. When it had cooled, he removed it from
or three follow-ups to the story. The very next day, at a magazine the cast, reheated it, and was able to put a coin inside. The truth
stand, I spotted a stack of the May 1961 issue of The Magazine is that it was not particularly good. The coin was discolored a lot
of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I picked up one and glanced from the process, and the place where the bottle had been opened
through, again following Himber’s instructions of the day before. and resealed was pretty obvious. And, of course, the Pyrex glass
In the introductory paragraph for each of the stories, the word did not have the typical green cast of a Coke bottle. Still, it was a
“whether” appeared. Sometimes it was spelled “weather.” If you real coin in a real bottle.
took the page number and counted that many words into the story, The next day I sent it off to Himber, with a note as I outlined,
you landed on whether or weather. It had been coincidence that I and a demand for a refund. A little over a week later, I got a late
happened to be in New York at that time! I celebrated the fortunate evening call at my dormitory from Himber. He pretended to be
happenstance by buying a dozen copies. Over the years, I gave furious and ranted and raved a bit. Tame stuff, hells and damns,
them away to close friends in magic. I have one or two left today. but nothing stronger. Then, he broke into laughter, and said, “That
When I got home, I played with Staggering, and came up was a good one. Someday I’ll get even.” The line went dead, and
with what I thought was a different and decent handling for it. I never heard from him again. The call only lasted five minutes,
Photo
I sent 8 to Himber and was very pleased to get a very brief
a note but it was worth it.
memo back. He complimented me on the idea and thanked me for I’m still waiting for Himber to “get even.” 

NOVEMBER 2011 27
Blast from the Past
I made the acquaintance of PNP Forrest Sample in the early result will give the appearance of a river boat paddlewheel. And,
1970s. He was a nice man, and he lent me a huge stack of back in the event you are doing an effect with a set-up deck, it doesn’t
issues of M-U-M to look through. I made notes on many of the change the order of the cards.
tricks I read in that collection of magazines, including the two
that follow, which appeared in Mike Rogers’s Table Time column Matches through Table
in 1965. The Paddlewheel Shuffle has been in my (very small)
collection of card flourishes ever since then. It is also described Actually, the next effect is appearing rather late in a magic
in Jerry Mentzer’s Card Cavalcade 1 and in my ebook Closely magazine since I have done it for years at various conventions and
Guarded Secrets, where it is used in The Shuffles Routine. The magic clubs; therefore, it could no longer be classified as new. For
shuffle is relatively easy to do (especially with the bit of clari- some colleagues it already ranks among their favorites, perhaps
fication you’ll find at the end of this article) and always seems because of its ease of operation and capability of being done under
to impress laymen. The Matches through Table routine seems to almost any conditions at any time.
have faded from the memories of most magicians, but it is also Effect: You display a book of matches and strike one, com-
easy to do and has a surprise ending. I’ve also provided some menting about the number of matches in a book. The book is
added thoughts for this routine. —Michael Close closed and driven through the table a la coins through the table;
however, only the matches go, leaving an empty book above the
The Paddlewheel Shuffle table, thus creating a startling and humorous effect.
Photo 1
Here is a flourish with a pack of cards that will almost always Method
catch the eye of the keen observer. It’s not too difficult to learn
and can be inserted into your card routines any time you desire to 1. From two matchbooks tear out all of the matches and have
display a feat of dexterity. them loose in your lap along with a closed empty matchbook with
a cover identical to the full book on the table.
Method 2. Open the full book, remove a match, and strike it while
mentioning the number of matches in a book. Without actually
1. Hold the saying so, you have called attention to the fact that the book
pack in the is full. Nothing more than a casual comment should be made,
left hand with because you don’t want to tip off the spectator as to what is
the right hand going to happen.
gripping the 3. Place the full book down and hold the burning match in
end as if getting your left hand. During the time that you blow out the burning
ready to do the match, steal the empty book from your lap and hold it in finger
Hindu shuffle palm position.
(Figure 1). 4. Blow out the match and toss it to one side, then pick
2. With your up the full book with the left hand. Using the action shown
left hand, pull in Figures 1, 2,
a small stock and 3, change
of cards from the full book for
the top of the the empty one
deck. Pull thePhoto 2 and drop the full
remainder of the book in your lap
pack to the right, as the right hand
but don’t allow moves back to
it to clear the the edge of the
left hand stock table.
(Figure 2). 5. During
3. With the change you
the right-hand suggest that
packet push the you will drive
left-hand stock the matches
up and revolve it through the
in a 180-degree semicircle (Figure 3). table. The right
4. At the completion of the semicircle, the right-hand packet hand goes under the
will be in position to repeat the move, while at the same time the table and the left
left hand retains a grip on the top stock that was just revolved hand commences to
(Figure 4). drive the matches
5. Repeat moves one through four until the entire pack has through as in the
been revolved into the left hand (Figure 5). Coins through
6. This flourish is one continuous move without a pause. The Table effect.

28 M-U-M Magazine
 6. In frustration, make two or three attempts to drive the book Another approach would be to switch the matchbooks under
through; each time lift your hand showing that you are having the cover of a natural action, and this would be my preferred
little success. After two or three tries (and with a disgusted look) course of action. As it turns out, I created such a switch for a
bring your right hand out from under the table and allow the loose routine of mine called The Unreality Machine [Workers 5]. It
matches to sift from your hand. I always use about forty matches works perfectly in the context of the Rogers routine.
because the twenty from a single book is exhausted much too
quickly in the sifting action. You need more matches to give the Close Matchbook Switch
spectator time for this to sink in.
7. The final step is to open the book now on table, clearly The left hand comes out with a real matchbook, while the right
showing no matches; make a comment about your tricks always hand palms the empty matchbook in the grip shown in Figure 1.
failing, etc. The right hand aids the left hand in opening the matchbook. The
left hand holds the matchbook by the cover, so the entire inside
Second Method: of the matchbook is displayed. The left hand transfers the real
matchbook over to the right hand. It places the matchbook right on
Walt Rollins [Editor of M-U-M at the time this routine was top of the palmed one (Figure 2). The back of the hand is toward
published] once suggested that another method would be to the spectators, so all they see is the top of the cover poking out
remove the staple from the book, allowing the matches to slide over the hand. The left hand rips out a match, drops it on the table,
free into the finger palm position, thus eliminating the need for and then the two hands close the cover of the matchbook. The left
two books. Perhaps this easier method of handling will be more hand steadies both matchbooks as the right thumb bends down
to your liking; also, an impromptu method would be to start with the cover and closes it. The closing is done by pushing with the
only one match in the book and the remainder loose in the lap. Of right middle finger. At this moment, the two matchbooks look like
course, when doing this be sure to not make the usual comment Figure 3 (the left hand has been omitted.) The left hand immedi-
about the number of matches in a book. ately takes the lower matchbook and brings it into view, holding
it at the fingertips. The real matchbook is gripped by the right
Addenda from Michael Close middle finger. The right hand picks up the match and lights it

The above matchbook routine would be an offbeat,

“impromptu” surprise to add to your repertoire. I’d suggest
carrying the extra matches in a small pill vial, which makes it con-
venient to carry in your pocket. The props can easily be arranged
in your lap.
The switch of the matchbooks as described by Mike Rogers
is the only “dodgy” part of the routine, and, unfortunately, the il-
lustrations do not make the actions clear at all. (The illustrations
of the Paddlewheel Shuffle suffer, as well. If you take a close look
at Figure 4 in that description, you’ll notice that the face-up packet
is somehow suspended in space. In fact, the way to do the sleight
is to pull off the packets with the left thumb and second finger;
the first finger curls beneath the revolved packet, which keeps it
horizontal. But I digress.)
In practice, the switch of the two matchbooks resembles the
switch of coins in the Dai Vernon Spellbound routine from Stars
of Magic. The mistake is in Figure 3, which shows the matchbook
held between the right thumb and third finger. Actually, the
matchbook is taken away by the right hand in a thumb palm
position. (This is implied by the hand positions of Figure 2.) This
is an easy switch and it can be done quickly.
The bigger problem, however, is that there is no motivation at
all for the two hands coming together and for the right fingers to
cover the matchbook. This could, perhaps, be covered by patter,
as follows. “In a moment, I’m going to rub this matchbook on
the tabletop, and it will pass right though the wood.” The right
hand (with the empty matchbook in finger palm) gently rubs
the full book as the previous sentence is spoken. The switch is
performed. The left hand tables the empty matchbook as the right
hand moves to the table edge, lapping the full matchbook. Instead
of slapping the matchbook onto the table to effect the penetration (Figure 4). When this action has been completed, the left hand
(as suggested in the Mike Roger’s presentation, the left hand rubs tosses the empty matchbook on the table. As it does this, the right
the matchbook on the table. hand moves to the table edge and laps the full matchbook. 

NOVEMBER 2011 29
 The Nielsen Gallery
Fu Manchu - Hands
Dimensions: 1-sheet: 28” x 39” • Lithographer: Unknown • Date: 1940s • Nielsen Rating: Uncommon

On October 9, 1909, a pretentious, nervous five-year- Gwynne, as an illusionist, Dai Vernon, as a sleight-of-hand
old performed a card trick before members of The Society performer, and Dr. (Milton) Bridges, as a particularly well-
of American Magicians in New York City. He asked for a informed amateur, have each said that it is the most beautiful
volunteer, and Harry Houdini arose from the audience to show of magic that they had ever seen. These three names
assist. Little could anyone have known that from this in- are mentioned merely as representing the opinion of various
auspicious beginning, the young magician would eventu- groups of magicians. Everyone who has seen the show raves
ally tour the world with his own big illusion show, taking a about how good it is. To me, the whole show was the realiza-
name that remains in the pantheon of great magicians – Fu tion of the dream of what a magic show should be...For the
Manchu! first time in my life, I have seen magicians so impressed that
Fu Manchu’s real name was David Tobias Bamberg; they talk only about the beauty and skill of the presentation,
he was born in Derby, England, on February 19, 1904. He instead of the mechanics of the tricks. In case you ever hear
was the sixth and final generation of the renowned Dutch of anyone who doubts that magic is an art, send him to see
family of magicians whose careers spanned the full develop- David Bamberg.
ment of modern conjuring in the Western world. His father, Space does not allow us to describe his entire show, but
Theodore, was professionally known as Okito; he headlined here is one example of his creativity; while other magicians
in European variety theaters and was acknowledged as one were all doing the Buzz-saw illusion in the same manner,
of the most creative and artistic magicians in the field. Bamberg called his the Pendulum Illusion and based it
In fact, when very small, David served as the final pro- upon Poe’s tale of mystery, “The Pit and the Pendulum.”
duction item in one of Okito’s effects. Dressed in oriental The whirling saw swung back and forth across the stage
robes, Okito showed a large shawl on both sides. He lowered gradually, descending until it cut cleanly through the body
it to the stage and whisked it aside, revealing a brimming of the girl strapped to the table below it.
bowl of water. There was another display of the shawl, and, In one production done in black-light, luminous skeletons
when it was lifted, there stood David in Asian make-up and emerged from a coffin and danced around while their heads,
clothes. When a bit older he traveled with his father as part arms, and legs became detached and floated around the
of Thurston’s troupe, playing the role of a volunteer from the stage, finally reuniting with the skeleton bodies.
audience. The magician produced large quantities of eggs The show set records everywhere. By April 1950, Fu
that he handed to the “volunteer” who “accidently” started Manchu had given his 1001st performance in Buenos Aires
dropping them, causing great laughter among the audience. at the Teatro Casino, a house record for any kind of show. By
At age thirteen he worked with Zancig the most famous 1952 that number had climbed to 2,800 performances.
mindreader of the day; later he worked with a professor David Price wrote, “For many years this beautifully
Seward, a boardwalk astrologer in Atlantic City. He costumed, handsomely mounted magic review played
continued to perform magic and eventually during the 1920s major cities in South and Central America. Despite political
traveled with one of P.T. Selbit’s Divided Woman illusions upheavals and the loss of his savings after the Peron gov-
playing in vaudeville. ernment was overthrown in Argentina, Fu Manchu kept the
The course of David’s life changed in 1928 while he best magic show in South America, running until March 19,
was performing in Argentina and he witnessed the show of 1966, when he gave his last full-evening program in Buenos
Dante the Magician. It was the largest, most colorful, and Aires at the age of sixty-one.”
exciting illusion show he’d ever seen and he was convinced Bamberg opened his own magic shop and theater
he could present just such a show. With the financial backing called Centro Magico and covered the walls with life-size
of Walter Gaulke, the head of a film distribution company paintings of Robert-Houdin, de Kolta, Thurston, Golden,
in that country, the show was built. Bamberg took the stage Dante, Houdini, Okito, Chang, and himself, of course. He
name of Fu Manchu and the rest was history. died in Buenos Aires on August 19, 1974, ending a dynasty
The show was a great success in Argentina and went on of the greatest family of magicians ever known to history. 
to play throughout South and Central America, Morocco,
Portugal, Spain, and elsewhere. He even appeared briefly in For further information on David Bamberg and his role in
New York in 1937. This is what John Mulholland, editor of that dynastic family of magicians, pick up a copy of the
The Sphinx, said about the show: 1991 book Illusion Show by David Bamberg, published by
Fu Manchu has been giving his show in New York. Jack Meyerbooks of Glenwood, Illinois.

30 M-U-M Magazine
31 M-U-M Magazine
 BASIC TRAINING
BY IAN KENDALL

Adaptability and Other Long Words

Hello again and welcome to the penultimate lesson in Basic offender here is the humble gambling demonstrator; this is the
Training (and a big hello to everyone last month who either knew, one time when magicians who have spent five hours a day for the
or looked up, what antepenultimate meant). This time I want to last twenty years learning their trade actually get to show this
discuss the pros and cons of adapting your repertoire to different skill instead of hiding it under a blanket of artifice and subterfuge.
situations, and then we’ll look at two handlings for basically the The problem shows up when the need for a perfect faro shuffle
same effect, but designed for very different conditions. arises. The performer who, up until now, has been following what
We have all spent a long time developing our little coterie of passes for table procedure, picks up the deck and wedges the short
effects, those ten to twenty routines that we know inside and out ends together as a “shuffle.” It’s what Larry Hass referred to as the
and that form the core of our shows (or, in Mike Skinner’s case, “ripple in the lake” effect last year – something that is incongru-
the seven hundred and thirty-two effects). Many of us spend most ous with what has gone before. The sad thing is that a tabled faro
of our time performing in the same type of venue or situation, shuffle, or even better, a perfect riffle shuffle is not that hard to
be it strolling, kids’ shows or grand illusion. We are comfortable learn, and it’s a heck of a lot easier than a deceptive center deal
with those routines, and they don’t change all that much. Problems or a one-shuffle stack. Even if you’ve mastered the in-the-hands
arise, however, when we are faced with a change in the weather, faro, it’s a good idea to work on the tabled version as well, even if
and we find ourselves in a new environment; how do we alter the it’s just for the warm pink and fluffy feeling you get when you hit
method, or the effect, to take these new conditions into account? it a few times in a row.
Here’s an example; you are a hardcore card magician (not you,
that other guy over there) who can run up hands like a demon, deal Some Actual Advice
from any position in the deck, and who considers Ernest Earick to Okay, so we know what the problem is, how do we solve it?
be a lightweight when it comes to the knuckle-busting stuff. The First, we need to make a list of the sleights that we use in everyday
problem is, you need a table (preferably covered in flawless baize) performance: controls, lifts, palms, shuffles, and the like. Grab
or at the very least a good quality close-up mat that is two feet a piece of paper and a pencil and make two columns, headed
across. What do you do when there is no table around and you are “Hands” on the left and “Table” on the right. Write down your
pressed to perform? You could bow out, and run the risk of losing moves, one on each line, in either of the columns, but try to keep
face, or you could alter what you do a bit and still wow the crowd. the types of move in a group. When you have finished, sit back and
Okay, that last example was a tad facetious, and I apologize. have a read through. I imagine that you will have some gaps in
However, the point does still stand. One very good example is the each column, probably more in one than another. The goal now is
classic Wild Card routine. Whether you go to the original Peter to fill in those blanks with suitable techniques, but you don’t have
Kane routine, the somewhat “borrowed” Garcia version, or any of to go mad. Let’s say you have three in-the-hands controls and
the seventy-two other routines that are in print, the one common one tabled control, then you probably don’t need to sweat blood
theme is the need for a table upon which to lay out the cards. The learning another two or three tabled moves; your single one will
question, for a long time, was how do we take this routine off the suffice in most situations. However, if you do not have a tabled
table and into the hands? There have been three notable offerings control in your list, then you might want to consider learning one.
that have solved this conundrum: the best known is probably Over the course of these lessons I’ve tried to provide you with
Tommy Wonder’s version, which was described in The Books of alternatives, so there’s a good chance you’ll find what you need in
Wonder, or Tom Dobrowolski’s handling that came out on DVD a a back issue of M-U-M.
couple of years ago. My preference is for the least known version, Now that you have your list of sleights for every occasion, we
by Steven Hamilton, but it’s harder to find than hen’s teeth. All need to see how these can slot into the routines we already know.
three, though, take what was before a difficult routine to perform This bit takes a while longer, but it’s worth it just to cement in
in real, working environments and make it into workable pieces. your mind what you can do. Get another piece of paper and write
(And before anyone mails me to say that they do Wild Card at down all the routines in your core repertoire. Next to them, write
every table, I’ll say I’ve never seen a restaurant or function that down the sleights that are needed for that routine. For example, in
had enough table space for the full layout. And that’s ignoring the a Cards to Pocket routine you might need a control, a palm, and
whole “doing things at crotch level” argument.) a load; write down those three moves. When you have done that,
Going the other way, how many times have you seen a take the routines one at a time and see if you can substitute your
magician who worked seated at a table but still performed normal sleight for another one from your list. Keeping with our
his sleights as if he was standing? Probably the most common Card to Pocket example, where you might have used a classic pass

32 M-U-M Magazine
to control the card when standing, you might want to hop a cut or like the open position for table work. (If you want to see this move
use something like Ron Bauer’s multiple table cut when seated. in action, search out YouTube for Mike Skinner on the Tonight
(I taught Ron’s move in the May 2009 column before I knew that Show 1974 – you’ll see the hold-out, and the Bauer cut for good
Ron had developed it for use on early TV.) Palming when seated measure. Note that for this effect, you don’t want to slide back
is also different than standing, but in a good way, and we’ll have quite that far with the card.) The left hand casually waves towards
a look at that in the next section. Finally, you won’t want to load the cards and you mumble something about the spectator’s card
a card into your trouser pocket, so you would be loading into a being in the deck somewhere, but you don’t know where. You
jacket or shirt pocket. Run through your list, and then spend an really don’t want to dilly dally at this point, so that the more eagle-
enjoyable couple of months working in these new routines. In the eyed spectator won’t notice that the card is, in fact, not there.
meantime, I’ll show one way that I tackled this problem for a card You are now going to close the spread, and there’s a coordinat-
reversal trick. ed action that has to happen. Your left hand goes to the left of the
spread and contacts the table to the left of the top card. Because of
First, the Tabled Version the way the cards overlap, you cannot lift the leftmost card to close
This is something daft that I started doing a few years ago in the spread; you have to do that from the right end. But this can’t
informal situations, mainly because most of the time I do not use happen because the right hand has a card palmed. So, your right
a table for close-up work. The effect is simple. A card is selected thumb clips the inner left corner of the palmed card at its base and
and probably signed (if I have a Sharpie on me, which doesn’t lifts up by a quarter of an inch; the rest of the hand stays on the
always happen). The deck is ribbon spread across the table face table. At the same time that the left hand gets into its position, the
up so that the spectators can see that every card is different (and right hand makes the small journey to the right end of the spread,
subconsciously, that they are all face up). The spread is closed and but does so in a small curved path – out to the right and back. The
then immediately spread again to show that one card is now face thumb lifts the left edge of the palmed card up just enough so that
down; it is the selection. it can be slid onto the face-up cards at the end. During this the
Luckily, the routine is easy to do. There are really only two little finger does not leave the table. (Photo 1 shows the position
sleights: a control and a palm. You will need some table space – with the right hand removed.) Without stopping, the hands push
enough to spread the cards in a ribbon where all the indices show together to close up the spread, the left hand moving about two
(usually about eighteen inches). Begin by having a card selected to three times more than the right. The right hand stays almost
and signed; on its return control it to the top of the deck. The where it is, the little finger acting as a block to stop the cards from
deck is held in left-hand dealing grip, as you casually discuss the escaping past the right edge of the hand. The index finger keeps
weather and whether invading Switzerland is really a good idea. pressing down on the selection so that it does not end up on the
Getting back to the performance (I find that in casual situations top of the deck.
people are more lenient towards little tangents, and in Scotland the As the left hand mushes its cards into the pack, the selection
weather is always the first topic of conversation) you notice that will feed into them, somewhere. It really doesn’t matter where,
there is something on the table that is in the way of your spread- as long as it’s not the top; practice and playtime will tell you the
to-be. Most of the time this is the card box, which I have left in the correct pressure you will need to get it there. When the cards are
way deliberately, but failing that, I’ll brush off some imaginary
crumbs onto the floor, or move someone’s plate. The problem is
that I have a deck of cards in my left hand, so I pass the cards over
to the right hand, which takes the deck in a position for a one-hand
top palm. As the newly empty left hand does what it has to do in
order to clear up the performance space, the right hand palms the
card. When seated at the table, the one-hand top palm becomes
an order of magnitude easier than its standing cousin, because
we can use the table to our advantage. The right long edge of the 1
deck rests on the table, as does the edge of your right hand. In this
position when you push forward, or in, or whatever you do with about halfway under
your little finger to lever the card into the palm, the card cannot the right hand their
overshoot the edge of your hand because the table acts as a stop. edges will hit your
Try it and see; it’s a bit of a revelation. Plus, all of your attention right ring finger and
(and that of the spectators) is on your left hand, which is clearing you won’t be able
up the mess; the palm goes unnoticed every time. to complete closing
Now you need to ribbon spread the cards. If you were to do the spread without
this with your right hand (which is, after all, holding the deck) the some awkward and
cards would spread from your left to right, and the indices would unnatural movement,
be upside down for your audience. This is a bad thing, so you need so we’ll square the
to take the cards again with your left hand. We are going to spread deck in another
2
face up, so the left hand comes in underneath the deck and rotates action. Unfortunately,
it so that it is face up, a couple of inches in front of the right hand. we cannot lift the right hand, since the selection is sticking out of
The right hand now drops to the edge of the table, lying flat the side of the messy packet. Photo 2 shows this, again with the
with the thumb just under the edge, and the card held in place at hand removed.
the table’s edge. This is an old gambler’s hold-out position, and The clean up is easier than you might think. The right hand
because the hand is not actually holding the card in place, it’s a bit drags the cards off the edge of the table, the thumb going under-

NOVEMBER 2011 33
 BASIC TRAINING
neath to support them as they clear the surface. The left hand now card is now hidden by the spread of cards (Photo 3). Get the widest
comes in from underneath, pulls everything square, and immedi- spread of the cards you can, holding your fingers out underneath,
ately spreads the cards again, exactly as before. One card will be and don’t try to be too perfect; a little variation to the spread is
face down, and it is shown to be the selection. fine here. Pause to show that all the cards are face down, and then
begin to close the spread. If you keep your right index finger on
Thoughts on the Final Revelation
The fun thing about this routine is that you don’t know exactly
where the card will end up, so there’s an element of surprise for 3
you as well. Sometimes I’ll work this into the presentation, but
more often than not I’ll be lazy and just say, “Ooh, look at that!”
There’s also a large debate as to how the card should be revealed.
To be fair, this debate usually concerns the Slop Shuffle effect,
but I think it’s valid here. Whenever possible, I try to show that
the cards are all face up, and then show that the face-down card is
the selection. I really do believe that if you show that all the cards
are face down and the selection is face up (certainly in Triumph-
type routines) then you are mixing the climaxes: the righting of
the cards is one effect, the selection being isolated is the other. the right edge of the cards and the right corner of the selection at
Although there is no “righting” of the cards in this effect, I’m the pivot point at the base of your thumb, as you close the cards
sticking with the face-down revelation. up the leftmost corner of the selection will feed into the pack and
contact somewhere at the base of your left index finger. Continue
What, No Table? to close your hands together, and the card will pivot clockwise so
The above routine is fun to do, and the effect-to-work ratio is that it is in the same orientation as the rest of the deck. The right
pleasingly low. However, it’s not really suitable for your average hand, without leaving the deck, comes over to help the left fingers
strolling gig, so I went about finding substitutions for the various square everything up. In a continuing motion, the deck is flipped
moves. The obvious hurdles are holding out the selection, and the over so it is face up; spread again in the same manner to show that
spreading of the cards. Here’s what I came up with: one of the cards is face down. End as before.
Begin as before, with your signed selection controlled to the top
of the deck. Palm the card at your leisure and, if you really want, Final Thoughts
hand the deck out to be shuffled with your left hand (although I Give these two routines a shot; I think you’ll be surprised at
almost never bother with this). Your right hand, with the palmed how effective they are for the amount of work required. If nothing
selection, comes up to a bit above waist height, but still turned else, they should give you an idea of how you can take a routine
so that the back of the hand is towards the audience, shading the that was designed for seated performance and make it work, albeit
card from view. Your left thumb begins to push off a few cards in a slightly changed form, for strolling work. Next month we’ll
from the top of the deck, and these are placed into the crotch of have a recap of the lessons so far, and a bit of a chat about what
the right thumb, about a quarter of an inch from the front of the might have happened. Until then, have fun and don’t forget to
card. You can now rotate your hands palm up, since the palmed make some lists. 

34 M-U-M Magazine
NOVEMBER 2011 35
 over by Joshua Jay

penny, a novelty popular in the late 1960s. In that effect, he

would place a penny and a silver dollar in the spectator’s fist.
He removed the penny and changed it to a silver dollar. The
spectator, who expected to find a penny in her hand, discov-
Inflated ered quite a surprise: a penny the size of a silver dollar. This is
simply that premise adapted to borrowed bills.
Transposition
Setup
The magician offers to recreate a trick he saw by a 1
Brazilian magician. The Brazilian magician used reais instead You’ll need a dollar bill
of dollars, but the magician offers to present the trick in and a surprise bill. The third
American currency. bill, which can be of any de-
He presents a dollar bill and asks to borrow a five-dollar nomination, is borrowed.
note from the spectator. Both bills are examined, folded into Pre-fold both bills in the
eighths, and placed inside the spectator’s fist. The magician following way. Hold the bill
removes his dollar bill and then changes it into the specta- 2 with the face toward you,
tor’s five-dollar bill – half of a transposition. But when the and fold it in eighths as
spectator opens her hand, instead of the magician’s dollar follows (all folds will be away
bill, she discovers the exact real note the Brazilian magician from you). Fold the right half
used. to the left (Photo 1), then
I developed this routine by accident. I studied several fold the right half to the left
handlings of U.F. Grant’s marketed Slow Motion Bill Change again (Photo 2). Finally, fold
(Tarbell Course in Magic Volume 3, 1927). For a time I used the bottom half of the bill
Eugene Burger’s Slow Motion Bill Change (The Craft of Magic, 3 up (Photo 3). Repeat this
1984). Then I learned David Parr’s Slow Motion Swindle sequence with both bills.
(Brain Food, 1998) and then Roger Klause’s Ultimate Slow The setup for the trick
Motion Bill Transposition. Every version I liked involved is quite easy and can be
prepared notes. In time I developed a version that used done on the fly. You can also
only a duplicate, folded dollar bill. I felt it accomplished the store the folded bills in your
same effect as other versions and even allowed for some in- wallet so you’re ready at a
teresting displays. I used the handling often because it only 4 moment’s notice. Begin with
required two of the same note, which I had in my wallet the Brazilian note folded as
virtually all the time. described and tucked inside
I once intended to perform the trick but found I didn’t the one-dollar bill, which is
have two of the same denomination – I hadn’t yet broken folded only in half (Photo 4).
a hundred-dollar bill. On a whim, I used it anyway, loading
the hundred-dollar bill in the spectator’s hand instead of Performance
a duplicate single. The reaction was stronger because the
effect now contained the important element of the transpo- “People ask me about the greatest magic trick I’ve ever seen.
sition (the first half ) and a satisfying surprise. I’ll tell you about it. A Brazilian magician did it for me. I don’t
I realize that it’s not always possible or desirable to carry a know his name or how he did the trick. All I remember is that it
hundred-dollar bill with you, especially when you’re young. was incredible. I’ve recreated it as best I can. He used reais, the
So, I eventually changed the surprise bill to a foreign note. currency in Brazil, but I’ll use dollars.” Remove the single from
Brazilian money is particularly colorful and durable, but any your pocket. You can show all sides of the single as long as
foreign bill will work. You can obtain colorful foreign money it remains folded. The folded real will remain concealed in
in any coin shop, and often the notes are quite cheap. the fold.
The effect pivots around a strange “Z” fold I devised, “He borrowed a bill from someone else, so can I borrow a
which I later learned was created by Dr. Raymond L. Beebe bill?”
(Hugard’s Magic Monthly, March, 1963). He prepared the Ask to borrow a bill
folded bills ahead of time in his Paper Money Switch and was 5 from the spectator. While
the first to eliminate the need for gaffed currency during a she removes a bill from
bill transposition. her wallet, open the single,
The strange effect of a transposition plus surprise ending pinning the real to the back of
certainly isn’t new. I can think of several card effects that the bill with the right thumb
employ this type of thinking. With money, Francis Carlyle was (Photo 5). Let’s assume she
a pioneer who devised a handling for the silver-dollar sized produces a five. “The Brazilian

36 M-U-M Magazine
An Inside Guide for Young Magicians and their Parents
magician allowed me to fold critical here because there are two bills.
6 his bill and he folded mine. This You’ll now execute a sort of “Z” fold I devised that renders two
way, I knew everything was bills double-sided (so that one side shows a single and the other
legit.” Take the spectator’s side displays a five). The actions are bold, but the fold doesn’t
bill in your left hand, taking look peculiar. I have found it goes unnoticed by even skeptical
care that you grip the bill so audience members. Simply fold the spectator’s bill forward and
the president’s face is toward down, overlapping the single (Photo 11). Then fold the single
you. forward and up, over the upper portion of the spectator’s bill
Extend your right second (Photo 12). Two “V” folds are
finger and insert the spectator’s bill between the first and second 12 now inserted into each other
fingers of the right hand (Photo 6). It is now an easy matter for while the folded real remains
the left hand to grip the single and slide it from between the concealed behind.
right fingers. The hidden real will automatically shift against the Ask the spectator to
spectator’s bill. Hand the left hand’s single to the spectator and extend her right hand, palm
ask her to fold it as per your up. Place all the bills onto
instructions. her fingers. It’s important
7 Now you’ll fold her bill that the bills are placed onto
as you folded yours. That the fingers and not the palm. Pin the bills to her fingers with
is, you’ll fold the bill in half, your right hand, placing the real against her fingers where
folding the left end away it will remain out of view. Ask her to close her hand, but keep
from you. During this process your fingers against her palm as she closes. This automatically
the foreign note is concealed turns the packet of bills over – it happens in the natural action of
behind the bill. closing the fingers against the palm. Remove your fingers from
Now you’ll fold the left side her hand and ask her to turn her wrist palm down. This rotates
8 to the right again (Photo 7). As the packet of bills again so the real is lowermost.
this happens the right thumb “The Brazilian magician reached into my hand and removed his
must shift the real behind the bill.” So saying, reach into her closed fist and gently remove both
left fingers. You’ll notice in the single and the five. The fold allows both bills to be removed
the photograph that the bill together, and they will look like just one bill. Since the spectator
overlaps onto the left fingers still feels a folded note inside her fist she will not suspect you are
considerably. This allows for a removing two bills.
pristine, thin edge along the Hold the packet between the fingers and thumb at chest
right side of the spectator’s height. Shake the hand in an up and down motion, rotating the
9 bill. packet over while shaking right hand. The turnover should be
Verbally guide the concealed in the blur of motion. The spectator’s bill will now be
spectator through the simple visible to the audience.
folding process (into fourths), “The bills have changed places! If I have your bill…what bill must
taking care that she folds the be in your hand?” As you talk you’ll unfold the spectator’s bill.
bill with the president’s face Since the focus reverts back to the spectator’s hand (and not on
on the outside. the changed bill in your hand)
Shift the spectator’s 13 there is no undue heat on the
10 bill back to your right unfolding process.
hand, secretly shifting the To unfold the spectator’s
concealed real so that it bill, grip your single between
overlaps the bill onto the the thumb and left fingers.
right fingers (Photo 8). Take Rotate the spectator’s bill
the single from the spectator ninety degrees counterclock-
and situate it in front of the wise and insert the right
borrowed bill, down-jogged fingers into the opening along
for exactly half its length 14 the right side (Photo 13). The
11 (Photo 9). As this happens, one-dollar bill slides under
make sure the indices face the right thumb and unfolds
you. Take this time to situate into fourths as the spectator’s
the real squarely behind the bill is unfolded completely
other bills (Photo 10). The (Photo 14). The single remains
packet’s thickness isn’t so concealed behind the

NOVEMBER 2011 37
UNDER/OVER

spectator’s bill. more authentic if you recycle old ones from past presentations
The spectator is instructed to open her hand. Instead of a or speeches. On the blank side of each card, draw a picture of
transposition, she discovers the Brazilian real note. Ask her to a playing card. The drawings should be unrealistic – the more
unfold it. “Wait! That’s exactly the bill the Brazilian magician used homemade, the better. Draw a different card on each note card.
when he showed the trick to me!” Take the foreign note back and The playing card will be the force card. Suppose it’s the Six of
insert it between the right first and second fingers. You’ll slip Hearts. Remove any note card (except the Six of Hearts note card)
the concealed single behind the real as you remove the spec- and trim the outer right
tator’s bill from the right hand using exactly the same method corner of the card slightly
described at the beginning of the trick. Pocket the real note (and 4 with scissors (Photo 4).
the folded single) to conclude. You have just created a
short note card. Remove
Flashcards the Six of Hearts note card
and place it on top of the
“Let me tell you about short note card, and then
1 how I got a detention for place both of these cards,
doing magic,” says the together, in the middle of
young magician. “My the stack. When you riffle
school has lots of rules, and the outer right corner from the bottom to the top, it will be an
one of them is that playing easy matter to stop at the short card. The very next note card is
cards are forbidden. To the Six of Hearts…which you’ll force.
get around this, I drew my The final preparation is to set the real Six of Hearts second
own deck of cards, cleverly from the bottom, face down. Wrap a rubber band around the
disguised on the other stack to keep everything together (and to keep the playing card
2 side of these note cards.” from falling out).
So saying, the magician
presents a stack of lined Performance
note cards (Photo 1).
Speeches, notes, and high- “Let me tell you about how I got a detention for doing magic,”
lighted vocabulary fill out you begin. “My school has lots of rules, and one of them is that
the fronts of the cards, but playing cards are
the back of each note card forbidden. To get
has a picture of a different 5 around this, I drew
playing card (Photo 2). my own deck of cards,
3 “I used to do tricks with cleverly disguised
my homemade deck of on the other side of
cards for kids in school… these note cards.”
like this. Let me show you Remove the rubber
one I used to do in school band from your stack
all the time. Please call and spread over the
stop as I riffle through the top few note cards,
note cards.” The spectator turning each one
complies and remembers over to display different cards.
the stopped-at card. The magician instructs the spectator to 6 “I used to do tricks with my
close her right hand into a fist. The magician inserts note cards homemade deck of cards for kids
one by one between the spectator’s clenched thumb and first in school…like this. Let me show
finger. About twenty cards are inserted in a haphazard fashion you one I used to do in school all
(Photo 3). “I’m going to try and hit the stack of cards and cause the the time. Please call stop as I riffle
one you chose to fall from your hand,” the magician proclaims. through the note cards.” Square
He strikes the note cards in the spectator’s hands. Surpris- the cards in your left hand and
ingly, all the note cards fall from her hand. More surprisingly, a regrip them by pinching the
real playing card is left in her hand, still clenched between the inner left corner between the
fingers…her selected card. “But as I told you, there are no playing left thumb and fingers (Photo
cards in school, and that’s why I got a detention!” 5). Run your right first finger
along the outer right corner of
Setup the deck, moving from the face
to the back. As the spectator
You’ll need fifty-two note cards, one playing card, and a calls stop, continue riffling
rubber band. While you can use new note cards, it will appear until you feel a click. The click

38 M-U-M Magazine
 By Joshua Jay

Take the bottom note card from your left hand with your right
fingers, taking care not to expose the Six of Hearts. This leaves
one note card in your left hand with the Six beneath it. Insert
7 the cards in each hand under the spectator’s thumb at the same
time, but do it like this: the right hand inserts its note card on
top of the stack as the left hand inserts the note card and the Six,
as one card, under all the other note cards. The spectator won’t
feel two cards because of all the other cards she is holding. You
must make sure that the Six of Hearts is the lowermost card in
her hand (Photo 8).
Say, “I’m going to try to hit the stack of cards and cause the one
you chose to fall from your hand.” Now firmly slap the cards in the
spectator’s hand (Photo 9). Your hand should be palm down and
your fingers spread. Upon impact, all the note cards will fall from
the spectator’s hands, leaving only a face-down playing card
protruding from her fist.
8 “Wait a minute! That’s a real playing card. What was the name
of the card you selected? The Six of Hearts? Turn it over…” The
spectator will be impressed at both the appearance of a card
and that you found her selection. “But as I told you, there are no
playing cards allowed in school, and that’s why I got a detention!”

What’s the Difference

between “Young” and
9 “Youth”?
These past eleven columns in M-U-M have been about
making your age work for you rather than against you, but this is
a temporary issue. You will eventually get older. But just because
you aren’t young doesn’t mean you can’t think youthfully. Your
inquisitive mind is an asset; don’t ever lose it.
Quick story: I performed magic in Ecuador for a group of
young magicians who don’t have access to DVDs or books or
even decent teachers. One boy had a thumb tip but clearly
is your short card. This force takes timing but isn’t difficult. You nobody had showed him how to use it. And without instruc-
must learn to simply ignore the spectator and always stop on tions to limit his imagination, the boy had constructed an entire
the short card. routine wherein he vanished and manipulated his fingers. I
Break the pack at this point by pulling back with the right first was astounded! This was a totally original routine with a prop
finger, allowing the spectator to see the Six of Hearts drawing I was sure had been fully explored. But he turned the “secret”
(Photo 6). Keep hold of this packet with your left fingers. Once gimmick on its head and used it in plain sight to great effect. He
the spectator has noted her card, remove the right first finger, was thinking youthfully, and it was inspiring.
allowing all the cards to coalesce. If you like, you can add a false I work with young magicians like you a lot and I get as much
shuffle or cut at this point. from it as you do (writing these articles, for example, has been
“Please make a fist with your hands.” Gesture with your own quite a learning experience). The reason I get so much from
right hand by curling the fingers into a fist, taking care that the working with young magicians is because you have a fresh way
thumb remains extended on top of the right first finger (Photo of looking at things that older magicians don’t often possess.
7). Perhaps they did when they were young, but it faded as they
Now cut off about forty note cards from the stack and place got older.
them on the table or in your pocket, commenting that you won’t You live in a world without constraints or limits – I remember
need the whole pack for the trick. Tuck each of the remaining what that felt like. Whenever I work on new material I try to tap
cards under the spectator’s thumb pad. You should make a dis- into the mindset that you are fortunate enough to exist in all the
organized fan of cards, letting some protrude from the right and time.
left, placing cards under, over, and between the others. Stop So as you progress in magic and cross from Under to Over,
when you have exactly two note cards left in your hand (and the keep your head in the clouds.  —Joshua Jay
real Six of Hearts between them).

NOVEMBER 2011 39
 How
Steve Cohen
Got To
Carnegie
Hall By Antonio M. Cabral

Photo by Clay Patrick McBride

“What is a true secret? Something that is there for everybody was tasked with watching Malini over the course of an evening’s
to see – and one recognizes it, the other doesn’t.” – Lao-tse dinner performance to try to pin down the little man’s sleight-of-
hand secrets – in particular the block-of-ice-under-the-hat trick.
Magicians and secrets have a funny relationship. Throughout the full evening’s meal, Malini never left the table.
The normal people who comprise our audiences watch us perform Malini then proceeded to perform the trick and “…when Malini
miracles and cannot begin to imagine how a person might learn lifted the hat, a block of ice the size of four fists lay in the center of
the requisite techniques and other arcane knowledge to accom- the table...Vernon swears to this day that ‘The little bugger had no
plish the impossible. Magicians, on the other hand, know all about time to load up.’” While the regular audience members wondered
the vast oceans of literature (in print and on video), obsessively how the ice got under the hat, Vernon was dumbfounded as to how
detailing and documenting the history and lineage of all these bi- the ice got to the table at all. A bribe to the waiter proved unsuc-
zarre, clever, and wonderful ideas. They know you can walk into cessful; they never found out from where Malini had procured the
a magic shop and buy whatever you like without having to fight a ice.
dragon or some other kind of mystic wizard’s trial. They worry that On the other hand, whenever Steve Cohen performs the trick as
their audiences will run home after watching a performance and the opener of his exclusive Miracles at Midnight show, the source of
look for the explanations on YouTube. The “secrets” are out there, the block of ice is somewhat less of a mystery. The show is his sec-
if you care enough and know where to look. And yet, magicians ond as part of his residence at the über-opulent Waldorf-Astoria
and laymen can look at the same “miracle” and both be mystified in Manhattan. The kitchen at the Waldorf-Astoria is located on
– if for different reasons. the second floor and takes up the area of a full city block. “They
For example, many close-up magicians know the story of Max have a huge walk-in freezer, and they’ve let me have a whole shelf
Malini’s famous production of a brick or a block of ice from un- in there just for the blocks of ice for this trick. I used to go down
der a hat as recounted by Dai Vernon in Stars of Magic. Vernon myself to fetch the ice, but it gets very cold in that freezer; our

40 M-U-M Magazine
 arrangement now is that I simply Millionaires’ Magician is a relatively recent creation, he got his
ring down to the kitchen and they very first experience performing for the “upper crust” at age sev-
run one upstairs for me at the be- enteen, performing for the Rockefeller family on their estate. His
ginning of each show.” Of course. connections made from attending Cornell led to him performing
Everything’s easy once you know weekly at the five-star Park Hyatt Tokyo during his four years in
the secret. Japan. He was already an experienced and successful performer
But while Steve’s audiences – like when he decided, with the help of his creative partner Mark Levy,
Malini’s – are astounded at the ap- to reinvent himself and his repertoire as “The Millionaires’ Ma-
pearance of the ice under the hat, gician.” He already had an act when he decided to put together
magicians marvel at something his first Chamber Magic shows. He’d already been performing
else. They don’t marvel at how the his Chamber Magic show every week for many months in other
ice appeared under the hat or how venues before approaching the Waldorf-Astoria. Also, by his own
the ice got to the table, but at how admission, it took two years of self-support and losing money on
Steve Cohen himself has managed the show and three or four years proving that the show could be
to “magically appear” in residence successful before the hotel began to help promote him. So, in the
at the Waldorf-Astoria with not same way a mentalist can point to any random audience member
one, but two elegant, high-end and appear to instantly pluck their secrets from their mind, Steve
magic shows, one of which costs Cohen is an “overnight sensation.” It’s easy when you know the se-
$250 per person. For close-up cret. No one can simply waltz into the Waldorf-Astoria and put on
magic! And coming this January, a magic show, anymore than one can really pluck thoughts from
Steve will be premiering a stage people’s brains.
show at a local Manhattan venue
named Carnegie Hall. Compared
to those “miracles,” blocks of ice
and bricks under hats might as
well be the old stretching-your-
thumb trick that your uncle does.

“I remember once hearing one of

my younger brothers telling his
girlfriend my story...I was born,
I was talented, I got into piano, I
had this neat place, and I worked
with Miles Davis. He left out
this giant part which was the
struggle!” – Keith Jarrett

Steve Cohen’s success is unparalleled. His client list reads like a

listing from Forbes – in large part, because it is. Then there’s his
residence at the Waldorf-Astoria, where he performs two elegant
and exquisite evening shows of classical parlor conjuring. Cham-
ber Magic is his now well known, eleven-year-running weekend
parlor show; since 2010 he’s added Miracles at Midnight, a $250-a-
head evening of close-up performed only once a month and billed
as “The World’s Most Exclusive Magic Show.” And like many of
magic’s great secrets, the secret to Steve’s success is hidden in print.
He’s detailed much of the story of his journey from young birth-
day party magician to The Millionaires’ Magician in his 2008 Genii
magazine cover feature, his interviews with The Magic Newswire
Web site, and his own book for the lay public, Win The Crowd. And
Steve still receives enough emails from eager magicians wanting to
set up residence performing at swanky hotels (because “it worked
for that guy!”) that last year he put up a very frank post on his
Chamber Magic Blog addressing these emails in general. It’s titled,
“How not to start your own one-man show.” In it, he explains some And Steve’s not the only one tipping his mitt on the Internet.
of the secrets to his success. Marketing guru Seth Godin, on his own blog, put together a suc-
Put in magician’s terms, Steve’s success at the Waldorf-Astoria cinct-yet-insightful five-point list of how Steve has achieved the
boils down to a lot of “pre-show work.” While his identity as The success he has. Points One, Two, and Four are savvy marketing

NOVEMBER 2011 41
skills. Number Five on that list is “He’s very good at his craft. Don’t didn’t want to do.
overlook this point.” And while Chamber Magic and Steve’s exis- Around the time Steve conceived Chamber Magic, his friends
tence as “The Millionaires’ Magician” are very much the result of told him about the great success Ricky Jay was having with his eve-
intelligent and focused marketing efforts, when all is said and done ning show Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, an evening of nothing
but card tricks. Without even seeing
the show, Steve immediately knew
that trying to launch a similar evening
of only card tricks would invite inevi-
table comparisons – “apples to apples”
– and Steve wanted to offer something
exclusive and unique. While Chamber
Magic does open with a selection of
flourishy sleight of hand with cards,
once he’s established his skill Steve
deliberately moves away from sleight
of hand. While 52 Assistants wears
its sleight of hand on its sleeve, Steve
wanted a show of close-up and parlor
magic seemingly devoid of any sleight
of hand whatsoever.
On the other side of that coin, while
Chamber Magic features some very
powerful mental magic, Steve didn’t
want a full evening of mentalism, ei-
ther. He’s not a mentalist; he’s a magi-
cian who can read minds. So the show
would ultimately be a fine-tuned mix
of prestidigitation (like the opening
card tricks and the Malini Ice under
the Hat) and more inexplicable mys-
teries (linking wedding bands, an as-
tounding presentation of the Rising
Photo by Clay Patrick McBride Cards, and the aforementioned feats
of mind reading). The program states
that the show begins with “precision
sustaining that image involves being a consummate performer. technique that has no equal” and ends with “an enigma of the
When you watch Steve perform, it’s impossible to overlook the highest order.” A well-crafted
fact that he’s very good at his craft. He ought to be by this point: crescendo of effect to be sure
he’s been performing magic professionally since the age of ten, he – but it doesn’t stop there.
is a veteran of Tannen’s Magic Camp, and he has performed his Point Number Three on
Chamber Magic show over three thousand times. If you watch Seth Godin’s list is “He inten-
closely, you can see that experience manifest itself in his three tionally creates an experience
shows: Chamber Magic, Miracles at Midnight, and the brand-new, that is remarkable and likely
upcoming Theater of Wonder. to spread.” Thanks to Steve’s
decades of experience as a
Chamber Magic performer, Chamber Magic
was designed with that idea
When Steve set about creating Chamber Magic, he’d already had firmly in mind. Steve recalls
to reinvent his repertoire to fit his image as The Millionaires’ Magi- a conversation with Jeff Mc-
cian. Tricks he’d been performing successfully for years got retired Bride about what an audi-
as Steve now focused on tricks that spoke to wealth and affluence ence wants to take away from
– tricks with real diamonds, $100 bills, gold…your standard, ev- a performance of magic. “His
eryday household items. When the time came to create Chamber answer was they want to be
Magic, he knew he wanted to create an evening of elegant, refined able to say, ‘It happened to
magic that harkened back to the Viennese salons – a stylistic me!’” In Chamber Magic,
choice that was a good fit in the venues he aspired to and spoke Steve manages to squeeze ev-
as much to the “lifestyles of the rich and famous” as any choice of ery drop of audience involve-
props. More important, though, Steve knew what kind of show he ment out of his act – not just

42 M-U-M Magazine
participation, but involvement. Take for example one of the open- helps everyone to relax and enjoy the experience with each other.
ing effects, a bit of mind-reading with cards. Steve has someone By the time he gets to the end of a performance and is into the
from the audience remove a handful of cards from a shuffled deck finale (his version of Juan Tamariz’s Total Coincidence), he asks
and proceeds to divine each and every card one-at-a-time as the the audience, “Should I stop, or continue?” In the performance I
audience concentrates on them. Where most performers would attended, everyone laughed and shouted together, “Continue!” It
perform this with a single person while the rest of the audience really brought the whole audience together.
looks on, Steve has the first person focus on a card, divines it, then Even the strict dress code is in place to enhance the experience.
has that person pass the cards to another member of the audi- “When people have to get dressed up for an evening out, it makes
ence. This continues until all the cards have been divined. While them feel like they’re experiencing something special. Even the
the normal audience marvels at how he could possibly know what trip through the Waldorf-Astoria to the suite where I perform
card they’re each thinking of, the real trick is getting each audience gives the feeling of something unique. Everyone feels like they’re
member to think, “I could be next!” Even the initial shuffling is sharing something important.”
done not by one, but by several members of the audience. Magi- It’s this kind of thinking that has allowed Chamber Magic to
cians like to refer to their audience members as “spectators.” Steve enjoy a very successful eleven-year run, one that Steve plans to
recognizes the importance of not allowing his audiences to simply extend to twenty, at which time he’ll retire the show. He’s only
“spectate.” mentioned that part of the plan in a few places, but it has been in
This thinking permeates the entire evening’s performance. For place from the beginning – a forward piece of thinking that will no
his signature performance of Think-a-Drink, each and every doubt leave a few folks disappointed in nine years.
member of the audience writes down his or her favorite drink.
Even though only five or six drinks are eventually poured, the en- Miracles at Midnight
tire audience of fifty or more people feels like their drink of choice
could have been next. In a recent performance on tour at the Bev- What more could any magi-
erly Wilshire hotel in 2010, Jason Segel (of How I Met Your Mother, cian ask for beyond a show as
Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and The Muppets) assisted Steve with distinctive and successful as
Think-a-Drink. He was offered any choice of drink, with every op- Chamber Magic? Where does
portunity to change his mind, and when Steve began pouring the one go beyond the penthouse?
chosen drinks, the six-foot-four comedian’s reactions were as loud Enter Miracles at Midnight.
and boisterous as any he’s delivered on TV or in film – and genu- In 2009, David Kaye (aka
ine. And that’s the whole idea: to make the audience feel like they Silly Billy) went to see Steve’s
could have dictated the outcome – “that they could have affected Chamber Magic show. After
the show.” viewing Steve’s performance,
Another key factor to the way audiences experience Chamber David’s business sense for all
Magic is laughter. Steve’s rule of thumb is that every couple of min- things magic kicked in, and he
utes (if not once-a-minute) there needs to be a laugh of some kind. made the suggestion that Steve
Not knock-down, fall-over-yourself comedy, because that’s not ought to have “a luxury show”
Steve. But Steve finds that some kind of laugh or joke along the way to offer his clients. After the
high-end experience of Cham-
ber Magic, what could possi-
bly count as a “luxury show?”
“This was in the middle of a
recession!” But Steve liked
the idea, and the result was
Miracles at Midnight.
Performed only once a month in the Waldorf Towers, Miracles
at Midnight is an exclusive, expensive, and late evening of intimate
miracles. Where Chamber Magic is a parlor-style performance
for a typical audience of forty to fifty people, Miracles at Midnight
allows Steve to indulge in his love for close-up magic for an audi-
ence of no more than twenty. “Because of the high price [$250 a
ticket], the size of the audience is smaller than Chamber Magic, so
I get to do the kind of close-up tricks I love but that don’t quite fit
into Chamber Magic.” This includes items familiar to most magi-
cians like Coins Across, and the Newspaper Tear.
Speaking about the Newspaper Tear, Steve was initially reluc-
tant to include the routine because of its popularity with other per-
formers (again, avoiding the “apples to apples” comparisons), “…
but the reactions it gets are too strong! It’s such a powerful trick.”
Steve combines these more intimate tricks with some favorites

NOVEMBER 2011 43
 eightieth birthday in attendance. Whenever people bring up the
late start time of the show, Steve tells them that an eighty-year-
old man came and stayed awake through the whole night – and
enjoyed himself.

Theater of Wonder
Where does one go beyond the penthouse? In January 2012,
Steve will debut Theater of Wonder at Carnegie Hall. The story be-
hind the inception of this new show is in many ways a textbook
example of the world Steve has created for himself, although again,
as a “secret” there’s not much to it.
One of Steve’s clients, patrons, and good friends is the renowned
classical violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. The September 2008 Genii
magazine cover feature on Steve recounts how, at a private per-
formance in Switzerland, Steve followed his staple performance of
the Himber Linking Finger Rings by linking a violin bow onto the
strings of a violin and pre-
senting the object to Ms.
Mutter as a souvenir. This
is how fast friendships are
made. In 2010, the two
were having lunch and
Ms. Mutter stated that she
firmly believed that, as
someone she considers a
“world-class artist,” Steve
should have a much wid-
from Chamber Magic. And like Chamber Magic, the key er audience. She pointed
to justifying the $250 per ticket for Miracles at Midnight is out to him that while he
creating a unique experience for all involved. To that end, could certainly stick to
another feature of this show not found in Chamber Magic his twenty-year plan and
is a segment in which the audience is invited to bring up continue to enjoy success,
their own belongings and personal items, whereupon Steve it wouldn’t allow him to
performs miracles with those very items. Of course, to re- grow as an artist. Her
ally “improvise” would risk doing something less-than- advice: “Think big!” And
Painting by Tony Cabral
spectacular, and Steve will not let that happen. “It has the by way of example, she
feeling of improvisation, like I’m making up the tricks on pointed out, “Look at me;
the spot. Of course, certain objects trigger certain tricks for me, in I’m playing Carnegie Hall tomorrow night.” Rather than wonder
the same way a jazz musician follows the chords and has certain what he could accomplish that would be as big as playing Carnegie
‘licks’ and can always come back to the form of the song. But for Hall, Steve took her literally. “I called my creative partner Mark
the audience it’s like I’m creating something for the first time, right Levy and said, ‘I want to play Carnegie Hall. Are you in?’ He said,
in front of their eyes.” Steve also notes that most audiences tend to ‘Absolutely.’”
offer up the same objects (keys, jewelry, etc.), so he never has to (Steve is actually no stranger to Carnegie Hall. He’s performed
worry about being confronted with anything particularly bizarre there several times before – backstage. Whenever Anne-Sophie
or unusual. Mutter has played there, she’s invited Steve to perform for her
This is not to say that spontaneity doesn’t rear its head on oc- guests upstairs in the Maestro’s Suite after the concert.)
casion. On one such occasion, one of Steve’s guests was Dr. Ruth Of course, no one simply walks into Carnegie Hall and starts
Westheimer. For the “improvisational” part of the show she offered performing magic, any more than they can simply walk into the
a tube of lipstick. Steve proceeded with a trick similar to the Ashes Waldorf-Astoria and put on a magic show. Luckily, through his
on the Palm that he does whenever someone offers lipstick. With performances, Steve had a contact at Carnegie Hall who arranged
a twinkle in his eye, Steve asked the noted sex therapist, “Dr. Ruth, a tour of the facility to get a feel for the venue. The first step was to
I’d like to perform something called a ‘penetration effect.’ Would head to the main stage – the Perelman Stage in the Stern Audito-
you like to see that?” This, of course, delighted both Dr. Ruth and rium. This is the stage people picture when they picture Carnegie
the rest of the audience no end. Hall, open since 1891 and seating 2,804 people. Mark walked out
Far from being prohibitive, the price tag and exclusive nature into the center of the house and Steve walked to center stage. Once
of Miracles at Midnight have attracted an equally high-end audi- in place, Steve held up a playing card. “It looked like a postage
ence. Noted conductor and pianist André Previn celebrated his stamp.” It became readily apparent that the sheer size of the hall

44 M-U-M Magazine
 It would be tempting for any performer to reconsider, give up,
and to try to find another venue more accommodating to the ma-
gician’s repertoire. However, any other venue isn’t Carnegie Hall.
In truth, Steve did reconsider and find another venue, and that
venue was…Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall features three stages: the
aforementioned Perelman Stage, the more recently-built Zankel
Hall, and the Weill Recital Hall. The Zankel Hall was constructed
in 2003 and seats 600, a more manageable size, but built in a mod-
ern, austere “shoebox” style. It’s a beautiful hall for a modern jazz
performance, but it doesn’t say “Chamber Magic.” The Weill Recital
Hall, on the other hand, seats 300 while looking like a miniature
version of the Stern Auditorium. With gilt-accented columns, or-
nate drapery, and crystal wall sconces, not only is it exactly the
sort of backdrop Steve is accustomed to, at 300 seats it’s also an
audience size he’s performed for many times before. Suddenly, the
daunting expanse of Carnegie Hall becomes an almost perfect fit
for Steve’s brand of Victorian-flavored, classical conjuring. (Note:
If you’re interested in “touring” the various spaces for yourself,
carnegiehall.org offers virtual 360º panoramic views of each of the
three different spaces that allow you to scroll around as if you were
standing right in the middle of the halls.)
Now that he was comfortable in the space, what would Steve
Performing for Warren Buffet (top) and David Letterman (bottom).
put into this new show? Steve is understandably reticent about the
contents of the new show, but one thing it definitely will be is en-
tirely new. He’s still contractually subject to the same performance
restrictions, so Think-a-Drink is still out. There will be some min-
dreading (a strong way to play to a large audience), but Steve does
not want to mount a full-evening’s performance of mentalism. So
for the first time in a number of years, he gets to create a whol-
ly new show. With eleven years of performing Chamber Magic,
though, Steve feels he has a terrific advantage in envisioning the
shape, rhythm, and flow of a successful show. In fact, he’s managed
to devise a unique framework for Theater of Wonders, running
from the beginning moments of the show, providing a connecting
thread for all the effects, and culminating in a truly grand finale.
On top of which, the show draws from all aspects of Steve’s experi-
ence, resulting in a very personal presentation. Steve told me that
when the idea came to him and he fleshed it out, he was so excited
by it that he actually jumped up and down. For now, though, until
With Anne-Sophie Mutter (left) and Jason Segal (right). Theater of Wonders debuts in January, the details remain…a se-
cret. But not for long after, because with a 300-seat capacity and a
would present significant problems for a performer used to work- 30,000-person mailing list, Steve fully expects the show to be sold
ing in more intimate venues. Moreover, Carnegie Hall won’t allow out by the time this article sees publication. But the plan afterward,
any performer to hang projection monitors to aid visibility, killing if the show proves successful, is for Steve to tour with the show,
the possibilities for any kind of close-up material. cross-promoting the stage show with performances of Chamber
Carnegie Hall also has strict regulations governing what per- Magic in suitable venues in different cities.
formers are allowed to do on stage. Nothing can be done with fire, The secrets of Steve Cohen’s success aren’t all that secret. Then
nothing with livestock, which would kill ninety percent of most again, they’re not all that easy. Like the most difficult sleight of
large Vegas-style illusion shows. Most restrictive for Steve: nothing hand, the “answer” may be simple, but only after years of expe-
with liquid was allowed. That means that while Steve could have rience, dedication, and attention to detail. There’s a joke that has
a bottle of water with him onstage, his signature performance of likely been in the mind of every reader since they started read-
Think-a-Drink would get left behind in the suite at the Waldorf. If ing this article. It’s a joke about Carnegie Hall that scientists have
all this sounds like an opportunity to dust off the Zig-Zag and the proven to be older than the hall itself: A man gets into a cab in New
Substitution Trunk and hire some of the Rockettes to get sawn in York City and asks the driver, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”
half, consider that any and all onstage assistants would need to be The cab driver replies, “Practice!”
provided by the union, which would drive the cost of the show up It shouldn’t surprise anyone that after years of success, Steve
by nearly $400,000. That’s a vastly expensive difference for a man will find himself onstage at Carnegie Hall. And he should do well.
who’s made his world-class reputation as a one-man show. After all, he’s had plenty of practice. 

NOVEMBER 2011 45
Disecto t h e
effect.
A spectator is
selected and asked to
put his hand in this strange looking
contraption. The blade rests above the spec-
tator’s wrist. Suddenly the magician thrusts the
blade down, apparently passing through the spectator’s
wrist! It can be seen going down through the side openings in the
prop. The spectator removes his hand and, lo and behold, no harm
has been done.
The improved Disecto that you can purchase from Abbott’s
today can do one thing this can’t. The new Disecto enables you to
actually cut through a carrot or celery stalk. This version will not
allow that, and you will soon find out why. This version, of course,
features a trick blade, but as you can see in our drawing it does
not slide out of the way. Instead, it pivots up out of the way of the
wrist while the stubs remain in place to give the appearance of the
blade passing through the wrist. The extending tip of the blade is
also a stub that does not move, but is attached to the wood handle.
This pivoting blade rests in front of the stubs and is held up in

place only when a small pin is slid over in the back of the prop. I
am including a photo that shows the back of this Disecto with the
This is your father’s Disecto! The word from Ron Allesi is that false blade pivoted up. If you look carefully you will see the pin
this is an early Abbott’s Disecto made in the 1950s; it came in a that (when slid over) holds the blade in the uppermost space. That
specially built wood box. It has been in my collection for some pin is hidden in the black painted circle. Note in the bottom left
time. The interesting thing is that its working is different than the sketch of our drawing that the pivoting blade is notched into the
Disecto you can buy today. The effect is the same, however. Like wood handle to keep it in line.
its modern brother it can’t be viewed from behind and it stands Like the current Disecto, this version packs flat with feet that
taller than the new version. turn, either aligning with the prop or allowing the prop to stand
As you can see, the design is somewhat bizarre: not many upright.
green props were available back in the ‘50s. I am sure you know Copyright 2011 Paul Osborne

46 M-U-M Magazine
NOVEMBER 2011 47
 James munton: A con pro
By Jelita McLeod

“No one thinks it can happen to them, but Americans The difference is that I use my skills for entertainment, not to
are forty times more likely to be defrauded than to have fleece people.”
their cars stolen or their homes burgled.” The tradition of magicians exposing phonies is a long and il-
James Munton delivers this startling statistic to a packed lustrious one. In Victorian England, magician John Maskelyne
audience in Dallas as part of his popular presentation on scams recreated and exposed the spirit cabinet act performed by the
and con artists. Simultaneously alarming and entertaining, the per- Davenport Brothers. The great Harry Houdini waged a lifelong war
formance offers up a mix of magic, storytelling, and solid advice on on fake psychics, most notably the famous medium Margery. The
how to recognize and avoid cons. Amazing Randi is a well-known skeptic and debunker of pseudo-
A professional magician and speaker, Munton is the author science and the paranormal.
of The Con: How Scams Work, Why You’re Vulnerable, and How Inside knowledge gives magicians a unique perspective.
to Protect Yourself (Rowman Littlefield, September 2011). The Munton recalls receiving an invitation to participate in a panel
book delves into the murky world of cons, recounting the stories discussion organized by a leading defense contractor. The firm
of ordinary people from all walks of life targeted by scams. The wanted to explore issues of deception as part of its research
stories bring to life the very real pain and misery con artists inflict, into developing a terrorist tracking system. Not knowing what
and aims to educate readers on how they can develop an instinc- to expect, he imagined an informal conversation with a handful
tive “scam sense.” of employees. Instead, he found himself alongside two fellow
Munton traces his interest in deception back to his childhood in panelists – a zoologist and a biologist – speaking to a room filled
London, England. While other children played soccer in the park, with two hundred top scientists.
he watched local hustlers performing classic street cons such as “They were interested in understanding how people deceive
the three-card monte and the shell game. Luckily, a local magician and are deceived. The zoologist and biologist talked about forms
helped to steer his talents in a more honest direction. of deception that occur in nature and the biological implications. I
After moving to the U.S. in 2007, Munton became a success- did a magic trick and explained the elements of deception without
ful magician, performing in such illustrious locations as the White giving away any secrets. It went over well. The experience taught
House and for the likes of Dick Cheney and Hillary Clinton. But me that having studied magic for so long, I knew more about the
when two close relatives became the victims of identity theft, topic than I thought I did. ”
he realized he could combine his professional expertise with Munton also saw that his performing ability allowed him to
personal experience to help people in a different way. He is now connect and communicate with an audience in a way that was
an in-demand speaker on the subjects of fraud and identity theft. both entertaining and informative. He read everything he could
The way he sees it, magic and scams are flip sides of the same on scams, cons, and identity theft, and developed a presentation.
coin. When clients called to book him for an event, he would mention his
“As a magician, I am already very familiar with the elements of fraud lecture and started building his career as a speaker.
deception and the psychology that goes into creating an illusion. Munton concedes there are challenges in tackling the subject

48 M-U-M Magazine
of scams. “Everybody thinks it can’t one audience member to remark, “I thought
happen to them, so one of the first things he was the con man.” The distinction is not
I have to do is show them how easy it is to lost on Munton.
be scammed. I tell people that a scam is Although con artists and magicians
theft with a twist, stealing with a storyline. share some tricks of the trade such as mis-
The book is full of stories – we read about direction, sleight of hand, and illusion, he
Nancy, the army mother who receives a has no tolerance for those who prey on the
dreaded late-night phone call. We find innocent.
out how a 25th high school reunion can “Magic relies on a degree of deception,
go horribly wrong. There’s the lawyer but the audience is in on it. There is an
trying to save money for his wedding, unspoken agreement between them and the
the woman who receives a unique offer performer. No one will be harmed. Everyone
in the grocery store, the college student will have a good time. Con artists, by
who can’t rent an apartment. These are contrast, are parasites. What is especially
everyday people caught up in horrifying sad is that victims often blame themselves
circumstances. The message is, if you for falling for a scam.”
think it can’t happen to you, think again.” The Con’s cover shows “The Conjurer,”
The same message is imparted in by 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus
front of a live audience. It’s not difficult for Bosch. Munton chose the painting for the
a magician to demonstrate how people book’s cover because he is fond of it – a
are fooled, but Munton is careful to have James Munton and Jelita McLeod print also hangs in his office – and because
the magic support and enhance his presen- it depicts the elements of a con in a striking
tation without taking over. He aims for a balance of eighty percent way. In the painting, a magician is performing the classic cups
content, twenty percent magic. For example, he talks about how and balls in front of a small gathering. In the front is one particu-
con artists will lure in victims by taking advantage of basic human larly captivated spectator. While his attention is focused on the
emotions, most commonly fear, greed, or compassion. magician, an accomplice carefully picks the man’s pocket.
To illustrate his point, he brings up two spectators and hands On stage, Munton demonstrates his own pickpocketing routine,
each one a wallet with five $1 bills, which they count out into his which ends in a completely unexpected way, leaving the audience
hand and return to their wallets. As he explains how scammers in hysterics. He always allows plenty of time for audience
appeal to our emotions, he mimes a fishing pole reeling in the questions, another novelty.
victim. “Magicians tend to discourage questions, because they’re often
“The con artist uses three types of bait to hook you. One is to intended to undermine the magic trick or to overanalyze every
appeal to your greed. You’ve won the lottery! You can save big move the magician makes. They’re rarely helpful in a straight-
money! A second type of bait involves fear – fear of a loved one forward magic routine. You want your spectators to comply, not
being hurt, fear of getting in trouble with the law. Third, scams can question. In this case, I welcome questions. I have a limited per-
appeal to your compassion and kindness. Help needy children! formance time, so the Q and A session is where a lot of additional
Donate to hurricane relief!” information comes up. It also gives the presentation a personal
He then turns to the spectators and has them take their money touch. People share their own experiences and concerns and I am
out and count it again. Three bills have mysteriously transferred able to give them customized advice.”
from one wallet to another, leaving one person with only $2 and As if on cue, a member of the audience approaches him after
one with a total of $8. The trick, a visual representation of how con the talk is over. The woman didn’t want to share her story with
artists are able to pocket their victims’ money, is a hit. the whole audience, but has a serious question. She received a
Munton displays an ease with his audience that comes from letter offering her a great discount on cruise packages. Thinking it
being a seasoned performer. He is in his element during the was a good deal, she sent off payment of $800. She never heard
magical portions of his talk, but admits that speaking without anything back. Worried, she called Royal Caribbean – a legitimate
props or patter was something new to him. To help hone his public cruise line, whose name was mentioned in the letter – and was
speaking skills, he joined a local Toastmasters group. Members told they offered no such discount. When she tried the contact
are required to deliver speeches and in return receive feedback number included in the letter, she was unable to reach anyone.
and tips on delivery. What should she do?
During his speech, Munton reads an excerpt from the book, and Munton spoke with the woman at length, advising her to alert
the audience reaction is palpable – people shake their heads, gasp, her bank and tell them that she had been a victim of fraud. Several
and sigh. At this point, the strength of the storytelling technique days later, she phoned him to say that she had followed his advice
becomes clear. A magic trick creates suspense by taking specta- and that she was working with the bank to resolve the disputed
tors step by step to an unbelievable outcome. Similarly, the story charges. Munton says this is an example of how rewarding his
of a scam draws in readers (or in this case, listeners), introducing work can be.
them to the players and leading to an inevitable conclusion. They “She told me that she had her first good night’s sleep in weeks.
know the scam is coming, but must read on to see how it plays I was thrilled to have been able to help her.” 
out. Like magic, the scam is more of a howdunit than a whodunit.
Unlike a traditional lecture, the structure of his presentation Jelita McLeod is an award-winning writer and has worked in
allows Munton flexibility to interact with the audience and improvise education and public relations for more than ten years. Jelita’s work
when the circumstances allow. The feel is very different from a has appeared in numerous publications, including The Washing-
typical corporate delivery – no podiums, no PowerPoint. Nattily ton Post, The Baltimore Sun, International Educator, Community
dressed, with his British accent, Munton’s appearance prompted College Times, and Vital Speeches of the Day.

NOVEMBER 2011 49
QUICK LOOK BOOK NOOK
over to her teenage daughter.
“My daughter, she does everything online, so she went and
Excerpt From: looked on the lottery site to get the form and address. She decided
to double-check the number to make sure we had got the amount
The Con: How Scams Work, right. That’s when she discovered that the ticket we had was not
Why You’re Vulnerable, and a winning ticket. Well, no, I shouldn’t say that. There was one
How to Protect Yourself number on it that matched. So it was a $2 winner.”
Authors: James Munton and If the chances of you winning the lottery yourself are slim, the
chances of a real winner choosing you to split his winnings are
Jelita McLeod absolutely zero. In this scam, there is always some reason why
Description: Hardbound, the person cannot cash the ticket on his or her own. Immigration
190 pages. status is a common excuse. Another is a lack of money to pay the
Available From: “claim fee” (there isn’t one). Sometimes perpetrators will say they
www.Amazon.com have an outstanding traffic violation or some other legal compli-
cation that prevents them from claiming the prize money. Those
who are unable to get money out of the victims have been known
Chapter 8 to accept other forms of payment, such as watches, jewelry, or any
other valuable items the victim can easily produce on the spot.
Out and About: Sidestepping Street Swindles “I didn’t understand,” says Marisol, “because we had called to
check the numbers. My daughter said, ‘Who did you call?’ I said
Ticket to Ride it was the lottery office. She asked me who made the call, and I
said it was Eduardo. She said, ‘Mom, he probably just called a
Marisol was doing her weekly shopping at the grocery store friend of his.’ But he was looking at the ticket when he dialed the
when a man approached her and asked if she spoke Spanish. “He number, like he was reading it off the ticket. Every little thing was
looked like my younger brother. He was clean cut, presentable. I so convincing.”
answered him in Spanish. He said his name was Eduardo.”
Eduardo needed help. He showed Marisol a Mega Millions Rocks in a Box
ticket and said he believed it was a winner. He spoke no English.
Could she call the lottery hotline number and check for him? Owen had been helping a friend move to a new apartment. As
“I said sure. He dialed the number on his cell phone and he went in and out of the building with boxes, he noticed a young
gave the phone to me. I read out the numbers to the person who man standing next to a parked white van. The man was smoking
answered. She congratulated me and said that the ticket was one a cigarette, looking around, but doing nothing in particular. He
of thirty-seven tickets to win $10,000.” caught Owen’s eye, nodded, and offered his cigarette pack. Owen,
Marisol gave the good news to Eduardo, who was happy, but who didn’t smoke, declined. Then the guy walked over to Owen.
subdued. “I told him it wasn’t the big jackpot, but hey, it was still He asked, “Hey man, are you moving in?”
a lot of money.” Owen replied no, that he was just helping a friend.
Eduardo told her that he was an undocumented alien and there “Oh. How about a housewarming present for your friend?”
was no way he could collect his winnings. He didn’t want to be The man pointed toward his van.
exposed and risk arrest. Marisol asked if there was anything she “Housewarming present?”
could do to help. Eduardo’s face brightened. “Or maybe just something for yourself. Come take a look.”
“He wanted me to buy the ticket from him. At first, I refused. Curious, Owen followed the man to his van. Inside were several
That was his money. I didn’t want to take advantage of him that boxes of name-brand electronics, including video cameras, digital
way.” cameras, and laptops.
But Eduardo was insistent. He had to get back to El Salvador. “These are all new,” the van owner said. “Excess inventory.”
His wife was expecting their first baby and he had promised to Owen was wary. “Excess inventory from where?”
be there for the birth. He offered to sell the ticket to Marisol for The goods were acquired from a department store where his
$1,000, one-tenth of its value. He assured her that she would be cousin worked, the man said. They were for sale at a substantial
doing him a favor. discount. It sounded dubious, but Owen didn’t probe further.
“I said I didn’t walk around with that kind of money. But Owen had been looking to buy a video camera. He’d had an
there was a branch of my bank right there in the grocery store. idea percolating in his head to put together a video for his dad’s
He showed me a photo of his wife on his phone. He asked me to seventieth birthday. In order to do so, he’d need a good-quality
think about how far a thousand bucks will go in El Salvador. So I camcorder, and that had always seemed like an unnecessary
said I would do it.” luxury item. Still, there was no harm asking, he thought. He
Marisol withdrew the money from her savings account and pointed to a Sony high-definition camcorder and asked the price.
gave it to Eduardo. “He was very thankful. He kept saying, ‘God “That is a prize item, my friend,” said the man. “Full retail
will bless you.’ And then he left.” price is $500. You can have it for $200.”
To claim her prize, Marisol discovered she would have to fill In his research on cameras, Owen had not seen that particular
out a claim form and send it in with the ticket. She handed the job model on sale for anything less than $480. Even given the ques-

50 M-U-M Magazine
tionable origins of the camera, the price was astounding. The only Fortunetelling Flimflam
problem was, he didn’t have anywhere near that kind of money on
him, and he told the seller so. The seller pointed helpfully to an Fortunetellers are the Starbucks of scams. There seems to
ATM across the street. Owen said he had left his wallet at home be one on every corner. Those neon signs promising a glimpse
and was carrying only a little bit of cash. How much cash, the into your future are seductive. Although they advertise $5
seller wanted to know. Just $75. palm readings for walk-in clients, victims can end up spending
“No way,” the seller said. “I can’t give it away. What about thousands of dollars to ensure their good fortune.
your friend over there?” “Her name was Nadia. My friend Lynn had gone to her and
Owen’s friend came up with an additional $40, bringing the said she was amazing.”
total to $115. He made the offer to the van owner. Monique is forty-two. A mother of three, she is twice divorced
“He was completely disgusted, even spat on the ground,” said and works as an assistant manager at a grocery store. During a
Owen. “But in the end, he took the money. A small sale is better night out with girlfriends, she heard Lynn rave about Nadia’s
than no sale, I figured.” psychic powers.
There was one open camcorder box with a camera that Owen “We were having a good time; we’d had a few drinks, so I said,
had been able to inspect and fiddle with. The rest of the boxes ‘If she’s so good, let’s see what she’s got to say about me.’ That’s
were sealed. Owen took a sealed box and put it aside in his friend’s how it started. It was all in fun.”
apartment until they were done moving. When he finally arrived Monique made an appointment with Nadia the following
home later that evening, he sat down with the box in eager antici- weekend. “She came to my house. Nadia said it would work better
pation. if she was surrounded by my things in my environment. It made
It looked completely new. The box was sealed securely, with sense.”
no signs of tampering. Inside, the original packaging was intact. Nadia was younger than Monique had expected, and more
As Owen carefully began stripping away the different layers, businesslike. “I had to pay her up front, $20. She walked through
he came to the cushioning insulation and lifted that off. There, the house once and then we sat down at the kitchen table. The
nestled inside, was a colorful object. At first, he thought he’d whole time she was deep in thought. I had expected something
bought a special edition camera with some sort of novelty design a little more lighthearted. Anyway, she took my hands, looked at
on it. Then he picked it up and realized it was something com- them for a while on both sides. Then she took out a purple velvet
pletely different. It was in fact a cleverly constructed papier-mâ- scarf and laid it on the table, took out a deck of tarot cards, dealt
ché replica of a camcorder filled with a lead weight. five of them on the table. Then she shook her head, shuffled the
This scam is known as rocks in a box. Victims think they’re cards, and dealt them out again. She still hadn’t told me anything,
getting a great bargain and find they’ve purchased a box of rocks and I was curious.”
or something equally worthless instead. Owen was furious and After dealing the second hand of cards, Nadia pulled her things
felt like a fool. At the same time, he respected the ingenuity of the together and said, “You are in great danger.”
person who’d packed the box. They’d clearly taken care with it. “The way she said it sent chills down my spine. Here I am
Nevertheless, he’d lost $115 of his and his friend’s money, and he thinking she’s going to say something like, ‘You’ll meet a tall,
was still nowhere closer to owning a video camera. dark stranger.’ Instead, she said there was someone in my family
Making purchases at established retail outlets doesn’t always who was very ill. That was true; my mother was suffering from
guarantee that you will get what you pay for, but at least then you breast cancer. Nadia said that evil forces were also trying to hurt
have a receipt. You can take the item back. my family. She asked if I had any enemies. Well, I’m not on good
If buying something on the street conjures up images of terms with either of my ex-husbands, so I mentioned them, but
a man in a trench coat lined with stolen watches, you’re on the only jokingly.”
right track. Flea markets are one thing, but generally speaking, Nadia said something or someone was filling the house with
genuine deals are not found on the sidewalk. Big-ticket items like destructive energy. If Monique did nothing, she or her children
electronic equipment and gadgets are popular for the rocks in a would come to harm. “She explained that someone had placed
box swindle because these products usually retail for hundreds a curse on us. I said, ‘A curse? Come on.’ But she was deadly
or even thousands of dollars, and they are offered at prices that serious. She said it was like someone had released a rattlesnake
are hard to resist. Victims across the globe have been fleeced by into our house. It was dangerous and hidden and would eventually
offers of new laptops at deep discounts. In California, con artists harm someone. If I had a rattlesnake in the house, wouldn’t I want
convinced their targets that the boxes couldn’t be opened for in- it removed? It was the same with the curse. And she could remove
spection because to do so would violate the warranty. Another it for us.”
victim got home to discover that the laptop bag contained not a Monique was doubtful, especially after Nadia quoted a curse
top-end computer but potatoes. If the purchasers do not have cash removal fee of up to $1,000, depending on the strength of the
on them, scammers will wait for them to return from the ATM or curse. “I told her I’d have to think about it. It was a lot to take in
even accompany them to the bank. all at once, and it wasn’t a small amount of money.”
If it occurs to you, as it did to Owen, that someone selling Nadia told Monique she was making a mistake, and that with
laptops out of a van most likely stole them, then it might not seem every passing day, the curse would grow in strength. “She told
so strange that he or she wants to unload them for a low price. me to watch out for bad omens and said she’d call in three days
This is part of the rocks in a box scam – leading you to believe to check on me. Then things did get weird. The first day, I found
that you’re getting a good deal. Even if it was true and the bag a dead bird on the lawn. The second day, I locked my keys inside
contained a real laptop instead of potatoes, you would still be my car. And the third day, my son, who’s eleven, was injured in a
involving yourself in a criminal enterprise. Purchasing goods you soccer game. I couldn’t say for sure, but all three of those things
believe or know to be stolen is illegal. seemed to qualify as bad omens.”
Nadia’s call came right after Monique returned home from the

NOVEMBER 2011 51
QUICK LOOK BOOK NOOK
emergency room with her son. “I said she was right; there was she’d given Nadia, but the daughter figured it was about $150,000.
something strange going on. I asked her to come out to the house.” Hearing that made me realize I’d probably gotten off lucky. She
Nadia returned. She told Monique she would charge $120 to would have kept going until she’d taken everything I had.”
“read” the house and determine the extent of the curse. Then she As far as psychics go, good news doesn’t pay as well as bad
would be able to quote a price for the actual removal. news. Claiming the victim or her family is under some kind of
“She took out the same purple scarf she’d had the first time and curse that only the fortuneteller can remove is a very common
put it over her head. She lit some incense, which she said was to scheme. Removal of the curse will invariably involve money, and
enhance her abilities. Then she walked around the house for about lots of it. Another tactic is to tell you that someone you know is
ten minutes, came back to the kitchen, and told me it would be going to fall ill or have an accident if you don’t pay up. Now the
$750 to remove the curse. By that time, I was feeling completely fate of another person is in your hands. If victims are short on
creeped out.” cash, fortunetellers will take credit cards, jewelry, or whatever
Monique agreed to have Nadia remove the curse. Nadia told valuable items are available. One psychic even had a victim clean
her she and her family had to be out of the house in order for the her house in lieu of payment.
ritual to work. They left, with instructions to return two hours Self-proclaimed seers are some of the most pernicious con
later. artists around. They specialize in preying on the weak and vul-
“When we got back, Nadia said she had performed the removal nerable: the elderly, the unhappy, the unemployed, even the termi-
ceremony and the house was cleansed of evil, but we would need nally ill. People who seek out fortunetellers in a serious way are
regular monthly blessings in order to keep it that way.” generally looking for some way to improve their lives. What they
Having already paid a hefty fee to have her house exorcised, get instead is someone who will bleed them dry.
Monique decided prevention was better than a cure and went Psychics will use props to frighten their victims and up the
ahead with the monthly blessings, at $150 each. But Nadia wasn’t ante. The egg ritual Monique experienced is a favorite. An egg
done with her yet. is cracked, and blood, hair, or some other foreign substance is
Two months later, Monique’s mother went into decline and had found inside. This supposedly signifies that an evil presence is at
to enter a hospice. Not long afterward, she died. On the one-month work. In reality, it is nothing more than a simple magic trick using
anniversary of the death, Nadia showed up at Monique’s house sleight of hand and misdirection. Special “anti-curse” candles are
and said she sensed a restlessness of spirit that she attributed to also popular and, of course, expensive.
Monique’s mother’s passing. “She asked me if my mother had left
anything to me, like mementos or money. I said she’d left it all, the The Street Beat
house, all her possessions, everything.”
Nadia said she had a bad feeling. She asked Monique for an Devon and Brianne have run a number of street scams,
egg and then a bowl. Monique complied. Nadia tapped the egg on including the pigeon drop, rocks in a box, and the lottery ticket
the side of the table and cracked it open into the bowl. Out came swindle. They are young, able bodied, and clearly possess some
the egg white, yolk, and what looked like a feather and a fragment skills, but it has never occurred to them to seek out a more honest
of bone. There was also a drop of something resembling blood. line of work. They deny that they are thieves, insisting that they
“I screamed and jumped out of my chair,” says Monique. “It are more akin to hustlers, trying to live by their wits.
was disgusting. Nadia said it was a warning from the other side, “Look,” says Devon, “I can turn on the TV any day of the
from my mother. She said the bad spirits that had been in my week and see people playing poker. They bluff, they misrepresent,
home had infiltrated my mother’s house and things. To remove and they take your money. Sometimes you win, sometimes you
them permanently, Nadia would need $100 for each year of my lose. It’s all in the game. Life is a gamble.”
mother’s life. Only then could my mother’s soul rest in peace.” Brianne agrees. “You think it’s easy, what we do? It ain’t easy.
Monique, who had been very close to her mother, was alarmed. We’re good at it.”
“It probably sounds crazy to any outsider, but I was in a bad way. The couple’s favorite scam is lost and found, a variation on
I’d been having trouble sleeping since my mother died. I thought it the pigeon drop that involves a found item, in their case, a piece
might be related to these bad spirits Nadia was talking about. My of jewelry. Usually carried out at restaurants, gas stations, or rest
mother suffered a lot at the end of her life, and the idea that she stops, the scam begins with Brianne entering the establishment.
wasn’t at peace even in death weighed heavily on me. So I paid. “I come in all upset, looking around. I tell the cashier or hostess
My mother died at seventy-eight, so it was $7,800.” that I’ve lost my engagement ring and ask if anybody’s found it.
In the end, Monique was rescued from Nadia’s clutches not She checks the lost and found and says no. I start crying and say
by a concerned friend or relative but by a development that took that it’s a one-carat diamond, it’s really valuable, my fiancé is
Monique completely by surprise. going to give me hell. I have to find it. I give her a phone number
“I was watching the local news one evening and there was a and ask her to call me if it turns up. I’m offering $500 as a reward.
story about a fortuneteller who had been arrested for conning an So right away she knows it must be worth way more than that.”
old lady out of her life’s savings. I looked up at the TV and there “A little while later, I come in,” says Devon. “I buy a soda or
was a shot of Nadia, being hauled away in cuffs. I was stunned, look at the menu or whatever. Then I pretend to discover a ring
totally blindsided. The story sounded familiar. She had befriend- on the ground. It’s actually hidden in my pocket. I take it to the
ed this older woman and convinced her she had been cursed. Over cashier and tell her I found the ring. She will usually tell me that
a period of months, the woman gave Nadia money that Nadia was someone was looking for it earlier. Then I say there’s probably a
supposed to purify and return to her. Eventually the woman’s reward.”
daughter caught on and asked her mom why her bank accounts The cashier has already heard from Brianne that the ring is
were so low. The mother couldn’t remember how much money expensive. “The cashier has Brianne’s phone number, but I’m the
52 M-U-M Magazine
one who found the ring, so I say, ‘How about we call the owner that I was taking his lottery ticket. I never thought he might be
and split the reward?’ The only thing is, I’m on my way to work fooling me, because how can you look someone in the eye and do
and I can’t hang around long. Nine times out of ten, the cashier that to them? I just hope that he really did have a wife and baby
will offer to buy me out of my share of the reward. It’s not unusual in El Salvador. Maybe that much was true. Maybe he was just
for them to offer me a hundred bucks. They’re thinking one of two desperate to make some money and get back to them. Otherwise,
things. Either they’re going to call Brianne and tell her they found it’s just plain evil.”
the ring, or they’re planning on selling the ring. Either way, they While Marisol tries to extract some small consolation from
think they’ll make a nice profit.” her ordeal, the fact is that rather than heading home, the man who
Except that the phone number Brianne provided is a phony, the swindled her was probably on to the next store and the next victim
ring turns out to be worthless, and they’ve just given Devon $100. within the hour.
“Many times, if it’s a cashier, they’ll just reach into the Brianne finds the street work provides her with a rush of
cash register and pull out the money. I guess that’ll cause some adrenalin. “It’s kinda touch and go, because there are cops on the
problems down the line if they can’t make it right with the boss. street. You have to be careful. There have been times when we’ve
Once, a hostess in a restaurant went around collecting money had to run for it, literally. It’s a challenge every time. Will the
from her co-workers until she had enough.” person fall for it? There’s a moment there when you can almost
Brianne and Devon keep a box of imitation rings handy for this see them weighing the options in their mind. Then you see them
purpose. Do they feel bad at all? “About what?” Brianne laughs. decide one way or the other. If they go for it, you’ve succeeded,
This blatant amorality makes it possible for people like Devon and there’s a satisfaction to it. If not, it’s definitely a letdown. Not
and Brianne to operate freely without any pangs of conscience. to mention a waste of time.”
Con artists, at least those who make a lifestyle of it, have no Street cons can be difficult to dodge because the perpetrators
concern for other people’s losses or suffering. It simply doesn’t are literally in your face. There is also an ambush-like quality
factor into their thinking. It’s difficult for anyone with a con- that takes people by surprise. Firmness, vigilance, caution, and
science to understand, which can make it even easier for conners an awareness of the characteristics of a street con are essential to
to operate. Marisol, the unlucky lottery scam victim, was bewil- defending yourself. Con artists who interact personally with the
dered as to why anyone would choose to make money by cheating public need to engage their targets quickly, assess their vulner-
others. ability, and implement their plan. 
“As it was happening, the only thing that didn’t feel right was

NOVEMBER 2011 53
 INFORMED OPINION
Latest Product Reviews
Compiled and Edited by W. S. Duncan
This month we have a bit of duplication. Tony Cabral reviews John Bannon’s latest book, Bullet Party, which is also the title of Mr.
Bannon’s latest video. They are not, however the same offering. At least, not entirely. There are a couple of items in the book that do
not appear in this set, and the DVDs demonstrate and explain effects from previous publications. Missing from the DVD are Question
Zero, Flipside Assembly, and the Flytrap False Cut, which you can read about in Tony’s review. The two-DVD set (also titled Bullet
Party) augments the material from the book with Mega ‘Wave (from the booklet of the same name) and Riverboat Poker from Mr.
Bannon’s booklet Six. Impossible. Things. as well as a clever sandwiched transposition called Wicked and a packet trick called Fractal
Re-Call. Also included is Final Verdict from the excellent book Dear Mr. Fantasy.
I’m frankly puzzled by the whole marketing concept of using the same name for two different (yet similar) products. At best it seems
that this could segment the market into “readers” and “visual learners” and we already have too much of that idiocy going on for my
taste. As long as the writer is a good writer, and the performer is a good teacher, books and videos are equally valid means to the end
of learning magic. Bannon is both a good writer and a good teacher, so ignoring one of the Bullet Party products because you have
segregated yourself into one category or the other will not benefit you (or Mr. Bannon’s pocketbook). In either case you might miss out
on some good material. I am disappointed that the trick I was most interested in, after reading Tony’s review, is missing from the DVDs.
Market confusion aside, Bullet Party (the DVD) is of the quality we’ve come to expect from Big Blind Media: excellent video,
sound, and editing, with high quality titles and music, and odd little sets. The material is mostly very easy. It’s not clear if that’s a
decision that reflects a change in Mr. Bannon’s approach to card magic in general, or what sells best, but you won’t be challenged tech-
nically by most of what’s in here, that is, if you can do a convincing Elmsley count or a drop switch.
The DVDs also come with the “special” cards needed for the packet tricks Bullet Party and Mega ‘Wave. Actually the cards are,
with the exception of a blank-faced card, not “tricky” in any way, but you’d have break up four decks to make up the sets, so it’s darn
nice of BBM to provide them. This is a solid value if you are a fan of Bannon’s work, which is most of us I suspect, and a good way to
see a mix of his material if you are not.
You can view some of the effects and compare the contents of both offerings at JohnBannonMagic.com.

Magical Mathematics Book at the University of California, San Diego. He is also an ex-presi-
By Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham dent of the International Jugglers Association. (One of his juggling
Available from Amazon.com and other booksellers students, Steve Mills, is known for a juggling sequence called
Price $29.95 the Mills Mess.) Both gentlemen have offered classes combining
magic and mathematics.
Review by Michael Close What surprised me was that Magical Mathematics: The Math-
ematical Ideas that Animate Great Magic Tricks tips some very
Every now and then, I good magic tricks, many of which were previously unpublished.
encounter something in my Knowing Persi’s penchant for the keeping of secrets, I would not
life that really surprises me. have expected this. However, there is an underlying bit of sneaki-
Years ago, out of the blue, I was ness going on here, and I’ll let you know what that is at the end of
surprised when I received a the review.
hand-addressed small package The author’s purpose is stated at the beginning of Chapter 1,
and letter from Alex Elmsley. which features variations on Charles Hudson’s Baby Hummer
Recently, I was surprised and (based on an effect of Bob Hummer). They write, “Most math-
astonished when I read that ematical tricks make for poor magic and in fact have very little
some obviously mischievous mathematics in them. The phrase ‘mathematical card trick’
neutrinos managed to move conjures up visions of endless dealing into piles and audience
slightly faster than the speed members wondering how long they will have to sit politely. Our
of light. (If you attended the charge is to present entertaining tricks that are easy to perform
Pittsburgh convention, you’ll and yet have interesting mathematics inside them.” Diaconis and
understand why my daughter Ava was also delighted to hear that Graham have accomplished this goal in an elegant and entertain-
news.) But nothing in recent memory has surprised me as much ing way.
as learning that the very secretive Persi Diaconis was releasing a Since M-U-M is a magazine for magicians, the primary
general public book on magic and mathematics. question is what magic is explained? As I mentioned above,
The mathematics part didn’t surprise me. Dr. Diaconis is Chapter 1 covers the “cut and turn two over” principle Hummer
a highly regarded professor of mathematics and statistics at released in his 1942 manuscript Face-up/Face-down Mysteries.
Stanford University and an expert magician. His co-author, Dr. As a bonus, Steve Freeman (another gentleman who holds his
Ron Graham, is a professor of mathematics and computer science secrets tightly) contributes his effect Royal Hummer (including

NOVEMBER 2011 55
his preferred method for setting up for the trick). Chapters 2, 3, they’re just fine. There’s always room for deeper connection to
and 4 use an effect of Charles T. Jordan as their springboard and past (and passed) masters as far as I’m concerned.
cover de Bruijn sequences. (Those of you who are familiar with In between these paeans to friends
Karl Fulves’s publications have encountered de Bruijn sequences, there’s some heavy theoretical discussion
although they were mistakenly referred to as Grey Codes.) Ron delivered with the kind of aplomb that
Wohl contributes some excellent material to these chapters. piques your curiosity with an inviting
Further chapters cover the Gilbreath principle, various aphorism and then ropes you in as you
shuffling procedures (faro, Australian, Monge, and Klondike), the plunge headlong into Swiss’s quantum
Miracle Divination from Greater Magic, magic using the I Ching dissection of the idea. For someone who
(Book of Changes), and the mathematics of juggling. Chapter 10, complains in no uncertain terms about
titled Stars of Mathematical Magic (and Some of the Best Tricks writers who lay down “laws,” Swiss sure
in the Book), will be of particular interest to magicians. Seven does make some emphatic suggestions.
creators are profiled: Alex Elmsley, Bob Neale, Henry Christ, In his previous collection, Shattering
Stewart James, Charles T. Jordan, Bob Hummer, and Martin Illusions, he recalls an incident of some
Gardner. If you are unfamiliar with any of these gentlemen, this young, green magician butchering David
chapter makes a great introduction. And even if you know a lot Roth’s Hanging Coins in front of him,
about them (as I do) you may discover some tidbits of information such that Swiss’s response was to snatch
that are new to you (as I did). And the magic in this chapter is just the coins from his hands and demonstrate the right way to do it.
great. I’m not denying a right and wrong approach to anything, but in
Chapter 11 offers further resources (on mathematics, magic, many places that seems to be Swiss’ tack: ask a question, invite
and juggling) that the motivated reader can pursue. The book an answer, then snatch the thought out of your head and pound it
concludes with a very interesting chapter titled On Secrets, which into the right one.
discusses secrecy in mathematics (how do you convince someone This would be more of a complaint if I thought he was talking
that you can prove a theorem without giving any hints as to how rubbish. For the most part, he isn’t. He might take the scenic
the proof goes) and magic (especially the rise of the Internet and route to get to his points (as I’m wont to do myself), but the topics
the blatant proffering of “the work” by anyone who owns a deck Swiss engages in are important ones. Indeed, “Discovering Im-
of cards and a Web camera). The situation is not a particularly portance” covers a good deal of ground in relatively few pages,
happy one, but the authors offer three optimistic thoughts: “First, addressing magicians’ tendencies to over-prove, over-explain,
with the huge sea of information, it is hard to tell the good from and overwhelm their magic and their scripts. He goes into more
the bad...the secret becomes knowing where to look, and what detail in “The Method Is Not the Trick” and “Empathy.” The first
to believe...Second, perhaps the exposure of standard methods essay expounds on magicians’ tendency to think like laymen in a
will drive the magic community to invent new ones...Finally, bad way, mistaking mechanics for “the way it’s done”; the second
maybe the exposure will allow a performance style where skill, essay focuses on the importance of thinking like laymen in the
technique, and presentation carry the day.” We can all hope so. right way. As he quotes Jim Steinmeyer at the end of the “Method”
I mentioned at the beginning of this review that there was essay, “When magicians are good at their jobs, it is because they
some underlying sneakiness going on concerning the dissemina- anticipate the way the audience thinks….” I couldn’t agree more;
tion of magic secrets in this book. Here it is: This is a serious how laymen think is the most important subject in magic (to quote
book about some fascinating topics in mathematics. Intertwined yet another thinker, Darwin Ortiz). I wouldn’t necessarily call it
with the math are some really good tricks, but the reader is not “empathy” myself, but I won’t deny its importance.
spoon-fed that information. Understanding both the math and the Later in the book, he tears down and builds back up “The JS
magic will require some concerted effort, but it is through that Rules of Magic,” many of the platitudes that get chucked about
effort that the beauty of both is revealed. This is a book meant to like paper airplanes when magicians get bored and heady. And
inspire enthusiasts, not dilettantes. then there’s the astounding “Dissertation on The Double Lift,”
Magical Mathematics is a terrific book that will pay dividends a thirty-five-page attempt at a master class in the not-so-basic
with repeated readings. I enjoyed it very much and highly backbone of modern card magic. Whether it’s everything you’d
recommend it. ever need on the subject is open to debate, but it’s certainly a
thorough attempt. And he skips a base or two rounding into home:
Devious Standards Book Brother John Hamman’s approach to the double lift is mentioned
By Jamy Ian Swiss as existing, but that’s it. And his thoughts on the pinky count say
Available from: www.hermeticpress.com nothing of the merit of the move, only that it’s bad when done
Price $40.00 badly. Anything is bad when done badly. Ah well. Any exhaustive
approach is by definition exhausting. One could forgive him on
Review by Antonio M. Cabral the sheer effort alone.
As for the aforementioned “waste of space,” the fairy tale of
Jamy Ian Swiss is one of those writers I always seek out. That “The Last Layman” might have some kind of point to make, but
doesn’t mean I always agree with or even enjoy what he has to say, I couldn’t get past the cloying attempt at crafting some kind of
or how he tries to say it. But he makes me think. He’s probably my parable. The tone is patronizing and borderline insulting, and
favorite invisible debate partner. His latest collection of essays, what I could make of the “moral of the story” is simplistic enough
Devious Standards, features some fond memories, some solid to contradict the earlier essays. He starts with a joke of Don Alan’s
truths, some interesting debate fodder, and one waste of space. about a magic-savvy plumber and runs down the field with it. In
Three of the essays pay tribute to lost friends and idols: Martin a Sherman tank. He imagines a world where everyone knows a
Nash, Derek Dingle, Bob Read, and Billy McComb. These are little something about magic (thanks to YouTube or something)
equal parts remembrance, examination, and love letter, and and the one remaining clueless layman is preserved in a cage like

56 M-U-M Magazine
an endangered panda – until the day someone clumsily drops a Review by Payne
thumb tip in front of him, out of context of any magic trick, “…
And magic died.” Leaving alone the fact that most grown adults KISS, of course, stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. This is
react badly to being told a lesson in the guise of a bedtime story, a principle that Mr. Derris claims has gotten him bookings in
I don’t buy the premise, I don’t buy the setup, and I don’t buy the Athens, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Marbella, Osaka, Paris, Rabat, St.
punch line. While it’s not my place as a reviewer to try to rebut Petersburg, and Buckingham Palace. At least that’s what it says
the essay, I’ll suffice to say I thought “the method is not the trick.” on the cover of his book. It also states in big red letters that this
Does that mean I don’t recommend Devious Standards? On volume will show you “31 ways to better magic, better bookings,
the contrary, I was eager to get my hands on it, and it’s going and bigger fees.” This combined with
to get read and reread, like its predecessor Shattering Illusions. the promise of “How to apply a proven
Jamy Swiss is a writer I always seek out. I don’t always agree with business strategy that will help you re-
him, but I enjoy the challenge. As Roberto Giobbi writes in his evaluate your magic presentation, will
introduction, “The first and maybe most important thing [Jamy lead you to a much higher level of per-
Swiss] does...is not only to point his finger at some tricky issues, formance, greater magic creativity, and
but to keep poking at them until we cannot fail to notice them.” If greatly improved earning power” that
in doing so, he gets more magicians thinking about the important is inscribed on the frontispiece of this
stuff, I can only applaud. slim volume gives one the impression
that this a work devoted to marketing
The Trapdoor Volume 2 Book and promotion. After all, the author
By Steve Beam worked for a small but successful ad-
Available from: www.stevebeam.com vertising agency in London for thirty
Price $90 years. Indeed, the book starts us down
that path. But soon we find ourselves
Review by Michael Close off that trail and on a winding footpath that meanders through a
sparse land populated with anecdotes and name dropping.
Steve Beam has released the second Unfortunately, Mr. Derris has chosen to follow his own advice
bound volume of The Trapdoor, which and has kept it simple. He fails to expand on any of the ideas he
covers issues 26-50 (1989-1993). puts forth in the book. He tells us to simplify our patter and edit
Several effects from this volume were out the use of any extraneous words or moves. Yet he fails to put
featured in last month’s Quick Look forth any examples of how this might be done. He simply advises
Book Nook column. I hope you took us to watch the works of Channing Pollack, Paul Daniels, and Roy
the time to try them out. One aspect Benson.
of The Trapdoor that makes it such an His approach to marketing is equally as vague. He provides us
appealing collection is the variety of with the story of how he helped one elderly magician secure more
magic offered: commercial routines to bookings. He advised him to modernize his business cards and
entertain laymen, magician-foolers to to go out and perform as many free shows as possible. Following
bamboozle your buddies at the magic this stellar advice, our senior sorcerer was able to secure two or
club, semi-automatic tricks that will three paid gigs a month. Not exactly what I would call the “Better
give your fingers a rest, and some Bookings and Bigger Fees” the big red letters promised. One is
serious knuckle-busters that will challenge your work ethic. And left with the impression that the real road to marketing success
woven through it all is Mr. Beam’s marvelously dry wit, which is to work for an advertising agency for thirty years and then use
makes reading The Trapdoor a delight. the contacts you have made to build your clientele list. This is an
Contributors include Jerry Andrus, Jack Birnman, Marc option that, while it seemed to work out well for Mr. Derris, is not
DeSouza (his Shape Shifter change is in this volume), Dan really applicable for most of us. Anyone picking this volume up
Garrett (Dan’s great Lateral Palm Transformation is here), Guy looking for a clever bit of marketing or a promotional angle they
Hollingworth, Chris Kenner, Ken Krenzel, Harry Levine (who might not have ever considered before is going to be sorely disap-
contributes many of the knuckle-busters), Gary Plants, Harvey pointed, because there just aren’t any in there. He simply advises
Rosenthal, Hiro Sakai, Allan Slaight, Dave Solomon, and many us to practice often, perform with confidence, and keep it simple.
more. As with the previous bound volume, Steve adds updated Not exactly earth-shattering advice.
commentary on each issue, plus three different, useful indices, The book concludes with eight tricks from Mr. Derris’s rep-
which makes it easy to track down a specific trick or a specific ertoire. They are mostly his variations and handlings of other ma-
creator. gician’s effects: a production of a goldfish bowl from a briefcase
I’m a big fan of The Trapdoor, and I think you will be, too. ala Howard Flint, Don Alan’s Appearing Coat Hanger, a routine
Anyone who purchased Volume 1 will certainly want Volume 2, for the Magnetic Ring on Shoelace, a curious linking finger ring
and all of us will eagerly await the appearance of Volume 3, which effect (it uses your own rings), a pretty standard coin in bottle
will be published in 2012. These are books you will go back to routine, a version of ring flight, the author’s handling of the
often, and each time you do you’ll find great material. Highly rec- Devano rising cards, and a Pen Through Pocket Mirror using the
ommended. original Cornelius Pen Through Anything gimmick. While there
is nothing particularly new to be found in this collection of tricks,
KISS Book there are a couple of bits that might be of use.
By John Derris If you’re looking for a book of anecdotes, stories, and a few
Available from: www.magicderris.com tricks from the repertoire of a guy who set off on a career in magic
Price $40.00 after retiring from an advertising agency, then this is the book

NOVEMBER 2011 57
for you. But if you’re looking for a serious tome on marketing, of these routines require gimmicked cards or props that can be
promotion, and truly improving your magic, then keep looking. easily found or made. The small booklet used in the last effect is
included in the instruction booklet. Simply cut it out and fold it up.
Six Masterpieces Booklet These routines are up to Wayne Dobson’s usual high standards,
By Wayne Dobson and the instruction booklet is nicely printed with a color cover.
Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies Recommended.
Price $20.00
Bullet Party Book
Review by David Goodsell By John Bannon
Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies
Wayne Dobson’s effects are noted for Price $20.00
simplicity and subtlety. Such is the case
for the six items in his eleven-page, 6 x Review by Antonio M. Cabral
8¼-inch booklet titled Six Masterpieces.
All six are delightful, indeed. In Best One of my favorite things about John
Friends, two spectators pretend that they Bannon is his subtly confrontational
are best friends (in fact, they could be). approach to card magic. His recent Mega
Five coins of different value are used, ‘Wave was an offering of packet tricks
and with the spectators taking turns in defiance of the “common sense” that
eliminating one coin at a time, a predic- says everyone hates packet tricks. Now,
tion of the final two coins and who will in his new book Bullet Party, the center-
have which one is found to be true. This piece is a series of Ace assemblies to be
uses an old method that will fool those performed one after the other – this in
who think they know. Amnesia, inspired by a David Regal effect, direct defiance of the “common sense”
uses a blank-face deck. A spectator signs the face of one of the that only magicians care about Ace as-
cards and it is cut face up into the face-down deck. The deck is semblies.
spread and the spectator places his finger on his face-down card. This isn’t even the first time he’s
The performer signs a card, as well. The cards change places in foisted something like this on the literature. In his earlier book
an ingenious manner. Dear Mr. Fantasy, he gave us Bullet Train, three Ace assemblies
Next is a trick called Only Joking, which is similar to Phil designed to be performed as a set. Here, it’s Four Shadow Aces,
Goldstein’s B’Wave. With four cards face down on the table a traditional all-at-once assembly (and a very good one); Flipside
(which the performer calls the four Queens), the performer shows Assembly, a Steve Reynolds-inspired oddity in which the indiffer-
a fifth card to be a separate Queen of Clubs. He suggests that a ent cards magically assemble in one pile while the Aces assemble
spectator try to guess which of the four is the matching Queen of in the other; and Big Fat Bluff Aces, another Reynolds-inspired
Clubs. The spectator is correct. The kicker is that the other three item in which the Aces disappear, the Kings appear in their place,
face-down cards are now shown to be Jokers. and then the Aces backfire into their original piles (…what?).
The trick titled Every Time takes a bit of courage, but as Comparing the two sets of assemblies, I like Bullet Train
Dobson says, at the right time it can be a killer. The performer better because it makes more sense. Part of it is the very thing
writes something on a business card, folds it twice, and places that makes the Bullet Train assemblies interesting – their offbeat
it under the spectator’s watch (on the spectator’s wrist). The timing – is what makes them logical candidates for “repeats.”
spectator is asked to think of any hour from one to twelve. The On top of which, each of those assemblies can be performed on
folded prediction is found to be correct. There is quite a bit of their own if you choose, because the effect is always crystal-clear.
unseen business required to pull this off, but it is, indeed, clever. Bannon (by his own admission) never does Flipside Assembly by
In Perspiration, three coins of different colors are removed itself (it requires your audience to know what an Ace assembly is
from a small coin purse (or coin envelope). As the performer holds supposed to look like in the first place) and Big Fat Bluff Aces,
the purse and turns his head, the spectator places one coin into while it contains a lot of nice ideas, would also seem to make
that purse and snaps it shut. He then holds the other two coins, more sense if your audience expected the “traditional” outcome.
one in each hand. Turning back to the spectator, the performer In other words, because of their oddball nature, the Flipside
discerns the colors of the coins held in both hands and, therefore, and Big Fat Bluff assemblies are less the kind of assemblies lay
the color of the one in the purse. As a kicker, the purse is turned audiences would appreciate and more the kind magicians would
over and a colored sticker matching that coin is seen to have been appreciate – and magicians don’t appreciate assemblies because
there from the beginning. There is a bit of a dodge in this routine they think only magicians appreciate them. More simply, I don’t
in naming the coins in the hands, should the performer appear to think Flipside or Big Fat Bluff Aces will win the venerable Ace
be wrong naming the first coin, but Dobson has routined it so that assembly any new fans, and I say that as a performer who loves a
it seems reasonable. good Ace assembly.
Finally, Once Upon A Time, inspired by Simon Aronson’s Luckily, the rest of the collection is better fare, the kind of
trick Shuffle-bored, is a humorous prediction that should play simple-yet-effective thinking Bannon fans have come to expect.
very well. Two spectators each take half the deck of cards and, The title trick, Bullet Party, is a four-Ace packet trick that may
following the performers instructions, appear to mix the cards bore the pants off the packet trick haters, but it is very good and I
very thoroughly, even exchanging cards as part of the mixing. think a very easy sell. Bullet Catcher and Drop Target Aces are a
A small 2 x 3 inch paper booklet that has been on the table from production and a “lose ‘em and find ‘em” routine that might find
the start is slowly opened. Not one, not two, not three, but four homes in a few repertoires. The rest is a mélange of different tricks
predictions are found to be correct. This is very strong. Several and moves, some of which we’ve seen before. Poker Pairadox

58 M-U-M Magazine
Redux is worth comparing to the same item from Mega ‘Wave – sions. If I was running a book of the month club for Mystery En-
as Fat City Revisited is to its predecessor. There are a couple of tertainers, Osterlind’s The Principles of Mentalism would be this
easy-peasy yet flashy in-the-hands false cuts, and, as usual with month’s selection.
Bannon, one item that’s “worth the price of the book” for me.
In this case it’s Question Zero, a simple-yet-powerful thought-of The Invisible Billet and Other Inner Secrets of
card revelation that is apparently a taste of what’s to come. If this Mentalism Ebook
teaser is any indication of the quality of his hinted-at collection of By Bob Cassidy
mental magic down the road, I’m already on board. Available from: artfulmentalism.com
I was hoping to like the assemblies more, because I’m a fan Price $40.00
of assemblies and a fan of John Bannon’s thinking. But as usual,
I admire John’s approach to construction, and I’m envious of his Review by David Goodsell
ability to get there without any daunting sleight-of-hand. And the
good ideas outweigh the bad. File Bullet Train under the category The billet, that small piece of paper
One for the Card Trick Fans. or card, sometimes folded, sometimes
simply left writing-side down,
The Principles of Mentalism Book sometimes switched, and
By Richard Osterlind sometimes used with a
Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies center tear, has long been
Price $25.00 a staple of the mentalist.
The problem is that in our
Review by Joshua Kane hip, sophisticated world,
the folded paper billet looks
When I was a lad and just entering old fashioned and odd. Why would the
the world of mystery entertainment, I performer use such a small piece of paper? Still,
would take a train ride into NYC, spend as Bob Cassidy points out in his recent CD, The Invisible Billet
several hours at the local magic shop, and and Other Inner Secrets of Mentalism, when thoughtfully used,
then head off to Howard Johnson’s with the billet can really stun an audience. The “invisibility” part has
my elders and betters for lunch and an to do with Bob’s idea that the use of a small piece of paper or card
education that today’s young folk will be to try an experiment in thought transference should appear extem-
hard put to find. Experienced pros and poraneous, using whatever paper is at hand. The fact that trickery
well informed amateurs alike took the is involved is invisible.
beginners under their wings and helped About a third of the text provides ideas on using cardboard
us learn discretion and taste in choosing torn from matchbook covers as billets, including the use of a card
and performing material. I remember index to hold different types of matchbook covers. The downside
both Ned Rutledge and Frank Garcia en- of this today is that with the decrease of cigarette smoking in
couraging me to look beyond acquiring public places, matchbooks, a common form of advertising in
new tricks and to instead seek out the kind of books that would bygone days, are not as common. Create a use for the matches
inspire me to deeply and intimately hone material to a profes- first, as in the Frixion pen routine included in this book, and
sional degree. Most of the brick-and-mortar shops are now shut, the matches become natural. Bob includes his version of Ted
and when magi gather, finger-flinging and demonstrations of the Annemann’s center tear trick using a small square of paper torn
newest techno toys too often dilute and denigrate dialogue. The from a newspaper or magazine, which, I suppose, is a form of
level of mentoring that was freely available from human interac- billet. That’s the billet part of the book; the rest is about the “other
tion has been ineffectively replaced today by Internet chat rooms; inner secrets of mentalism.”
up and coming performers are virtually hamstrung by an over- As all mentalists know, an impression device is a way to capture
abundance of DVDs and hot tricks of the week. Too much choice a physical impression of something that a spectator has written. In
can be worse than none. We all seek the Holy Grail of effects, that this book Bob provides instructions for the construction of such a
one routine that can be described as simultaneously entertaining, device using Post-it notes. As he explains, when the mentalist uses
commercial, and undeniably mystifying. Cogent discussions on materials recognizable as common commercial products, even to
how to choose material, judge it, and make it fly are few and far showing the commercial logo, they defy suspicion. This is good
between. thinking, and the device is well worth making.
Fitzkee’s Trilogy is still the standard to turn to for sage A half dozen excellent effects are discussed in the book,
advice, but what to do when time is limited and one needs a including Bob’s evolution of his version of Syl Reilly’s book test
quicker fix? Richard Osterlind’s The Principles of Mentalism Brain Echo, and an eerie prediction of a word or number using a
is one answer. This work may be Osterlind’s greatest contribu- Frixion pen (the writing of which, as most know, disappears when
tion to the important discussion of what makes good mentalism exposed to heat). A unique offering is his idea of using the Doctor
and magic. It is this year’s must-read volume for those looking Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham for a book test. Bob explains
to ratchet up the caliber of their performances. The book is full the unique nature of this book that sets up great possibilities. No
of digestible and useful advice, plucked from experience. If I routine is given for this, and the reader must devise the effect; but
was to use a highlighter to mark what was worth rereading in the concept is excellent.
the text, the book would be a glowing, fluorescent yellow. This Bob shares instructions for making up a Memory Deck. The
would have made a fabulous lecture or keynote for a conference. working of the Memory Deck routine is not included, and you
Buy it and reread it often. Quote it to your friends at your magic must be familiar with it to benefit from the deck described herein.
club and use it as the fuel for substantive arguments and discus- Also, in the last portion of the book, are instructions for making

NOVEMBER 2011 59
a Nicola card crib, a crib using a Bic pen, and a pocket writer The Regal Ring Chain Trick
that Bob once marketed. He has given considerable thought to By David Regal
the pocket writer over the years, and this section summarizes the Available from: www.davidregal.com
development and use of this device, including the best way to ac- Price $60.00
complish this without being detected.
Along with the twenty-nine-page ebook, The Invisible Billet, Review by Payne
the CD also contains an mp3 recording by Bob that provides ad-
ditional commentary and explanation to the book. This combina- Imagine walking up to someone, asking them for the loan of
tion of text and audio commentary is a boon to magic instruc- their ring, and then vanishing said ring. Then, to the amazement of
tion. There is a bit of frustration in reading about the Memory one and all, you find the ring
Deck and one or two other smaller points that require previous in an impossible location: on
knowledge of commercial items. However, most know that Bob a chain that has been around
Cassidy is a master of mentalism and mental magic; it is hard to your neck the entire time.
go wrong when buying his work. Sound impossible? Well it’s
impossible no more (well,
Richard Osterlind’s Mind Mysteries Guide Book at least at this price point)
Volume 6 thanks to the ingenuity of
By Richard Osterlind David Regal, because he has
Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies just released this exact effect as The Regal Ring Chain.
Price $30.00 The effect is as described. A borrowed ring, after being
vanished, inexplicably ends up on a substantial and rather
Review by Joshua Kane masculine stainless steel chain that you’ve been wearing around
your neck. Well, mostly. There are, of course, a few provisos, but
This companion to the DVD Mind aren’t there always? You get the chain and a DVD of very clear
Mysteries Too Vol. 6 is the penul- and concise directions explaining the operation and handling of
timate volume of the guide books the chain as well as several methods to vanish a ring.
that Richard Osterlind has penned to First, the chain in no way can be examined. It can, however,
accompany the Mind Mysteries DVD be fairly freely handled and thus should raise no overt suspicions,
sets that he taped for L&L several because everyone can plainly see that it’s just a chain. The angles
years ago. The books serve in place are fairly good. The only people who could see what is going on
of an actual commentary track and are those standing behind you. And why would you perform with
allow Osterlind to flesh out material people standing in such a location? For the most part you can’t
that was presented and to express cleanly show both hands empty before they go behind your neck
frustration with the limitations of his to unfasten the chain. You can give the impression of showing
control regarding the shooting and both hands empty. But out of necessity one of them will be hiding
final editing of the discs. At times, it the ring. So if you suffer from magician’s guilt or you can’t look
seems that Osterlind is concerned that natural palming a ring while casually reaching behind your neck
the DVDs might be the final impres- to unfasten the clasp on a neck chain, then perhaps this is not the
sion that the magic world might have of his work, and this clearly effect for you.
does not please him. He is quick to point out where the flaws are This feat will work with most casual attire. It can be done in
and the reasons for them. a T-shirt alone. Or better yet in a T-shirt with an open over shirt.
I can understand his frustration. The DVDs, though performed I haven’t tried it, because I don’t own one, but it can probably be
in sets, are not actually performances in the traditional sense, and done in a hoodie, which is good news for all you practitioners of
the polished transitions of Osterlind’s actual performances, as guerilla magic. It can even be done in a dress shirt as long as the
well as dramatic show order, are absent. This is reasonable and top couple of buttons are not buttoned. A tux and tie, or turtleneck
to be expected. After all, these are teaching tools in which the shirt won’t work.
performer demonstrates more than he performs. Reset is instant, and almost a snap. You can even reset in front
As usual, the most valuable content is not the further explana- of the spectators, because it looks like you’re just putting your
tion of the tricks taught, but the voice of the experienced performer. chain back on. It is entirely self-contained, so there are no ex-
About halfway through the book Osterlind tips one of the cleanest traneous bits to worry about. It can be comfortably worn all day,
strategies for dealing with the situation of the artist imposed upon making it the perfect bit of “impromptu” magic you can have on
in a social situation. The book may deepen appreciation for effects you at all time. And it doesn’t take up any valuable pocket space
that the buyer of the DVD might have skipped over and does give to boot.
one the excuse to use both the book and the DVD as a source for As with everything there are a few drawbacks. First, I person-
study. As with the previous volume, the book is not a substitute ally don’t think it looks as natural as it could when you remove
for the DVD and no effects, methods, or routines from the DVD the chain. Even my wife felt the motions telegraphed what was
are fully presented within its pages. There is, however, as with the happening. So before you buy this you might want to give the
other volumes, a bonus section where effects independent from performance video at Mr. Regal’s site a perusal to see if you feel
the DVD are taught. To glean the full impact of the volume, you the same way. You should also reconsider purchasing this if you
must also have the DVD. However, the inverse is not the case: you have long hair because it can (at least mine did) get caught in the
do not have to own the book to benefit from the DVD. If you have gimmick or be a hindrance in operating same. Also, the effective
been collecting the previous guide books, you will undoubtedly length of this chain is twenty-seven inches. For most folk, this is
be pleased with this volume. not an issue. However for men of size like me, the chain is more of

60 M-U-M Magazine
a choker than it is a necklace. This makes the effect a little more As of this writing there are no tips on the site, but some interesting
difficult to perform and pretty much means that one could only do ideas are promised “in the near future.”
the T-shirt method (a method that presents a few more challenges The biggest downside is the cost. I found this a bit too pricey
than the open dress shirt version does). (for my tastes) for what you get. However, it is not misrepresented
The chain is nicely built, a professional piece of apparatus, in any way. Printing Coins is clever and practical, and brings good
and should provide years of dependable service. Since it demands coin magic into the hands of the beginner. The effect grabs the
more casual attire to perform it, this isn’t suited for formal per- interest of most audiences of any age. I like this.
formance venues where one is expected to don a tie. So if you’re
thinking of this for walk-around or restaurant work you’ll need High Flyer DVD and Gimmick
to evaluate your wardrobe requirements. But for those of you By Peter Eggink
working or living in a more casual world this might very well Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies
become a favorite, always-ready effect for you to perform. Price $30.00

Printing Coins Trick Review by Antonio M. Cabral

By Ariel Carax
Available from: www.bazardemagia.com Daryl’s Ambitious Card Omnibus
Price $60.00 lists the three strongest endings for
an Ambitious Card routine as: the
Review by Dan Garrett Pop-Up Card (generally attrib-
uted to Fred Braue), the card-to-
The effect is simple and wallet and Daryl’s own Ultimate
immediately engaging to the Ambitious (in which the deck is
audience. You place your coin wrapped in a hank of rope). The
(a U.S. half dollar, two Euro Pop-Up Card alone was strong enough
coin, or any coin of similar size, for David Blaine, but that doesn’t stop
which can even be borrowed) the never-ending search for the ultimate
on a table, tear out a page from ending for an Ambitious Card routine – whatever that
a small notebook, and cover the may be. To that end, Peter Eggink offers up High Flyer.
coin. Taking a dark pencil with The High Flyer effect is as follows: After a number of
a soft lead, you rub over the coin Ambitious Card sequences, the performer adds another condition
and create a rubbing (image) of it by initialing the back of the already-signed selection. After he
on the paper. This is something inserts the card into the middle of the deck, the performer holds
most of us have done as children. the deck with one hand and the card visibly materializes on top of
The coin is repositioned a few times under the paper and new the deck (indicated by the appearance of the performer’s initials).
rubbings are made. When you remove the paper, new real coins Then the performer places the deck in the participant’s hand with
have appeared underneath each rubbing. the selection face up on top, and the selection continues its upward
This is a good opening effect, because you can go into your journey by floating up from the top of the deck to the performer’s
favorite coin routines from this. You can produce regular coins, fingertips.
coins with shells, or other gimmicked coins. In practice, the idea feels “almost, but not quite.” The
Of course, you can create this effect using sleight of hand, but more striking of the two moments in the effect as I watched it
the gimmick provided makes the production of the coins very performed was when the performer’s initials materialized on top
efficient and clean. It eliminates any palming, sleights, lapping, of the deck. When the selection levitates off the top of the deck, it
sleeving, or holding out, and it can be performed seated or feels like an afterthought. It may be that when the initials appear,
standing. A table with a soft surface (close-up pad or tablecloth) is it’s in keeping with the overall effect of an Ambitious Card: the
required. What you wear is immaterial (no pun intended). selection starts in the middle and magically appears on top of the
The DVD provided is in Spanish and English. If you choose deck. In the levitation, the card starts on top and floats. It feels
the English menu option, you get an overdubbed translation like an afterthought effect. Through presentation you can make
during which you still hear the Spanish (at a very low volume) in the connection, but in truth you can make any excuse for any
the background. I didn’t find this a terrible distraction. The video disparate effect you like in an Ambitious Card routine (“Look, it’s
is short and succinct. You get all the info you need without too not only ambitious, it’s bashful! See? The back turned red from
much fluff or endless (and often time-wasting) special effects. The embarrassment!”) Just because you can, though, doesn’t mean
clever gimmick fits into a small spiral note pad (included), and is that you should. On top of which, the card only levitates about an
easily placed (when needed) into a new pad by spending a few inch-and-a-half. That’s not showing a whole lot of ambition when
minutes at your craft table. You will need to supply your own there’s nowhere to go but up.
coins and soft lead pencil. The method isn’t cumbersome – one gaff card does all the
The latest word in ongoing customer support has been also work, and it’s easy to handle. Unfortunately, if you’re really inter-
adopted by Bazar de Magia (as have several other magic sales ested in making a card levitate, it’s not an improvement over, say,
outlets on the Internet). You receive access to a sub-domain Web an invisible thread reel. Sure, the audience participant can hold
site with tips and tricks for this effect, including a password and the deck while the card rises, but once it levitates you have to im-
Q-R code on the packaging. In my view, this adds extra value to mediately take the deck back to clean up. You can’t even cleanly
the item when properly implemented. The site can be upgraded as remove the card and hand it out at that point. The only advantage
new ideas and routines with Printing Coins come about through over using an invisible thread is that you get to say “no threads” in
magicians/customers using the item and sharing their thoughts. your ad copy. As for making the initials appear, both Ascanio and

NOVEMBER 2011 61
Alex Elmsley have odd-backed Ambitious Card routines in print Skip Switch Project DVD
that offer sequences that could easily be adapted to that purpose if By Ollie Mealing
that’s your idea of a good time. Available: www.bigblindmedia.com
High Flyer is a very creative solution to what may be a non- Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies
existent problem. Yes, Ambitious Card routines have a tendency Price $25.00
to spiral on forever, and a strong finish is certainly desirable if
only so you have some place to stop. I don’t think High Flyer is Review by Danny Archer
it, though.
The pictures, sound, and disc navigation are all fine, as we
SloMotion Trick have come to expect from a release from Big Blind Media. (Full
By Joe Litvinchuk disclosure: I have filmed an unreleased DVD with BBM.) Every-
Available from: www.hocus-pocus.com thing is clear and easily understood. On this one-hour DVD, Ollie
Price $39.95 Mealing teaches you his original move called the Skip Switch.
The Skip Switch is a utility move that allows you to switch a
Review by Dan Garrett face-down card that has been sandwiched
between two cards that are out-jogged in
Bob Little once told me that if a trick fools you, it’s a thread or the middle of the deck. As the three-
a magnet. Well, this is neither, but it will fool the majority of your card packet is removed from the
audience members, magicians and Muggles alike. deck, the selection has been
Imagine taking a wooden coffee stirrer from a popular coffee swapped for another card.
shop chain and threading a common breath mint with a hole in the The Skip Switch looks very
middle (Life Saver mint or Polo mint, depending on where you fair and should be within
reside) onto the center. Holding the ends of the stick, you stare at the skill range of almost any
the mint and it begins to rotate on the stick! You command it to magician. After the packet
stop and then to rotate in the other direction, which it does. You has been removed, the cards are
allow a spectator to command the mint, and it follows. You leave counted back onto the top of the deck.
the stick and the mint in the hands of the audience to keep. They Sandwich type effects are popular in card
can eat the mint if they wish. magic and having the ability to secretly switch a sandwiched card
I like what you get in the package: a DVD with simple and easy is a very valuable tool to have in your arsenal.
instructions by the inventor, a nice little bag that holds a wrapped In addition to teaching you the Skip Switch, Ollie also teaches
breath mint, a wooden stirring stick, and the special something you thirteen effects. As you may surmise, all of the routines use
that makes the trick work. There is also an extra “refill,” a term the switch and most have some kind of sandwich element. I will
used loosely. You can go out and do the trick right out of the box. detail my two favorites. In Thirteen, a card is selected and turned
The effect has gotten a lot of recent buzz in online forums. face up in the deck. The selection and the two cards on either
The ad specs are fairly amazing: “Trick can be repeated. All items side are removed and displayed. The selection is left on top of
fully examinable. Hands shown empty at any time. No sleeves the pack and the other two cards are placed inside the card box.
required. Instant reset. No set-up. Easy to perform. Works auto- The selection is then placed on top of the box. The selection is
matically.” All of that is fairly accurate. Physics is your friend, flicked; two cards turn face up and are seen to be the cards that
combined with a principle of magic that makes the modus were placed inside the box. The selection is now inside. I love the
operandi practically undetectable. You can perform in any attire visual nature of the single card turning into the two other cards.
or costume; the method is independent of what you wear. The only The effect called Hyenas has a card selected (for example, the
angle problems are caused by insecurity or the inexperience of the Queen of Clubs) and then lost in the pack. The Jokers are placed
performer. face up in the middle of the deck. With a snap, a face-down card is
You will see that “refills” are sold on the Web site. Don’t let this seen sandwiched between the Jokers. Unfortunately it’s the wrong
bother you. I’ve performed SloMotion dozens of times without card (the Ace of Clubs). The Jokers are placed aside face down and
needing to rely on the refill that is included in the package. You the Ace of Clubs is inserted and left out-jogged in the pack by the
can buy these refills from many sources besides the magic shop. spectator in the hope of finding the selection. The out-jogged card
Go to the store and buy a bag or two of the individually-wrapped is turned face up and shown to be the Queen of Clubs; the cards on
mints and go to Starbucks and pick up a handful of the wooden either side are the Jokers. When the two Jokers, are turned face up
stirrers. (Don’t everyone go at once; the folks there could get sus- they are seen to be the other three Queens. There are eleven more
picious.) effects that will give you a lot to choose from.
Some users reported a noise issue. I also felt it a little noisy I liked the Skip Switch and I think if you get the chance to
at first, and worried about performing it in a silent setting. But learn and play with this move that you will like it, too.
after a few alterations in my handling, the noise was completely
eliminated. I could perform it in a library now. In order to make Scared Trick
this play more like magic/psychokinesis and less like a puzzle, By Jamie Daws
you’ll need to develop a good presentation. For instance, I have a Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies
script describing Russian experiments with psychics during the Price $35.00
Cold War.
SloMotion works as advertised and is fun to perform. I Review by Jamie Salinas
recommend this one. The better your presentational skills, the
better the reaction you’ll receive. Science meets magic in a clever Al Baker’s The Pack that Cuts Itself is a classic of card magic.
way. Arthur C. Clarke was right. There have been many variations of the effect in which a desk of

62 M-U-M Magazine
cards cuts itself as if haunted. I love the effect; one of the many the method, showing the hole in the egg and the two hankies. The
variations is part of my repertoire. Scared is a variation that is performer then offers to coach an audience member through it. A
touted as being impromptu. volunteer is brought to the stage and they both perform the effect.
The DVD begins with a demonstration of the effect being At the end of it, the performer explains that he is actually doing
performed for a spectator in a magic shop. A card is selected and an advanced version and he removes the hole, which is really a
returned to the pack. The pack is placed on a table and, using two silk-covered sticker. He then cracks the egg into a glass proving it
fingers, the magician lightly touches the pack at the corners of is a real egg. The magician instructs the volunteer to do the same.
one of the short ends of the deck. The magician makes a magical Miraculously, the volunteer does peel off the sticker and cracks
pass with his free hand and the deck cuts itself the egg into the glass, to her own amazement. This kicks a classic
without any visible movement from the up a whole bunch of notches.
hand touching the pack. The card There are things you will need to purchase to properly perform
that is cut to is shown to be the this routine, most of which are available in “real” stores, or you
selected card. may already have them lying around. The only magic store props
Although I prefer a you need are two Silk to Egg gimmicks (Hollow Eggs) and five
hands-off version of the effect, silks. I would estimate that your total investment will be around
this looks pretty good. This is $100, but you will have a very solid, funny, and baffling com-
not new in principle, but is new mercial routine. There are some issues of pocket management, but
in how the gimmick is made. And Cody guides you through that very well. I would make some minor
while you will have to make your modifications, but I think every performer would also choose to
own gimmick, it literally takes just a personalize it. I highly recommend this to any performer who is
couple of seconds to prepare. Mr. Daws looking to add a new routine to their corporate or family shows.
includes a method for making the gimmick
during the performance of another effect. Mental Epic Pad Trick
Several options are provided for variations of the construction By Marc Oberon
of the gimmick. The handling is covered very well in step-by-step Available from: www.alakazam-usa.com
instructions and is easy to master. Several additional variations of Price $39.95
the effect are included as well.
Although I was initially disappointed in the “hands on” Review by Payne
approach to this classic effect, I must admit that I got very strong
reactions to the effect from the general public. Once you learn the Curiously, this is the third
mechanics and construction of the gimmick, you can prepare a Mental Epic item to cross my
standard deck of cards at a moment’s notice. The retail price for desk for review in the last few
the DVD is a little high for a one-trick DVD, but if you wanted to months. It would appear that
perform a simple yet strong version of the haunted pack, then this there is something of a revival
is worth a look. going on for this venerable
prop. Like Paul Romhany’s recent
Silk 2 Egg Manuscript compendium on the subject of the
By Cody S. Fisher Mental Epic and the one-head method, Mark
Available from: www.CodyFisher.com Oberon’s Mental Epic Pad is well worth a look.
Price $40.00 Unlike your classic black or white board versions of the trick
this one uses an artist’s pad of paper. You still have the 2 x 3 grid
Review by Marc DeSouza into which one writes the necessary notations. But unlike the pre-
viously mentioned black or white versions of the boards with their
The first thing many of you would thick wood or plastic lines of demarcation, the Mental Epic Pad’s
say is, “Forty dollars is a lot to pay for a lines are literally drawn on with a large marker. Unfortunately,
twenty-five-page booklet that teaches one you can’t draw the grid on the paper in front of the audience.
trick!” Boy, would you be wrong. This is a This is a minor inconvenience that I am sure your audience will
professional routine that comes right from overlook. Regardless, the effect and methodology is exactly the
a working pro’s own repertoire. You would same as your standard Mental Epic prop.
work long and hard to come up with this This is a DIY project. The DVD contains all the necessary info
routine and polish it to the point where it is on the construction and presentation of the effect. It even includes
a solid performance piece. Cody has done a good book force to use to get that all important third prediction.
all of this for you and forty bucks is a small You are shown in great detail, step by step, how to build the prop.
price to pay. You are not paying for a glitzy No special tools are needed, and it should be within the ability of
manuscript that will look great on your almost anyone to put this prop together. You are provided with
bookshelf, either. The production quality the required gimmicks. However, you will need to supply the
of this booklet is more than adequate to do the job, and it is well paper, felt pen, tape, and foam core yourself. All of these supplies
written and photo illustrated. Most of all, it is extremely detailed are readily available from your local office supply store, so you
and gives you all of the information you need to perform this suc- shouldn’t have a problem in securing them for your project. I have
cessfully. yet to assemble mine, but after viewing the DVD I don’t see this
The effect? It begins with the classic Sucker Silk to Egg. The taking more than an hour to cobble together. I like the fact that you
magician pokes a silk handkerchief into his fist and it turns into an can make this pretty much any size you’d feel comfortable using,
egg, then the hanky is removed from the pocket. He then exposes from a full size artist’s sketch pad to an 8½ x 11 inch notepad, or

NOVEMBER 2011 63
even smaller if you so desire. version is far superior to the basic version and is worth the extra
You should be aware however that the traditional sliding panel trouble to do it. Experienced performers will have no trouble con-
on this version doesn’t slide on its own. You have to manually pull vincing their audience that the prediction was on the table from
it from one side to the other. This motion can be covered in a the very beginning. If you like gambling effects, this one is well
number of ways so as not to raise suspicion. I just thought that in worth purchasing. Recommended.
the interest of full disclosure you should be made aware of this
difference. Another drawback is that you will need to make a new The Prism Deck Trick and DVD
grid and re-cover the gimmick every time you perform this trick. By Joshua Jay
If you’re doing multiple shows in a short period of time this might Available from: www.vanishingincmagic.com
be a concern. However, if you are looking for something to do Price $30.00
while sitting in your dressing room waiting to go on or in your
hotel room after a performance, this might be just the time-killer Review by Michael Close
you’re looking for.
If you’re one of those performers who dislikes the “proppy- The idea of a Rainbow deck – a
ness” of the classic Mental Epic Board but you still have a soft deck made up of fifty-two different
spot in your heart for the trick, you might seriously give this back designs – has been around for a
version a try. You’re probably already using a pad of paper in your while. The idea is generally credited to
show, so this should fit right in. Clarke “the Senator” Crandall. Most
early commercially available Rainbow
PSI-Poker Manuscript decks were bridge-sized, because
By Ben Harris decks for bridge can be found in a wide
Available from: www.wowbound.com variety of back designs. The problem
Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies with bridge-sized cards, however,
Price $20.00 is that most of them do not have white borders, which makes it
difficult to conceal the true condition of the deck in a color-chang-
Review by Marc DeSouza ing deck routine. A few years ago, Randy Wakeman released a
poker-sized Rainbow deck with white borders; I bought several.
Here is the latest release from the ever- Now, Joshua Jay’s Prism Deck is on the market, and it has many
controversial Ben Harris. Let’s put aside features that will appeal to close-up magicians.
everything that has been discussed in the Josh offers a variety of routines that are possible with the
forums about his previous releases and focus Prism Deck, the centerpiece of which is a multi-phase routine that
on this booklet. The advertising is fairly culminates in a red-backed deck changing into a Rainbow deck.
accurate: it is a triple prediction requiring no This routine is very cleverly constructed so that the spectators
skill or gaffs. Although there is no skill (as in have the impression of seeing many red backs during the course of
sleight of hand), there is a certain amount of it. This makes the color-change (which happens without the need
mind skill needed, but nothing tremendously for a deck switch) all the more amazing. The routine takes up very
taxing. little table space (and can be done completely in the hands if one
The basic effect is a prediction of three phase is omitted) and is within the abilities of the intermediate
things that will happen during the deal of a hand of Texas Hold card magician. Easier alternatives are also discussed. To do the
‘em. An envelope, which contains the prediction, is placed on the routine you’ll also need a deck of Phoenix cards, which are manu-
table. The deck can be shuffled by the performer (if you know a factured by Card Shark.
convincing false shuffle). The deck can be cut multiple times by a In addition to the fifty-two cards that are used as a Rainbow
spectator, but the performer must check that the spectator has cut deck, other cards are included that allow you to do other tricks.
to a spot in the deck where the trick will work. This is not very All of these are explained on the DVD. Another feature of the
difficult and the spectator’s cut will work the first time over fifty Prism Deck is that the cards are marked. Josh effectively uses this
percent of the time. The spectator can deal the cards – one hand feature in one phase of the color-changing deck routine.
for the performer and one for himself – and he then deals the Flop, The Prism Deck is manufactured by Card Shark, a company
the Turn, and the River. There is no clear winner, but the predic- that makes fine quality cards. I have used their cards for a while,
tion is opened to reveal who will win the game and how, that the and I like the way they handle. The Prism Deck (plus the DVD)
spectator will almost get a straight, and that the card needed to fill sells for $30 and it is a good value for the money. Using a Rainbow
the straight is on top of the deck. With a little more work, you can deck in a color-changing deck routine (I used to do Derek Dingle’s
also predict the card that will fill the straight. routine all the time) raises the effect to a whole different level in
Although a little expensive for a card trick, I like the effect and the minds of the spectators. Whether or not you choose to use
feel that it is very commercial, especially given the popularity of Josh’s routine (and you should, because it’s a good one), you’ll find
Texas Hold ‘em. You will require a stacked deck, but it is a simple the Prism Deck to be a useful prop. Recommended. 
and common stack, and it need not be memorized. Mr. Harris
discovered some interesting properties of the stack that make the
effect work. It won’t take too long for the average magician to get
If you wish to have your product reviewed please
up to speed on this one. There are lots of hints and tips, as well send it to: Bill Duncan, P.O. Box 50562
as some cribs to help you do so. The booklet is well written and
Bellevue, WA 98015-0562
produced, typical of all of Ben’s releases. I believe the advanced

64 M-U-M Magazine
 Traveling Tricks LogMeIn
Many of us are traveling magicians. Whether it is an It happens to me all the time. I’m at
overnight trip or a road tour, there are some nifty apps to help a conference and I realize that I forgot
us out in our travels, no matter where we’re heading. Here are a file on my home computer. Using my
my top four favorite apps for the traveling magician. laptop or iPad, I can look at my home
computer and control it. Here’s a story of
HotelPal how I used it. I was at the Buffalo Con-
vention looking over the tribute film that
You’re driving in your car and it’s I made for Norm Nielsen when I noticed
getting late. You need to find a hotel to stay that someone’s name was spelled incor-
overnight. Your budget is important, so rectly in the film. I turned on LogMeIn
you take out your trusty iPhone and press and accessed my iMac at home, where
HotelPal. The screen shows a Google map the master of the film was stored. I
of where you are and points out hotels in opened Final Cut on the home computer
your area. Each hotel has a little white sign and re-edited the film. After it was completed I emailed it to
showing its price for the night. Click on myself. LogMeIn allowed me to work with my home computer
the price you like and you will get photos, from far away. There are iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and desktop
a description of the property, the address, versions of the program. I used the free version from my laptop,
phone number, and a button to make a reservation. This app is a but iDevice versions have a fee and add extra features. You can
lifesaver for the frequent traveler. The best part, it’s free! Look check it all out at www.logmein.com.
for HotelPal in the iTunes App Store.
Old Magic Classic Goes Digital
Hipmunk
Programmer Rob Faiella took a classic
If you have to fly somewhere and the trick and gave it a cool modus operandi.
usual sites like Orbitz, CheapTickets, and A card is selected from a deck of cards.
Kayak are not pleasing you, download You take out your iPhone and turn on the
the app Hipmunk and give it a try. This app Card Elimination, which visually
app searches the usual places as well as a shows cards. The program guides you
few more. Its visual timeline lays out your through eliminating cards and ultimately
options in an easy-to-view screen. People you end up with the selected card. The
like Ashton Kutcher invested in this startup effect has a couple of different methods
company and it is gaining wide appeal. If to accomplish this. The coolest method is
you don’t have an iDevice, you can also the one for the iPhone. It’s so clever that
check out their Web site at www.hipmunk.com. The cool app is you have to keep from smiling while you
available for free in the iTunes App Store. do the secret stuff. I will warn you that this is not an out-of-the
box app. You will need to practice this, but the effort will be
GasBuddy worth it. Rob always thinks out of the box and did a great job
programming the MagicSAM app for our organization. Card
Gas prices are usually high when Elimination works best on the iPhone, although a much less
you get off that exit on the highway. effective method works on the iPad. Well worth the $0.99 at the
It seems that whenever I go to one of iTunes App Store.
those guzzling pumps and then drive a
half mile down the road, I always find A Reminder
a better price. GasBuddy eliminates the
guessing. Hit the “Find Gas Near Me” If you are a member, be sure to download the Society of
button and the app lists the lowest prices American Magicians app MagicSAM. It’s free at the iTunes
in your area. You can also look by city, App Store. Updates will be coming soon and we are working
state, or zip code. The app works thanks on a special iPad edition. 
to the help of people like you who send
in prices through the app. The more you Bruce is always on the lookout for computer magic, iPhone/
send in, the more points you get towards receiving free gas iPod Touch apps, and tech toys that can be used in magic
coupons. GasBuddy also has a Web site at www.gasbuddy.com, applications. If you have any suggestions for future columns,
but the app is handy to have on your iPhone. GasBuddy is free write to Bruce at [email protected].
and available in the iTunes App Store.

65 M-U-M Magazine
 MENTAL BREAKDOWN
CHRISTIAN PAINTER

the show, unless you have been paid or have had a performer sit in the audience at one
been given permission to do so. Again, this of our public shows and take notes. After
is not your show. In fact, don’t even bring the performance, Katalina asked him why
your props. Why would you? You are there he was taking notes. He replied that he
to watch the show – not to perform. needed new material for his show! This is
After the show, do not come up to the not ethical – at all. Katalina explained to
performer and tell him how to improve him that this was not right, not acceptable,
his show. This is not the time to critique a and not okay.
Etiquette and Ethics show and most likely you are not qualified Another performer shared with me

G
to critique the performer anyway. Would that during a corporate gig, he observed
et ready; what you are about to you want someone to come up after your a gentleman setting up a video camera
read is half rant and half admon- show, while audience members are con- complete with tripod. Wondering why,
ishment to those out there who are gratulating you, and say, “I saw your billet the performer asked what he was going
guilty of the things I’m about to say. To switch. You should use the Baker switch to record. The gentleman replied, “Your
be fair, perhaps no one has ever explained instead.” If a performer wants feedback on show.” When the entertainer told him that
the proper way that people should conduct his performance, he will ask. If he doesn’t he could not videotape it, the gentleman
themselves during magic shows or in club ask you, keep your mouth shut. responded, “It’s all right, I’m a magician.”
meetings. Maybe no one has explained I have been stunned at the sheer Actually no, you are not a magician –
professional ethics and how it affects our number of times I have seen unsolicited you are a thief. This behavior is unaccept-
art. My wife also suggested that (since, advice given to performers at inappropri- able. Just because you’re a magician does
perhaps, this information has not been ate times. I don’t care if you saw every not give you the right to record someone
taught) I should use my column to educate move, knew every trick, and know better else’s show. Professionals work their entire
everyone on ethics. So, here goes. lines. Your unwelcomed assessment un- lives creating and honing a show. It is their
Lectures: Do not practice your own derlines your title of Jerk! Here’s an idea: show, their material, and their talent. Not
magic during a lecture. One goes to a work on getting your own show, instead of yours. They do not do this to give it away
lecture to learn and honor the performer telling others how to improve theirs. to someone with a video camera, a lack of
by listening politely and taking in the in- Wouldn’t you ingratiate yourself to a creativity, and no work ethic.
formation. This is not the time to work on performer more if you complimented them Working Gigs: It is not proper to
your riffle pass, coin rolls, or card moves. on what they did well? Perhaps you could contact the clients of other entertainers in
Put your props away and listen. I recently cultivate a rewarding relationship that an attempt to steal their business. I have
watched one magician during a lecture would be of benefit if you would help them always believed that there’s plenty of work
manipulate his deck of cards to such an enjoy their accomplishment rather than out there; you just have to find it or create
extent that it was as if he was competing being a show-off. it. However, there are those unethical indi-
for attention with the lecturer. Really? Do Camera Phones/Flip Cams: Do not viduals who will wait in the bushes to see
you need attention that badly? videotape a performance or lecture if you what other performers are doing and then
About ten years ago, I watched a have not received permission from the rush out to try to steal that same work.
magician stop in the middle of his lecture performer. Period. Double period. I am not against free enterprise. There
and with a stern look on his face ask a par- Want to know what a professional is are plenty of markets where many enter-
ticipant to put away his cards. The offender thinking when he sees someone with a tainers work to attract the eye of the same
gave a perturbed look and shoved the deck cell phone camera pointed at them? They buyer, such as the college market, the
into his pocket. The audience applauded think, “I wonder who that jerk is trying comedy club market, or the performing
the action taken by the lecturer. We all get to steal my show.” And “Oh boy, another arts market. What I’m talking about are
tired of the audience show-offs. Before a non-creative, copycat magician who is too those unscrupulous folks who will target
lecture all clubs can and should announce lazy to create his own show so he feels a specific client when they find out another
to the audience to put away their props. entitled to steal mine.” Why else would magician is already working with them
And then, of course, the clubs must enforce another magician record someone’s show and try to steal a gig right from under the
that rule. without permission? performer who has worked hard to get it.
Additionally, I have witnessed during a Put the cell phone cameras away and Case in point 1: A professional
break in the lecture, a magic club member enjoy the show. If you see someone with magician friend of mine had contracted
who quickly produced his magic props and a cell phone camera, simply ask him if he a theater for a summer run. During the
began performing for those around him. has permission to record the show. Perhaps four-month run of his show, no less than a
Again, this is not the time. This is the lec- by just asking the question, he will realize dozen other magicians sent their materials
turer’s time. Yes, even during the break. his folly and put the phone away. to the owner of the theater trying to steal
Give it a rest and show some class. Stop Along that same line, don’t take notes the show – most of them promising that
being a jerk. either. It’s not ethical to “borrow” another their show was better and that they would
Magic/Mentalism Shows: Do not performer’s lines or routines unless that perform for less money. The theater owner,
perform in the lobby of another magician’s performer has sold them on a DVD or in having been in the business for some time,
show. Do not perform for those attending his lecture notes. Recently, Katalina and I had a great relationship with the current

66 M-U-M Magazine
magician, identified these individuals as that benefit him to share all of his hard lowers the value of magic to the buyers.
unethical, and forwarded all the unsolic- work with someone who didn’t even take This attitude/practice helped destroy the
ited material to the magician he had hired. the time to get to know him or foster any close-up magic work in Las Vegas.
Case in point 2: A mentalist has created kind of relationship first? If you have been guilty of any of the
a unique performing opportunity within a Finally, let’s talk about restau- things I have talked about in this article,
resort town. He had worked diligently for rants. There are plenty of restaurants in shame on you. But, now you have been
a year setting up all of the business con- town. Yet, over and over again I’ve seen educated. So, if anyone sees you violating
nections and opportunities to generate magicians try to steal each other’s restau- these rules in the future, don’t complain if
a profit-producing show. During the rant work. Why? I guess it’s easier to try to you’re called out on being a jerk. You have
following twelve months he received calls steal a restaurant from a working magician been warned! 
from countless other mentalists/perform- than to try to find one through your own
ers (whom he didn’t even know person- hard work. This creates two problems. Please send any questions or comments to
ally) asking him to share his entire bank One, it makes the supposed stealer look [email protected].
of knowledge and business plan. Ask like a jerk, thus making all magicians/
yourself, why would he do that? How does mentalists look like jerks. And two, it

NOVEMBER 2011 67
 UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES
ROGER BLAKISTON (AKA JOLLY ROGER)

shields and they could become knights.

Then sit them around a table – perhaps
Losander’s. You become Merlin and the
table magically begins to levitate. Next,
you float King Arthur (the birthday child)
on a plank of wood (chair suspension). As
a grand finale, you ask each of the knights
to remove the sword of Excalibur from
“We’re Off to See the Wizard!” the stone. Of course, each knight tries
without success. The last person to try is
Magicians and wizards have existed in King Arthur (the birthday child) and he
world cultures and have been documented succeeds (remove the locking pin before
(as fact or fantasy) since the beginning his turn).
of recorded history. When I perform as around, a wizard character is often the first
Jolly Roger the Wizard, I often ask the costume of choice. If you Google the word
children what the difference is between a “wizard” and browse through the online
Magician and a Wizard. The number one stores, you will be amazed at how many
answer I get is, “a wizard does real magic.” wizard-themed costumes and accessories
Wikipedia describes a wizard as a person are available. There are also a multitude
in fantasy or mythology who has studied of ideas for wizard-themed parties, like
and practices magic. I tell the children that games, food, and prizes, which you could
a magician does tricks, whereas a wizard share with the client.
weaves spells. Over the years I have Here are some ideas to help steer you
performed many of my shows in a wizard toward thinking creatively. It is easy to
costume and it is always popular. In recent convert a wizard hat from a costume shop
years, since the introduction of Harry into a change bag. Simply sew a piece of
Potter, I have had even more requests cloth along the inside of the center seam.
for my wizard magic show. The homes I You could then use the hat for a variety of
perform in have been decorated with ev- magic effects. For instance, a child could
erything from candles suspended from help you change coal into diamonds!
the ceiling to facades of Diagon Alley. I Wizards’ wands tend to be a little different
entertained at one house where the entire from the standard magician’s wand, which,
interior of the house had castle walls! of course, is black with white tips. Check
out the toy stores and you may be surprised
“In a way, we are magicians. We are at the treasures you can find. There are
alchemists, sorcerers and wizards. We are many toys that are not sold as wands, but
a very strange bunch. But there is great would suit a wizard perfectly. They may
fun in being a wizard.” be sticks or batons that glow, glitter, or
~ Billy Joel ~ change color. There are also some great
wizard puppets out there that you can use
Children love fantasy, myth, legends, as part of a routine or as a stand-alone
and folklore in which dinosaurs are item. Some of these have moving mouths,
dragons, fortresses are castles, and magic which is great if you have a talent for ven-
for good always wins out in the end. Enter- triloquism.
taining as a wizard can be a potent offering If you ask a group of children to mention If you are going all out on a wizard
to a client: one that every children’s en- the most famous wizard of all time, the theme, you will need a costume. There
tertainer can include in his or her reper- older children are likely to say Harry are a number of standard wizard costumes
toire. I recommend you try it. Offering a Potter or Merlin, whereas the younger available online and in the party shops.
wizard magic show can also increase your children will probably say the Wizard of You will find these in great abundance
bookings and add a USP (unique selling Oz. For legal contractual reasons, magic around Halloween, which is just about
point). dealers are not allowed to sell some of when this publication should arrive in your
As with many of my M-U-M columns, these characters as part of a magic trick, mail box. This is also a great time to buy
I invite you to step out of the box, stretch but there is absolutely nothing wrong wizard material from your local fabric
your imagination, and become more with you making up your own routine store, and if you are any good at sewing,
creative. Can you imagine doing a whole with wizards that are available online or a simple wizard one-of-a-kind costume
routine around King Arthur and the in the stores and incorporating them into is very easy to make. I have made many
Knights of the Round Table? You could your show. Children love anything to do for myself over the years. A basic wizard
dress the children in helmets, swords, and with wizards, and when Halloween comes costume is very easy to put on, and can

68 M-U-M Magazine
slip straight over your Muggle clothes. The one. I use a small ornate cloth zip bag I
advantage of this is that you do not have purchased in Peru. You can change out the
to drive to the venue in your costume. Just duplicate character for repeat shows. You
adorn your regalia on arrival so that you will also need two wizard hats: a small one
can enter a birthday party in full costume. to fit a child’s head and an adult-size hat
Some of you may be familiar with a with a set of rabbit ears stuffed in it. Put
routine that I market called Jolly Roger’s the five characters inside the small hat and
Ridiculous Routine. It would be perfect you are all set.
for your wizard-themed show. This Invite a child to help you. Say you
routine involves animal finger puppets, a need someone who always wanted to be a
giant magic wand, a rising wand, spring wizard. The hands will shoot up! Give the
snakes, wizard’s hats, a child changing child the yellow stand to hold, and take each
into a rabbit, and a certificate for the character out of the small wizard hat one at
child helper (young apprentice). Check it a time. Ask the children to shout out who
out on the products page of my Web site each of the characters is. They will usually
www.ComicMagician.com. give you the correct answers, although
there have been occasions when they call
“I’ve always taken The Wizard of Oz the Tin Man the “Tin Can,” and Dorothy
very seriously, you know. I believe in the “Alice in Wonderland.” This always
idea of the rainbow. And I’ve spent my amuses the adults! Place each character on
entire life trying to get over it.” the stand. Once the hat is empty, place it alternative to using the rabbit ears is to have
~ Judy Garland ~ on the child’s head. Put the large hat with two different colored wizard’s hats inside
the rabbit ears hidden inside on your own each other that you put on your head. Tell
I am going to share a trick based on head, being cautious that the audience does the child to jump up and down waving the
part of this routine that you can inexpen- not see the load. Take the stand with the wand, and your hat will change color. You
sively make for yourself. If you search the characters on it from the child, and give remove your hat, look at it, and express
Internet, you will see many Web sites that her the bag containing the duplicate. You concern that the hat has not changed color.
carry the characters from The Wizard of ask the child if she believes in magic. She Naturally, the kids will shout out and tell
Oz. I actually use a set that I bought from usually says yes, but if she says no, you tell you there is a different colored hat on your
a shop at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas her that she will in a minute! head!
a number of years ago. Some of character You now use the PATEO force, So next time you are out shopping,
sets on the market are puppets, some are allowing the remaining character to match try looking for items that could fit into a
porcelain, and some are stuffed fabric. the duplicate. For example, let us say you wizard magic show. There are so many
I suggest you buy a set made of stuffed are forcing the Scarecrow. Ask her to things out there. You will find them if you
fabric. In my set, each character is about name two characters. You then choose go with the mindset that you are a wizard
three inches tall. You will actually need to which one you throw away. If one of them who casts spells and not a magician who
purchase two sets because you will need she names is the Scarecrow, simply throw does tricks. Look at crystal balls, ornate
duplicates. You only need five charac- away the other one. Then you name two walking sticks, unusual boxes decorated
ters from each set. I use the Tin Man, the (but do not include the Scarecrow in the with mystic symbols, rings, jewels, stones,
Scarecrow, Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, choice) and ask her to throw one away. scarves, and spell books. Once you see a
and the Wicked Witch of the West. You You are left with three. Ask her to name prop of this nature in a store, my advice is
will also need a stand to display them on. two, and whatever she says, make sure the that if you like it, buy it, even if you do not
This could be made of wood or cardboard, Scarecrow is left behind. You are down to know exactly how you are going to incor-
and if you like you could even paint it two. Ask her which of the pair she likes porate it into your show. That will come to
yellow and call it the Yellow Brick Road. best. If she says the Scarecrow, tell her you once you get home and let the inspi-
to hold onto it as it is her favorite. If she ration and creativity set in while you are
says the other character, simply throw that contemplating in your magic den.
character away, leaving the Scarecrow. It would be wise – if you decide to
This whole force is very effective and partake in this adventure – to study
appears quite innocent. Ask her to open wizards. You don’t want the child to know
up the bag and pull out the character, and, more than you do about them! Read books
naturally, everyone will be amazed that the and watch movies about wizards. Think
same character appears from the bag. You like a wizard, and the magic will come
will often get gasps from the audience. to you. In a child’s eye, a wizard is the
Tell the child that now that she can do ultimate purveyor of magic: “because,
magic, you would like her to try another because, because, because, because…
magic trick to see if she can change you because of the wonderful things he
into a rabbit. Give her a magic wand; ask does!” 
her to jump up and down while waving
it, and to say some magic words. Remove Please continue to email your comments,
Take a duplicate of one of the characters your hat to reveal the rabbit ears; this questions, and suggestions to me at
and put it in a small box, paper bag, or any always gets a good laugh! You could even [email protected].
kind of small opaque container. You could do a wizard hat paper tear, giving the hat
use an Emerald City replica if you can find to the child as a thank you for helping. An

NOVEMBER 2011 69
 ANYTIME, ANYPLACE — ANY DECK
ALDO COLOMBINI
holding a packet of four cards; the top card good witch. But the others are very clever
is the only Queen. The audience believes as well as very evil and before you can
you are holding four Queens. single out the good witch from the bad,
“These may be four witches, but one of they alter their appearance in an attempt
them is a good witch, like Glinda from The to trick you.” Turn the double card face
Wizard of Oz. I want you to point her out. down onto the packet and deal the top card
Which do you think is the good witch?” to the table. You now perform a sequence
As you say the above patter, casually slip created by J.K. Hartman to show the three

T
the top card of the packet to the second- cards in your hand as duplicates of the
his month, Ryan Matney shares a from-top position and fan the four cards selected Queen.
strong routine that should provoke out. You will now use an Alex Elmsley Snap your fingers over the packet and
many variations. Give it a try. idea from Elmsley’s Ghost (The Collected turn over the top card onto the packet,
Works of Alex Elmsley, p. 46) to force the displaying a duplicate of the Queen you
The Conqueror Worm only Queen in the packet. The outs are as just placed on the table. Turn this card
By Ryan Matney follows: face-down onto the packet and place the
Hold the packet in a mini-fan at the fin- top two cards as one to the bottom of
This is an improved version of a couple gertips of your right hand. Ask the spectator the packet. Perform a double turnover to
of Ryan’s earlier effects and ideas from his to touch the back of any of the four cards. display a second duplicate Queen. Turn the
manuscript The Midnight Oil. He has a free choice. You proceed as double down and place the top single card
“I’m sure you have heard of the Salem follows. A) If the back of the top card is to the bottom of the packet. Finally, turn
witch trials. A lot of people were unfairly touched, simply square up the packet and over another single card to show a third
accused of witchcraft and burned at the perform a double turnover to display the Queen. Turn this card face-down onto the
stake. I’d like to try a little experiment and Queen. B) If the back of the second card is packet and leave it on top.
see if we can determine which witch is the touched, this is the best possible outcome. “Now, all the Queens look alike, how
good witch in this deck.” Spread through You will find this option happens quite on earth will you know which is the good
the deck with the faces toward you and often. Keep the cards fanned and have him witch?” Drop the three cards you hold
remove the four Queens, tabling them face remove the card he has touched. He turns onto the tabled Queen. “I believe we can
down. As you do this, you also cull any the card over in his own hands to display determine the good witch by an ancient
three Sixes to the top of the deck. the Queen. Have the Queen placed aside sorting ritual.” Pick up the packet and
Turn the deck face down and get a face up and reveal the other three cards as take the top card and place it to the bottom
break under the top three cards. Pick up the three Sixes to conclude the routine. C) saying, “Good.” Deal the next card to the
the Queens and turn them face up onto the If the back of the third card is touched, the table saying, “Evil.” Place the next card
deck, immediately picking up all seven right hand takes the top card of the fan, and to the bottom of the packet again saying,
cards above the break. You now perform then takes the second card on top of it. The “Good”. Deal the next card to the table
the standard Braue add-on sequence as third card is taken on top of the previous saying, “Evil.” Continue in this manner
you show the Queens: Peel the first Queen two as you say, “You don’t want these two, until one card remains in your hands. You
off the packet and flip it face down onto you want the third one.” Square up the will end on the word “Good,” thanks to
the deck. Peel off the second Queen also packet and perform a double turnover to the Matsuyama principle. This card will
flipping it face down onto the deck. Repeat display the Queen. D) If the back of the also be the Queen. Turn it over and show it
this with the third Queen, and finally drop fourth card is touched, the right hand takes to the audience.
the fourth Queen (and the cards hidden the top card and then takes the second and “Yes, this is the good witch; she only
under it) square onto the deck; flip the third cards together onto the first card. ever used her magic for good. How do I
fourth Queen face down singly onto the Finally, the fourth card is placed on top know? Well, look, these others are so evil,
deck. As you display the Queens say, of all and the packet is squared. Perform a they are marked!” Turn over the remaining
“These are the four witches.” Thumb off double turnover to display the queen. three cards one at a time and in a row to
the top four cards and place the deck aside You are in position with a Queen face reveal the Sixes (666).
as it is no longer needed. You are now up on the packet. Say, “Great! This is the

70 M-U-M Magazine
 THEORY & ART OF MAGIC
LARRY HASS

At best, this kind of stage or close-up Like a beautiful woman.

space will feel unclear or murky to your 3. Displacement: The third and final
audience, but more often it will register as mala-propism is best conveyed by a story.
garish or messy. One night I went to an ensemble magic
I have been teaching aesthetics for show with a good friend of mine who has
twenty-five years, so trust me when I say been a professional actor for the length of
this is not simply a matter of “subjective his long career. He had familiarity with
taste, so the heck with it.” There is over- magic and there were some big names on
Mala-Propisms, Part Two whelming evidence that people subcon- the bill, but from time to time he would

A
sciously respond strongly and warmly let out a quiet little groan next to me.
s i discussed last month, I do not to beautiful things, to colors that match Thinking he was ill, immediately after the
accept the widespread assumption or complement, to different objects that show, I asked him what was wrong. Sput-
in contemporary magic that the share certain features (such as having tering with frustration, he said, “My God!
fewer props, the better – the more artistic, side tables that are all round), to the rep- They are all hiding behind their props!”
the more magical, the more “believable.” etition of patterns throughout a scene I will tell you, I have thought long
On the contrary, I suggested the primary or tableau. Nothing marks you more as and hard about this crystalline, sharp
problem surrounding props in magic is not a person of taste than attention to these critique from someone with a lifetime
the fact that we use them, but rather how details. Contrary to popular opinion, taste in the theatre. His claim wasn’t the more
we use them, the different ways props are is something that can be learned, and it is familiar observation that the performers
used and abused that compromise the ex- worth learning because wealthy, educated were being upstaged because their props
cellence of our performances. Last month people like to hire people of taste. were so flashy (although that kind of thing
I discussed the first of these “mala-prop- Abuse. If attention to the aesthetics of certainly happens). Rather, his distress
isms,” the subtle problem of disconnection. our props is subtle, the third variation of was caused by the fact that the props were
I continue.... neglect is not: it is the abuse that some per- at the front and center of everything: out
2. Neglect: As I look around the stages formers seem intent to inflict upon their come the rings, out come the silks, out
and close-up tables of contemporary magic tools. It is fairly common to see illusion- come the newspapers, and this erected a
I see many neglected props, starving for ists cavalierly kick their boxes around subtle barrier between the audience and
attention. And your audiences see them, the stage, close-up magicians toss their the performers.
too. I am starting to believe that nothing props around (sometimes dropping them), It has been said countless times by
more marks a performer as an amateur or and stage performers crumple their silks many “lifers” in our field, “It is not about
dabbler than the varieties of neglect, of to stuff them in a pocket. At one of our the tricks; it is about you.” This is easy
which there are three. Master Classes in Las Vegas, one student to say, and it is easy to believe we under-
Wear. How many times have you performed a nice sequence of large prop stand the message, but after all those hours
watched a performance in which the cards productions, but threw each one on the and years of practice, after all the work
are sticky, the card boxes are tattered, the floor so he could produce the next one. to perform that double lift, crash link, or
coins are dull, the rings don’t shine, the Stop and think about the picture these secret steal, after all the years of loading
little and big boxes need paint, the glass behaviors create: they shatter the moment in and setting up, it is apparently far easier
objects have fingerprints, the silks are and suggest that you think of your tools as to let our props be front and center while
crumpled, the close-up pads have frayed trash. And if you think your tools are trash, our character recedes into the background,
edges, the rope is dirty, and the side tables why would the audience think any differ- where it may even vanish.
are shaky? In my experience, way, way ently? Also, this approach communicates I believe this is one of the greatest chal-
too many. Sometimes this neglect happens either inexperience or arrogance. However lenges for magical performers, to really
because money is tight or because one’s you slice it, abuse is bad for business. embrace the fact that the audience will
schedule is relentless. But we can’t let this Having said that, I have a hunch that no remember you, or find you forgettable,
happen. one consciously chooses this approach. I long before they will remember your tricks
Consider the performances of Bill suspect that most prop abuse is simply bad and props.
Malone, Eugene Burger, Michael Vincent, habit or performers unconsciously trying As an alternative, think about Penn &
or Richard Osterlind: everything is fresh, to convey that the “props are nothing to Teller. Think about Ricky Jay or David
sharp, and clean. This is part of how they me – I don’t need them at all.” But the Copperfield. Think about Mac King or
get hired and hired back, and it will work truth is that we do need the props for many the young rising star, Paul Vigil. They are
for you, too. But it doesn’t happen auto- reasons: production value, color, visual never displaced by their props.
matically; it requires disciplined vigilance interest; they are the “instruments” upon So please be careful of any and all
and a certain relentless spirit to throw stuff which we “play” our magic. Don’t think mala-propisms! The results of your
away before anyone notices. about how Pete Townsend of the Who attention will be much better magic and
Aesthetics. Another common, but treated his guitar – that was back in the much stronger reactions. 
subtler, form of neglect is when things 1960s anyway. Check out how B.B. King
don’t match, or they look thrown together. handles “Lucille.” Like a sacred object.

72 M-U-M Magazine
 THE KRAN-ZONE
NATHAN KRANZO

how I work. I usually start with a premise. illusions like the Table of Terror, Sawing,
For example, everywhere you go people are and the others all have a very personal
talking about how overweight Americans stamp on them. The Levitation takes place
are. What would it be like if I came on in the context of a psychiatrist office scene;
stage weighing 350 pounds, and instantly, the de Kolta Chair is part of a séance.
visibly, I lost 200 pounds? And it looked Unlike much of my previous work
magical, without any apparent props or ac- where to a degree I was hiding behind the
Cactching up with Steve Spill cessories. Now I have what could be an in- tricks, in this show I feel like I open myself
teresting effect. From there I would make up in front of the audience. Besides the
[Editor’s Note: Steve Spill is the creator a few sketches, jot down some joke ideas. comedy and magic that draws people in,
of Magicopolis, the performance venue in It can also work the other way. Maybe there are big doses of heart, soul, intimacy,
Santa Monica. Steve was the cover subject I discover a cool method and create a trick and intelligence, which is why I think this
of the November 2009 M-U-M. Check out for it. It works both ways. During my daily show has a greater multi-generational
that issue for more information on him.] activities funny things occur to me: ideas appeal than anything I’ve ever done in the
for tricks, jokes, and premises. I write past.
When I first heard about you it was them down. In the past few years you’ve released
from the effect Grab and Stab. It’s great Here are three important adjuncts to some of your classic routines. The big one
magic/mentalism with a huge dose of dark that. Don’t be afraid to fail; I’m always was the Mind Reading Goose. Recently
humor. Dark humor seems to be a theme thinking of things that suck. Do as many you released the Blood from Stone, which
in a lot of my favorite Steve Spill effects. shows as you can. Don’t give up. is a fantastic visual gag that Penn and
Is this something that came out more when Please tell me about making the leap Teller loved and even paid you for its use.
you started doing comedy clubs? to presenting a bigger scale show with Blood from Stone started as a visual
It probably goes back to my childhood illusions. gag, but I put it my show recently, worked
love of films like The Mummy, Franken- The best thing about doing a two-hour on it diligently, and now it’s become a full-
stein, Dracula, and Creature from the show in my own theater is that I can do blown routine with about a dozen huge
Black Lagoon. I subscribed to Famous what I want to do, and most of the people belly laughs. When I did it way back when,
Monsters of Filmland magazine; I used to are coming to see me, or at least they’re it made a memorable funny impression.
read all the Stephen King stuff. coming to see magic. Magicopolis started Now it’s an absolute blockbuster!
As a young comedy club worker I didn’t back in 1998, and even though it comes Have you been working on anything
have that much life experience to talk with the price of big responsibility and new? What’s next for Steve Spill?
about, so when it came to things to do with time demands outside the realm of per- I’m always working on something new.
my magic, macabre routines like Grab & forming, these have been my best perform- If I thought I had done what there was to
Stab, Blood from Stone, the Needles, ing years ever. be done, for me as an individual, a lot of
or Voodoo Doll, gave some character to I’m not ungrateful for the work I had in things would be over for me instead of just
my performances. I also did a lot of silly previous years because I’ve felt lucky my beginning. I’m still the fool who believes
stuff like my Mindreading Goose and my entire life, but even the best of my former that tomorrow’s the first day of the rest of
Cloroxo character. gigs were, to some degree, compromises my life. And tomorrow is the first day of
But I’ve grown and changed since then. in terms of performing. I was a sacrifi- the rest of my thinking too.
Nowadays both the silly and the macabre cial lamb warming up crowds for celebri- Right now, I’m about thirty percent in
play only small roles in my shows. ties, filling slots in tits-and-feathers revue on creating a one hundred percent new
There are a ton of guys who would love shows, doing clubs where they’re counting one-man show to run on Wednesdays and
to be funny and to be able to work comedy laughs per minute, corporate gigs, cruises. Thursdays at Magicopolis. It’s a memoir
into their act and create original material I was always fitting into someone else’s about my journey in magic from a child to
like you. What advice would you give to a agenda. age twenty-one. I’ve created a number of
young guy who wanted to do that? But those things allowed me the new bits for this and I’ve dusted off and
Being funny and creating original freedom I have today. I’d say my entire revamped some oldies but goodies. Each
tricks are two different things, and there’s life is squeezed into Magicopolis and it’s week I’m audience testing new hunks; my
plenty of opportunity to make a career at the realization of a lifelong dream. I do goal is to launch the new show in about six
either or both. The most important piece of the show with my wife, Bozena, who is an months.
advice I can give is not to take anybody’s accomplished actress (or one of her three What is your favorite effect you have
advice. Somehow, someway, that individu- understudies when she’s elsewhere). We do ever created?
al will find himself. He’ll see it, he’ll learn stand-up comedy magic together and sepa- My favorite is always the next thing I’m
it, and he’ll do it if he has the capacity for rately, sketches, drama, danger, and min- working on. 
it. dreading; the entire show has an autobio-
That said, I can share a little bit about graphical thread through it. Even the big

74 M-U-M Magazine
 THE DEAN’S DIARY
GEORGE SCHINDLER

re-captured; the rest, unfortunately, were effect, is a “must-see.” Walk-around magic

never to return. is an added feature at the sumptuous con-
Susan and Jim eventually sold the goats, tinental breakfast, as is the magic show
but the B&B is still more than a pleasant in the parlor. Joe considers his “lodging
farm. There is a four-bedroom Mill house career” as a sideline to his magic; he
that sits atop a waterfall and overlooks the has been the New Orleans Assembly 36
lake where you can fish, swim, or canoe Magician of the Year twice.
There is plenty of acreage through which
Bed and Breakfast to hike, including an old railroad track

T
across from the Mill where there is located
here are no pheasants at Susan’s a historic Sheffield’s Farms Creamery,
Pleasant Pheasant Farm. Once, Par- which Jim someday hopes to turn into a
ent Assembly President Jim Kelly magic and entertainment center. There is
incubated three hundred pheasant eggs so a fireplace in the lower sitting room where
that he and Susan could boast about all the you will watch both Jim’s magic (as ad-
pheasants at their B&B in Halcottsville, vertised) and enjoy the magic of Susan’s
New York. Once upon a time they also had fabulous gourmet breakfasts. The upstairs
goats, whose milk they used for pancakes, screened porch overlooks the lake and is
making unique breakfasts. And then came a great place for guests to gather to try to
The Avenue Inn
the day when the happy family (who were figure out how the invisible deck turned
guests from Brooklyn) was getting ready their card over.
to leave, and their wonderful children, Where else can you see magic at a Nina and I have enjoyed staying at
aged nine and ten, went to the farm area B&B? In New Orleans! The Avenue Inn many B&Bs in our travels, from the quaint
to say “goodbye” to the pheasants. It was Bed and Breakfast is operated by Joe to the old, from the new, the musty (just
sad for the children to leave them, but it Rabhan (Assembly 36) and his wife Bebe. ask Clem Kinnicutt ), and the lovely. We
was even sadder still when the gates were Rabhan has been a hotelier for a long time. are delighted to have come across the
left open and the birds made a mad rush He was manager at the Hilton when I first “magical” ones. I hope this column doesn’t
for the forest. Only forty of the birds were met him many years ago, so he certainly sound like a sales pitch, but I love both
knows how to treat his happy guests. The the places I’ve described and the magic
inn, built in 1891, is a lovely old Queen charms they offer. If you own or perform
Anne-style mansion in the Garden District at a magical B&B, please let me know.
within easy reach of Jackson Square and Check out Susan’s Pleasant Pheasant Farm
the Trolley; it is minutes from the French and the Avenue Inn Bed and Breakfast on
Quarter and other points of interest. The Google.
Avenue Inn has the amenities of a hotel and
the ambiance of the grand New Orleans [Note: This article was written just
estate it was one hundred and twenty years before hurricane Irene hit upstate New
ago. York. We regret to report that the Pleasant
Photo by Scott Morris If Joe is at the desk at check-in time, Pheasant Farm suffered considerable
you will most likely see some of his classic damage and flooding and will be unable to
Pleasant Pheasant Farm coin tricks. His favorite, a Sun and Moon operate until further notice.]

76 M-U-M Magazine
 CONFESSIONS OF A PAID AMATEUR
ROD DANILEWICZ

go on. Hank would have understood and “I have several books

he would have approved. The last song
played before his funeral service began to get me through the
was “Send in the Clowns.”
Emory Williams, of Tucson, came
through town with his mobile magic store.
Indiana winter. I rarely
He really does carry six thousand different
concern myself with

E
items. I thought his inventory would be
ach year, I look forward to No- five thousand thumb tips and a thousand
vember’s column. In it, I acknowl- Svengali decks, but it’s not. If he visits tricks these days. I am
edge those readers who took the your area it would be well worth your
time to respond throughout the year. They while to stop by. more interested in
shared personal experiences related to spe- Paul Hilko, who writes several times
cific columns that often then become the a year, had an excellent suggestion. When the author’s attitude
basis for a future article. you clean house, it’s a good time to re-
The most difficult letter to answer came
from Andrew Gressett who was at the
evaluate those effects that might have
become difficult to perform as age catches
towards magic and
national convention in July. He commented
on the tribute to Hank Moorehouse and
up with you. Makes sense. Continuing to
do Professor Cheers Comedy Rope Trick if
the reasons behind
the ad I submitted for the program, which
many of you saw.
you now wear a catheter could be embar-
rassing. why he presents his
Hank ended his shows with the line, Dr. Larry Mueller commented about
“You are my favorite audience.” He had my views of magicians who are always tricks as he does.”
that attitude when he met you one-on-one on. I agree with him. There is a differ-
as well. When he engaged you in earnest ence between always being on and being
conversation in a room full of magicians, prepared if the proper situation presents owed money to.
you really believed he came into the room itself. He shared some great lines for his I have several books to get me through
just to seek you out. Along with countless bill switch routine, which I cannot divulge the Indiana winter. I rarely concern myself
others, I considered Hank a good friend due to my code of ethics. That doesn’t with tricks these days. I am more interest-
and a mentor. mean I won’t steal them, I just won’t share ed in the author’s attitude towards magic
In the publishing world contributions them. and the reasons behind why he presents
must be submitted well in advance of the Frank Kovach shared his list of favorite his tricks as he does. Jon Racherbaum-
date they appear in print. What seemed books. He also prefers the printed word to er’s book about Don Alan, In a Class by
funny in March became terribly out of electronic media. I hesitate to send him Himself, changed my performing style. I
place in July when it was too late to pull a copy of a Hungarian cookbook I have no longer just present a series of tricks. I
my ad. I couldn’t stop the presses, but I had because every recipe begins with the involve the audience and make them part of
run the ad past Hank’s wife Jackie earlier same sentence: go out and steal a chicken. the show. Does this further complicate the
in the year and she felt Hank would find it Richard Hodes and Bonzo the MagiClown controversy about which is more important,
funny. I sent it in with the thought in mind also expressed their preference for books. the trick or the presentation? I’ve come
that Hank, himself, would be reading it. Stu Bacon feels that many authors inject to believe the most important part of the
I spoke with Jackie at Hank’s funeral too much of themselves into their writings, equation is the audience. I’ll bore you with
and offered her a full column should she making it difficult for the reader to separate that theory beginning in January.
wish to convey anything to the magic the workable material from the author’s With Thanksgiving this month, I want
community at large. In retrospect, if I had personality. to thank everyone who responded through-
any constructive criticism to offer Hank, I Steve Dawson became one of the early out the year. In today’s world, only those
would have suggested that he work on his Internet casualties when his California people who really believe their point of
timing before making his exit. magic shop succumbed in 1988. David view is important take the time to sit down
Mr. Gressett also felt the tribute took Goldberg says his Phoenix magic shop and write a letter. I realize this, and I read
on the atmosphere of a roast. That, sir, is still hanging on thanks to the personal every email.
is the unique gift given to magicians to service you can only find in a brick-and- I try to answer most personally. I
share with the world: the ability to suspend mortar store. select those that have comments that I
belief when the pain of reality becomes Robert Johnstone of Montreal would feel would benefit the readers and share
too hard to bear. Sometimes, it can be as like to see the working pros offer some them each November. Writing a column is
simple as making sponge balls appear for a insight on character development. I not unlike doing a show. It’s all about the
child in the hospital. At other times, when also thank Jim Ottmer for writing and I audience. Without you I’d be reduced to
the pain becomes too personal, it’s not so apologize to J.R. of Champaign, Illinois, communicating on YouTube. 
simple. We have to find a way to suppress who chased me down the street in Colon
our own feelings because the show must last August. I thought he was someone I Email me at [email protected]

78 M-U-M Magazine