(Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 - The Society of American Magicians

Jon Dorenbos 

page 40 

AUGUST 2011

“Once More into Their Minds, 

Dear Friends!” 

a new 

book by 

Barrie 

Richardson 

Theater of the Mind— 

Act Two—He was just 

getting warmed up! 

Curtain Call 

$50 + 

$5 US shipping 

$11 Canada/Mexico 

$13 overseas airmail 

contains Barrie Richardson's full professional act and dozens of 

other performance-tested routines, tricks and ground-breaking 

tools for mentalists. 263 pages in a deluxe hardbound edition. 

HERMETIC PRESS, INC. 

1500 S.W. Trenton St., Seattle, WA 98106-2468 

hermeticpress.com Phone: (206) 768-1688 

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

AUGUST 2011 

M-U-M • Volume 101 • Number 3 

S.A.M. NEWS 

6 From the Editor’s Desk 

7 Chadwick’s Magical Wisdom 

8 From the President’s Desk 

11 M-U-M Assembly News 

23 New Members and Reinstatements 

24 Broken Wands 

25 Good Cheer List 

75 Our Advertisers 

THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ARTICLES 

10 Newsworthy 

26 A Magician Prepares • by Dennis Loomis 

27 The Power of Bending Air • by Tom Vorjohan & Daniel Herron 

40 COVER STORY • by Marc DeSouza 

50 The Houdini Award • by Julie Sobanski 

52 Lucille Pierce • by Tom Ewing 

56 Quick Look Book Nook: Curtain Call 

REGULAR FEATURES 

31 Tech Tricks • by Bruce Kalver 

32 Nielsen Gallery: Iasia • by Tom Ewing 

34 Basic Training: Cards to Wherever • by Ian Kendall 

38 I Left My Cards at Home • by Steve Marshall 

46 Under/Over • by Joshua Jay 

54 Pro Files • by James Munton 

61 Informed Opinion • New Product Reviews 

72 Theory & Art of Magic • by Larry Hass 

73 The Tax Magician • by Steve Snyder 

74 I’ve Been Thinkin’ • by Norman Beck 

76 The Dean’s Diary • by George Schindler 

76 Basil the Baffling • by Alan Wassilak 

78 Confessions of a Paid Amateur • by Rod Danilewicz 

M-U-M (ISSN 00475300 USPS 323580) is published monthly for $40 per year by The Society of American Magicians, 

11086 S. Dartmoor Place, Parker, CO 80138 . Periodical postage paid at Parker, CO and additional mailing offices. 

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

52 

32 

40

MAGIC - UNITY - MIGHT 

Editor 

Michael Close 

Editor Emeritus 

David Goodsell 

Associate Editor 

W.S. Duncan 

Proofreader & Copy Editor 

Lindsay Smith 

Art Director 

Lisa Close 

Publisher 

Society of American Magicians, 

11086 S. Dartmoor Place 

Parker, CO 80138 

Copyright © 2011 

Subscription is through membership 

in the Society and annual dues of $65, of 

which $40 is for 12 issues of M-U-M. 

All inquiries concerning membership, change 

of address, and missing or replacement issues 

should be addressed to: 

Manon Rodriguez, National Administrator 

P.O. Box 505, Parker, CO 80134 

manon@magic.bz 

Skype: manonadmin 

Phone: 303-362-0575 

Fax: 303-362-0424 

Send assembly reports to: 

assemblyreports@gmail.com 

For advertising information, 

reservations, and placement contact: 

Mona S. Morrison, 

M-U-M Advertising Manager 

645 Darien Court, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169 

Email: mona@monamorrison.com 

Telephone/fax: (847) 519-9201 

Editorial contributions and correspondence 

concerning all content and advertising 

should be addressed to the editor: 

Michael Close - Email: mumeditor@gmail.com 

Phone: 702-355-0794 Fax: 866-591-7392 

Submissions for the magazine will only be 

accepted by email or fax. 

VISIT THE S.A.M. WEB SITE 

www.magicsam.com 

To access “Members Only” pages: 

Enter your Name and Membership number 

exactly as it appears on your membership card. 

AUGUST 2011 5

6 M-U-M Magazine 

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK 

MICHAEL CLOSE 

This column is the last 

thing that gets written 

each month; this 

is due not so much to procrastination 

(which I’m very 

good at), but rather to allow 

the inclusion of any late-breaking news. The first week of 

July had lots of news, and, unfortunately, it was all bad. 

As I’m sure most of you know by now, PNP Hank 

Moorehouse died July 2, 2011, while traveling in China 

with a touring close-up show he produced. At the national 

convention in Pittsburgh (which, at the time of this writing, 

is next week), Hank was to be the guest of honor. Hank’s 

memory will be honored with a celebration of his life. 

George Schindler offers some thoughts on his friend in the 

Dean’s Diary column on page 76. I’m sure that there will be 

some great Hank Moorehouse stories shared in Pittsburgh. 

Here’s one from Dennis Loomis: 

“I’m still shocked at the news about my old pal Hank 

Moorehouse. Hank was a big influence as I started my professional 

career. For the brief period that he ran the small 

magic shop in Ann Arbor, I was his Saturday afternoon 

counter demonstrator. I also traveled with him to many conventions 

to help him run the booth. 

“In his early years as a magician, Hank fell in love 

with the vanishing cigarette in the handkerchief (thumb 

tip version). He was a smoker, and seldom went out of the 

house without a thumb tip and a handkerchief. When Hank, 

Marcello Truzzi, and I founded Ring 210 in Ann Arbor, we 

had an annual banquet with dinner and a show. To aid the 

treasury, we sold tickets to lay people as well. At our first 

banquet, Hank was the emcee. To warm up the audience, he 

had decided to do the cigarette vanish. He lit a cigarette, took 

out his pocket handkerchief, formed a cavity in the handkerchief 

with his thumb, and pushed the lit cigarette inside, as 

he had done thousands of times before. As he withdrew his 

thumb, for some unknown reason, the thumb tip did not stay 

on, but flew up into the air and fell to the stage with a clatter. 

None of us who knew him could believe it, and neither could 

Hank. He looked down at that thumb tip smoldering away 

on the floor and said, ‘Oh, s#*t!’ 

“The next week, Marcello and I went to a trophy shop 

in town and bought a small trophy, glued a thumb tip on to 

it, and had the plaque engraved with the words ‘Oh, s#*t!” 

We presented it to him at our next meeting and we all had a 

good laugh about it. Hank laughed the loudest, as we knew 

he would. 

“He was a gem, and one of a small group of people who 

really helped me to get my career going in the first few years. 

It’s hard to believe that he’s gone.” 

Hank was the subject of the cover story by PNP Bradley 

Jacobs in the June 2011 M-U-M. So long, Hank; you will be 

missed. 

To compound the sad news, the magic world lost several 

other prominent people during the last week of June and the 

first week of July. Tom Ewing writes, “Houdini buffs and 

magic history enthusiasts lost a real friend with the passing 

of Sid Radner on June 25. Sid was a leading authority on 

Houdini and frequently lectured at the annual Magic Collectors’ 

Association gatherings. At one time he owned 

Houdini’s original water torture cell, the oversized milk can 

that preceded the cell, scrapbooks, handcuffs, locks, picks, 

and other secret devices used by the escape king. He obtained 

many of these directly from Hardeen, and later broadened 

his collection significantly. Always interested in spreading 

Houdini’s name and fame, he was associated with the Houdini 

Museum in Niagara Falls, the Outagamie Museum/Houdini 

Historical Center in Appleton, Wisconsin, and other public 

venues. This kind and gentle man will be missed.” 

My old friend Jimmy Yoshida died on July 3, 2011. Jimmy 

was a kind and charming man, who always seemed to have 

a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face. He was a great 

host and a great ambassador for magic. Aloha, Jimmy. 

You may not know who B.J. Jennings was, but she was 

important in the lives of two of magic’s legendary greats, 

Dai Vernon and her husband, Larry Jennings. For a while, 

Vernon lived at the Jennings home. When Larry’s health 

declined, B.J.’s ministrations kept him alive longer than 

would have been expected. After Larry’s death, B.J. moved 

to Las Vegas, and Lisa and I got to know her there. She was 

fiesty and always fun to be around, and she had great stories 

of life with Larry and the Professor. B.J. died on July 4, 2011. 

On an upbeat note, Warren J. Kaps, chairman of The 

Society of American Magicians Magic Endowment Fund, 

has announced that four young magicians have been 

awarded scholarships to two magic camps this summer. As 

part of the Endowment Fund program, one will attend the 

Sorcerer’s Safari Camp in Toronto, Canada, and three will 

go to Tannen’s Magic Camp in suburban Pennsylvania. Here 

are their names: 

Sorcerer’s Safari Winner: Mario Seki (age 13) 

Tannen’s Magic Camp Winners: Sean Burke (age 14), 

David Laid (age 13), and Yathundandh R.R. (age 13) 

The Society of American Magicians Magic Endowment 

Fund is proud of its achievement and growth, as well as 

the expansion of its scholarship program, which enables 

deserving youngsters from all over the world to attend 

magic camps. �


Promises - When I ran 

for second vice president, I 

made a video campaign piece 

outlining several goals I was 

committed to accomplishing. 

Thanks to the national presidents 

who preceded me, we 

were able to get them all done before I even became president. The 

final one happened this past June with the help of past presidents 

Mike Miller and Mark Weidhaas, and RVP Jania Taylor. 

The goal was to produce magic shows in theaters that featured 

young magicians and promoted the S.A.M. and S.Y.M. There are 

many people out there with a strong interest in magic, who have 

the potential to be great members of our society and local assemblies. 

Unfortunately, they are not aware of our organization, but 

they are aware of magic shows at their local theater. 

So, when I had the opportunity to produce a family magic 

show at Detroit’s Meadow Brook Music Festival, I capitalized 

on it. The show went over well; we featured two young and very 

talented magicians, TJ Ketchmark and Savannah Durocher. It’s 

too early to tell what impact this show will have on the Detroit 

assembly, but all indications are that it was successful. We will 

work to produce more of these shows and continue to fine tune 

the program. 

membershiP Cards - When PNP Mike Miller met 

Israeli deputy Yosi Notkovitz, our new style membership card 

was born. Yosi’s suggestion was a hard plastic card similar to a 

credit card or hotel key – a card that doesn’t wear out and one that 

you can be proud to show off to someone. We didn’t want to stop 

there; we also decided that the card should reflect our rich history 

and feature past members of historical significance to the S.A.M. 

Each year, another member from our past would be highlighted, 

making the membership card a collector’s item. We wanted to 

take it even further; we are magicians, so shouldn’t our membership 

card be magical? Each year we will incorporate a new magic 

effect into the card. 

This year I decided to feature past national president and 

former M-U-M editor Milbourne Christopher. Mr. Christopher 

certainly did a lot for the S.A.M. and the art of magic, and his 

legacy lives on through the Milbourne Christopher Foundation. 

The MCF presents their prestigious awards at the banquet of our 

national convention. This year, Maurine Christopher, wife of 

the late Milbourne, was the guest of honor for the Life Member 

gathering. This is where the new membership cards were unveiled. 

I hope you enjoy your new membership card; you’ll receive 

it when you renew your membership. I am very excited about 

the new magic effect within the card. M-U-M columnist Steve 

Marshall was the creative force behind it, and I think you’ll have 

fun with it. 

We also added a new feature to the life member’s cards – gold! 

If you want the gold version of the membership card, contact our 

life member chairperson Clem Kinnicutt at lifemembers@aol. 

com. Also, if you’d like to learn more about Milbourne Christopher 

you can read the article John Moehring wrote about him in 

M-U-M on either our Web site or via the magicSAM app for the 


FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK 

VINNY GROSSO 

iPhone/iPad/iPod touch. 

something for everyone - We recently released 

the first Smartphone app for a magic organization, magicSAM. 

The response has been amazing. In just the first month it has 

been downloaded approximately seven hundred times in eight 

countries and installed on a thousand devices. It’s only going to 

get better, because we are diligently working on the next version! 

We are also exploring porting the app over to other devices 

such as Android and Blackberry. Whenever we work on a project 

in the S.A.M., we always have to ask ourselves, “Is this a good 

thing for our members?” There is no single program or service 

that we provide our members that is a perfect fit for everyone. 

That’s why we try to offer as many unique benefits as we can, so 

there truly is something for everyone. 

With magicSAM, we wanted to lead the way with the first 

Smartphone app for a magic organization; we knew we were 

going to have to focus on one platform. We chose Apple’s iOS 

platform because of its market reach. The number of downloads 

and installs we’ve had the first month validates that decision. 

Please send us your feedback on ways to improve the app, or let 

us know of other platforms you would be interested in. I can’t 

promise we’ll be able to do everything that’s requested, but we 

will continue to strive to offer something for everyone. 

travel tiPs - I travel a lot, and I travel with people who 

travel a lot. I have picked up many travel tips through the years, 

and I will periodically share them with you here. One of my 

favorites is from Brad Sherwood. Brad is an improv artist who 

was regularly featured on Whose Line is It Anyway; he is perpetually 

on tour with his improv partner Colin Mochrie. Brad likes a 

dark hotel room at night and was frustrated with the gap between 

the curtains covering the window. His solution? Take a hanger 

out of the closet, the one with clips for pants. Use the clips to join 

together the two curtains. Presto! You can now sleep in darkness. 

If you want to see more of Brad’s genius, check out Two Man 

Group on Amazon.com; it’s a DVD of Colin and Brad’s improv 

show. 

summer of Conventions friends - The summer 

is in full swing and so are magic conventions. Magic conventions 

are not just great for the magic they provide, they’re also a great 

way to catch up with friends you haven’t seen in a while. 

Is it just me, or do we all go through the following cycle as a 

magician? As a young magician we go to our first convention and 

we don’t miss a single event. We practice newly learned effects 

between lectures, buy all that we can from the dealer’s room, and 

leave with enough new things for two shows. It’s all about the 

magic. Then, as we get older and we go to conventions, we end 

up missing events because we’re too involved in a conversation 

with an old friend. The line-up of acts performing and lecturing 

becomes secondary to the friends who will be attending. It’s all 

about our friends in magic. 

To use PNP Mark Weidhaas’s line: “You have a friend in the 

S.A.M.” I hope to see you at one of the conventions! � 

—Vinny Grosso

S.A.M. National Officers 

Dean: George Schindler, 1735 East 26th St., 

Brooklyn, NY 11229, (718) 336-0605, Fax (718) 

627-1397, showbiz10@aol.com 

President: Vinny Grosso, 270 Mansion St., 

Coxsackie, NY 12051 (518) 756-1891 

vinny@vinnygrosso.com 

President Elect: J. Christopher Bontjes, 2313 

Atwood Ct., Danville, IL 61834 (217)431-4791 

christopher@magicalentertainer.net 

First Vice President: Dal Sanders, 3316 

Northaven Rd, Dallas, TX 75229 (214) 902-9200, 

DalSanders@StagemMagic.com 

Secretary: Marlene Clark, 435 Main Street, 

Durham, CT 06422, (860) 349-8149, 

Skype: marlene.clark, afuntime@comcast.net 

Treasurer: Mary Ann Blowers, 3 Christopher 

Bluffs Court, St. Louis, MO 63129 (314) 846-8468 

maryblowers@aol.com Skype: maryan.blowers 

Regional Vice Presidents 

New England: CT MA RI NH ME VT 

Tucker B. Goodman, 7 Evans Road, #2, 

Marblehead, MA 01945, (617) 901-5187, 

tuckersmagic@gmail.com 

North Atlantic: NY NJ 

Pat Colby, samrvppat@gmail.com 

Mid Atlantic: PA DE MD VAWV DC 

David W. Bowers, 169 Tobin Dr., Chambersburg, 

PA 17201(717) 414-7574, 

amagicalexperience@live.com 

South Atlantic: FL AL GA MS NC SC 

Rick Hinze, (770)471-7558, r.hinze@earthlink.net 

Central Plains: KY TN OH IN MI 

Jania Taylor, (231)242-8242, magicjat@bright.net 

Midwest: IL MN WI MO ND NE KS SD IA 

Jeff Sikora, 13023 Crown Point Ave., Omaha, NE 

68164 (402)-339-6726, jqmagic@cox.net 

South Cental States: TX AR OK NM LA 

Jeff Lanes, (713)850-1770, jeffie@texasfilm.net 

Southwest: CA AZ NV HI 

Kenrick “Ice” McDonald, PO Box 341034, 

Los Angeles, CA 90034 (310)-559-8968, 

kenrickicemcdonald@yahoo.com 

Northwest: WA OR UT ID CO AK WY MT 

Michael Roth, (503)493-8316, 

msr@nwresources.com 

Canada 

Shawn Farquhar, (604)936-1234, 

shawn@magicchampion.com 

Society of Young Magicians Director 

Jann Wherry Goodsell, 329 West 1750 North, 

Orem, Utah 84057 (801) 376-0353. 

bravesjann@comcast.net 

Living Past National Presidents 

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

Snyder, Bruce W. Fletcher, James E. 

Zachary, Frank W. Dailey, Cesareo Pelaez, 

David R. Goodsell, William E. Andrews, Robert 

A. Steiner, Fr. Cyprian Murray, Michael D. 

Douglass, George Schindler, Dan Rodriguez, 

Dan Garrett, Donald F. Oltz Jr., Craig Dickson, 

Loren C. Lind, Gary D. Hughes, Harry Monti, 

Jann Wherry Goodsell, Warren J. Kaps, Ed 

Thomas, Jay Gorham, John Apperson, Richard 

M. Dooley, Andy Dallas, Maria Ibáñez, Bruce 

Kalver, Mike Miller, Mark Weidhaas. 


Newsworthy 

An Open Letter to 

All Magicians: 

Save money while you’re saving the world! In continuing 

efforts to support United States Armed Forces, The Society of 

American Magicians has recently begun offering discounted 

membership fees to active military personnel. Active military 

personnel have the opportunity to join or renew their membership 

in the S.A.M. at the reduced rate of $35.00 at www.societyofamericanmagicians.memberlodge.org/memberappSAM. 

This 

membership includes monthly issues of M-U-M online and other 

member benefits. 

I was recently appointed by S.A.M. President Mark Weidhaas 

to the position of Military Member Liaison. To make the new 

program effective, I will need the help of every magician who is 

or has been in the military or who knows someone who is. 

Additionally, we are making every effort to connect new 

military members with the nearest assembly. We encourage those 

assemblies to extend personal and financial courtesies to the 

military members. Please let us know about any incentives your 

assembly offers to encourage participation by military personnel. 

Future issues of M-U-M will make special mention of these 

men and women who protect and serve Americans. Please help 

me with this endeavor by sending me contact information for any 

member of your assembly who is connected to any of the Armed 

Forces so that I can introduce myself to them personally. 

I sincerely thank you for helping us promote 

this worthwhile endeavor. I believe this program 

offers a win-win-win situation. It benefits the 

new members, the assemblies, and magic! 


scott hollingsworth,military member liaison 

scott@scotthollingsworth.com 

Convention in 

One Night 2011 

Is it possible to have a magic convention in one night? Absolutely! 

May 3, 2011, marked the Rhode Island Societies of 

Magicians fifth Convention in One Night, and it was a great 

success. Bruce Kalver did a fantastic job of organizing the event, 

which included close-up and stage shows, as well as lectures and 

a dealer area. Many guests were 

in attendance, including S.A.M. 

President Mark Weidhaas and 

Eric Jones, who was recently 

featured in an M-U-M cover 

story. 

The night opened with some 

great close-up magic from 

Mark Weidhaas and Eric Jones. 

Mark, looking very dapper, 

performed an excellent set of 

magic. His performance was 

both baffling and entertaining. 

Eric performed some nice card 

Alexanderia 

magic, and demonstrated his 

skill with coins, performing 

much of the magic in the 

spectator’s hands. 

A quick break gave the 

crowd some time to shop. 

Diamond’s Magic was the 

main attraction in the dealer 

area, with a large assortment 

of books, videos, effects, and 

props. Tony Karpinski was 

also on hand, displaying his 

beautiful hand-crafted effects. As folks shopped, the professional 

performers mingled with the crowd. Eric Jones was kind enough 

to offer advice on a book purchase, giving his seal of approval. 

There was plenty to learn from the evening’s three lecturers. 

Mark Weidhaas taught the history and secrets behind his highly 

successful character, Inspector Magic. Mark was completely 

comfortable going in and 

out of character, switching 

between performing and 

teaching. He touched upon 

character development and 

the importance of family 

magic. Mark also offered 

tips on using a common 

thread throughout your performance. 

Tony Gangi 

With twenty-three years 

of experience, Bob Carroll 

presented a great lecture 

on performing school magic. He explained the business side of 

magic, as well as audience management and keeping the adults 

interested. The final lecturer, Eric Jones, taught some fantastic 

close-up magic, including the 

Invisible Cigarette, a truly 

amazing effect, and a great 

three-coin routine using ungimmicked 

coins. 

During the course of the 

evening, Mark Weidhaas 

presented Presidential 

Citations to Bob Carroll and 

Bruce Kalver for their many 

years of dedication to the art 

of magic. 

Updates From oUr 

s.a.m. members 

Eric Jones 

Bob Carroll 

The night ended with a great stage show. Bob Carroll opened 

with a hilarious ventriloquism routine, even bringing Bruce 

Kalver into the act. Vinny Grosso took a more serious approach, 

performing magic with cards and silks. Getting back to the 

humorous side was Tony Gangi and his whacky sideshow. 

Mark Weidhaas brought us back to more traditional magic, 

performing magic with money and changing the color of 45-rpm 

records. Alexanderia is one of the few female escape artists in the 

world, and she was kind enough to take the stage as well. Eric 

Jones closed the show with a polished set of magic. 

Huge thanks to Bruce Kalver for organizing everything, and 

to all of the guests and performers who made this a most enjoyable 

convention. —Chris natale

1 

ASSEMBLY NEWS 

Society of American Magicians Monthly News 

AUGUST 2011 Volume 101, Number 3 

Paul Hallas 

scHneider 

lecturer 

New York, NY— A 

visitor to the Magic Table for 

many years, Albert Callus of 

Assembly 168 was in from 

New Jersey with Marco and 

Tim Fortune this month. Marco 

did a beautiful effect with a 

key. We had a great time with 

them. They joined the regulars, 

PP Jerry Oppenheimer and his 

wife Lee, myself, Secretary 

Pat Colby, and board members 

Jordan Linker, Rene Clement, 

and Richard Bossong. The 

Table meets Fridays from 12:30 

on for lunch at the Edison Hotel 

Café on 47th Street between 

7th and 8th Avenue in Times 

Square. 

Our monthly meeting was 

held on June at Mount Sinai. 

President Ken Ferst was 

absent, so First VP Margaret 

Steele started meeting at 7:30. 

The first order of business 

was our annual election of the 

Board of Directors. This went 

very smoothly. Admission’s 

Chairman Bob Friedhoffer 

announced that we had two 

new members to swear in. They 

were Ed Checkett and Jared 

Molton. Sworn in they were, 

welcomed by the assembly. 

Then First VP Margaret Steele, 

producer of this year’s Salute, 

gave signed posters from 

our Salute staring Thomas 

Solomon to all those who 

worked so hard on this year’s 

show. Bill Gleason was singled 

out with an award and a special 

award was given to Thomas 

Solomon to a nice round of 

applause. George Silverman 

announced a special workshop. 

Other committee reports were 

given. The meeting was then 

ended with ritual. 

The after-meeting event 

was The Willie Schneider 

Memorial Lecture produced 

by Meir Yedid. Meir Yedid 

was introduced by PA 1 Dean 

senD your reports to: 

assemblyreports@googlemail.com 

Eric DeCamps. Because we 

have many new members, 

Meir gave a beautiful history 

of this lecture and the man it 

honors. At times it was quite 

touching, because it came 

from the heart. He then introduced 

the lecturer, Paul Hallas. 

One nice thing was that Paul’s 

lecture was filled with effects 

that were within the abilities 

of any of the fifty people who 

attended the lecture. It was a 

wonderful lecture and night at 

the PA 1. —Tom Klem 

Parent Assembly One– Meets 

the first Friday 8 PM at Mt. 

Sinai Medical Center, 1425 

Madison Avenue (96th Street), 

New York, New York. 

2 

cOlOMBini 

lecture 

SAN FrANCISCo, CA— 

A second May meeting was 

scheduled in order to have 

Aldo and Rachel Colombini 

lecture as part of their Final 

Tour. It was well worth the additional 

meeting, because the 

Colombinis not only are great 

magicians, they also have a 

wonderful sense of humor. 

The repartee between Rachel 

and Aldo kept us laughing 

while they baffled us with 

their magic. Rachel was very 

open about her recent major 

surgery and thanked us for our 

thoughts, prayers, and contributions. 

Our regular June meeting had 

an excellent teaching portion; 

the subject was false shuffles 

and false cuts. Corky LeVallee 

began with a number of false 

shuffles that to the uninitiated 

looked like the real thing. 

Similarly, the false cuts had the 

appearance of true deck cutting 

but did nothing to rearrange 

the cards. Rich Sequine added 

a few cuts to round out the 

teaching program. 

The theme for the magic was 

twofold. Since we held an 

auction at the May meeting, 

members could show tricks 

that they bought at the auction 

or tricks purchased from the 

Colombinis. Corky showed 

Dean’s Box, Rob Shapiro 

presented the Needle through 

Balloon, and Hippo Lau did 

a nice presentation of a giant 

Three Card Monte. The Colombinis 

were represented by Jack 

Langdell doing Restless Cards, 

Stu Bacon showing Mind 

Reading Past and Present, and 

Walt Johnson doing a nice 

multiple cut and restored rope. 

The others brought magic 

of their choosing: Rich and 

Bob Kuhn did great things 

with cards, Bill Langell did a 

mental effect with pennies, and 

Tamaka made a card disappear 

from a metal box and appear 

in a previously shown empty 

canister. The interesting aspect 

of Tamaka’s presentation was 

that the two pieces of apparatus 

were well over seventy-five 

years old and were recently 

restored to working condition. 

The evening was further 

enhanced by cookies that 

Corky brought. They disappeared 

without any false 

shuffles, cuts, or other sleights. 

—Stu Bacon 

Golden Gate Assembly 2 meets 

the first Wednesday at 7:30 

PM in the Community Room 

of the Taravel Police Station, 

2345 24th Ave. San Francisco. 

Contact: Tamaka. 415 531- 

9332,Tamaka3715@aol.com 

4 

annual 

BanQuet 

PHILADeLPHIA, PA— 

In June, over one hundred 

members and their guests 

attended our annual banquet, 

which featured an amazing 

array of talent. Following the 

cocktail hour, during which we 

were treated to the keyboard 

magic of Ralph Armstrong, 

everyone enjoyed a sumptuous 

buffet dinner. After dinner, 

Assembly 4 Dean Professor 

Rem handed out the trophies to 

those individuals who placed 

first, second, and third in the 

close-up and stage contests 

this year. He then presented the 

prestigious Charles H. Hopkins 

award to long-time Assembly 

4 member Charles Murter – a 

gentleman in every sense of 

the word. A round of applause 

was then given to outgoing 

President Ed Hanisco for all of 

his hard work this year as he 

passed the gavel and wand on 

to incoming President Ralph 

Armstrong. 

Stuart Rudnick, 

our emcee for the evening 

After the award ceremony, the 

stage show began, for which 

Stuart Rudnick ably served 

as the masters of ceremonies. 

The first act consisted of a 

dazzling number of effects 

performed in lightning fast 

succession by surprise guests 

Arlen Solomon, Eric Lampert, 

PNP Dick Gustafson, Ed 

Hanisco, Bob Little, Professor 

Rem, Reba Strong, Jeff Carson, 

Tom Ewing, Joe Mogar, and Al 

Lloyd. Following this array 

of talented performers, Sam 

Sandler took to the stage and 

performed a colorful, dazzling, 

fast paced act involving the 

production of silks, dyed dove,s 

and streamers before ending 

with a very funny mouth coil 

production with the assistance 


ASSEMBLY NEWS 

of audience member Ed Cohen. 

The delightful Kimberly 

Matthews then performed a 

beautiful silk act set to music, 

which included the production 

of multiple doves and culminated 

with their transformation 

into an adorable white rabbit. 

Next, George Hample wowed 

the crowd with his very own 

torn and restored M-U-M effect 

followed by an amazing milk 

vanish and reappearance inside 

a lighted table lamp. Finally, 

Jim Daly ended the show with 

his signature comedy bill 

in lemon effect, which had 

everyone in hysterics. Without 

question, the 2011banquet was 

one of the best we have ever 

had. —Peter Cuddihy 

James Wobensmith Assembly 

4 meets third Thursday at 7:00 

p.m. at the Bustleton Memorial 

Post, 810 (American Legion) 

9151 Old Newtown Road. Information: 

www.sam4.org/ 

7 

tiMe tO 

sHine 

omAHA, Ne— To open 

the meeting President Larry 

Brodahl started this year’s 

series of “Find a book in our 

library/ perform the trick/ 

explain it/tell us what book it’s 

in” with an illusion from The 

Amazing Book of Magic and 

Card Tricks by Tremayne. 

This month we had a contest 

with a $50 prize. The theme 

was “Shiny,” but this was left 

to interpretation and was most 

interesting to note how each of 

ten performers interpreted the 

guidelines. 

The order was determined 

by random drawing; first up 

was Pete Petrashek with the 

shiniest mirror I’ve ever seen. 

With his help a scarf and 

ball de-materialized into and 

behind the mirror. Tom Neddo 

performed Waterfall, during 

which his shiny cups kept the 

water from falling on our President’s 

head. Johnny Impossible 

did a Coins Across routine with 

shiny coins. Bob Buczkowski 

entertained with a string and 

(shiny) ring routine – one of his 

signature effects. 

President Larry Brodahl 

presented a larger (shiny) ring 

and string routine. Denny 

Rourke did a shiny cup and 

water routine he called Aqua 

Binaca – and didn’t wet the 

rug. Roger Reese performed 

Jackrobats, in which cards 

turned into shiny mirrors. 

Joyce Chleboun produced tons 


of shiny stuff from her bag of 

tricks. She was in the running 

for the prize just by wearing 

the right outfit! Each member 

of the audience received a 

Diamond Pin (a dime and pin). 

Jeff Sikora brought Aaron 

Pierce out of the audience and 

was graced by a shiny hat and 

scarf that Jeff used to baffle us. 

Bruce Jacoby performed one of 

the most amazing feats I have 

ever witnessed! After setting 

up his sound system, with the 

push of one button the lights 

went out in the entire building 

(and the tornado sirens started 

to wail). After the audience 

first found a safe place, we 

managed to reassemble and 

talked Bruce into completing 

his act. Is it no surprise that 

he won the contest? If you 

hire him for a performance, 

you should ask him to perform 

this effect. Better yet contact 

Bruce and ask if he will sell 

you the technique. He won $50. 

—Jerry Golmanavich 

Omaha Magical Society 

meets on the third Monday of 

most months at the Southwest 

Church of Christ, 124th St. and 

W. Center Rd. - Across from 

Hooters. 

11 

Bruce Jacoby 

suMMer 

Picnic 

CINCINNAtI, oH— The 

June meeting of the Queen City 

Mystics Assembly 11 was a joint 

summer picnic with the I.B.M. 

Ronald Haines Ring 71. It was 

held at a lodge and picnic area 

at Lake Isabella in Loveland, 

Ohio, on a beautiful springlike 

day. It was afternoon of 

games, fellowship, adults entertaining 

kids, kids entertaining 

adults, magic yard sale/flea 

market, and raffle. A picnic 

dinner was catered by Micki 

Plyes and Betty Winzig. This 

was followed by the evening 

entertainment – the War of 

the Wizards – a showdown 

between S.A.M. and I.B.M. 

members. 

First up was Chuck Arkin 

(I.B.M.) who performed a 

funny escape routine involving 

a spectator and his wife, who 

pleaded his case. He did successfully 

free himself from 

the locked stocks. Don Hinton 

(S.A.M.) performed a series 

of effects, beginning with 

appearing and disappearing 

coins and silks, a card effect 

with a prediction, and then a 

three prediction effect using 

random coins and a young 

spectator in orange athletic 

gear. 

Frank Johnston (I.B.M.) 

performed his comically 

clever silk magic routine. It 

included cane to silk, rose to 

silk, disappearing black silk, 

silk to candle, and disappearing 

candle. This was followed 

by a change bag routine where 

several colored silks turn into 

a long, long and wide multicolored 

silk ribbon. Denny 

Metz (S.A.M.) had two volunteers 

select a card and they 

then transmitted their selection 

to the other via a clothesline 

attached to two plungers on top 

of their heads – a very funny 

bit. He then has a spectator 

select a card and the deck of 

cards disappeared in the spectator’s 

hand, leaving him with 

his chosen card. 

D. Metz, F. Johnston, D. Hinton, 

P. Delholt, C. Arkin, 

P. Thermes 

Paul Delholt (aka Presto Paul) 

performed an Ambitious Card 

routine with a blank deck of 

cards, completely mystifying a 

young spectator. He then had a 

spectator randomly (by thirds) 

cut a deck of cards and came up 

with nine cards representing a 

phone number of the spectator’s 

soul mate. The phone 

number was Paul’s! 

Patrick Thermes (S.A.M.) 

produced a coke bottle and 

then vanished it in a paper 

bag. He then performed a 

card effect with a poker hand 

changing from an Ace high to 

a royal flush. Last he mystified 

a young spectator with a 

magically written message on a 

chalkboard. The War was won 

by I.B.M. Ring 71. Assembly 

11 is eagerly awaiting next 

year’s War! —John Martini 

Queen City Mystics, SAM 

Assembly 11 generally meets 

on the 2nd Friday of the month 

at Haines House of Cards in 

Cincinnati, Ohio. 

david Hira 13 lectures and 

eMcees 

DALLAS, tX— David Hira 

presented a lecture on the art of 

being a master of ceremonies 

(emcee), then demonstrated 

these techniques by introducing 

the performers for the 

night. The first performer of 

the evening was Geoff Grimes. 

Geoff performed his Chinese 

Sticks routine, followed by an 

anniversary-themed trick. Two 

spectators were handed a stack 

of large cards, with “values” 

such as “listen to each other.” 

Each spectator shuffled their 

stack and set one card aside. 

They then went through the 

shuffled cards one at a time 

to see how “compatible” their 

values were. Unfortunately for 

the newlyweds, only two of 

the five sets matched. Fortunately, 

the cards set aside at the 

beginning were “emergency 

cards,” one reading “Give her 

your first paycheck” and the 

other “and every one thereafter…” 

The second performer was 

Brad Ingle. Five card pairs 

were selected. The two sets of 

cards were shuffled, and Brad 

then proceeded to spell out the 

phrase “Will the faces match?” 

by transferring cards from the 

top to the bottom of the stack. 

A spectator was allowed at any 

time during the process to call 

out “SWITCH!” causing Brad 

to switch to the opposite stack 

and continue spelling. At the 

end of the phrase, the top cards 

of each stack were set aside as 

a pair. After all five pairs were 

dealt out, each was displayed to 

show that they were identical 

pairs. 

The third performer was 

Ian Richards. The Ten of 

Diamonds was selected by a 

spectator and replaced in the 

deck. Multiple attempts to find

the card, including the assistance 

of a mouse, resulted in 

selection of the Two of Hearts. 

Ian eventually destroyed the 

offending card, and asked 

Nathan Himes to step up and 

select another card from the 

deck. Nathan, of course, found 

the Ten of Diamonds! Ian then 

asked Nathan to wave a wand 

over the deck, and suddenly all 

of the cards in the deck were 

the Ten of Diamonds. 

The final performer was 

Daryl Sprout, the Magical 

Herpetological Humorist. 

Daryl performed a number of 

effects, all centered around 

his favorite creatures – snakes. 

Effects included wand to 

snake, balloon to snake, and 

even launching a giant snake 

into the audience. David Hira 

wrapped the show, and then 

held a question/answer session 

about the night and about 

emceeing in general. 

Dallas Magic Club Assembly 

13 meets the third Tuesday 

of each Month at 7 p.m. 

Crosspointe Church and 

Community Center www.dallasmagic.org 

for directions. 

Check out the Dallas Magic 

Club on Facebook! 

16 

racHel & aldO 

cOluMBini’s 

Farewell tOur 

ASHLAND, mA— Monday’s 

meeting was none other than 

spectacular. There were 

twenty-five members and 

guests present. We enjoyed 

a wonderful meal provided 

by Peter Lentros and then 

proceeded to enjoy our 

evening with Rachel and Aldo 

Columbini presenting their 

farewell tour. They will still be 

lecturing but not on a full-time 

basis. During their fantastic 

magic lecture, they also shared 

some details about Rachel’s 

heart surgery last year and 

how amazing her recovery has 

been. 

The evening included, but was 

not limited to, ESP predictions, 

rope routines, a new twist on 

the ring and rope, the book test, 

card magic, and the spectacular 

disappearing thumb tip! 

During intermission, we 

were treated with strawberry 

shortcake provided by Peter 

Lentros. The rest of the evening 

was magical, as Rachel and 

Aldo concluded their lecture 

by sharing more magic and 

stories about their travels and 

experiences. 

All in all it was a great 

evening of fun, friends, and 

magic. Until we meet again… 

—John Bryant 

Sam 16 meets every first 

Monday of the month at the 

magic barn in Ashland, MA. 

For more information contact 

Ken Maynard at Maddjic195@ 

msn.com 

card Magic 17 never gets Old 

SPrINgFIeLD, mA— 

Jeff Prozyca started off the 

night with a great card club 

sandwich and then did a Jim 

Pace version of Oil and Water. 

Rich Gilbert’s use of doublebacked 

cards caused a King of 

Clubs to switch to a King of 

Hearts in the spectator’s hand. 

He then showed us the new 

Houdini vanish card escape. 

Ed Kazar amazed us using Jim 

Sisti’s Mixed Symbols ESP 

routine. PJ Pinsonnault did a 

nice Ace production, spelling 

out the Ace of Clubs, and then 

he showed us another card club 

sandwich, only in slow motion. 

Rich Pinsonault had four 

Queens traveling with Larry 

Jennings’s Simple Stencil. 

Conrad McIntyre made it look 

easy with a lazy man, any 

card, any number, using just 

the Two through Nine. Dave 

Dimock performed the Third 

Choice by Corinda, and Tom 

Gentile finished up with Cody 

Fisher’s comedy card prediction, 

tearing up a card over and 

over again. 

Later in the month, Aldo 

and Rachel Colombini came 

to visit for a spell, stopping 

by on their Farewell Tour. We 

learned so many new and easy 

tricks. Rachel impressed us 

all with her beautiful paper 

cup and ball routine and Aldo 

kept us laughing with every 

trick. This was their third visit 

to our assembly. We will miss 

them, because they always 

brought us great magic, lots 

of fun, and wonderful stories. 

Next month we’ll be heading 

out for our annual Summer 

Sizzler Picnic at Look Park. 

—Karen L. Gibson 

Dr. I.R. Caulkins Assembly #17 

meets the first Friday of every 

month at 7 pm at the Grand 

Meadows Tennis Club, Dwight 

Road, East Longmeadow, MA 

www.assembly17.org 

19 

KnOwing YOur 

cHaracter 

HouStoN, tX— In June, 

Phil Kampf presented an 

overview of magical presentation 

as the teach-in session. One 

of the top items Phil kept mentioning 

was that you must 

know your character. One 

needs to know how he is 

going to act and what his 

response is going to be to 

situations and questions. 

Phil recommended that 

taking a class in theater 

at one of the working 

theaters in town would be 

very helpful. Phil’s many 

years of working as a professional 

magician along 

with his theater background 

were very evident 

in his presentation. Bill 

Palmer shared some very 

valuable lessons learned as 

he developed his Merlin the 

Magician character over time. 

Bill of course perfected the 

Merlin character that was so 

widely known at the Texas 

Renaissance Festival. We had 

lots of audience interaction and 

this topic went over very well. 

Thanks Phil for sharing this information. 

The annual Memorial Day 

BBQ at Dr. Rex Crago’s home 

was another hit with over 

sixty peope in attendance. In 

addition to the fine food, there 

was some great magical entertainment 

presented by Alex 

Rangel and John Star, among 

others. 

Eric Evans stopped into 

Houston on May 10 to present 

a fine lecture that was well 

attended. If you get the chance 

to see him perform, you will not 

want to pass it up. Please visit 

houstonmagic.com to keep up 

with all the latest magical happenings 

in the Houston area. 

We wish to thank our 

magical performers for the 

June meeting. They were 

Bill Palmer, John Star, Gene 

Protas, David Hinken, Rick 

Hebert, Phil Kampf, David 

Rangel, Sigmund Potocki, and 

Alex Rangel. —Miles Root 

SAM 19 meets the first 

Monday of every month at the 

IATSE Local 51 Meeting Hall, 

3030 North Freeway, Houston, 

TX. A teaching lecture begins 

at 7:30 pm with the meeting 

beginning at 8:00 pm. 

21 

tHe cOlOMBinis 

in cOnnecticut 

weSt HArtForD, Ct— 

The club decided to waive 

our regular business meeting 

ASSEMBLY NEWS 

so we could get right into 

the evening’s highlight – the 

“Farewell” lecture by Aldo and 

Rachel Colombini! We were 

privileged to host their only 

Jason Abate counts cards into Aldo’s 

palm. (Steve Wronker photo) 

Connecticut appearance. They 

were quick to stress that they 

were not retiring from magic, 

just from touring. 

This was a wonderful talk, 

starting with a champagne toast 

to Rachel. In between tricks we 

were told stories of their being 

on the road, the details behind 

Rachel’s successful surgery, 

and a few gag tricks (for 

example, vanishing a thumb 

tip), and some giveaways. 

The highlights of the lecture 

were: Zodiac Code, in which 

a color linked to a spectator’s 

birthday is predicted; An 

Empty Envelope, a gag prediction 

effect; a cute cut-andrestored 

rope routine that goes 

by the prosaic name of Cutting 

The Rope In Three; Five-Card 

Mystery, wherein a blank card 

vanishes among red cards; 

Ring On Rope, using, believe 

it or not, a scrunchy, to remove 

a ring but leave the knot; A 

Mental Trick, in which one card 

chosen from a pile matches the 

prediction; Cidentaquin, which 

uses ESP cards to find the four 

matches to a spectator’s chosen 

card; Stranger In Paradise, 

wherein a choice is revealed 

as the only red in a blue deck; 

Houdini Card, in which a card 

escapes from two rubberbands 

and a square of tinfoil; 

Three-Way Miracle Prediction, 

in which the final composition 

of three card piles is predicted; 

Jumbo Prediction, a stunner in 

which a selected card matches 

a jumbo card, but the deck 

proves to consists of duplicates 

of an entirely different card; 

Restless Colors, in which a 

pack of duplicates change their 

back colors, then become Aces; 

Tri-Color Cups and Balls, as 

performed by Rachel – it uses 


ASSEMBLY NEWS 

no balls, just rolled-up colored 

tissue, with a surprise ending. 

—Dana Ring 

Bill Greenough Assembly #21 

meets 2nd Monday (except 

December) at Angelo’s on 

Main in West Hartford, CT. 

www.sam21.org 

22 

asseMBlY 22 – 80 

Years Old 

LoS ANgeLeS. CA— The 

Southern California Assembly 

22 celebrated its 80th anniversary 

at its annual banquet on 

June 12, 2011. It was again held 

at Steven’s Steak & Seafood in 

the City of Commerce, a few 

miles southeast of downtown 

Los Angeles. A fine meal was 

enjoyed by everyone after an 

early cocktail hour. After the 

meal, toastmaster and show 

emcee, John Engman, began 

the program with the installation 

of the 2011-2012 assembly 

officers and directors. 

PNP Ed Thomas conducted 

the ceremony to install our 

new officers. Immediate Past 

President Bill Yamane gave a 

short valedictory address and 

incoming President Jim Callen 

presented a very amusing acceptance 

speech as he begins 

what typically is a two-year 

term in office. Our assembly 

has always been fortunate to 

have competent and dedicated 

leadership. 

The 80th anniversary gala 

show opened with the colorful 

and fast-moving act of Stoil & 

Ekatrina. Set to music, Stoil & 

Ekatrina present a very unique 

act. Ted “Suds” Sudbrack was 

our next performer and, as 

always, it was full of humor and 

fun. Suds is a long-time Los 

Angeles area performer and 

magic manufacturer/dealer. 

Suds’s paper tearing tricks 

have become classics. His 

repeat Anderson Newspaper 

Tear was not only funny, it was 

a baffler. The third performer, 

David Benitez, aka “Marsan,” 

attired in a tuxedo and portraying 

the image of a classic 

magician, opened with a card 

manipulation routine and card 

fan productions. Picking coins 

from the air, he then presented 

a nice Miser’s Dream coin production. 

Marsan finished his 

act with a very smooth linking 

ring routine and the now seldom 

seen Zombie floating ball. A 

class act in every respect. 

Closing the show was David 

Zerbel, another Los Angeles 

magician who has performed 


internationally. David also 

performs magic in the classic 

style. His top hat and cane 

quickly became a table as 

he did a short silk knotting 

routine. Zerbel then performed 

a ball manipulation and multiplying 

ball effect. His act 

concluded with his own threering 

routine. 

Southern California Assembly 

22 meets the 3rd Monday each 

month at 8:00 P.M., St. Thomas 

Moore Parish Hall, 2510 So. 

Fremont Ave., Alhambra, CA 

Information: 213/382-8504 

talent and 26 tricKerY 

ProvIDeNCe, rI— The 

warm weather has finally 

arrived, and so has the annual 

RISM’s Got Talent contest. 

Before the contest, Jeff Smith 

taught several Aldo Colombini 

packet tricks. Jeff is always fun 

to watch, and a great instructor 

to boot. And, he was nice 

enough to donate the tricks to 

the club’s monthly raffle. 

With a quick break, it was 

time to start the talent show. 

Round one of the contest pitted 

Dan Cipolla against Jeff Smith, 

Andrew Cipolla against Ed Hill, 

and Cameron Ramsay against 

Sean Dale. Dan’s card and coin 

to orange were two really nice 

effects. Jeff performed a great 

card routine using magic paint. 

The routine is well thought out, 

and flows nicely through each 

phase. Andrew inserted his cell 

phone into a balloon, and then 

made an amazing cell phone 

call. Ed’s entry was the most 

ambitious, performing magic 

with the Statue of Liberty. 

Cameron did some great rose/ 

napkin magic, while Sean entertained 

the crowd with a great 

rendition of Coins Across. 

The judges voted, and only 

three contestants remained. 

Round two pitted Dan, Ed, 

and Cameron in a three-way 

battle. Dan performed a rising 

card poster, Ed selected magic 

with an Egyptian theme, and 

Cameron performed some ESP. 

The judges were left with the 

difficult task of eliminating 

one contestant. 

Round three gave us Dan 

against Cameron, in a battle 

to the finish. Dan’s Not Knot 

Silks was a real crowd pleaser, 

but ultimately Cameron would 

take the prize with a fantastic 

monster card production. 

Thanks to Jeff Smith, the 

judges, and all of the contes- 

tants for making this a great 

evening. —Chris Natale 

C. Foster Fenner, Assembly 26 

meets first Tuesday each month 

from September to June at 7 

pm at the American Legion 

Auburn Post 20, 7 Legion Way, 

Cranston, RI. 

Building a 30 rOutine 

AtLANtA, gA— Our 

program director, Debbie 

Leifer, hosted the post-dinner 

performance. Dan Garrett 

was our first performer. He 

mystified the audience with 

linking rubber bands and torn 

and restored rubber bands. We 

are looking forward to his professional 

development session 

on rubber bands next month. 

Preston Turner, son of Joe 

Turner, showed us his magical 

rock that magnifies objects, 

which he got at a science 

museum. It was an interesting 

piece and we were glad to have 

Preston visiting with us. 

Joe Turner could not afford a 

Dean Dill box, so he used his 

hands instead and made a red 

and white rope link together. 

He also had his deck of cards 

do a trick for him by allowing 

the spectator to perform all the 

magic. Joe had a card chosen 

for him and the spectator also 

had a card chosen. Both cards 

were found at the end. 

Joe Morrison brought a light 

board with various colored 

lights and switches. The corresponding 

light would light with 

the same color switch even 

when the bulbs or switches 

were mixed. 

Jim Mangham had his wife set 

up a trick with a red deck and a 

blue deck. He had the red deck 

cut several times until only one 

card remained. When the blue 

deck was opened, the matching 

card had an X inscribed on it. 

Daryl Berman presented a ring 

and string effect by pulling the 

ring from the string when it 

was attached by a knot. He also 

borrowed a flip phone; when 

the string was inside the phone, 

music would play. 

Our Professional Development 

series continued with 

John Miller presenting how 

to routine your effects. He 

presented one of his favorite 

effects, Roy Walton’s Cascade, 

just as a trick, then presented 

it again with a routine he 

developed that suited his style 

of presentation. John also 

handed out suggestions for 

building a routine, as well as 

several references for those 

who wished to pursue this 

interest. 

On Saturday, June 18, we held 

an initiation for four of our 

members, Jim Driscoll, Mal 

Simpson, Martin Baratz, and 

Rory Gullion. It was a very 

meaningful ceremony, with refreshments 

afterward. Now, if 

we can just get the goat back in 

the cage. —Carol Garrett 

Atlanta Society of Magicians, 

Julian V. Boehme/Walter S. 

Bell Assembly #30 Meets 

the second Thursday at 

Picadilly Cafeteria, I-85 

& North Druid Hills Rd. 

For more info: Web site: 

http://www.sam30atlanta.org 

35 

a FOnd 

Farewell 

PougHkeePSIe, NY – 

We were one of the lucky assemblies 

who were a stop on 

Aldo and Rachel Colombini’s 

Farewell Tour. Thirty-five 

attendees helped make this one 

of our best-attended meetings 

in quite some time. After a 

brief summary of happenings 

in Aldo and Rachel’s lives, we 

were treated to several hours 

of magic and fun. Rachel’s 

performance of Zodiac Code 

was wonderful. An Empty 

Envelope was a great prediction 

effect by Aldo. The entire 

Rachel and Aldo Colombini 

entertain Assembly 35 

night was filled with a lot of 

wonderful back-and-forth 

between the duo. We enjoyed 

card effects, rope tricks, 

amazing feats of mentalism, 

and so much more. Between 

effects were treated to the 

jokes you would expect when 

Aldo and Rachel are performing. 

They have a wonderful

apport and kept us laughing 

all night long. If you have the 

opportunity to see them on 

their last lecture tour, put it on 

your calendar – you won’t be 

disappointed. Thank you Aldo 

and Rachel for a terrific night 

of magic. Assembly members, 

be sure to check out the Web 

site for more information on 

our revised summer schedule. 

—Craig Kunaschk 

Al Baker Assembly No. 35 

(usually) meets at 7:30 p.m. 

on the second Tuesday of the 

month at the Milanese Italian 

Restaurant, 115 Main Street, 

Poughkeepsie, NY. Check out 

our website at compumagic. 

com/sam35 to confirm time 

and meeting location. 

37 Kid-daB-ra! 

DeNver, Co— A number 

of children attended our June 

meeting Kid-Dab-Ra, as 

special guests of the Mile High 

Magicians. 

Emcee and club president 

Connie Elstun got things off to 

a perfect start by introducing 

us to members of the cast of her 

Bunny and Birdie Magic Show. 

We were particularly pleased 

with participation by some new 

members of our club, including 

Lewis Peacock. Lewis thrilled 

the audience by pouring 

different colored liquids from 

the same teapot. There was an 

explanation, however, because 

dry handkerchiefs the same 

color as the liquid were pulled 

from the teapot. Next up was 

club member Inspector Magic, 

aka PNP Mark Weidhaas. 

Mark featured highlights from 

his show, including something 

that only the grandparents in 

the audience knew about – 

records that changed colors. 

Mark also featured a cool 

trick with colored pom-poms 

changing places and a card 

trick that used a large number 

of assistants. 

New member Michele Lutz 

also used a number of assistants 

to psychically find some 

colored stones hidden in their 

hands and to make a rod change 

colors. The Amazing Dave 

Elstun introduced members 

of the audience to a stoplight 

that creates mass confusion by 

flashing the same color in all 

directions. He finished with a 

see-through egg storage bag 

from which eggs appeared and 

disappeared. Bringing it all to 

Mark Weidhaas performing a 

segment of his Inspector 

Magic show 

a hilarious finish was the team 

of Jeff and Karen Wake. Jeff 

took on the role of a princess 

looking for an elusive dragon. 

The dragon turned up on the 

back of a child assistant playing 

the part of a knight. 

As if this wasn’t enough, 

Karen Wake then treated 

everyone to her delicious 

cupcakes. Kid paradise! 

Connie hung several baby 

pictures of Mile High members 

on a board and everyone had 

to guess who they were. Add 

on face-painting and balloons 

and it was a great evening. 

We also raffled a ticket to the 

Magic in the Rockies convention 

coming up in Fort Collins, 

Colorado, the second weekend 

of September. —Dave Elstun 

SAM Assembly 37 is The Mile 

High Magician’s Society and 

meets on the 2nd Thursday 

at 7:00 P.M. in the River- 

Pointe Senior Community, 

5225 South Prince St. Denver, 

CO 80123. Our Website is 

www.milehighmagicians. 

com. Connie Elstun is the 

President her E-mail address is 

connie@emagicpro.com 

49 

clOcKs, 

watcHes, Or 

cards 

Ft. LAuDerDALe, FL— The 

themes for our June meeting 

were Clocks/Watches/Cards, 

or Ventriloquism/Puppetry, 

or Blocks, or Mentalism, or 

Science Magic. 

President Billy Byron emceed 

the proceedings. First up was 

Mark Horowitz, who brought 

some gaffed cards and wallets 

from his collection. Anyone 

who knows Mark knows of 

his extensive magic collec- 

tion. Peter Fox ate part of a 

card and then spat it back on. 

He then blew a hole in a card 

and moved it around the card. 

It was weird to see. 

Gene Fein did a card control 

in which a selected card became 

the only one in the deck facing 

the opposite direction; it then 

changed into a different color 

back. Mel Panzer did a four 

card mental selection with the 

cards also being the only ones 

facing in the opposite direction 

in the deck at the end. Sid 

Marcus performed a mental 

clock-setting stunt in which the 

spectator set the dial on a clock 

and it matched the predicted 

clock setting previously set by 

Sid on another clock. 

Al Hernandez, a street 

magician visitor, performed 

several outstanding card flourishes 

with the four Aces, even 

though they were mixed into 

the deck by several spectators. 

Michael Easler brought 

his friend “Woody” to do some 

ventriloquism. Woody was 

hilarious. Emcee Billy Byron 

also brought a friend, “Antonio 

The Great,” a puppet squirrel 

who performed several tricks 

for the crowd. All in all, it was 

a fun night. —Billy Byron 

Assembly 49 meets second 

Wednesday - 7:30 Margate 

City community Center. 

50 “Magic daY” 

NASHvILLe, tN— Gene 

Anderson and David Sandy 

were the stars of our Magic 

Day. It all started with a kick-off 

lecture by Joe Turner from 

Atlanta. Saturday began with a 

lecture from Stephen Bargatze, 

with lectures from David 

Sandy, and Gene Anderson to 

follow later in the day. There 

was also a time during which 

attendees were allowed to get 

up and do a trick that they had 

been working on and receive 

tips from a panel made up of 

the acts that were booked for 

Magic Day as well as some of 

the other attendees. Two who 

participated were Tim Grant 

of Memphis and Ed Riply of 

Knoxville; both had really put 

a lot of work into their acts and 

in doing so got lots out of the 

session. Thanks to them and 

the others who took part. 

Just over two hundred people 

enjoyed a great Saturday night 

show, performed by Gene 

Anderson and friends. Let’s be 

honest, you just can’t go wrong 

ASSEMBLY NEWS 

when you have Gene Anderson 

on the bill. Everyone loves 

Gene – that face, that look, that 

talent, and he is still single, go 

figure. He did his paper act, of 

course; it is still great to watch 

and has been updated with a 

lot of new and good jokes that 

all fit Gene perfectly. He also 

Gene Anderson lecture 

performed the preacher act, 

and since we were meeting in 

a church, it just seemed right. 

David Sandy, after having two 

performers do acts similar 

to what he had planned, put 

together a great set. He went 

to the dealer’s table, good 

for them, bought a couple 

of classics and wowed the 

audience, both the laymen and 

the magicians who were there. 

Joe Turner started the show, 

Wayne Clemons did a great job 

of emceeing the show and also 

doing the award winning act 

of “Out Source” with his life 

partner Shank Kothare. Thanks 

to Mike Pyle, Trix, Tim, Shank 

, and Dick for all the hard work 

they put in. Kevin King offered 

prizes for anyone who could be 

the first to yell out what animal 

he was making with his unique 

balloons arts; there were no 

winners. —Stephen Bargatze 

Music City Mystics meets third 

Tuesday at 7:00PM at the It’s 

Magic! Theater, Hermitage. 

www.nashvillesam.com 

installatiOn 52 OF OFFicers 

BanQuet 

SAN ANtoNIo, tX— June 

2, 2011, Brother John Hamman 

Assembly 52 held its annual Installation 

of Officers Banquet 

at the Spaghetti Warehouse. 

Outgoing president Don 

Moravits planned a great 

evening of fun, food, and entertainment. 

Don welcomed 

members and their guests as 

they dined on Italian Cuisine. 

A big thank you goes out 

to Geoffrey and Tabitha 

Sadowski for providing their 


ASSEMBLY NEWS 

From Left: Joe Libby-President, Geoffrey Sadowski-Vice 

President, Don Moravits-Outgoing 

President, Doug Gorman-Secretary/Treasurer, 

George Castillo-Sergeant-At-Arms. 

famous strawberry cheesecake 

for dessert, and to Doug and 

Fran Gorman for setting up the 

stage, sound, and lights. Don 

Moravits conducted the Installation 

of Officers Ceremony. 

Congratulations to our new 

officers: Joe Libby – President, 

Geoffrey Sadowski – Vice 

President, Doug Gorman 

– Secretary/Treasurer, and 

George Castillo – Sergeant-at- 

Arms. Don then recognized 

several members for their contribution 

to the assembly for this 

year with certificates of appreciation: 

to David Hira, for entertaining 

Assembly 52 at this 

banquet; to Dwayne Stanton 

and Geoffrey Sadowski for 

rejuvenating and leading the 

S.Y.M.; to Doug Gorman and 

Michael Tallon for assisting 

Assembly 52 beyond the call of 

duty; to Dahnene Moravits for 

providing continuing support 

to her husband; and to Fran 

Gorman for publishing the 

monthly newsletter. President 

Joe Libby then presented Don 

Moravits with a plaque of appreciation 

for his “unselfish 

service to Assembly 52.” 

Our entertainer for the 

evening was David Hira from 

Dallas. David is a world-class, 

full-time professional, having 

performed in such prestigious 

locations as Caesar’s Palace, 

The White House, and on 

cruise ships on the Mediterranean 

Sea. He has also made 

thirty-six television appearances. 

David provided an awesome 

show for our assembly, filled 

with magic and comedy. 

Thanks, David, for a wonderful 

performance. 

Brother John Hamman 

Assembly 52 meets at 7:30 

p.m. on the first Thursday of 


the month at La 

Madeleine Restaurant, 

located 

at 722 N.W. Loop 

410. The restaurant 

is inside Loop 

410 on the access 

road between 

Blanco Rd. and 

San Pedro. For 

more information, 

contact 

douggorman@att. 

net 

BusY 56 MaY 

DAYtoN, oH— 

It was a very busy 

May for Assembly 

56. First, the assembly took 

a “road trip” up to Canton, 

Ohio, for The International 

Battle of Magicians! Twenty 

compeers and two guests made 

the trip. What a great turnout 

for the assembly. Plus, it was a 

fantastic convention! It was my 

first time at The Battle and I’m 

planning on going back. 

Then, two weeks later, we 

had our regularly scheduled 

meeting. The theme this 

month was Card Magic Using 

Apparatus. What a fun theme 

by Oran Dent! All kinds of 

great magic and history was 

presented by Oran, Thurman 

Smith, Marvin Griswold, Fred 

Witwer, Barb Pfeifer, Paul 

Burnham, Stan Goode, Scott 

Miller, Matt Stanley, Dave 

Davis, and guest John Love. 

Stan also provided fantastic 

refreshments. Fun was had by 

all! —Paul D. Burnham 

Dayton, Ohio, Assembly 56 

meets third Friday at 7:30 p.m. 

Location varies, so call Barb 

Pfeifer for information: (937) 

433-8604. 

JaY sanKeY 88 lecture 

ANN Arbor/YPSILANtI, 

mI— Friendly, warm, and 

down to earth, Jay Sankey 

started by talking about the 

importance of interacting 

with people, to have fun with 

people. His lecture consisted of 

three forms of close-up magic: 

traditional magic, mentalism, 

and “bending.” 

He started with a very funny 

card trick, in which three 

selected cards were mysteriously 

“eaten” by the four Queens. 

Then came a mentalism trick 

in which a card was picked; 

Jay Sankey with 

Marvin Mathena (Treasurer) 

the prediction was a “red card,” 

and then the chosen card ended 

up with the volunteer’s name 

written on it. For an example 

of “bending,” Jay showed a 

plastic spoon, turned it around 

a couple of times, and showed 

that the spoon had a twist in it. 

Jay also had plenty of other 

examples of his creative magic 

– a lot of it was his older stuff, 

but updated, with a few things I 

had never seen before. Overall, 

it was a great lecture and a 

great night for the AAMC! 

—Randy A. Smith 

Hank Moorehouse Assembly 

88 meets the second 

Wednesday 7pm Faith Lutheran 

Church, 1255 E Forest Ave, 

Ypsilanti, MI. Randy A. Smith, 

Phone:313-562-3875 Email 

randy.remarkable@gmail.com 

or visit www.aamagic.org for 

more details. 

95 

carnival 

Magic BBQ 

vANCouver, CANADA– 

The June meeting was held 

at the home of Ray Roch in 

Tsawwassen, who fired up his 

BBQ for a spouses welcome 

patio cookout. While Ray was 

in charge of the BBQ, his wife 

Pat was pretty well in charge of 

everything else, and together 

Ray Roch hosts 

pre-summer BBQ 

they organized a fabulous 

last-meeting-before-summer 

sumptuous club meal. 

The magic theme for the 

evening was Carnival Magic, 

which reflects Ray’s involvement 

in the carnival in the past 

with his classic “Flim Flam 

Foolery” act. Up first, Lon 

Mandrake portrayed himself as 

a fortune teller in his presentation 

of Destiny Magic, in which 

Linda Henriksen happened to 

pick the only two red cards out 

of an entire deck of blue cards. 

Rod Chow presented a midway 

game of chance with Linda 

Mandrake; although she had 

several opportunities to win 

the big bucks, each time Linda 

ended up with only ten cents. 

Jens Henriksen had a word 

selected from a number of 

torn out pages of a book, 

and that word matched a 

word chosen in a dictionary 

by another volunteer. Neale 

Bacon confirmed that his 

favorite part of a carnival is 

the food, and showed various 

food items commonly found at 

carnivals. After Neale had Jens 

eliminate the items one by one, 

it turned out that Jens ended up 

with the bill for all the food. 

Dennis Hewson took everyone 

to the carnival sideshow and 

performed a Sword through 

Neck routine. Dave Watters 

demonstrated the effectiveness 

of a squeaker device, and then 

took an instant mini picture 

of Lon Mandrake’s thought-of 

card. 

Michael Glenister showed 

some attractive and fun color 

changing light-sabers. Henry 

Tom portrayed the carnival 

conman with a Three Card 

Monte routine. Rick Mearns 

performed a lie detector test 

and ended up matching Linda 

Mandrake’s card to his prediction. 

Lon closed the evening by 

returning with a mini sideshow 

illusion of the Finger Chopper, 

with Trevor Watters risking his 

finger. —Rod Chow 

The Carl Hemeon Assembly 

No. 95 meets the first 

Tuesday of each month at 

members’ homes. 

112 anYtHing 

gOes 

CoNCorD CA— After 

yours truly won the attendance 

award at our May meeting, we 

immediately jumped into the 

performance portion of the 

meeting with Doug Kovacich

starting us off with a spiral 

disk that seemed to make Rick 

Allen’s get larger and then 

smaller for those who gazed 

at the disk. Immediately after, 

Zappo (that’s me) performed a 

cut-and-restored rope routine 

that included a sweet method 

of constructing a set of ropes 

to perform The Professor’s 

Nightmare right in front of the 

audience. Then Bob Holdridge 

performed two prediction 

routines with, as usual, his 

well-crafted props 

And Roy Porfido managed to 

capture a wild white balloon 

behind bars in a shoebox-sized 

cage. With the help a fiveyear-old 

guest spectator, Roy 

burst the balloon and turned it 

visibly into a cute little version 

of Pepé Le Pew. 

At that point, Jerry Barrilleaux 

penetrated a pencil 

through both a dollar bill and 

a lottery selection ticket in an 

effort to find the lucky winning 

numbers. It turned out the 

dollar bill was completely 

unharmed from the penetration 

of the pencil. 

Roy Porfido has young helper 

pop balloon 

The person from whom Jerry 

had obtained the miracle just 

performed was Mike Della 

Penna, the President of the 

Oakland Magic Circle, who 

followed with a dazzling act 

that included an Okito coin-box 

routine, a four-Ace routine, a 

matrix routine, a giant-sized 

coin production, and (with the 

help of his blindfolded card 

duck) the finding of a selected 

card. 

Following that performance, 

Jerry Barrilleaux demonstrated 

the Trick of the Month 

(which he explained later in the 

evening after the guests had 

left). Chris Roe rounded out 

the performance portion of the 

night with a bold mind-reading 

effect. 

Following a brief pizza break, 

Jerry Barrilleaux explained 

the Trick of the Month, during 

which he provided us with 

an exceptionally well made 

set of sticks, made from 

timbers from his grandfather’s 

diamond mine. Although both 

sides of first one stick and later 

another were shown blank, by 

saying the magic word Jerry 

was able to make diamonds 

appear at will, jump back and 

forth between the sticks, and 

disappear just as fast as he 

had initially produced them. 

And, as usual with this feature, 

members present received 

these props for free. 

During the mini-lecture that 

ended the meeting, Zappo 

(that’s still me) had a discussion 

about several aspects of performing 

the cut-and-restored 

rope and a direct follow-up of 

The Professor’s Nightmare. 

—Larry Wright 

Diablo Assembly No. 112 

meets third Wednesdays at the 

Round Table Pizza in Concord. 

FlOwer 120 Magic 

CHAmPAIgN, IL— The 

first item last month was 

the possibility of Skyping 

a meeting together with the 

Kansas City, Missouri, group. 

It was decided that this could 

be a lot of fun and we should 

give it a go. 

Next up, we voted to keep the 

business meetings to twenty 

minutes with magic to follow. 

The twenty minutes will not 

include book/DVD reports 

that are limited to two minutes. 

Bruce Kalver has an iPad app 

that includes contracts and 

paper work for magicians to 

use. It called Magic Gig Slips, 

it sells for $4.99 and can be 

found at the iTunes app store. 

In Tales from the Trenches, 

Justin Dudely told us of having 

a multiplying wand hide from 

him; it was then later thrown 

at him during a show. He also 

told of having his table fall 

over with an egg inside it that 

later cracked prematurely. Paul 

Mercer described having the 

person who hired him walk 

up to him in the middle of his 

show to pay him. Prof Higgins 

described a number of outdoor 

mishaps, which prompted ideas 

on dealing with adverse situations 

from Andy Dallas. 

Chris Bontjes gave our book 

report on Aaron Fisher’s The 

Paper Engine: Tension, Focus 

and Design in Card Magic. The 

Gary Kurtz book Leading with 

Your Head was also discussed. 

Prof Higgins shared his 

thought on the DVD Silverado: 

Advanced Coin Magic. 

The program for the evening 

was flower magic. Prof Higgins 

opened by producing a large 

wine glass, four bouquets, and 

a double color-changing silk. 

Jeff Harpring did a nice 

version of Name that Card 

followed by Pedro Hernandez’s 

rendition of a card sandwiched 

between two Jokers. 

Mark Clegg finished with a 

nice presentation of Sequential 

Travelers. 

The next meeting will be 

Wednesday, June 15, and the 

topic will be “Patriotic Magic 

or Outside Magic.” See ya at 

the meeting, —Ken Barham 

Assembly 120, Champaign, 

IL – Andy Dallas Assembly, 

3rd Wed. 7pm, (except Nov. 

and Dec.) For location call 

Chris at 217-431-4791 or Ken 

Barham Sec, 2318 Winchester 

Dr, Champaign, IL 61821 

phone: 217-841-5616 email: 

Kebram@aol.com 

128 

tHe Meeting 

tHat alMOst 

wasn’t 

greeNSboro, NC— The 

April meeting almost wasn’t… 

only one person showed up on 

time, and, just as we were about 

to give up and watch some 

magic DVDS, a few trickled 

in. Finally, we could see some 

magic! 

Eric Dobell led off with a 

thought-reading effect using a 

copy of Alice in Wonderland. 

A page number was chosen 

and James Alcon turned to 

that page. Upon reading one 

of the paragraphs, James was 

to imagine the animal named 

in that paragraph. Eric began 

to read James’s thoughts and 

proceeded to draw the animal. 

When finished, he had correctly 

named and drawn a cat. 

Noah Gray followed with a 

card trick. The backs of his 

cards all had smiley faces on 

them. Noah discussed several 

pictures that he had of different 

assassins from the past. A card 

was chosen from the deck and 

shuffled back. Taking out a 

gun (careful!), Noah shot at the 

deck. When the chosen card 

was found, the back of it had a 

smiley face with a bullet hole 

ASSEMBLY NEWS 

right between the eyes! (I’m 

guessing he doesn’t use this for 

his school shows.) 

James Alcon performed a 

penetration effect using a 

large Lucite plate and a silk. 

James then picked up a box of 

Kleenex tissues and removed 

four tissues. Commenting that 

he had begun to try Origami, 

he folded the tissues and 

produced a live dove, while in 

short sleeves! The dove was 

then also pushed through the 

center of the Lucite plate. He 

ended his routine with a new 

version of Out of This World. 

Afterwards, we all discussed 

how the effects were accomplished. 

Several had to 

know how James managed to 

produce the dove while not 

wearing a jacket! Hope to see 

everyone at the next meeting! 

—James Alcon 

Alcon’s Gate City Wizards, 

Assembly # 128 Greensboro, 

NC Meets the last Tuesday 

of the month. Location: 1207 

Westminster Drive Greensboro, 

NC 7:30 PM Phone 

852-4596 

129 

MOneY Magic 

cOntest 

PeNSACoLA, FL— The 

June meeting started off with 

Beau Broomall conducting a 

teach-in of what he calls The 

Calendar Card Trick; it is quite 

amazing what you can do with 

a deck of cards and a calendar. 

President Nathan Nickerson 

called the meeting to order 

and touched base on events 

that included: the Pensacola 

Kids arthritis camp show, 

where Beau Broomall, Nathan 

Nickerson, and Ronnan 

Carrero performed and had 

a great time; Al Grimm’s 

surgery, which went well; a 

secret project that Nathan is 

working on; the upcoming 

Sanders Beach show for the 

Pensacola Parks; and the club’s 

picnic. Info will be in the club’s 

newsletter. 

Members Perry Vath, Jeremy, 

Billy Countryman and Charles 

Moody played a round of the 

alphabet game – backwards. It 

was hysterical. 

We held our raffle with over 

thirty items; thanks to Andy 

Dallas and Dave Kloman 

for their donations. Thanks 

to Betty Broomall and Joan 

Moody for setting up the refreshment 

table and to all who 

brought the goodies. Thank 


ASSEMBLY NEWS 

you Isaac Brady for handling 

the raffle ticket sales and for all 

the work you do as the club’s 

librarian. 

We also welcomed our two 

guests, Julie and Jim, friends of 

Charles Dunn, and our newest 

member, Jeffrey Sobel. 

June’s themes were inspirational 

magic and our annual 

money magic contest. Nathan 

Nickerson started it off by 

sharing one of his inspirations 

on the way he sees magic in art 

work. 

The money magic contest 

started off with Jeremy performing 

Richard Sanders’s 

Extreme Burn. Gene Burrell 

did his take on Dan Sperry’s 

lifesaver trick using a coin 

with a hole in it. Al Grimm 

entertained us with a Coins 

Across routine. Bill Metsch 

tried Michael Ammar’s 

BeSwitched. Beau Broomall 

did a great version of Michael 

Ammar’s Coin through Silk. 

Perry Vath did a routine he 

called Count your Blessings; he 

then produced a coin from his 

phone. While the votes were 

counted we were entertained 

by magic from Dave Kloman: 

he produced a rose from a silk 

then made it grow; turned a 

green silk into a frog; produced 

a long streamer; hammered 

a nail in his nose; and made 

some large money. Charles 

Dunn ended the evening doing 

his routine, This Little House 

of Mine. 

The winners of the contest 

were Gene Burrell, Beau 

Broomall, and Jeremy; they 

each received a cash prize, a 

mis-made bill, complements of 

Nathan Nickerson. 

The meeting was adjourned 

with only minutes to leave 

the building before it closed. 

—Bill Metsch 

The Gulf Coast Magicians 

Guild Assembly 129 meets the 

3rd Thursday of the month at 

the Bay View Senior Center, 

Pensacola, Florida. At 6:45 

pm. Contact: Secretary Bill 

Metsch- metsch@gulftel.com 

136 

stage 

Magician OF 

tHe Year cOntest 

tuCSoN, AZ— Monday, 

June 6, 2011, was the Assembly 

136 Stage Magician of the Year 

contest at the Gaslight Theatre. 

Not quite a sellout crowd, but 

pretty close. John Shryock was 

the emcee; contestants were: 

Mike & Billie DeSchalit, Hiro 


& Yuki, and Nelly Monroe & 

John Coppin. Hiro & Yuki 

were the first place winners 

for 2011. Everyone else came 

second. 

Stars of Magic performers 

for 2011 are: Nelly Monroe, 

Hiro & Yuki, George Franzen, 

John & Mari Shryock, Chip 

Romero, Jayson Schultz, Rod 

& Kim Housley, Bill Black, 

Mike & Billie DeSchalit, and 

Norm Marini. 

National Magic Week is the 

last week in October. Mike 

DeSchalit will attempt to get a 

proclamation from the mayor 

for Magic Week. 

The Club will have an S.A.M. 

initiation ceremony at our 

October 3 meeting at the “Z 

Mansion”. If you are a new 

member or have never been to 

an initiation, let us know. It is 

kind of like Harry Potter, but 

different. 

After many years of great 

service from Tuller Trophy’s, 

we will continue to purchase 

our magic awards from them. 

Elly Hundshamer (our newest 

member) is in charge of selling 

ad space on the Stars of Magic 

program. Now we know what 

you mean, Nelly, when you say, 

“My mother.” Elly has possession 

of the Stars of Magic 

tickets. 

A handful of magician went 

to visit Joe DuPerry in a local 

care facility. Randy Atha was 

the organizer. 

SAM Assembly 136 meetings 

are first Monday of each month 

at “The Z Mansion” 288 N. 

Church Ave. www.zmansion. 

com ALL lectures start at 7:00 

PM and are held at Craycroft 

Towers 1635 N. Craycroft Rd. 

(On Lee Street, West side of 

Craycroft Rd.). 

138 

Past 

Presidents 

nigHt 

Fort wortH, tX – The 

June 2011 meeting of the Fort 

Worth Magicians Club featured 

Past Presidents night. First were 

our new member qualification 

acts, during which we had three 

new members perform. Steve 

Medellin performed a Coins 

Across routine. Ron Wilson 

did his best Blackstone impression 

and then had six cards 

chosen from a mixed deck; he 

revealed all six cards and who 

chose them in different unbelievable 

ways. Daryl Sprout, 

who performs professionally 

all over the D/FW area, 

treated us to a great balloon to 

a real snake comedy routine. 

Matt Martin gave a review of 

the new IMX convention and 

performed Random Choice, a 

card routine by Hayashi. 

Program Chairman Ash 

Adams introduced the core 

activity of the evening with 

a video showing Lew Zafran 

reading the charter of the Fort 

Worth Magicians Club and 

sharing stories about each 

of the founding members. 

Past president Rick Burcher 

(‘84) shared some of his own 

history with the club and with 

the TAOM. Bruce Chadwick 

(‘86, ‘09) showed us his Homer 

Hudson table and performed 

his very skillful bill switch. 

Bob Utter (‘91) shared a knot 

on a rope trick with lots of 

jokes and gags. Van McGee 

(‘92) shared a great Sidewalk 

Shuffle-type routine with 

large cards. Dan Scrivner (‘96) 

performed a very original 

pom-pom type trick made of 

PVC pipe with faucets on the 

end and plungers tied to string 

running through the whole 

contraption. John Hatzenbuhler 

(‘97, ‘09) had four volunteers 

come up. They all tore 

up tissue paper and everyone, 

including himself, put the torn 

pieces in their mouths; at the 

end he produced a mouth coil. 

He also vanished a ring that 

ended up tied to his shoelace. 

Last, David Thomason (‘98) 

did some crazy gags that left us 

all speechless. 

Ash Adams and others shared 

a brief history of founding 

member and first club president 

Ren Clark (‘41). Last was 

our new monthly “works in 

progress” session during which 

Richard Amon performed his 

linking ring routine; everyone 

shared ideas on what they 

thought was good and what 

could be enhanced. —Al Fox 

SAM Assembly 138 meets 

on the first Thursday of 

each month at 7:00 P.M. 

at the Tarrant County 

College River Campus. See 

www.fortworthmagiciansclub. 

org for more information. 

148 

a visit FrOM 

tHe MYstics 

eLmHurSt, IL — (President’s 

note: We are happy to 

have our club secretary, Fr. Kurt 

Spengler back in our midst. 

But before giving the good 

father the floor, let me mention 

that here at Assembly 148, 

we always encourage performances 

by our members. This 

time, our teenage sensation, 

TJ Ketchmark, offered a 

brand new act. TJ continues to 

solidify his well deserved reputation 

for skill, style, and professionalism. 

Now let me turn 

the rest of this column over to 

Fr. Kurt in his own inimitable 

words.) 

Our long awaited yearly 

magician exchange program 

with the New Mazda Mystic 

Ring, Elgin, Illinois, had 

finally arrived. After a short 

business meeting, it was on 

with the show. 

“Big Bob” Coleman, who 

has to be the universe’s best 

balloon man (over 250 figures 

and still counting) got the ball 

rolling. After a sucker card 

prediction with the help of 

Nicolette, using a smiley face 

and flash paper, a card was 

chosen by assistant Bob Syrup, 

returned to the deck, and the 

deck returned to its box. The 

whole shebang (pardon the 

pun) somehow got into an 

inflated balloon, which blew 

up to reveal the chosen card, 

which somehow had managed 

to get out of the card box. 

Next up was the classic Gypsy 

Thread, presented by “Doc” 

Morrisy. Doc’s rhyming patter 

is his own and has been professionally 

published for our 

fraternity – outstanding! He 

proved to be a true “ham” and 

scored with his own rendition 

of Bank Night to finish his 

set. Some guy named Kevin 

Sarnwick (with the help of Mary 

Ziemba and young magical 

prodigy TJ Ketchmark) dealt 

fifteen cards and got involved 

with cards across…oops! Well, 

there’s always next year. 

It was time for the master of 

mental mayhem, Bob Coluzzi 

to take the floor – cards on a 

CD, laser card prediction on 

the ceiling, torn card restored 

to pocket…cards, cards, cards! 

Bob used to do a fire act years 

ago. His mentalism proved to 

be just as hot by completing the 

evening with his own spin on 

Al Koran’s Medallion. 

Wait a minute! Hold the show! 

I forgot Steve Mills. He passed 

out clever illustrated instructions 

using mnemonics and 

taught us to memorize the 

alphabet backwards in a matter 

of minutes. When I got home 

I woke up my wife to show 

off my new skill. Needless to 

say, she was not impressed. 

A fun time was had by all.

—Fr. Kurt Spengler 

Assembly 148 meets the third 

Monday of Every month at the 

Epiphany Lutheran Church, 

on the corner of Spring and 

Vallette, Elmhurst, IL 

157 Plan learn 

PerFOrM 

beAver, PA— The Mystic 

Magicians of Beaver Valley 

(Assembly 157) announced 

plans for the annual picnic 

on June 12 and a fall picnic 

in late September. The club’s 

participation in the S.A.M. 

convention in July is running 

smoothly, including local 

member buttons, a list of areas 

of interest, transportation from 

airport. 

Performers were introduced 

by Tom Chidester. 

Don Moody 

presented his Fifth 

Dimension, in 

which a wand goes 

through interesting 

gyrations as it 

passes through a 

box. Rich Howard 

performed a prediction 

effect with a 

wand made of six 

colored beads and 

a can of beads. Eric 

Davis entertained 

with some comedy 

one-liners and 

Chad Long’s Now 

Look Here. Jim 

Weyand performed Flight of 

the Phoenix, a presentation for 

Bizarre Twist. Ray Lucas did 

a surprising prediction effect. 

Frank Kietzke presented the 

Twentieth Century Silks. 

Doug Ries performed Michael 

Close’s Pothole Trick. Trent 

Rapp performed a prediction 

trick that ended up being a 

surprise birthday card (signed 

by all the club members) for 

one of the members. Ed Brandenstein 

brought a rabbit 

standing next to a top hat prop. 

He had two cards chosen from 

his deck, which he placed in 

the hat. The bunny pulled out 

the chosen cards. —Judy Steed 

The Mystic Magicians of 

Beaver Valley (Assembly 157) 

meet the second Thursday 

of every month at the Towne 

Square Restaurant in Beaver, 

PA. 

161 

JiM sisti 

lecture 

SCotCH PLAINS, NJ— Jim 

Sisti and his wife Sandy joined 

us for dinner in our special 

(but crowded) dining room. 

President Doug Thornton 

started our May meeting with 

some short club announcements 

and the introduction of 

our guest lecturer, Jim Sisti. 

Jim has written for a number of 

magic publications, including 

his own Magic Menu, and has 

worked on numerous videos for 

L & L Publishing. Jim showed 

us some of his favorite routines 

and stressed the magic of presentation. 

He talked about his 

childhood growing up in his 

parent’s business and doing 

magic tricks for people passing 

through the restaurant. Jim’s 

lecture was very interesting 

and we learned how to be more 

creative with our presentations. 

I especially liked Jim’s four 

From left: Christopher J. Smith, Gene 

Soucek, Guru Subramanian, Bob Simek, 

and Doug Thornton. Assembly 161 

phase presentation of the ring 

on string. 

Our June meeting, which is 

our last meeting of the season, 

is when we have our Jim Hart 

Excellence in Magic contest. 

This year we had eleven of our 

member magicians join the 

fun: Terry Landsman, Norman 

Rosen, Joel Landsman, Bob 

Simek, Doug Thornton, Greg 

Ferdinand, Jim Flood, K. 

Bruce Harpster, Gene Soucek, 

Christopher J. Smith, and Guru 

Subramanian. The judging 

for the contest consisted of 

all attending members in the 

Magic Candle Room at the 

Stage House Restaurant. This 

year the competition was very 

close. In fourth place we had 

a tie between Doug Thornton 

and Bob Simek; third place 

was captured by Gene Soucek; 

second place went to Christopher 

J. Smith; and first place 

was earned by Guru Subramanian. 

Guru is a past Assembly 

161 champion and returned 

this year to regain his much 

deserved crown. Guru gave 

his presentation of a pencil 

through a bill (Misled) and also 

commanded the bill to float. 

A special mention must be 

made about our long-time 

member Norm Rosen. Besides 

being a fine magician and 

genial guy, Norm organizes 

visits to various children’s and 

veteran’s hospitals in the area. 

He recruits club members and 

they meet to bring some joy 

and wonder to the numerous 

patients. Thank you, Norm, for 

your endless volunteer work! 

When we come back on 

September 12 we will have a 

lecture by Chris Capehart. Our 

October 10 lecturer will be the 

magical pitchman Al Callus. 

—Christopher J. Smith 

If you are in the area please join 

us, 6pm dinner, 8pm meeting. 

David Copperfield Assembly 

#161 meets the second 

Monday; Stage House Restaurant 

366 Park Avenue Scotch 

Plains, NJ 07076 Assembly 

Web Site: www.sam161.org. 

168 levitatiOn 

PArSIPPANY NJ— The 

June meeting was to be an 

uplifting one, as our theme 

was Levitation. Past President 

Dave Scribner opened up our 

meeting and younger guest 

Riley Fortune became the 

willing audience. It’s always 

nice to see friends return. The 

evening began with Earl Hicks 

opening with a coin vanish and 

then doing a silk routine with a 

Blendo, fountain, and streamer 

effect all intertwined. Next up, 

again completely ignoring the 

theme, S. Patrick did an Aldo 

Colombini card effect and 

then did a variation of Harry 

Lorayne’s Lazy Magician Card 

Trick. Pitchman extraordinaire 

Al Callus did a very strong 

routine using John Kennedy’s 

Flight Deck. He later followed 

it up with an impromptu 

Miser’s Dream type effect. The 

only performer of the evening 

to keep with the theme was 

Chris Smith, who performed 

a floating bill routine and then 

gave a brief demonstration on 

tying invisible elastic thread 

in “oval shapes, not loops.” 

Finally, President Tim Fortune 

performed a monte-cap routine 

from Dan Haus’s Rattled. 

The attendees then voted on 

the best performance of the 

evening and Earl took home 

the awards and accolades of all. 

ASSEMBLY NEWS 

—Tim Fortune 

Assembly 168 meets fouth 

Wednesday 7:30 PM at 

Methodist Church in Parsippany, 

NJ. www.sam168.org/ 

end OF tHe 181 Magic Year 

Meeting 

HIgHtStowN, NH— Our 

end of the magic year meeting 

was a pizza party held once 

again at Brother’s Pizzeria 

in Hightstown. Everyone got 

their fill of pizza and soda and 

we all had a lot of fun doing 

magic for the workers, the 

customers, and for our fellow 

magicians. Matt Schick was 

home from college in Boston 

and treated us to some of his 

new card work. Matt is making 

quite a name for himself. He’s 

scheduled to appear at a local 

Rock Festival, be the emcee at 

Bob Little’s Super Sunday, and 

will emcee the Magic Alliance 

of the Eastern States Convention 

in September. Some of the 

guys got into a lively discussion 

about apps for the iPad. 

Another discussion concerned 

favorite card forces. 

Our new officers for the 

upcoming magic season are: 

Steven Sloan, President; 

Dave Dzbory, Vice President; 

Dennsis Govine, Treasurer; 

and ERYX, Dean and Acting 

Secretary (until I can get 

someone else to take over the 

darn paperwork, because the 

Dean ain’t supposed to do 

nuttin’). 

The Hightstown United 

Methodist Church where 

we hold our meetings had a 

luncheon in June. Four of our 

members performed walkaround 

magic at the luncheon. 

We had a lot of fun and the 

attendees were well entertained. 

It’s our way to pay back 

the church for letting us use a 

meeting room for our monthly 

meetings. Performers were: 

Dazzling Dave Dzbory, Magic 

Mike, ERYX, and Professor 

REM. 

I know that December is a 

long way off, but we are tentatively 

planning a planning 

meeting in August. (Somehow, 

that sounds funny?) Other than 

that, as Brian Hyland sang: 

“See you, in September.” And, 

if you can remember that, 

you’re likely as old as I am! 

—ERYX 

Assembly 181, the Richard 

Gustafson Assembly, meets the 

first Thursday of the month, 


ASSEMBLY NEWS 

September thru June at the 

United Methodist Church, 187 

Stockton Street, Hightstown, 

NJ. However, for September 

2011, our meeting will be on 

8 September 2011 to avoid 

conflict with the M.A.E.S. 

Convention. Please see our web 

site at: magicsam181.com for a 

possible start time adjustment 

and other more timely information 

re: S.A.M. 181. 

188 give-awaY 

Magic 

orem, ut— The June 

meeting started a week late and 

was conducted by President 

Kerry Summers. The theme for 

the evening was magic accompanied 

by a give-away item. 

Brian South donated an 

Anything is Possible bottle, 

containing a sealed pack of 

cards, as a prize for the best 

magic effect of the evening. 

Brian also switched Curtis 

Hickman’s $50 bill for a $1 

bill and tried unsuccessfully to 

give away the $1 in exchange 

for the $50. Eventually Brian 

gave new member Barrett 

Haughton the Change Cap 

Brian used in the trick. 

Al Lampkin showed everyone 

his new routine for libraries 

using Al’s new Axtell puppet. 

Both vent and library shows 

are new for Al, but some think 

he may make it in this business 

yet. Walter Webb somehow 

got Candy Brandon to sing to 

us and then revealed he knew 

all along what song she would 

choose. 

Al and Nigel 

Ricky Brandon grossed us 

out by hammering a nail up his 

nose; he then asked Catherine 

Johnson to pull it out. Yuck. 

Mont Duston told us a camping 

story and then somehow caused 

a penny to go right through 


Curtis Hickman’s hand. 

The ever clever Steve Dawson 

also figured out a way to get 

Curtis’ $50 and ran it through 

some kind of gimmick. 

Steve also showed us his 

wonderful collapsing table. 

Dave “Magical” Johnson used 

a Stress-O-Meter Doll to help 

him discern the identity of a 

chosen card. 

Kerry Summers showed us 

all the stuff he bought from 

Abbott’s when he was a kid. 

He used a Card Box, a Card 

Frame, miniature slates, Out 

to Lunch, Glorpy, and a pack 

of cards. Ben Jones made the 

corner of a playing card vanish 

only to appear inside the rest of 

the card. We had to split open 

the card to find the corner. 

Candy Brandon made her 

magical debut with a Stuart 

Little book and a paddle. Bob 

Christensen did a combination 

Out to Lunch and poker chip 

routine and then proceeded to 

do an Ambitious Card routine 

with a color change. Barrett 

Haughton did a card reveal. 

Curtis Hickman did a fun 

routine pulling previously 

chosen cards from an “empty” 

coat pocket. 

Winners of the contest were: 

1st place: Curtis Hickman; 2nd 

place: Ben Jones; and tied for 

3rd place: Candy Brandon and 

Al Lampkin. 

The Assembly usually meets 

every second Thursday at 

7:00pm at The Courtyard 

at Jamestown, 3352 North 

100 East, Provo, Utah. 

Guests welcome. For additional 

information contact 

Kerry Summers at 801/372- 

7776 or go to our website at 

www.utahmagicclub.org 

tHe aldO 194 & racHel 

cOlOMBini 

lecture 

YoNkerS, NY— Your 

reporter has been to dozens of 

lectures in his sixty-plus years 

of performing magic and I can’t 

recall when I enjoyed a lecture 

as much as the one we were 

treated to on June 15. Aldo and 

Rachel Colombini arrived right 

on time with lots of “goodies” 

and began their very well 

planned lecture by providing 

each one present with a cup 

of champagne to toast us and 

them as they drew near to the 

end of their fifty-stop Farewell 

Lecture Tour. 

Their lecture was not only 

very well programmed, each 

of them taking turns in presenting 

and explaining the 

many effects they offered, but, 

from time to time, they also 

inserted commentaries on their 

own lives and on their special 

approach to creating and performing 

magic. Their personal 

remarks lifted the whole 

evening to a rarely achieved 

level at which the tricks were 

only a part of the evening. This 

was no mere “dealer demo,” 

but a sharing of some deep and 

personal and funny observations 

on magic and on life. 

Throughout the evening, 

Aldo punctuated his presentations 

– all expertly done 

– with his special brand of 

humor, often illustrated with 

quick sight gags. Space does 

not allow the listing of every 

effect, but of particular interest 

(at least to me) were An Empty 

Envelope, The Houdini Card, 

Cutting The Rope In Three, 

Cidentaquin (with ESP cards), 

and Ring On Rope, all done 

by Aldo. For her part, Rachel 

presented Jumbo Prediction, 

Baffling Book (a book test with 

a non-gimmicked book), A 

Mental Trick (based on a 

Marconick idea), and an absolutely 

stunning presentation 

of her unique Cups and Balls 

routine. 

Two final observations: 1) As 

far as I could tell, though the 

lecture ran quite long, just 

about everyone stayed to the 

very end, and 2) not only 

are Aldo and Rachel two very 

polished performers of entertaining 

magic, but there is a 

very visible and real “magic” 

(often referred to as love) 

between the two of them that 

greatly enhanced their presentations 

and their ability to 

connect with their audience. 

Those who were present left 

saying, “What a wonderful 

couple they are,” and “What 

a most memorable night this 

was!” 

Assembly 194 meets every 

third Wednesday (except July 

& August) at 7:30 PM at the 

Catholic Slovak Club at 49 

Lockwood Ave., Yonkers, 

NY. For further information 

contact Pres. Stranges 

(magicjim1@optonline.net 

or Secty, Fr. Dermot Brennan 

mbrdermot@aol.com) 

200 

ruBBer Bands 

and MOre! 

SeAttLe, wA— June was 

rubber band magic, however 

there were quite a few great 

tricks performed as well that 

didn’t involve rubber bands. 

J.R. Russell started out the 

evening performing a recently 

published trick (in Steve Marshall’s 

I Left My Cards at Home 

column) in which you use tin 

foil to create an impression of 

a coin and then after removing 

the coin, another coin appears 

inside. J.R. used gold foil of 

gum and presented it as a nice 

impromptu piece. 

Jim Earnshaw performed a 

three coin production/vanish/ 

production by Eric Mead. 

Roger Sylwester performed 

a great vanishing bird cage 

bit that was very smooth. 

Roger also showed the group 

a beautiful Troublewit he had 

made and a very funny routine 

using it. 

Bill Murray preformed a nice 

cut to aces routine that got the 

group discussing various ace 

productions and false shuffles. 

Hugh Castell performed a very 

funny set of rubber band magic 

that included a signed sticker 

stuck to the band that jumps 

from band to band. 

Larry Dimmitt continued his 

great mentalism and borrowed 

a dollar from an audience 

member and had him fold it 

and place it into an envelope. 

Larry was able to divine the 

serial number of the dollar. 

Mark Paulson preformed a 

nice card revelation in which 

two rubber bands knew the 

card chosen was going to be the 

Two of Hearts and the bands 

ended up linking as hearts at 

the end of the routine. Mark 

also performed a nice silent/ 

music routine in which cards 

were eliminated by spectators 

only to have the last card left 

match the predicted card. 

Ralph Huntzinger performed 

a nice four silver dollars 

through the hand routine 

framed around a teaching 

lecture on how to routine 

tricks. Ralph presented some 

good information for everyone. 

—Jim Earnshaw 

The Emerald City Wizards 

Assembly 200 meets at 7 

p.m. on the first Thursday 

of each month at a King 

County Library branch. Check 

website for meeting locations: 

www.emeraldcitywizards.org 

205 suMMertiMe 

is sHOw tiMe!

oCHeSter, mN— During 

the summer months of June 

through August, many assemblies 

suspend their regular 

meeting schedules as vacations 

and other activities take their 

toll on attendance. To sustain 

enthusiasm over this busy 

time, Assembly 205 uses summertime 

as the prime opportunity 

to recruit new members 

and replenish the treasury by 

participating in community 

events. 

On June 11, the Rochester 

Mystic 13 assembled in Pine 

Island, Minnesota, for a ninety-minute 

show during Pine 

Island’s annual CheeseFest 

celebration. The 200-seat 

Olde Pine Theatre provided an 

intimate venue for performers 

Cody Story, David Danzig, and 

Joe Swicklik. New member 

Tommy (Twister) Bradley 

and veteran Brent (Sin’Gee’) 

Coggins provided technical 

support on lights and sound. 

Thursday, June 23, marked the 

second event on our summer 

calendar as the Rochester 

Mystic 13 made an appearance 

at the City of Rochester’s 

“Thursday’s on First and 

Third” street fair. “Thursday’s 

on First and Third” is a regular 

event in Rochester that occurs 

every Thursday between June 

and September. For the Mystic 

13, it means an opportunity to 

perform street magic and run 

our pitch booth for up to 20,000 

fair-goers. 

On this Thursday night, 

overcast skies took a toll on 

attendance – but those who 

did stop by enjoyed street 

magic by Isaiah Foster and 

Joe Swicklik; juggling by 

Ben Domask; balloon animals 

by Greg Chalmers and Joe 

Swicklik; and Svengali pitch 

work by David Danzig and Joe 

Swicklik. Joining us, and displaying 

some amazing close-up 

chops, was Joe Viner, a Mystic 

13 prospect from LaCrosse, 

Wisconsin. 

In all, the Mystic 

13 worked the 

crowd non-stop 

for nearly three 

hours; afterward, 

we unanimously 

agreed that a 

night of performing 

and pitching 

can’t be topped 

by the best-run 

club meeting. 

Members got 

crowd-proven 

flight time for their favorite 

effects; the club earned substantial 

income from product 

sales; business contacts were 

made; S.A.M. literature was 

distributed – and at least one 

prospective member was 

solicited. 

Our thanks to National Administrator 

Manon Rodriguez, 

Midwest Regional VP Jeff 

Sikora, and Most Illustrious 

National President Mark 

Weidhaas for providing the 

beautiful trial membership 

postcards that are the focus of 

our recruiting campaign. 

In all – a very successful 

start to Summer 2011. 

—David J. Moitzheim 

Assembly 205, The Rochester 

Mystic 13 meets the last 

Thursday of each month 

(barring holidays). Meetings 

are held at Comfort Inn, 5708 

Bandel Rd, Rochester, MN. 

These meetings occur on the 

forth Thursday of each month 

5:30PM-8:30PM. More information 

can be found at 

our website: www.mystic13. 

com. Direct inquires to: 

david@danzigthehypnotist. 

com 

Mac and 215 lance visit 

lOuisville 

LouISvILLe, kY—mAC 

King Assembly 215 in Louisville, 

Kentucky, was honored 

to welcome home two of their 

members for our month of May 

meeting. Actually both Mac 

King and Lance Burton came 

to Louisville to help Patrick 

Miller with a show held each 

year to benefit Kosair Children. 

That, in itself, says a lot about 

their dedication and commitment 

to helping others. These 

two Kentucky men agreed to 

stay over for a meeting of our 

magic club to be put to the test. 

That “test” was a question and 

answer and discussion of be- 

Mac and Lance in Louisville 

ginnings and how-to for our 

members. 

Louisville magic club 

President David Garrard took 

the stage with Mac and Lance 

to introduce them and help field 

questions. These two, world-respected 

magicians talked about 

their beginnings in our club, 

about Tombstone junction, Las 

Vegas, their most embarrassing 

moments, their favorite 

routines, and gave much advice 

to all in attendance. To paraphrase 

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, “…I 

reckon’ these two are ‘bout 

the most respected men from 

Kaintuck since Davey Crockett 

and Daniel Boone…” It was so 

much fun; thank you to all who 

attended. 

The question for us is, how 

does our president, David 

Garrard, top this meeting? 

I do not know, but I do know 

one thing: surrounded by 

some of the most dedicated 

and honorable members 

who continue to support this 

club, we will try! Visitors are 

always welcome; you never 

know what you will find here! 

—Tom Crecelius 

Any person traveling through 

Louisville, Kentucky and 

wishing to attend a meeting 

may contact us for more information. 

We are meeting at 7PM 

various days of the month, but 

usually on the second Tuesday, 

location for our meetings 

is the St. Matthews Baptist 

Church. You can e-mail for 

more information. contact: 

medimagic@cs.com 

Plans and 226 PerFOrMing 

wILLIAmSburg, vA— 

The May 18 meeting began 

with a Broken Wand Ceremony 

for our dear friend and magic 

enthusiast Jim McGovern. 

Jim’s love of magic was incredible. 

He truly loved to watch, 

learn and perform magic and, 

unlike many of us, Jim was not 

shy when it came to performing 

for strangers. Whether it was a 

hospital or some other location 

with lots of children, you could 

count on Jim performing for 

them and entertaining them. 

During the business portion 

of the meeting, Michael Heckenberger 

discussed planning 

a professional magic show 

in March/April 2012 to 

be performed by the three 

working professionals of the 

assembly. Other possible 

ASSEMBLY NEWS 

details included: Kimball 

Theater as the location; other 

assembly members performing 

close-up magic in lobby 

prior to the show; and selling 

magic tricks in the lobby. In 

other business Harold Wood 

moved, with Tom Armentrout 

seconding, that Watt Hyer 

assume the vacant position of 

Sergeant-at-Arms. Additionally, 

monthly programs for the 

remainder of 2011 were fleshed 

out. 

Watt Hyer performs with rings 

For the entertainment portion 

of the meeting Watt Hyer, 

brought his DVD of Don Alan’s 

Magic Ranch. There was an introduction 

by Eugene Burger to 

the videos, which was very interesting. 

The videos were very 

entertaining and well worth 

watching. On Sunday, May 22, 

several members attended Watt 

Hyer’s Open House in Hanover, 

VA. Watt has quite a place, not 

least of which is a magic room 

that will be the envy of every 

magician in the area. Many of 

the guests were his neighbors, 

but there were also a number 

of magicians in attendance 

who took the opportunity to 

perform for the guests. Watt 

did a Ninja Ring routine, Professor’s 

Nightmare, and ring on 

wand. All three were done very 

well. In June, Michael Heckenberger 

will do a Linking Ring 

workshop, and hopes that Watt 

will take the opportunity to 

perform his Ninja Ring routine. 

—Michael Heckenberger 

Baker-Temple Assembly 226 

meets at 7:00 p.m. on the 4th 

Wednesday (except December 

and January) room 009, in the 

Williamsburg Presbyterian 

Church, 215 Richmond Road, 

Williamsburg, VA 23185. 

http//sites.google.com/ 

site/samassembly226. 

Email:assembly226@gmail. 

com 


ASSEMBLY NEWS 

266 

suMMer 

Fun 

LAkeLAND, FL— Our first 

meeting of the summer started 

off with a quick business 

meeting chaired by our Prezextraordinary 

Ed McGowan. 

We filled out our assembly’s 

ballet for the upcoming 

national election and reviewed 

some lecture offers before 

wrapping up the business 

portion of things. 

Ed introduced our visitors 

from Tampa, Frank Velasco, 

John Aime, and Frank’s 

daughter Rachel, who had 

popped in to remind us of their 

one day convention coming 

up. Our sister I.B.M. group 

supports our events, so we like 

to do the same. We also had 

another guest and potential 

new member, Jerry Kardos, 

who joined us for the festivities. 

The magic portion of the 

night was preceded by our 

card workshop, which had 

Elmo Bennett and Ed working 

together on a King and Queen 

transposition effect. Some 

good ideas came from the 

process. 

For the performance portion 

of the night, Dean Bob Macey 

did a double feature of Nick 

Trost effects in which he controlled 

the cards and Elmo 

but using mathematical algorithms. 

Following Bob, scribe Al 

D’Alfonso demonstrated 

another Max Maven gem from 

Multiplicity. Al gave Elmo the 

gift of Luck, which allowed 

Elmo to control a slot machine 

into a winning pull. 

Ed was back with a drinking 

straw routine demonstrated to 

Jerry before moving back to 

cards with an encore presentation 

of a card transposition 

from one deck to another that 

wowed us just as badly as he 

did last month. 

Our cleanup batter this month 

was Elmo, who had three cards 

selected and then they all dis- 


appeared and ended up in an 

IHOP menu that was visible all 

night long. 

Another full night of magic to 

kick off a magical summer. If 

your vacation plans bring you 

to Central Florida be sure to 

save the second Monday of the 

month for us. —Al D’Alfonso 

Jim Zachary Assembly 266 

meets the second Monday of the 

month at 7PM at the Lakeland 

I-HOP, I-4 & US 98. For more 

info contact Al D’Alfonso at 

keeper0499@embarqmail.com 

274 

MOneY 

Magic 

boCA rAtoN, FL— On 

June 6, 2011, the Sam Schwartz 

Assembly featured “Money 

Magic” night. Appropriately, 

our emcee was “Mr. Money,” 

Phil Labush. Phil entertained 

us with many of his numerous 

effects that gained him the reputation 

as Mr. Money. 

The show opened with Henry 

Epstein, who performed the 

effect 4 Quarters, a clever 

version of the Mis-made Bill. 

Next was Simon Carmel, fresh 

from a convention in Helsinki, 

Finland. Simon performed 

several beautiful effects, 

including a non-gimmicked 

pen through bill and paper – a 

nice effect that he explained 

to us. Bernie Kraus followed 

showing how to change $5 bill 

into $100. Marshall Johnson 

used a wallet to create money. 

Mel Panzer demonstrated 

several outstanding effects. 

They included a Matrix, 

Extreme Burn, changing 

$5 bills into $20 bills, and a 

very nice routine using three 

different coins. Arnie Rosen 

had a most unusual effect 

involving a stack of coins. 

Jerry Somerdin, creator of 

many fine tricks, presented a 

puzzle involving two different 

solutions using pieces of 

a dollar bill. Herb Cohen 

vanished a coin and then 

produced two coins. 

Herb Arno performed 

several effects. Herb, master 

of sleights, astounded us with 

a coin stuck in his forehead. 

When he removed the coin 

it had a pin permanently 

attached to the other side! 

Vinnie Rosenbluth performed 

a coin transposition – a thing 

of beauty. Next was Gene Fein 

with his wry sense of humor. 

He demonstrated how to count 

a stack of bills with a different 

total each time he counted 

them. Regular Manny Riskin 

showed us how to take a bite 

out of a bill and then restore it. 

Billy Byron usually closes our 

show with his highly original 

magic spiced with his unique 

sense of humor. He performed 

Throw-away Glasses, a puzzle, 

the $49 dollar trick, and used 

an alligator wallet to produce 

money and then a check. 

There was an encore effect 

by Herb Arno, who showed 

us how to link lifesavers. 

—Marshall Johnson 

Assembly 274 meets at the 

JCC in Boca Raton, FL the 

first Monday of each month. 

President, Mel Panzer (561) 

304-7091 

295 

June 

Meeting 

AtHeNS, gA— Our June 

meeting was hosted by El 

Drusso’s Magic House at the 

Discover Mills Mall in Lawrenceville, 

GA. In attendance 

were Jay Schanerman (Vice 

President), Todd Herron (Past 

President), Janine Aronson, 

Alan Wheeler, Dru Lozano, 

Giovanni, and Mark Hall 

(President). 

While we were in the store, 

before the meeting, a ten-yearold 

boy named Joseph was 

struggling over whether or not 

to buy a Svengali deck. This 

would be his first magic effect 

and Dru, being the awesome 

fellow he is, was offering it at a 

considerable discount. I helped 

Joseph with his decision by 

buying the deck for him. Dru, 

Janine, and I taught him our 

senD your reports to: 

assemblyreports@googlemail.com 

routines and set him loose on 

the world...and a magician is 

born. 

Todd started off the evening 

with his lotto decks. Five 

numbered cards are randomly 

selected from a blue-backed 

deck and placed face down 

on a table. Then the process 

is repeated with a red-backed 

deck and placed on top of the 

blue cards, resulting in five 

pairs of cards. When the pairs 

are turned face up, the numbers 

match. He was followed by Jay, 

who demonstrated The Smiling 

Assassin. A card is randomly 

selected by an audience 

member from a smiley-facebacked 

deck. Jay broke out his 

gun app and “shots” the deck 

with his phone. When the deck 

is fanned face down, one card 

reveals a “dead” smiley with 

a bullet hole between its eyes. 

The card is turned over and 

revealed as the chosen card. 

Jay continued by demonstrating 

false shuffles and forcing. 

Janine dazzled us with her 

unique stripper deck routine. 

The deck is dramatically 

dropped, leaving the selected 

card in the performer’s hand, 

thus giving the routine a nice 

dramatic flair. Excellent showmanship, 

Janine! She also 

performed a nicely handled 

card prediction. Then, Alan 

Wheeler performed Devastation 

and a card mentalism 

effect. Please join me in 

welcoming Alan to the club. 

Todd took the stage again. He 

stunned us with his lightning 

fast appearing flower from a lit 

candle routine. He continued 

with his very own Three Little 

Pigs cup and ball routine. Then 

Dru and Giovanni closed the 

evening with an impromptu 

vanishing and reappearing 

wand routine using my wand! 

Contact club President, 

Mark E. Hall, at 

Assembly295@yahoo.com for 

meeting information.�

NEW APPLICATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS 

The following applications and reinstatements for Associate Memberships and Assembly Memberships have been received. For good cause shown, in 

accordance with Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of the Society of American Magicians, any member in good standing may object to the 

acceptance of any new Associate Member (Assembly Memberships have already been approved by the Assembly to which they will be affiliated). 

Any objection should be directed to the National Administrator. 

neW 

aPPliCations 

Aldrich, Steve 

Aurora, CO 

Allen, Tiffany 

Forest, VA 

Alvarez, Jesse 

Dallas, TX 

Andreoli, Thomas Joseph 

Hudson, NH 

Aragon, Woody 

Toledo, SPAIN 

Birkan, Shlomo 

Buffalo, NY 

Blanco, Michael 

Houston, TX 

Brantner, Robert 

West River, MD 

Brumbalow, Jason 

Belton, TX 

Carver, Shawn 

Mars Hill, NC 

Colburn, Scott 

Frisco, TX 

Corcoran, Paul 

South Dennis, MA 

Cubelli, Jessica 

Houston, TX 

Da Silva, Frederic 

Mably, FRANCE 

Darwin, Max 

New York, NY 

Denham, James 

Houston, TX 

Duffy, Tom 

New York, NY 

Elliott, Devon 

London, ON CANADA 

Fancher, John 

Riverside, CA 

Ferrante, Tony 

Winder, GA 

Fetzer, Benjamin 

Covelo, CA 

Ford, Charles 

Washington, DC 

Glaze, John 

Sycamore, GA 

Gobeo, Mark 

Boca Raton, FL 

Gore, David 

Cape Town, SOUTH 

AFRICA 

Guthrie, Diane 

Jefferson, GA 

Hefter, Mathew 

Glendale, AZ 

Heinzl, Josh 

Windham, NH 

Hoelzel, Joseph Lyon 

Minneapolis, MN 

Inglis, Andrew 

Concord, MA 

Irwin, Bill 

Arlington, TX 

Kalinowski, Aaron 

Indianapolis, IN 

Lan, Hui Hsin 

Taipei City, TAIWAN 

Lessard, Yves 

St-Joseph De Sorel, QC 

CANADA 

Liston, Michael 

Billings, MT 

Maturen, Mike 

Harrisville, MI 

Mckenzie, Norman 

Billings, MT 

Mckinnon, Peter 

Belton, TX 

Mcniff, James 

Clermont, FL 

Mcnulty, Stephen J 

Staten Island, NY 

Mitchell, Craig 

Cape Town, S. AFRICA 

Moise, Rodiny 

Malden, MA 

Montalvo, Moises 

Ogallala, NE 

Murray, Sean 

Chicago, IL 

Newton, Lew 

Louisville, KY 

Norstrum, Andrew 

Shepherd, MT 

Olson, David 

Tucson, AZ 

Peckham, Michael 

Watchung, NJ 

Peekel, Art 

Palatine, IL 

Penstein, Richard 

El Dorado Hills, CA 

Perea, Maricarmen 

Toledo, SPAIN 

Ren Jenkins, David 

Las Vegas, NV 

Reyes, Hector Angel Mesa 

Madrid, SPAIN 

Salinas, Alfredo 

Tucson, AZ 

Saul, Howard 

Cherry Hill, NJ 

Saul, Michael 

Cherry Hill, NJ 

Segel, Joseph 

Bryn Mawr, PA 

Sergent, Craig 

Jeffersonville, IN 

Sloan, Stephan 

Freehold, NJ 

Terral, Elliott 

West Monroe, LA 

Thompson, Blaine 

Memphis, TN 

Trent, Andrew 

Odenton, MD 

Weiser, Daniel 

Baltimore, MD 

Yamamoto, Hlroshi 

Toyonaka City, JAPAN 

Zboray, David 

Mercerville, NJ 

reinstatements 

Abbatiello, Lou 

Lancaster, PA 

Alday, Geoff 

Spring Hill, TN 

Alexander, Gale M 

New Milford, CT 

Alswager, Richard O 

Milwaukee, WI 

Baird, Joan L 

Lancaster, MA 

Bourgoin, Staphane 

Saint-Hyacinthe, QC 

CANADA 

Brandenstein, Edward J 

Pgh, PA 

Brooks, Brian 

Tualatin, OR 

Brown Jr, Larry J 

Weatherford, TX 

Buxton, Marc 

Florence, SC 

Christenberry Jr, Earle J 

River Ridge, LA 

Clarke, Andrew E 

Beaver Falls, PA 

Crosson, Phillip 

Olyphant, PA 

Davis, Jonathan R 

Colorado Springs, CO 

Fajuri, Gabe 

Chicago, IL 

Fernandez, Raul Antonio 

Burbank, CA 

Haney, Dennis John 

Rosedale, MD 

Hayes Jr, Charles 

Port Jefferson Station, NY 

Hipschman, Irving B 

Palo Alto, CA 

Ishikawa, Shinjiro 

Kanagawa, JAPAN 

Kaiser, Phillip 

Saint Cloud, FL 

Kim, Jae-Hee 

Wabu-Eup, Deoksso-Ri, 

Namyangju-Si, S. KOREA 

Kothare, Shank 

Franklin, TN 

Kriss, Gary 

Williamstown, MA 

Kurzweil, Arthur 

Great Neck, NY 

Long, Tat-Chi 

Macau, CHINA 

Lopez, Christopher 

Bakersfield, CA 

Macione, Ryan 

Salem, MA 

Mahlburg, Steven 

Tawas City, MI 

Marchman, Laurie 

Winder, GA 

Martinez-Conde, S na 

Phoenix, AZ 

Meyer, Gordon 

Chicago, IL 

Miller, Donald E 

Indianapolis, IN 

Mogar Jr, Joseph 

Deerfield, NJ 

Molten, Jared 

Astoria, NY 

Mousch, David J 

Shelton, CT 

Mullins, Jeff 

Aliquippa, PA 

Mullins, Robert C 

Aliquippa, PA 

Peace, Jennie Rae 

Evans, GA 

Peace, Ledan E 

Evans, GA 

Pitts, Ruth 

Fort Smith, AR 

Reinbold, Damon 

Santa Fe, NM 

Sagotsky, Barry 

Princeton, N J 

Sanders, Cherie K 

Houston, TX 

Schrier, John 

Scarsdale, NY 

Snyder, Michael A 

Lancaster, PA 

Srinivasan, Vasisht 

Rochester, NY 

Stanton, Dwayne 

San Antonio, TX 

Stone, Jack 

Philadelphia, PA 

Taylor, Jason W 

Havertown, PA 

Tomaszewski, Gary L 

Tallahassee, FL 

Tougas, Frank S 

Brooklyn Center, MN 

Trillo, Arthur 

Tucson, AZ 

Tyo, John A 

Massena, NY 

Unbehauen, George L 

South River, NJ 

Walden, Christopher M 

Cedar Park, TX 

Watkins, Glen 

Austin, TX 

Weisgal, Leo L 

San Antonio, FL 

Wenker, Kevin 

Peoria, AZ 

Yakubek, Michael 

Kennesaw, GA 

Zawada, Mark 

Staten Island, NY 


BROKEN WANDS 

William E. (Bill) King 

The magic world lost one of its premier collectors on May 12, 2011, when William 

E. (Bill) King Jr., eighty-five, of Hagerstown, Maryland, passed on. Bill held membership 

#4145 and had been a continuous member of The Society of American Magicians for 

sixty-four years. He was also a member of the I.B.M. and the Magic Circle. He was a 

co-founder of Ring #94, Hagerstown, a Ring that bears his name, “King Magic Ring.” 

Bill led a long and productive life. He served his country during WWII in the 

European Theater and was awarded the Bronze Star. He was a 1943 graduate of 

Hagerstown High School, and was a graduate of the University of Maryland and the 

Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. He retired from Hagerstown 

Trust and Mid Atlantic Bancorp as President and CEO. 

Bill King was not only a great contributor to the magic world, having written several 

books on magic history, but his generosity was surpassed by no one. At least four times over the past five or six 

years Bill prepared a grocery bag of magic from his collection for every member of Ring 94, making sure each 

bag was filled with the particular type of magic each member was interested in. 

Bill King will be missed by all who knew him, and especially by his family and members of the Hagerstown 

Magic community. —David W. Bowers 

Leonard J. Elmer 

Dr. Leonard J. Elmer Sr., retired dentist, born in Hammond, Louisiana, on May 8, 

1917, and a native of New Orleans, died on June 6, 2011, after complications following 

open heart surgery. His death was unexpected; he had anticipated taking trips to 

Russia, Dallas, Orlando, and Las Vegas with his family this summer. His will to live life 

to the fullest was exemplified in his daily activities and involvement in the community. 

He was a graduate of Jesuit High School (1933) and Loyola University (1938). He 

was a full-time instructor at the Loyola University Dental School from 1938-1942. He 

was attending medical school prior to being pulled to teach dentistry full-time during 

WW II. 

He devoted himself to his two children and his wife, Beverly (also a USAF officer) 

and was the epitome of what a father should be. He was a life member of the New 

Orleans, Louisiana, and American Dental Associations. 

His life-long interest in conjuring kept him very active and engaged in magic. He was a member of The Society 

of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. He has been awarded the Order of 

Merlin Excelsior by the I.B.M. He also recently reunited with Ring 27 of New Orleans. He was known as an avid 

photographer and has gone to great lengths to get the “perfect shot.” 

He loved his wife dearly and her loss in 2007 affected him profoundly. Despite his loss, he continued to care 

for his granddaughter, Sarah, with whom he lived and shared his wisdom and love for life and magic with her. 

His loss cannot be measured and his contribution to his family is profound. His legacy of love, life, and gusto for 

making every day count are remembered by his actions. 

Kim M. Zimmerman 

Kim M. Zimmerman, 56, of Orangeville, Illinois, passed away Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 

at St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois. Kim was born February 10, 1955, 

in Freeport, Illinois, to Raymond and Cheryl Zimmerman. 

Kim attended National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York 

from 1975 to 1978, studying architecture. He worked for a small architectural business 

for five years. Kim then worked at O’Hare International Airport as a mailer handler 

from 1984 until retiring in 2010. He loved his Dalmatians: Donnie, Max, and Angel, 

who was deaf. Kim was interested in many things including reading, history, and travel. 

Kim had been a member of the S.A.M. and the I.B.M. since 1976. He was a Life 

Member of both organizations. He was member of the World Deaf Magicians had 

participated in WDM Festivals in different countries since 1992. He founded the first 

U.S. – Canada Deaf Magicians Festival in Chicago in 1993. He loved to do his magic in 

schools, churches, nursing homes, clubs, other festivals. 

24 M-U-M Magazine

Henry L. (Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 

BROKEN WANDS 

Hank Moorehouse passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday, July 2, in 

Beijing, China, while in the middle of a sixteen-city, twenty-five show tour of close-up 

magic he was producing for the Chinese government. 

Hank touched so many lives – for so many years. And he did it selflessly. He never 

asked for anything in return – only that you do your best and become a credit to the 

magic community. 

As a magic dealer, he was impeccably ethical. As S.A.M. National President, he 

initiated many steps that ultimately brought the organization onto the world stage. 

And it was through his bonds of friendship within FISM, The Magic Circle, and magic 

organizations around the world that the door opened for magicians in this country to 

be recognized and perform abroad. 

Hank may best be remembered as a master of his craft and a highly respected 

magic show producer. Following sixteen years as S.A.M. show producer and an additional 

thirteen years as Abbott’s show producer, he was named Artistic Director for the 2009 FISM World 

Championship of Magic in Beijing. 

The S.A.M. dedicated this year’s convention to Hank. As part of the celebration, the June issue of M-U-M 

carried a cover story about Hank, and the 2011 convention program was a special Hank Moorehouse commemorative 

issue. It was decided that the tribute to Hank, originally scheduled at the convention for Saturday 

should be moved to the start of the convention as a celebration of his life. A film, with material collected from 

the Moorehouse family, was shown and is expected to be released on YouTube for public viewing. 

Our hearts go out to Jackie Moorehouse, who made Hank’s life worth living, and to his family members – a 

daughter, Kim, two sons, Buddy and David, and their collective nine grandchildren and one great grandchild – all 

of whom meant so much to Hank. 

Hank passed away doing what he loved to do best – producing magic shows at venues where the talent 

he booked could dazzle audiences and bring credit to the art of magic. A memorial service and broken wand 

ceremony is being planned for Hank sometime during the time of the Abbott’s Get-Together. —Bradley Jacobs 

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. 

William “bill” andrews 

298 West Lane 

Stamford, CT 06905 

ben “benjalini” ankri 

3111 Aurelia Ct. 

Brooklyn, NY 11210 

Peter anthony 

5100 O’Bannon Dr. Apt 72 

Las Vegas, NV 89146 

roger barr 

883 B Leverpool Circle, 

Manchester, NJ 08759 

William h. brewe 

1698 Montrose 

Cincinnati, OH 45214 

John Clark 

603 W Country Club Rd. 

Egg Harbor City, NJ 08215 

lawrence Clark 

204 Hazelwood Ave 

Buffalo, NY 14215 

daniel Cudennec 

“dany trick” 

225, Stang-ar-Veild’an-Traon, 

Mellac-29300, 

Quimperle, France 

John “Kermit” dickerson 

10809 Balentine, 

Denton, TX 76207 

dan a. dorsey 

98 Woodvalley Dr. 

Fayetteville, GA 30215 

Joe duPerry 

1947 North Soldier Trail 

Tucson, AZ 85749 

Joseph h. (ben) grant 

400 Commonwealth Ave, Unit 9 

Warwick, RI 02886 

Charlie gross 

16745 Gertrude Street, 

Omaha, NE 60136-3023 

roy horn 

c/o Siegfried & Roy 

1639 N Valley Drive, 

Las Vegas, NV 89108 

edward Kelly 

224-15 64 Avenue, 

Bayside, NY 11364 

bob King 

304 Suburban Court, 

Rochester, NY 14620 

robert d. Knigge 

PO Box 5, 

Jones Borough, TN 3765 

stanley r. Kramien 

11205 SW Summerfield Dr. 

Apt 161 

Tigard, OR 97224-3391 

richard laneau 

4020 55th St. N. 

St. Petersburg, FL 33709 

george gilbert lott 

1725 Great Hill Rd. 

Guilford, CT 06437 

frank J. mcnaughton, sr 

1926 Apple Street, 

Williamsport, PA 17701 

James J. morrisey 

24 Grove St. 

Wayland, MA 01788 

anthony murphy 

11 Angel Rd., 

North Reading, MA 01864 

nahmen nissen 

PO Box 1856 

Colfax, CA 95713-1856 

Cesareo Pelaez 

The Cabot St. Theatre 

286 Cabot St. 

Beverly, MA 01918 

larry Poague 

34221 West 90 Circle 

Desota, KS 66108 

Jim relyea 

241 W. Lakeshore 

Rockaway, NJ 07866 

harry riser 

8505 Woodfield Crossing 

The Forum 

Indianapolis, IN 46240 

dale rumsmoke 

430 Perrymont Ave 

Lynchburg, VA 24502 

Pat ryan 

43 Fairbanks Rd. 

Churchville, NY 14428 

matt savin 

P.O. Box 7693 

Alhambra, CA 91802-7533 

helene schad 

2440 Viginia Ave. 

Bensalem, PA 19020 

Grant Schofield 

(The Great Granzini) 

9303 Quailbrook Ct. 

Bakersfield, CA 93312 

sybill simons 

65 West 95 St. Apt 3A 

New York, NY 10025 

sam stecher 

1000 Loring Ave Apt. C-23 

Salem, MA 01970- 4253 

mario susi 

6 Bristol Rd. 

W. Peabody, MA 01960 

larry taverner 

805 LaPaz Ct. 

Bakersfield, CA 93312 

Jack White 

4288 Arguello St. 

San Diego, CA 92103 

Send additions, changes, or deletions to: Anthony Antonelly, Chairman, Sick and Convalescent Committee, 

(215) 820-3192 ext. 1512. Email: magicforfun60@aol.com 


A Magician Prepares... 

the delo Cut 

In his 1973 book Rim Shots, Harry Lorayne introduced an 

excellent move to card magic – the HaLo cut. (The name is formed 

from the first two letters of Harry’s first and last names.) While 

that book is now out of print, it is available as part of Harry’s 

2008 book, The Classic Collection 2. In fact, Harry updated the 

newer book and it contains more details and some new routines 

and handlings for the HaLo cut. 

While you’ll need to consult one of the Lorayne books 

mentioned above to learn the HaLo cut, in this article I’ll share my 

own move, which combines a version of the Halo cut with a Kelly 

bottom placement (also known as the Ovette Master Move) to 

achieve a different purpose. The original HaLo cut appeared to be 

a simple straight cut of the deck; it actually kept the bottom card 

on the bottom. The DeLo cut also appears to be a straight cut of 

the deck, but it keeps the two bottom cards on the bottom. It also 

exchanges the positions of those two bottom cards. If you have 

maneuvered a selected card to the bottom of the deck, and then do 

the DeLo cut, the selection will now be the second card from the 

bottom, thus allowing you to freely handle the deck, flashing the 

bottom card (which is now an indifferent card). Later, you might 

like to do another DeLo cut to return the selection to the bottom. 

We’ll start with the assumption that the selected card is on 

the bottom of the deck, although your spectators should not know 

this. With the deck held in standard dealer’s position, the right 

hand comes over and grips the deck in Biddle grip as in Photo 1. 

As soon as the right hand takes this grip, the left hand switches its 

position to the grip seen in Photo 2 


1 

2 

by Dennis Loomis 

Notice that the tip of 

the left thumb presses 

down on the top of the 

deck in the upper left 

corner, as the tips of the left 

index and middle fingers push 

upward on the bottom of the 

deck immediately below the spot 

where the thumb presses downward. 

As soon as this grip is achieved, the right hand starts a swivel cut 

of the deck at approximately the center of the deck. However, due 

to the left hand’s grip, the bottom card of the deck will ride along 

in alignment with the upper half, as seen in Photo 3. 

As soon as the packets are completely separated, the packet in 

the right hand, which was the bottom half of the deck, is raised 

upward so that it can be placed on top of the cards in the left hand. 

But as that is done, the right hand’s middle and ring fingers spring 

the lower card downward in the typical Kelly bottom placement 

position. As the two packets coalesce, the card slides to the bottom 

of the lower packet, as seen in Photo 4. The deck is then replaced 

into dealing position in the left hand; the selected card has been 

moved to its new position second from the bottom. The deck can 

now be handled very freely and the bottom card can be flashed. 

Later, should you wish to bring the selection back to the bottom, 

another complete DeLo cut can be performed.� 

3 

4

How would you like to add balloons to your magic show 

while not having to twist figures for each of the kids in the 

audience? For our past few columns, we’ve been sharing ideas 

that we use; in May we showed how to make a ball and use it 

as an interactive pre-show warm-up; in June we showed how to 

make a costume around a spectator. This month’s balloon is a 

show-feature similar to the Lota Bowl, only with balloons and 

no water to worry about. 

In 1991, Tom Myers of T. Myers Magic out of Austin, Texas, 

published his comb-bound notes Life on the Living Room 

Circuit: A Magic Birthday Party Blueprint. Tom did a great job 

combining magic and balloons, and one of his best routines in 

those notes was a running gag in which he created each of the 

different parts of a larger balloon sculpture between each trick; 

at the end of the show he connected the pieces into the larger 

sculpture. While Tom was not the first to do multiple-balloon 

creations, this ongoing “bit” was a great idea. 

the running gag balloon Creation 

You can do this! Almost any balloon creation that you make 

that uses more than one balloon can be used for this showpiece. 

You simply make each piece independently, and then put it all 

together at the end of your show. By staggering this between 

other parts of your magic show, it ties in the balloons throughout 

the show and gives the running gag a wonderful home. 

However, as with any good magic routine, a lot of the entertainment 

value will come from your presentation. If anyone 

Giant Tasmanian 

Purple People Eater 

Requirements: This is made with 

260Q balloons. You need two onyxblacks, 

one white, one orange, and one 

goldenrod. (If you don’t have goldenrod, 

another orange is fine, but you lose 

the contrast between the feet and the 

beak.) 

Step 1 – The Body: Explain to the 

audience what you are about to do: “I 

am going to make the Giant Tasmanian 

Purple People Eater…first time, every 

time!” Pull out the black balloon and 

inflate it, leaving about two inches uninflated. 

From the nozzle, come down 

twelve inches to pinch and twist the first 

bubble. Later this bubble will become 

can make a Lota Bowl entertaining, then this should be like 

fireworks on the Fourth of July; this is almost automatic fun 

compared to pouring water out of a suspicious looking jug! 

Daniel started with T. Myers’s idea of having a title (Myers 

called his the “Giant Tasmanian Man-eating Devil Balloon”) 

and the tag line that it would be made the “first time…every 

time.” Then he punched it up with his own antics and personality. 

We will share Daniel’s routine here, but you need to infuse it 

with your own style and personality. The essence of this hinges 

on the fact that it is nearly impossible to envision what the 

completed model will look like when only the various parts are 

seen individually; the kids think that you are more than a little 

bit silly, since it doesn’t happen the “first time, every time.” 

In this routine you will be making a big duck (because it 

is black, it is similar to a parody of Daffy Duck), but you call 

it the “Giant Tasmanian Purple People Eater.” Since the color 

(purple) is called out in the title, we have found that this drives 

the kids crazy, because they immediately point out that it is not a 

purple balloon. This sets up a very playful and fun conflict with 

the audience for this gag. Some patter ideas will be included 

in italics along with the twisting instructions. As always, give 

this a try and have fun. It can be a very strong part of your children’s 

show and it is another excellent way to feature balloons 

without having to make one for every child in the crowd. At the 

end, this can be presented to the birthday child. Because of the 

way that it is made during the show, we have never been asked 

to make another one for someone else later. That is like magic 

itself! If you have any questions or comments, contact us by 

email at theballoonguys@hotmail.com. 

the top of the duck’s head, the back of 

the head, and his neck…but for now it 

is just a twelve-inch bubble. 

The remainder of the balloon will be 

made into what is called a “three-bubble 

push through” with just two inches 

left for the tail. You are going to twist 

three bubbles that are all the same 

size; start with a fourteen-inch bubble. 

Remember, you must securely hold the 

first twelve-inch bubble while doing this 

or it will untwist (Photo 1). 

Lay the remainder of the balloon next to 

this fourteen-inch bubble to measure a 

second fourteen-inch bubble, and twist 


it (Photo 2). Now lock these two bubbles together (Photo 

3). The remainder of the balloon is again set next to these 

two bubbles to measure and twist a third bubble. Ideally, 

there should be about two to four inches remaining, which 

will be the tail (Photo 4). With the third bubble lying on the 

other two, you literally “push” or roll this bubble between 

the other two to lock in a three-bubble body (Photos 

5 and 6). 

As you complete this portion, look puzzled at the odd 

creation and say, “Hey wait a minute…this isn’t purple! Why 

didn’t you guys tell me?” (Believe me, you won’t have to say 

it for the second section; they will all yell about it not being 

purple as soon as you blow it up!) “This obviously isn’t the 

Giant Tasmanian Purple People Eater…um, it’s a…it’s a…(and 

the kids will start yelling things out, so go with whatever 

they say such as…) …a coon skin cap? (Put it on your head.) 

No, it’s not that! How about a shoe? (Lift one foot in the air 

and hold the balloon next to your foot.) No, it’s not that! 

I think it’s an old man’s cane!” Grab the shortest bubble, 

hunch your back over like a rickety old man, and take a 

few steps around the stage. “Well, it’s obviously not the Giant 

Tasmanian Purple People Eater – I’ll just get back to that later.” 

Set this balloon aside and get back to the magic show. 

Step 2 – The Eyes: Pull out the white 260Q and proudly 

state, “I am going to make the Giant Tasmanian Purple People 

Eater…first time, every time!” The kids should immediately 

have an uproarious fit about the color of the balloon this 

1 

6 


2 

7 

time, but politely dismiss them as you inflate the balloon 

completely. You only need a few inches of the white 

balloon, so make two bubbles that are three inches long 

and lock them together by actually tying the nozzle into the 

joint (Photo 7). Do not remove the remainder yet. 

Look puzzled at this creation; scratch your head. The kids 

will start yelling out ideas of what it is, so acknowledge 

some of their ideas by repeating what they say. “Yes! It’s 

a (whatever the kids say).” After a couple of their ideas 

are acted out, stop and say, “No! I’ve got it! It’s a golf club! 

(Swing it around like a pro and talk about the new flexible 

shaft that helps your swing.) Well, it’s obviously not the Giant 

Tasmanian Purple People Eater – I’ll just get back to that later.” 

Set this balloon aside and go back to the magic show. 

Step 3 – Beak: Inflate the orange balloon, leaving about 

three-inches uninflated. “I am going to make the Giant 

Tasmanian Purple People Eater…first time, every time!” Again, 

the kids should shout about the color not being purple, 

but just go on. Make two six-inch fold twists side by side, 

by taking approximately six inches of balloon and folding it 

back on itself; twist this fold together at the nozzle (Photo 

8). Take the remainder of the balloon and make a big loop 

out of it by taking the uninflated nipple and attaching it into 

the joint of the two fold twists (Photos 9 and 10). 

Ideas will come forward about it being a hair bow, a hat, or 

a fish. Proudly announce that it is any of these objects, then 

3 

8 

4 

9 

5 

10

11 

16 

12 

17 

say, “Well, it’s obviously not the Giant Tasmanian Purple People 

Eater – I’ll just get back to that later.” Set this balloon aside 

and go back to the magic show. 

Step 4 – Legs: The legs are made from a single goldenrod 

260Q (or orange if you don’t have this color). Inflate it fully, 

leaving about one inch uninflated. “I am going to make the 

Giant Tasmanian Purple People Eater…first time, every time!” 

By this point, the kids think you are nuts, but they are 

laughing with you about the color of the balloon not being 

purple. Make a half-inch bubble followed by three threeinch 

bubbles (Photo 11), and attach the three bubbles into a 

triangle (Photo 12). Squeeze the balloon slightly to get the 

air down into the uninflated portion and repeat the same 

four bubbles at the other end. The result will be as shown 

in Photo 13. 

Look at this creation and then suggest what it could be. “It’s 

a phone – can you hear me now? It’s an antenna for a bug. It’s 

a giant smile for a big smiley face. (Hold it up in front of your 

face and smile!) Well, it’s obviously not the Giant Tasmanian 

Purple People Eater – I’ll just get back to that later.” Set this 

balloon aside and go back to your magic show. 

13 

18 

14 

19 

15 

20 

Step 5 – Arms: Fully inflate the black 260Q, except for one 

inch. To make a simple hand on each end, twist a two-inch 

bubble followed by a five-inch fold twist (Photo 14). As 

with the legs in Step 4, squeeze the air in the remainder 

of the balloon down into the uninflated end, then repeat 

making a two-inch bubble and a five-inch fold twist. It will 

look like Photo 15. 

“It’s alien antennae…take me to your leader! (Say this in a 

funny alien voice.) It’s a wiener dog without a head! It’s… 

it’s…” Immediately go to the next step and bring the 

creation together. 

. 

Step 6 – Putting It Together: As you are staring at the 

arms, you need to get excited and say, “Wait, it is the Giant 

Tasmanian Purple People Eater…or at least part of it! Watch! 

(Put the arms down and grab the body from Step 1.) If I take 

the Old Man’s Cane and attach the new flexi-shaft golf club…” 

As you say this, you need to make another three-bubble 

push through using the two white bubbles and a new black 

bubble. Twist a one-inch bubble at the top of the twelveinch 

black bubble and then a three-inch bubble (Photo 16); 

lay the two white bubbles on this black bubble and roll it 


21 22 23 

between them (Photos 17 and 18). While this 

is happening, you need to pop the long part of 

the white balloon. You can make it look like a 

mistake, but you don’t need to. Save the white 

piece if you can. 

“If I add the Alien Antennae…” Take the arms from 

Step 5, and position the center at the base of the 

twelve-inch bubble under the eyes (Photo 19) 

and wrap the balloon around the neck making 

a collar; pinch it together and twist to attach 

(Photo 20). 

“Now all I need is the big smile...” Grab the legs, 

pinch in the center, and attach this joint to the 

bottom of the body at the joint where the tail is 

(Photo 21). “…and if I add the Fish…” Take the 

orange balloon figure and push the joint of the 

fold twists into the base of the eyes (Photos 22 

and 23). To put some shape in the beak, gently 

bend the end of the beak upward toward the 

eyes (Photo 24). Tie the piece of scrap white 

balloon around the neck (Photo 25) and position 

the hands and feet forward – it’s done! “Now that 

is one Giant Tasmanian Purple People Eater! Well, 

maybe it’s just a really big duck!” Draw on the eyes 

as shown. 

If you follow the pictures, you will see how 

simple this actually is. The final product may 

look intimidating, but it’s just another example 

of the Power of Bending Air to make something 

more than anyone had expected. Give it a try 

and hopefully we have enticed you to add a new 

running gag to your children’s shows. � 


24 

25

We have lots of tech stuff to catch up on this month. I hope 

you all read the article about the S.A.M.’s very own iDevice app 

called magicSAM. In just four weeks, the app was downloaded 

to over one thousand devices. If you haven’t downloaded it 

yet, please give it a try. It’s free and available at the iTunes app 

store. If enough people continue to show an interest in it, we 

will work to move it to other phone platforms. 

looKs liKe magiC 

Although I’m not a watch 

guy anymore (why wear one 

– just look at your phone 

or ask someone the time), 

a really cool tech watch 

caught my eye. It evidently 

catches other people’s eyes, 

because everyone who sees 

me wearing it asks me about 

it. The LED watch looks like 

a thick bracelet, but when you 

hit the button, the numbers 

show through. It comes with blue or red LED lights. Although 

it appears expensive, you can get them for a whopping $10! Buy 

one of each. Just troll around eBay and search for “men’s LED 

watch.” While working at the Magic Castle recently, a magician 

of some note was talking to me about all the high priced shows 

he was currently working. I glanced at his wrist and noticed 

that he was wearing one of these $10 watches. Expensive, no. 

Cool, yes. 

liKe KresKin With his PayCheCK 

Are you a traveling 

magician? Do you worry 

about your luggage getting 

lost? I received an email 

from Ryan Oakes, who discovered 

a neat little gadget 

while reading Inc. magazine. 

It’s called the GTU 10. It’s 

a waterproof GPS transmitter 

the size of a lighter. Ryan 

thought it would be a great 

way to track your props if 

you often check them as 

luggage on flights. Illusionists could put one in each case. Just 

stick one in your show case, which sometimes gets “lost” on 

flights and you’ll be able to tell the airlines where it is. An app 

for your phone will track it wherever it is. You can also track the 

device on your computer. 

As a publicity stunt, I immediately thought of planting it in a 

stuffed animal or in a secret compartment of a box; a celebrity 

hides it somewhere in the city and you find it. You can read all 

about the Garmin GTU 10 at www.garmin.com. 

revealing Wonders 

The following two tricks are both 

very clever. They take two different 

approaches to the revelation of a card. 

Both require no forcing of the card. 

I really like Marvel Card. Before I go 

any further, I will say in bold italics that 

it is only for the iPhone with operating 

system 4. It is not for the iPad or the 

iPod Touch. 

A card is freely selected and placed 

face down on top of the iPhone. The 

magician waves his hand over everything and the iPhone now 

shows the selected card. It is that direct. I have to tell you that 

this method has never been done before. As a developer, I have 

to ask myself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Buy a deck of the 

new S.A.M. cards and have fun with this app. You’ll put it on 

your front screen. Marvel Card is available at the iTunes app 

store for $1.99. 

The other app is called the Magic 

X-Ray Card Scanner. A card is 

selected and placed on the table. A 

spectator places her hand over the 

card. You explain that you have an 

app that can take x-rays. Place the 

iPhone over the back of the spectator’s 

hand, press the scan button, 

and an x-ray of her hand appears 

along with a picture of the selected 

card. 

This app works with the iPhone 

and iPod Touch. It will work with 

the iPad, but you’ll have to keep the 

app small on the screen. Once again, a force is not needed. The 

app is slick, and although the method has been used before, it is 

well executed. The Magic X-Ray Card Scanner can be downloaded 

from the iTunes app store for $0.99. � 

Bruce is always on the lookout for computer magic, iPhone/ 

iPod Touch apps, and tech toys that can be used in magic 

applications. If you have any suggestions for future columns, 

write to Bruce at SAMtalkBruce@cox.net. 



The Nielsen Gallery 

Thurston Iasia – Vanished in the Theatre’s Dome 

Dimensions: One-sheet: 27” x 41” • Lithographer: Otis Lithograph Co., Cleveland, Ohio 

Date:1920s • Nielsen Rating: Limited Availability 

As the Roaring Twenties came to a close, Howard 

Thurston desperately needed a new and exciting illusion 

for his Wonder Show of the Universe. Imagine his excitement 

when a forty-five-year old Englishman told him he 

could create an illusion in which a flesh and blood woman, 

suspended from the dome of the theater, vanished over the 

heads of the audience. That illusion, Iasia, is the subject of 

this month’s poster. 

The man who created Iasia was Cyril Yettmah, an 

illusion builder for The Great Raymond and The Great 

Lafayette, and who, from 1928 to 1930, perfected a wide 

range of illusions for Thurston. In the program, Iasia was 

described as, “The unattainable attained. The impossible 

realized.” And for audiences, it must have seemed so. 

Michael Edwards, writing in the December 1999 issue of 

Genii, described the illusion: 

The illusion began with a girl dressed in long flowing 

robes entering a “Hindu prayer cage” – in reality, an 

upright, four-sided skeleton cabinet. Its framework was 

open on all sides; the thinness of its bottom and the narrowness 

of its ornamental top were readily apparent. Slowly, 

the cage with the girl standing inside was hoisted into the 

air and pulled up and out over the heads of the spectators. 

Once above the footlights, there would be a pause in 

its upward journey. At that moment Thurston would intone, 

“Salaam, Iasia – swing forth the old Hindu prayer cage.” 

Again the cage would continue its ascent. The girl would 

lower curtains on all four sides of the cabinet, proving she 

was still inside. 

As the cage traveled over the audience to the theater’s 

top, she would toss Thurston good-luck cards through 

the slits in the curtains to the spectators below. When the 

cabinet finally reached the ceiling, it would come to a halt, 

suspended from the auditorium’s dome with no visible means 

of escape. Thurston, with pistol in hand, would command, 

“One, seven, Iasia, Garawallah go!” A shot would ring out, 

the curtains would drop, and the hinged bottom of the cage 

would fall open. The girl had vanished. 

“She is gone,” Thurston would announce. “Those above 

may look down on the top of the cage. Those below may look 

through the bottom, which is open. She is gone…just gone… 

Every performance I stand here in amazement, wondering 

where she has gone and if she will ever come back.” He’d 

pause and then add wryly, “She always does come back… 

on payday.” 

To vanish a girl on stage is one thing. When a girl disappears 

in the dome of the theater directly above the heads of 

the audience, it’s another matter. The illusion remained in 

Thurston’s repertoire for the rest of his life. 

So, where did she go? She hid in the narrow, decorated 

roof of the illusion. Here’s how it happened. The illusion 

contained a pull-down ladder that allowed the girl to climb 

up into the roof. As she hid herself, the floor of the cage 

slid upward assisted by counterweights concealed in the 

hollow posts of the cage. When Thurston fired his pistol, 

the curtains dropped, the bottom fell open, and the girl was 

gone. 

Thurston thought the illusion was so strong that for a 

time he closed his show with it. However, the disappearance 

was so startling that the audience was frequently too 

amazed to applaud. He later moved it to the penultimate 

spot in the show and closed instead with The Mystery of the 

Water Fountain. 

Not only was this a dangerous illusion, dangling many 

hundreds of pounds of wooden cage over the heads of the 

audience, it was also very difficult to set. Herman Hanson, 

who traveled with the show, recalled that this was the job of 

George White, Thurston’s number one assistant. It involved 

him climbing the catwalks above the theater ceiling 

searching for a girder with a painter’s hole beneath it from 

which to secure the rigging. “The life of the girl assistant 

depended upon it, as well as that of the audience directly 

below, as the cage traveled over their heads. Imagine what 

would happen if the rigging gave way.” 

This happened, in fact, in Youngstown, Ohio, during a 

test performance. The cage with a boy assistant inside fell 

shortly after it swung out over the footlights, smashing the 

orchestra railing and three chairs. The boy was not injured. 

As is so frequently the case, this was not a comfortable 

illusion for the girl. At the end of the trick she had to 

remain crouched inside the thin top until everyone in the 

audience had left the theater. In fact, in Jim Steinmeyer’s 

new biography of Thurston, The Last Greatest Magician in 

the World, he writes that the “girl” who vanished was Thurston’s 

stage manager George Townsend, who donned a wig 

and oriental robe to play the role of the lovely Iasia. 

The original Iasia cabinet was among the ruins of 

Thurston’s show that collectors and historians Mike 

Caveney, Bill Self, and Robert Self found in Gerald Heaney’s 

Berlin, Wisconsin, barn in 1988. Heaney had acquired much 

of Thurston’s illusions, but after years of neglect the cage 

was nothing more than a rusted steel frame. 

Although quite pricey these days, Iasia posters could be 

had cheaply at one time. In the early 1950s Claude D. Nobel 

was offering readers of Genii, The Sphinx, and other magic 

publications single copies of Iasia posters for one dollar, 

two posters for two dollars; three posters or more, seventyfive 

cents each. The same deal was offered for seven other 

now rare lithographs. Who wouldn’t buy them today at that 

price? �

33 M-U-M Magazine

BASIC TRAINING 

Welcome back to Basic Training. This month we are going to 

be looking at a slightly more advanced technique with cards, one 

that has the added benefit of using (for the most part) palming. If 

you can already palm a playing card without too much trouble, 

then this should be no problem for you; but if you are learning to 

palm, or haven’t yet dipped the toe into this threatening (but very 

worthwhile) pastime, then I have some tips and suggestions for 

you as well. The end result is that we will be able to get a selected 

card into our pocket or wallet quickly and efficiently. Once we 

have the mechanics down we can talk about the blocking and 

the attention direction we need to make the effect all that more 

magical. 

Before we look at the palming and loading of a card, let’s have 

a look at what we are trying to achieve. The “plot” of “card to 

impossible location” is – to the spectator at least – very clear to 

understand and usefully passes the “one sentence” test of clarity. 

From our side of the deck, however, it gets a lot more complex: 

What is the final location? How does it get there? How can I do 

this without being seen? How can I prove it was the original card? 

That last point is one of the more important ones, lest we 

get caught out by the Too Perfect Theory we talked about a few 

months back. Let us imagine a hypothetical effect from the point 

of view of a spectator. A card is selected and remembered. It is 

returned to the deck, and then the magician immediately shows 

his hand empty and removes his wallet. Inside the wallet is a card 

that matches the selection. While this effect is achievable (and 

we will be looking at it later), there is one glaring problem with 

the structure: the majority of people are most likely to jump to 

the conclusion of duplicate cards. No amount of protestation by 

the magician will have any effect to dispel this plausible solution. 

If we cannot change their minds after the fact, let’s change them 

before. (And here comes a proclamation that is bound to get me 

some flak.) Whenever you produce a card from an impossible 

location, it has to be identifiable as the original selection. Most of 

the time this will mean being signed on the face, but it can also 

include the “torn corner” ploy. Having that level of confirmation 

at the end of the effect will remove the “it’s a duplicate” solution 

before it has a chance to be heard. 

Palming 

Of course, if we are going to produce a selection from a 

pocket or wallet, there is one particular branch of sleight of hand 

that we must tackle head on. (I know there are a few methods 

for achieving this effect without palming, but none of them is as 

strong as the palming versions. Trust me on that.) Before we talk 


BY IAN KENDALL 

CARDS To WhEREvER 

to those who can (and do) palm, a few words to those of you who 

are just starting out on the road. Palming is one of the families 

of techniques where a lot happens at the same time. Too often 

the instruction for a palm will involve three actions happening at 

once, and the student is expected to muddle through things on his 

own. People who have been reading my column for a while will 

know that this is not how I like to do things, and I would strongly 

suggest finding a tutor who will break things down for you for 

easy learning. Luckily, there are three such teachers out there (and 

I’m excluding myself from this list for reasons that will become 

clear), any of whom would be an excellent choice. 

First off, Editor Mike has a number of options; in Workers 

Three there is a chapter called, simply, On Palming, which is the 

first pedagogical approach to learning palming. A few years later 

he produced a video called The Power of Palming, which is a great 

study aid for the Workers lessons. More recently, there are the 

first three volumes of The Work ebooks series, which expand on 

the two former lessons, combining detailed text, photographs, and 

clear video to help the student learn. (Three years ago, when I first 

discussed this column with Mike, I said that I wouldn’t be teaching 

palming because I felt the perfect lessons already existed. These 

are they.) The second recommended teacher is John Carney, who 

many of you will know as a true master of sleight of hand. He has 

a DVD on palming that can be obtained from his Web site. Finally, 

there is Bob White, who also teaches his approach on a DVD that 

is available from your local dealer. 

Once you have chosen your course materials, you need to 

spend some time actually learning to palm cards. Unfortunately, 

this is not an overnight task – we are talking weeks and months 

(and more likely the latter). Don’t worry, we’ll still be here, so take 

your time and go through the steps one by one. 

The goal, despite not being strictly necessary, is to be able to 

palm from the top of the deck with one hand. If you can palm 

cards already, but haven’t had a go at the one-hand palm, then 

this is worth the effort. The two-hand palm – top or bottom – 

demands some type of motivation for you to come from an open 

into a closed position. (Without that motivation you may be guilty 

of “squaring up a squared deck.”) When you can palm one-handed, 

there are a multitude of justifications you can have for moving 

the deck from hand to hand, and even a small gesture towards a 

spectator with an empty left hand will give you ample time to 

palm a card. One-hand palming is the way to go… 

now What? 

Okay, you’ve palmed a card, and are standing awkwardly,

hoping that no one is going to try to shake your hand. First off, 

think back to the lessons on palming coins from last year. When 

you have an object palmed in your hand, the hand must “die” as it 

falls to your side. If you have a video camera (or even a Webcam 

on your computer), take a two-minute video of yourself simply 

standing still. When you watch it back, pay special attention to 

how your arms hang; there is no tension there, and there should be 

none when you are holding out. Guilt will kill you here, so make 

sure that you have spent a good chunk of your learning-to-palm 

time holding a card and being completely natural as you stand. 

(Many years ago, in a lecture, Editor Mike said that you should 

watch Patrick Stewart in Star Trek to see how a consummate actor 

holds his arms and hands when delivering dialogue.) 

The second thing to watch out for is The Hook. I hope you will 

have dealt with this as part of your lessons, but I’ll briefly touch 

on it again. Look at your neutral video; especially observe your 

hands. Look at how your thumb rests alongside your index finger; 

this is how your hand should look as you palm a card. If your 

thumb is sticking out at ninety degrees from the rest of your hand, 

then you need to work on loosening up a bit. The Hook happens 

for two main reasons. First, you are not relaxed and you have some 

guilt about palming a card; this means that you are concentrating 

too much on the card in your palm, and not enough on being 

natural. It takes tension to hold the thumb out at that angle, and 

once you relax your mind you will find it a lot easier to relax your 

thumb. The second reason is more physical. It’s possible that your 

pivot point is too far back, and the thumb is being pushed out 

by corner of the card, making it uncomfortable to lay the thumb 

against the side of the hand. If this is the case, you need to either 

move the pivot point down, or learn to grin through the pain… 

loading into the Pocket 

Let’s look at the standard effect of producing a card from your 

pants pocket. In many routines the load happens at exactly the 

time it is produced, and this means we have to be extra vigilant 

with our technique and attention management. Unfortunately, if 

we simply stuff our hands into the pocket without any thought, 

most semi-intelligent spectators will discern the ulterior motive 

behind our actions. Luckily, we have a bottle of Eau de Gordon 

Bruce, who has given me permission to teach his excellent pocket 

loading technique. Gordon first published this move in Epilogue, 

buried in a small corner for a couple of paragraphs. Despite this, 

it caught on very quickly, and for many card men it became the 

standard handling. Many years ago Gordon told me that it doesn’t 

work with jeans (you have to be wearing more formal clothes), 

but as you will see in the photos, I’ve had no problem with my 

jeans, although they are probably a bit looser than those from the 

Sixties... 

Begin with your selection palmed in your right hand. If you 

usually use the little finger to anchor the card you will have to 

switch to the index finger just before you go for the load. As the 

card reaches the mouth of the pocket, the lower right corner slides 

in and the middle, ring, and little fingers remain outside, while the 

index finger and thumb go in with the card. The card is pushed 

down by the base of the thumb, while the fingers on the outside of 

the pants provide all the cover needed. Photo 1 shows an exposed 

view of this action. The hand continues down until the index 

finger cannot go any further, at which point it releases the card 

Photo 1 

Photo 2 

enough to slide up to the top edge, where it takes the card and lifts 

it out of the pocket. The three outer fingers move out of the way as 

much as possible so that the image the spectators see is of the card 

being removed at the fingertips – ostensibly there is no way that it 

could have been in the palm in the first place (Photo 2). Everyone 

say, “Thank you, Gordon.” 

francis Carlyle’s homing Classic 

One of the books that everyone who aspires to sleight of hand 

should own is the blue bible, Stars of Magic. A collection of a 

series of pamphlets that were put out in the Forties, it contains a 

gold mine of workable, amazing magic. Meir Yedid has recently 

republished the book with the original photographs (which are a 

heck of a lot better than the ones in my copy!) and he has very 

kindly allowed me to explain to you Francis Carlyle’s classic 

Homing Card routine. Everyone say, “Thank you, Meir.” 

This really is one of the classics. I used it in my Magic Castle 

set in January, and it’s been a mainstay of my working repertoire 

for as long as I can remember. The effect is stunning: a card 

travels to your pocket twice, and each time it is removed with an 

empty hand. There is a very simple set up. You need an indifferent 

card in your pocket to start, back out to the audience. Now, you 

might think it would be a good idea to have the card loaded at the 

start of your show, but experience has shown me that the heat of 

the room, and your thigh, will put a warp in the card that could be 


BASIC TRAINING 

a flag to an observant person. The best solution to this is to palm 

a card while you are talking to your group and casually place it in 

your pocket. If you do this without thinking, or noticing it, no one 

else will. Now, have a card selected and signed, and then control it 

to the top of the deck using whatever works for you. 

Comment that you will make the card fly into your pocket; here 

you can get creative. I usually explain that the card will fly around 

the room umpteen times, following a more and more convoluted 

path, but again, this is a personal choice. As the card finishes its 

path around the room (which I follow intently), I tap the outside of 

my pocket with my right fingers. This serves two purposes; it acts 

as punctuation for the travel of the card, and (because I can feel 

it though my pocket) it lets me check that I did, in fact, preload a 

card. A couple of times, usually when I wasn’t planning to do the 

routine, I have forgotten to and had to go to plan B. 

Assuming you are not as scatterbrained as I was back then, 

you show your hand very empty and reach into your pocket with 

your finger and thumb. Pull the card halfway out, peek down at 

the index in a very obvious way, and announce, “There it is, your 

card!” Photo 3. Push the card back into your pocket and look up 

as if to expect a round of applause. You will get called on this, 

and it is during this moment that you palm the selection from the 

top of the deck and, feigning upset that anyone would doubt your 

Photo 3 

skill, you load and remove the card using Gordon’s method. Turn 

it around slowly, to show that it really is the signed selection. 

Done correctly, there is no way you will not get a good response 

to this, and as you accept the applause, you place the selection 

back into your pocket, again without drawing attention to it, and 

remove the indifferent card, leaving the selection in your pocket. 

(This is why we don’t want a heat crimp in the card. Sometimes 

the selection gets that banana look in half a second; if you get 

a round of applause at this point you know something has gone 

wrong...) 

You are now holding the indifferent card in your right hand. 

Glance at the face, without showing it, and miscall it as the 


selection. Bury it in the deck and offer to repeat the effect. Since 

the selection is already in the pocket, you can milk the production 

for all you are worth! 

I heard an apocryphal story about how Dai Vernon handled the 

reload of the selection, but I don’t know of an official source. Once 

the selection had been produced, he said that he would explain 

how it got there; he moved the card up his left arm, across his 

chest, down his right side, and placed it into his pocket, where it 

was switched. I must confess I’ve never used this handling, preferring 

to load on the offbeat, but you might like to give it a try. 

Plan b 

If you haven’t loaded a card in advance, there is an alternative 

that uses Gordon’s load straight off. It’s not as elegant, but it does 

serve the purpose. The idea is to load the card using attention 

management, and there’s no room for subtlety! The method I used 

was this: I would describe the path of the card, ending with, “And 

it lands in your handbag,” while pointing to a woman on my right. 

I would then pause as if expecting her to look. After a short while, 

aided by a raised eyebrow or two, she would look, and the whole 

audience would turn to see. At this point I would load the card 

into my pocket. Just as she looked I would exclaim, “But it doesn’t 

stop there,” and produce the card from my pocket. I have no idea 

where I learned that presentation, but I’m fairly sure it’s been done 

that way for years. 

There is an interesting story that goes with this. Years ago I 

was preparing a Fringe show and I had some layperson help from 

my friend Stuart. He knew this method for the card to pocket, and 

saw the show a couple of times. On the third show I changed to 

using the Carlyle method, and when I produced the card without 

having gone to the pocket before, there was a collective “Ooh” 

from the audience and a very loud “Eh?” from Stuart... 

the adlib Jacket load 

Occasionally, you will want to produce a card from your jacket 

pocket without having to bother with loading it first. Here is a 

method for doing just this. At the time, I was convinced I had 

Photo 4

Photo 5 

Photo 6 

invented a masterpiece until I showed it to Roy Walton, who 

simply said, “Ah yes, Marlo.” Foiled again. 

Start by controlling the selection to the bottom of the deck. The 

deck is held in an overhand grip in the right hand. Your internal 

script goes a little like this: “The card is in my right jacket pocket. 

CARDS To WhEREvER 

Oh, there it is, so I’ll take it out with my left hand. I’d better hold 

my jacket out to make it easier to get in.” 

Following the lead of that script, here’s what happens. As you 

look to your right chest, your left hand begins to move up towards 

your jacket. Your right fingers curl over the front edge of the deck, 

and as the right hand moves to hold your jacket open the thumb 

lifts up the rear corner of the deck to separate the bottom card. 

(This is the start of the Kelly-Ovette bottom placement, see Photo 

4.) The selection is hooked behind the edge of the jacket as it is 

held open, a few inches below the level of the inner pocket. Photo 

5 shows an exposed view of this. Your left hand enters the jacket 

horizontally, but as soon as it passes the wrist, it bends down and 

the fingertips extend as far as you can to pinch the card, taking it 

from the right fingers. The motion of the left hand is reversed, and 

the card is removed from the jacket, several inches away from the 

deck in the right hand (Photo 6). 

Wallet tales 

One of the most enduring effects for working professionals is 

the Card in Wallet. There are almost as many different types of 

wallets as there are makes of playing cards, and whichever one 

you choose will be another one of those personal choices. With the 

majority of the wallets it is possible to quickly load the card as you 

remove the wallet, but I’ve always preferred to do things in two 

stages. The card is half loaded into the wallet in the pretence of 

removing something that is needed (a pen, wand or, more recently 

for me, the Unbelievably Useful Comedy Prop). The routine 

continues for a moment, and then the hand can be shown empty as 

it goes to the pocket, completing the load and removing the wallet. 

Here’s another cautionary story. For many years I used the 

same wallet for a burned note routine – this involved loading with 

my left hand into the right jacket pocket. Once, I put my wallet 

into my left pocket for a close-up show, but put it in the wrong 

way round, so that the loading slide was against my body. I went 

to load the card, had a wee panic for a second until I realized 

what was happening, and then I dropped the card into my pocket 

to continue. Luckily, the folks at the table were not the most 

observant group; I had time, while they were talking, to go to my 

pocket, get the card and load it on the “wrong” side. The moral? 

Always check your props; before any gig at which I’m using the 

wallet, I always do a dummy load before I start. 

final thoughts 

The Card to Pocket is a wonderful routine that will separate 

the men from the boys (and the ladies from the girls, natch). If you 

can learn to palm adroitly, it’s the perfect effect to use your new 

skills, and is a good, achievable goal if you are starting out. It’s 

a multi-venue effect, working equally well close-up and on stage. 

I hope you are all having a good summer; I’ll see you again next 

month. � 


Louie Foxx 

Earlier this year, I was looking 

around on the Internet for a bullwhip 

that I needed for a western routine I was 

working on. I came across bullwhips.org; 

not only did the whips look nice, but the 

maker of these whips seemed interesting 

as well. I sent an email describing what I 

wanted and then gave a call to the whip 

maker, Louie Foxx. 

To my surprise, one of the first things 

Louie said to me was, “Are you the same 

Steve Marshall who writes for the M-U-M 

magazine?” This delighted me; I was 

happy to find out that he is a magician, 

he’s a member of the S.A.M., and he reads 

this column! 

I have to say that after talking more 

with Louie the term “magician” is a 

little constricting for him, since he is 

really a variety artist in the true sense 

of the word; he uses not only magic, but 

also juggling, shadowgraphy, silhouette 

cutting, whip cracking, comedy and, well, 

just about whatever it takes to entertain 

his audiences. 

He was born Isaac Louie, and still uses 

this name when publishing his material, 

such as his September 2008 and April 

2011 Linking Ring parades. He grew up 

in Seattle, Washington, and by the time 

he was fourteen years old he was street 

performing at Seattle’s famous Pike Place 

Market, where he worked on a homemade 


i LeFt my 

cards at 

hOme 

magic table that he had found the plans 

for in the Mark Wilson Course in Magic. 

While street performing, Louie 

caught the eyes of Sheila Lyon and Darryl 

Beckmann, the owners of the Market 

Magic Shop at Pike Place Market; they 

offered Louie a job working as a demonstrator 

in the shop. “Over the years 

working behind the counter at Market 

Magic I learned so many pointers and 

tips from Sheila and Darryl; I owe a ton 

to them.” Another great thing that Sheila 

and Darryl did was to sponsor Louie to 

go to the first Bob Fitch workshop up in 

Canada when he was nineteen. Louie 

got to spend nine days with Bob Fitch 

studying not only magic but also theatrical 

techniques to make his performances 

stronger. Or as Louie puts it, “This was 

one of the things that changed my life.” 

Another life changing experience 

for Louie happened a few years earlier 

when he was seventeen and he snuck into 

a casino to see the juggling troupe The 

Raspini Brothers perform. He credits 

them for changing the way he looked at 

show business. “Up until that point all of 

the magicians and variety artists I had 

seen were 1980s-style performers who 

used the same lines and did the same bits. 

The Raspini Brothers were cool and hip 

and had original material and lines. It 

opened my eyes to writing my own stuff 

and making it funny. So a lot of my style 

came out of them as well.” 

Louie has gone on to become quite 

successful in the magic and variety arts 

fields. Today he can be found traveling and 

doing everything from school shows and 

summer camps for kids to comedy club 

shows and casinos for adult audiences. 

He builds a lot of his own props and 

describes his character and his show as 

“a bunch of stuff I learned to do as a kid.” 

This theme forced Louie to build a lot of 

his own props. As he puts it, “If I have 

a nice, slick-looking magic prop onstage 

it looks out of place with my character. 

With that thought in mind, nobody makes 

props that look like junk, so I had to start 

building them myself.” 

When asked about his thoughts on 

creativity he said, “Sometimes you have 

to have a lot of bad ideas before you have 

a good one. The important thing is to 

keep trying stuff; don’t listen to anyone 

else if they tell you not to do something. 

A lot of people told me I shouldn’t do 

shadowgraphy in a comedy club, but I 

tried it anyway; today it’s my closer.” 

Some of Louie’s recent accomplishments 

are breaking the Guinness book 

world record by bouncing a soap bubble 

on his hand eighty-eight times, writing a 

book on the Svengali deck that has sold 

over 2,500 copies to date, getting his 

stand-up comedian robot “ROBO” on 

the TV show America’s Got Talent, and 

becoming a “rock star dad.” 

Actually, when I caught up with Louie 

to do this interview he was on the road 

for three days doing summer library 

programs; he had his seven-year-old 

daughter Ella with him performing. “Ella 

has probably done more shows at this 

point than most adult amateur magicians. 

She loves performing with me and is 

constantly coming up with new and 

funny bits for the show.” 

As a matter of fact, we had to 

finish our conversation because it 

was time for Ella’s bedtime story. 

A fringe benefit of working for Dad! 

Facebook 

Prediction 

By Louie Foxx 

by steve 

marshaLL 

effect: You have eight objects on 

the table and a prediction on the back of 

your business card. With the help from 

someone in the audience you narrow 

down the eight items to one (for this 

example, let’s say it’s a watch). You turn 

over your business card to show a barcode 

and you do the classic gag invented 

by Fumio Inagaki of Japan as you say, 

“That’s the barcode for a watch.” 

The barcode is then scanned by 

someone in the audience with a Smartphone 

and it takes him to your Facebook 

fan page where your most recent update 

is: “You will pick the watch.” Of course,

while they are on your fan page you have 

them click the “like” button. 

Working: One of the cool things about 

using a QR Barcode is that you can have 

a barcode permanently printed on your 

business card; by changing your status on 

Facebook you can change the prediction. 

Also, you get the bonus laugh by using 

the barcode gag. To do this, simply have a 

barcode that takes them to your Facebook 

fan page printed on the back of your 

business card. Here’s the front and back 

of my business card (Photo 1). 

To make a QR Barcode simply visit: 

http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qrcode-generator/ 

and enter the URL of 

your Facebook page. 

Before the show, update your 

Facebook fan page to predict whatever 

item you are going to force using the 

PATEO force. Show your prediction to be 

a barcode, and have it scanned to reveal 

your prediction! 

If you don’t know this force, it’s 

simple. PATEO stands for Pick Any Two 

Eliminate One. Start with eight items in a 

row and have a person from the audience 

help you. Have him point to any two items 

in the row; you eliminate one of them. 

Next you pick two and he eliminates one. 

You continue alternating turns this way 

until you have one item left. When you 

are picking the two items, you never pick 

the item you are going to force; when it’s 

your turn to eliminate one, you never 

eliminate the one you are going to force. 

notes: There are some advantages to 

using a barcode over simply writing a 

PHOTO 1 

prediction on the back of your business 

card: 

1. Novelty: It’s visually more 

interesting than just writing “watch” on 

the back of your card. 

2. Production Value: Having the card 

scanned, and having someone read your 

status update will make it play larger. 

3. Bonus Gag: You get the classic 

barcode gag, which you can’t do by just 

writing on the back of your card. 

4. Marketing: It gets someone directly 

to your Facebook page, where you can 

connect with him or her later. 

5. You Don’t Need a Pen: To do this 

all you need is a business card and your 

Smartphone, so you’re set to do this 

anytime. 

I’d also suggest having the barcode 

printed on the back of your business 

card, and having the card printed by a 

print shop. At www.gotprint.com you 

can get 1,000 business cards with a fullcolor 

front and black-and-white backs 

for under $15. You’ll end up with a card 

that’s a higher quality and one on which 

the barcode won’t bleed or smear if it gets 

wet. 

steve’s stuff 

You will notice that this trick is very 

similar to the trick that is printed on your 

new S.A.M. membership card (if you 

have received it already). I began working 

with S.A.M. President Vinny Grosso on 

the membership card effect at the end of 

last year. When Louie sent me this trick in 

April of this year I was really surprised to 

see how similar it was to what Vinny and 

I were working on. I really liked Louie’s 

presentation and the use of Facebook 

though, so I decided to use it here, the 

month after the new membership cards 

came out. It’s a good lesson on how two 

people on opposite sides of the world can 

come up with basically the same idea with 

a different presentation. Thanks for contributing 

this Louie, and thanks for your 

understanding of why I had to hold it a 

few months. � 


JON DORENBOS must be one of the luckiest guys in the 

world. He’s the long snapper for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. 

He’s a magician who performs at some of the best A-list charity 

functions. He is a motivational speaker who presents programs 

for varied groups from Fortune 500 companies to high schools 

all over the country. He is a television personality, often hosting 

feature segments on a number of different shows. He’s a partner 

in a successful framing business. He has a lovely and talented 

wife. He’s got it all…but it wasn’t always like this. Jon has a 

unique story to tell about his life and how he got to this point. 

He was born in Humble, Texas, in 1980. His family moved 

around a lot when he was a kid, finally ending up in Woodinville, 

Washington, just outside of Seattle, when Jon was six 

years old. His dad worked for Microsoft, but he later moved over 

to a new startup company called Oracle. His family was like 

the Brady Bunch. His mom was a housewife who did volunteer 

work and ran the book club at Cottage Lake Elementary. Jon has 

a sister who is three years older than him and a brother who is 

six years older. Everyone in the neighborhood knew and liked 

the Dorenbos family. Jon was really into sports, and as a kid he 

played baseball, basketball, soccer, and football. 

On August 2, 1992, at the age of twelve, he was playing 


football across the street from his house. The dinner bell rang 

and he went home. His dad told him that his mom went for 

a walk with a friend. They ate dinner, hung out, and played 

chess for a while. The next morning, when Jon went to baseball 

camp, his dad told him that his mom had gone to the sports 

club to swim. That afternoon, friends of the family arrived at 

the baseball camp and told Jon that there had been an accident 

and he needed to go with them to the police station. He arrived 

at the police station, but they wouldn’t tell him what happened. 

An officer who knew him through the DARE program at his 

school asked them to let him be the one who broke the news. 

When he arrived, he told Jon that his mom and dad had had 

an argument, he pushed her down the stairs, and she died. His 

dad was being held in jail for questioning. His father pleaded 

temporary insanity and eventually was convicted of seconddegree 

murder and sentenced to thirteen and a half years in 

prison. 

After his father’s trial, Jon and his sister moved in with 

Kathy and Don Robson, who became their temporary foster 

parents. His brother was eighteen and chose not to go with them. 

Jon and his sister were sent to therapy. The therapist decided to 

use experiential therapy and confront the entire situation head

on. As a part of the process, their therapist thought it would be 

beneficial for them to view their mother’s autopsy photos. He 

went as far as getting a court order allowing the private viewing 

of the photos. Jon and his sister drove into Seattle with their 

therapist and were faced with the decision of whether or not 

to view the photos. The therapist told them they didn’t have 

to, but if they did, they would know the truth about what their 

father had done. During the trial it was revealed that his mother 

hadn’t been pushed down stairs; she was beaten to death by 

their father. Knowing this, Jon and his sister opened the folder 

that contained the pictures. Afterwards, the therapist drove 

them out to Puget Sound and Jon stood on the edge of a cliff 

and screamed for forty-five minutes. Jon was actually asked 

to testify against his father in court. He remembers telling the 

District Attorney that if it would help end the trial he would. 

Their mother’s sister, Susan, fought for custody of Jon and 

his sister and they eventually moved in with her in Southern California 

a year later. Jon had made the little league all-star team 

before he moved to Southern California, so he quickly returned 

to Woodinville to play baseball. He stayed with the coach’s 

family and it was there that he saw magic for the first time. 

One of their neighbors was sixteen-year-old magician Michael 

Groves. He did a show for Jon and performed coins across, a 

matrix routine, Roth’s Portable Hole, and a sponge ball routine. 

Jon was blown away and thought it was the coolest thing he 

had ever experienced. Michael saw how happy the tricks made 

him and taught Jon a sponge ball routine. Impressed with how 

quickly he learned the routine, and seeing Jon’s excitement, he 

took him to a local magic shop in Seattle and bought him a copy 

of Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo. Jon studied every word, 

and the more he studied, the more he fell in love with magic. 

Jon’s aunt also saw how Jon loved magic and introduced him 

to the ex-boyfriend of one of her friends, a magician named Ken 

Sands. Jon and Ken bonded quickly, developing a relationship 

that went beyond mentoring: almost a father-son relationship. 

Ken would show Jon magic, but not explain the methods until 

Performing the Floating Rose 

Jon had a chance to work them out. He made Jon work for the 

secrets. More important, Jon picked up on Ken’s style of performance 

and learned at a very early age that magic was just 

a vehicle for communicating with people. This is the hallmark 

of Jon’s performing style to this day. That’s not to say he didn’t 

have other influences. Like many other budding magicians, he 

would videotape magicians on TV and try to emulate them. He 

was uncomfortable speaking on stage, so he worked to music. 

When he was thirteen, he performed Kevin James’s Floating 

Rose in a school show. He was initially perplexed when there 

was no reaction at the end of the routine. He didn’t realize the 

audience was just stunned by what they had seen. A few seconds 

later they burst into thunderous applause. That encouraged him 

to work on another routine for the next year. He virtually copied 

Lance Burton’s Candle routine. He got a great reaction, but Ken 

told him that he couldn’t keep doing other people’s material or 

he wouldn’t grow as a performer. He had to come up with his 

own routines. 

Jon got the message and began creating talking routines 

for stand-up performances. At the same time, he started 

doing strolling magic for an agency that Ken referred him to. 

Although he was only fifteen, he was a big kid and could easily 

pass for eighteen or nineteen. He did magic for corporate clients 

as well as private parties. One of the things that helped him get 

referrals was that he might be hired for one hour, but he’d stay 

for three hours. All of this performing brought him to the realization 

that you can never mess up. The audience doesn’t know 

what ultimately is supposed to happen. It’s all about having fun 

with your magic and making people love it. As his mentor told 

him, “Don’t become what you do; be who you are.” Ken Sands 

owns a magic shop in Orange County and has continued to be 

Jon’s biggest influence in magic and one of the biggest influences 

in his life. 

While living in Seattle, and during all of this involvement 

with magic, Jon was even more involved with sports, playing 

soccer, basketball, and baseball. He particularly excelled in 

Dorenbos snapping a football 


aseball. He was also a big Seattle Mariners fan. When he went 

to the games, he would hang out by the player’s entrance before 

and after the game. He was not an autograph seeker, but just 

liked watching the players drive in and out. One day, Mariner 

right fielder Jay Buhner came up to talk to him. That gave him 

a thrill he would never forget. 

When he moved to Southern California he continued to play 

basketball and baseball. Once he hit high school, he played 

varsity baseball and football as a freshman. This was due not 

only to his athletic abilities, but also his size. He was one of 

the biggest kids at his school, but at age sixteen he stopped 

growing, and all-of-sudden, he wasn’t the biggest kid anymore. 

In his senior year he still played both sports, but thought he 

might become a professional baseball player. 

Upon graduation from high school, he entered Golden West 

Junior College in Huntington Beach, California. He chose G.W. 

after talking with his high school coach, Bill Simpson, about 

pursuing football at the collegiate level. Simpson said, “Never 

stop playing; go where you can play, and someone will spot 

you.” Since Golden West had a 0-and-30 record, he knew he’d 

play right away there. Due to the low number of players on the 

team, he played multiple positions: quick side defensive end, 

outside linebacker and fullback. He decided to transfer out after 

his freshman year. 

A friend at the University of Texas at El Paso told him they 

were looking for a long snapper. Being that Jon wasn’t a long 

snapper, he had to get creative with the film that he sent UTEP. 

Jon had good speed; his buddy Nick Heinle was known for his 

hard hits, and Tim Thurman was the team’s six-foot-six tight end 

and long snapper. Jon combined the highlights of him and Nick, 

added Tim’s long-snapping highlights, and made the ultimate 

highlight tape. He sent that tape to the University of Texas El 

Paso claiming it was all him; after watching it, they offered him 

a full scholarship to be their long snapper. Though he wasn’t 

a long snapper and only six feet tall, he quickly learned the 

position and found he had a real knack for it. When people ask 

Jon what his favorite magic trick is, he replies, “Getting into 

UTEP.” 

He played for UTEP for three years but was under the radar 

for most of those years. No one had really heard of him until 

right before the NFL draft. A friend who was already playing 

in the NFL recommended him to his agent. The agent took 

a look at Jon and liked what he saw. He had to participate in 

Pro Day: the day the team scouts go to all the schools to look 


Performing Card to Mouth for the Cowboys 

TE Jason Witten at Pro Bowl in Miami 

With Rascal Flatts on their tour bus 

over potential draft picks. Jon had a slight problem. He had had 

surgery when he was a kid, and scar tissue continued to form in 

his groin area. He started feeling pain. He actually had a double 

hernia, but due to the scar tissue, it was misdiagnosed. On Pro 

Day, he could barely move. He had been injecting the tendons 

in his groin with cortisone, but it wasn’t healing the injury. He 

got two more cortisone injections before his school’s Pro Day. 

Although he was unable to even jog, Jon passed the lifting test 

with ease, bench-pressing 225 pounds twenty times. But it was 

the forty-yard dash that he was dreading. As Jon lined up to 

run, the head scout yelled out, “Jon, you are not fast, nor will 

you make it in this league because of your speed. All the scouts 

want is to see you snap.” By some miracle he didn’t have to 

run for the scouts. The Buffalo Bills signed Jon as a free agent 

in 2003. When asked what his second favorite magic trick is, 

Jon replies, “Making it all the way to the NFL and never being 

timed in the forty-yard dash, the signature test of all players.” 

He reported to Buffalo on the assigned day and checked 

into the hotel room they had reserved for him. Within a few 

minutes, he got a phone call from Jim Kelly, the former Bills’ 

quarterback, now a Hall of Famer. Kelly introduced himself and 

told Jon that he had heard of his reputation as a magician. He 

explained that he was hosting a charity event the next day and 

asked if Jon would come out and do some strolling magic. Jon 

nearly jumped out of his skin at the opportunity. The next day 

he was picked up at his hotel by a limousine. Kelly got out and 

told him “how stoked” he was to meet him. When he got in, he 

saw that the other occupants were Dan Marino, Joe Montana, 

Drew Bledsoe, Bruce Smith, and Thurman Thomas. One of 

them said, “The Magic Man is here. The party starts now!” Jon 

thought he had died and gone to heaven. He was a hit; since that 

function, he has been on the A-list of requested guests at many 

other such functions. 

During the draft, Sports Illustrated asked St. Louis Rams 

coach Bobby April for his opinion of Jon. April said he 

reminded him of their own snapper and made some suggestions 

of things Jon should work on. Coach April later joined the 

Buffalo Bills and coached Jon his second season in the NFL. He 

really learned the position as he went along. Even so, Jon feels 

he struggled for two years at Buffalo, partly because he never 

felt so cold in his life. During this time, he did get to hang out 

with several prominent local magicians like Vic Trabucco, Dan 

Block, Mike Gallo, and Paul Richards. He also met a man who 

would change the rest of his life, a motivational speaker named

With Dean Dill 

Kevin Elko. 

Elko heard about Jon and his way with people. He approached 

him in the Bills weight room and offered him $500 

to talk for ten minutes at an engagement for a group of bankers 

that was happening at the facility forty-five minutes later. He 

asked him to tell his story and do one trick. When he finished 

he got a tremendous hand. Elko told him that he was in the 

wrong business and offered to groom him to become a speaker. 

When Jon received nearly a hundred letters from those bankers 

thanking him for telling them his story, he realized that Elko 

might be right. The trick he did that day was Timothy Wenk’s 

Misled, the pencil through bill effect that he saw David Copperfield 

perform on TV when he was a kid. Since then, he has 

performed that piece in every talk he has given. Elko groomed 

him to become an accomplished speaker and continues to work 

with him. 

Jon was released by Buffalo after two years. He considered 

leaving football, and went back to California. He talked with 

some friends, who convinced him that he should go into the 

film industry with them. He was about to do that when he got 

a call from his agent; the Tennessee Titans’ long snapper was 

injured. At this time, Jon had missed half of the 2005 season. 

Could he get on a plane and be ready to play on Sunday? He 

caught a jet late that night. The first he saw of his teammates 

was in the locker room that Sunday. He also met Jeff Fisher, the 

head coach, whom he immediately took a liking to. He loved 

playing for Fisher. He also loved the ambiance of the town. 

Music stars Rascal Flatts and Dierks Bentley became friends, 

and he became more involved with Garth Brooks’s Teammates 

for Kids Foundation. Garth said Jon is one of, if not the best, 

card magician he’s ever seen. Anytime Jon meets up with 

Rascal Flatts the first thing they want is a trick. 

The Titans released Jon after the ‘05 season. He didn’t get 

picked up by another team, so Jon spent more time speaking to 

companies and performing at charity events. Eight weeks into 

the 2006 season he got another call from the Titans. The same 

snapper got injured again. He flew in and played with the team 

for two weeks, but was released when the snapper returned. 

He then got a call from the Philadelphia Eagles. Their snapper, 

Mike Bartram, broke his neck. One of Jon’s old coaches had 

given Eagles head coach Andy Reid a big break early in his 

career. When he heard about Bartram, he called Reid and told 

him Jon Dorenbos was his man. Jon had to compete against two 

other players for the position, but his old coach’s recommenda- 

With Sheets, Finney, and Bargatze at Kicks for Kids 

tion gave Jon the edge. He got the job and has been playing in 

Philly since 2006. He made the Pro Bowl in 2010 and the Eagles 

hired Bobby April before the 2011 season, reuniting the two 

once again. 

It wasn’t long after Jon’s arrival in Philly that he met 

S.A.M. PNP Mike Miller (who has a passing interest in sports) 

at a sports show. They really hit it off and have become great 

friends. Through Mike, Jon has gotten together with a number 

of other local magicians and occasionally attends local conventions 

and events as his schedule allows. He has also spent time 

with another Philly sports figure, Pat Croce, former owner of 

the Philadelphia 76ers. Pat is a major magic enthusiast, Houdini 

collector, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker. One of Jon’s 

favorite memories is sitting in Houdini’s desk chair, reading 

Houdini’s personal scrapbook at Pat’s house. 

In all of his time in the NFL, Jon constantly did magic in the 

locker rooms and hotel lobbies wherever he went. He became 

known as The Magic Man of the NFL. His magical exploits 

have been featured on a number of sports related TV shows, 

and he is very popular among his own team’s players as well as 

visiting opponents. He became a regular on a show called Inside 

the Eagles. On this show he interacts with players in the locker 

room, talking, doing magic, or playing locker room baseball 

and golf. They even visited The Magic Castle on one episode. 

Jon won the Mid-Atlantic Emmy for hosting. 

Jon has continued to be very involved with a number of 

charities. He participates in Garth Brooks’s Teammates for 

Kids annual event, The Moyer Foundation, and David Akers’s 

Kicks for Kids. David Akers is the placekicker for the Eagles; 

he started a charity focused on children, after his own daughter 

needed extensive surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

Teaming up with Mike Miller, they organized a fundraising 

event, An Evening of Comedy and Magic, to benefit this 

worthy organization. For the last two years, these have been 

mounted in major performance venues in the city and have 

featured performers like Michael Finney, Stephen Bargatze, 

Bob Sheets, John Cassidy, Denny Haney, and others. 

Jon said that meeting his wife, Julie, is the best thing that 

ever happened to him. Their meeting came as a result of his 

relationship with Kevin Elko. Elko booked him to speak at a 

corporate function for ING. Julie was in the crowd; afterward 

she told her mother what a great speaker he was. Her mother 

encouraged her to contact Jon via email. She did and he replied 

quickly. He asked her if she was spontaneous; she said yes. He 


asked her to dinner. She said yes. Then Jon explained that he 

was in California. She still said yes, but not yet. They emailed 

back and forth, and then started talking on the phone, frequently, 

and for long periods of time. Finally, they started dating and 

yes, Julie did fly to California to have dinner with Jon. Julie has 

a degree in finance and is currently forming her own company. 

Having met Julie on a few occasions, I can tell you that she and 

Jon are ideally suited for each other. They married last year and 

currently split their time between residences in California and 

Philadelphia. Jon travels to California frequently; he is working 

with a major television production firm developing new shows. 

So what kind of magic does Jon perform today? He performs 

on the corporate circuit and at charity events; he performs 

strolling magic and stand-up magic. When you see Jon perform, 

you will see a high energy individual who gets people involved 

and excited about magic. He is instantly likeable and bigger 

than life, but very friendly. He doesn’t set himself out to be “the 

performer,” but more of the kind of guy you just want to hang 

out and have a beer with. He can just as easily relate to a roomful 

of CEOs or to a street gang. Jon says that he never wanted magic 

to be a fulltime job. He sees magic as a way to develop relationships 

with people, either individually or in crowds. He usually 

doesn’t put messages into his effects, but uses magic to grab the 

attention of audiences. It evens the playing field and makes him 

approachable. It is this approachability that makes people take 

what he says to heart. Jon has always viewed magic as an outlet; 

he sees magic as being symbolic of life. 

His close-up work is focused on card magic that is very 

direct. He has excellent technical skills and is really “in the 

moment” when he performs. He incorporates a lot of jazzing 

in his work, taking advantage of situations as they arise. He 

learned several techniques to get out of any situation. These 

tools include a very good second deal, a side steal, and a top 

change. The only gaffed deck he has ever used is an Invisible 

Deck. He prefers to do magic with a normal deck of cards so 

he can perform any of his effects anytime, with anyone’s deck. 

However, the magic is really secondary, because he prefers to 


focus on the people, making them excited participants in the 

magic. 

He also does a lot of motivational speaking. He talks about 

his life and all of the challenges he overcame to get to where he 

is today. When asked what he hopes people take from his talks, 

Jon replied, “Clear your head of all the negative thoughts and 

remove the cluttered. Believe in the ‘magic of vision.’ The only 

person who can stop you is you.” He uses the magic to gain 

and hold the attention of the audience, keeping them involved. 

He often speaks at corporate events for major Fortune 500 

companies, but he frequently speaks at high schools all over 

the country. 

It took a number of years for him to develop his performance 

character, but at this point he can look at an effect and know 

whether or not it will “work” for him. His show packs into a 

backpack and can play in a room for twenty people or an arena 

full of people. Jon said that the expectations an audience has for 

an athlete doing a presentation tend to be “not the highest, so 

if you are decent, you will be very well received. If you really 

know what you’re doing, you’ll get standing ovations.” Jon gets 

standing ovations. This has also allowed him to loosen up as a 

presenter. He comes across as a corporate performer who isn’t 

corporate – no PowerPoint presentation and no shirt and tie. If 

he is asked to wear a tie for an engagement, he starts his show 

with a trick he calls “the disappearing tie.” 

Jon says that he can’t write comedy. His comedy is based on 

situations that arise when working with the audience and the 

material that they feed him. He depends on their actions and 

reactions to create his humor. He is not one to come out and do 

a few self-working effects. His standard opener is the Tabary 

rope routine, which he presents in a very comedic manner. 

It is obvious that he doesn’t take himself seriously, but he 

establishes great chops quickly. He usually performs Martin 

Lewis’s Cardiographic, the linking finger rings, and his own 

version of Scott Alexander’s Shattered. He will take advantage 

of video projection and present Misled and Bill Malone’s 

handling of Sam the Bellhop. He will also incorporate some 

With his wife Julie With Julie at Lincoln Financial field

“special” effects for certain occasions. On the last Kicks for 

Kids show, Jon performed Bobby Motta’s Lethal and his own 

routine for Postcards from Home to close the show. 

The messages Jon delivers are what make him stand out 

as a speaker. Here are a few things that Jon said during our 

interview that I thought were really worth quoting verbatim: 

“My first game in Buffalo, I got out of my car and the 

crowd started cheering. I was so pumped that I ‘threw up the 

deuce.’ Then I realized that Drew Bledsoe was driving by and 

waving to the crowd. The guard said, ‘That’s not for you,’ and 

I said, ‘Thanks, dude.’ But there was one kid I noticed against 

a barricade. That same kid was there in the same spot after 

the game, so I went over to talk to him. That was like my life 

flashing in front of me. In my mind I was Jay Buhner. He didn’t 

care who I was; I was a Buffalo Bill. It wasn’t until later that I 

found out that he was terminally ill. 

“The only thing I learned in high school AP European 

history class came from a movie our teacher showed us. It was 

Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire. In that movie, he sang a 

song called ‘Pick Yourself Up.’ It had such great lyrics and the 

chorus became a motto for my life: ‘Pick yourself up, dust 

yourself off, and start all over again.’ 

“I think everyone is a legend. I looked up to Drew Bledsoe 

when I was a kid. When I signed with Buffalo his locker was 

three down from mine. When we were in there, all he wanted 

to do was to watch me do magic. One day he came up to me 

and told me he vaguely remembered my father’s trial. He said, 

‘Whatever you need, you come to me. I’ve got your back.’ He 

became my hero. Not long after that, I saw how I had become a 

hero in the eyes of some terminally ill kids that I had spent time 

with in Buffalo. It didn’t matter who I was, but to those kids I 

was Drew Bledsoe. Everybody is a hero, but you never know to 

whom, so you always have to be it. Opportunities will come. 

Doors will open. Your influence is way more powerful than you 

know. You can be that guy. People need you to be that guy. With 

great respect comes great responsibility. 

“When I speak at high schools, I tell my story to say ‘here 

is who I am.’ I want to be a great father some day. I want to be 

a great husband and a great friend. I view what happened to my 

family as a textbook of what not to do in life and that has given 

me a great head start. Every day, we have a choice. Do you 

want to make the sacrifices necessary to attain what you want 

in life? Be someone people can count on. When you look in the 

mirror, know that you can count on yourself. Don’t be afraid to 

be on teams. Make yourself so valuable that when you are gone, 

people will mourn. They will remember you forever and your 

contributions to helping them achieve their goals. 

“The best advice I ever got was in my freshman year of 

college from Coach Rowe. He said, ‘This game is not about 

winning. It never was; it never will be. The reason you play this 

game is for the respect of your opponent, the respect of your 

peers.’ This is so true; and the same goes for ‘the game’ of life 

as well.” 

There are some great pieces of advice there; some things 

that make you think about how you and your talents can really 

impact people in many walks of life. It was a tough road for 

Jon, but he has landed in a great place. He’s a caring person 

who generates excitement wherever he goes. He is a great 

spokesman for football, for magic, and for life. � 



over 

How 

Do I HanDle 

Hecklers? 

“You can’t please all of the people all of the time, and last night 

all those people were at my show.” – Mitch Hedberg 

Being young makes you more susceptible to hecklers. 

Obnoxious people are less intimidated by a young magician 

because they can’t separate your skill level from your age. 

“She’s young and she’s doing magic; she can’t be very 

good.” 

But when a magician asks me how I handle hecklers, my 

first reaction is to tell that magician that it’s not the right 

question. Even as a young magician, if people are interrupting 

the flow of your show on a regular basis, it is likely due to 

something you are doing. Let’s see if we can pinpoint some 

“don’ts” to help eliminate those pesky hecklers. 

Don’t be rude to your audience or perform tricks where 

you challenge spectators. Comments like “You’re not paying 

attention,” or “Wrong, the ball is under this cup,” or “See if you 

can catch me on this one,” are lines I hope will die out with the 

old magicians who use them. 

Don’t perform in situations where your audience doesn’t 

want to see you. If someone asks to see an effect over dinner 

but it’s clear that everyone else at the table couldn’t care less, 

then save the trick for another time. 

Don’t encourage negative feedback. Hecklers feed on 

the attention you give them, so don’t give them any. 

wHere Is tHe lIne? 

We’ve talked about how important it is for your magic to 

reflect your life. And it’s critical that you be yourself onstage. 

It’s a natural outgrowth, then, to push the boundaries 

of what you can get away with. And since dating is on 

your mind and the f-bomb is on the tip of your tongue, it’s 

tempting to do off-color magic. Resist this temptation. 

I remember seeing the Amazing Johnathan slay an 

audience with dirty magic; every time he said a four-letter 

word, the crowd cheered. Johnathan is a comedic genius, 

to be sure, but I had to realize that I wasn’t the Amazing 

Johnathan, and I don’t perform in a Las Vegas Lounge. 

Suggestive material is offensive when it comes from 

a younger performer. Some people like crude humor, 

but nobody wants to hear it from a minor. Here’s the rule: 

if the trick would get you into trouble at the dinner table, 

by Joshua Jay 

don’t do it! 

I even discovered certain words that affected the impact 

of my magic. Particularly with kids, there are certain words 

that suggest a harsh or negative emotion; they aren’t “bad” 

words but they sound bad. Even if you’re describing a prop 

or action, you should substitute “stupid,” “dumb,” and “ugly” 

for words like “silly” or “crazy.” 

I’m not suggesting you don’t tell dirty jokes or use fourletter 

words – it wasn’t so long ago that I was fifteen years 

old. But I am suggesting you reserve that material for the 

locker room, and keep it clean onstage. 

egos? 

Magic is about managing egos – yours, your audience’s 

– and how both your ego and your audience’s egos are 

affected by your magic. I’m not speaking exclusively about 

your getting a big head (though let’s not go that route). I’m 

talking about the larger problem that results from being 

young and good, which is this: people will project a big ego 

onto you. 

Whether from a group of jealous friends or older 

magicians, the very sight of you doing magic (and doing it 

artfully) at a young age is threatening to sensitive egos. And 

since magic requires more than a little self-confidence in 

both the way you present your effects and yourself, this is 

easily misinterpreted as cocky. 

What can we do to curb this bitter jealousy? Not much. 

The only ego you have control over is your own. So, be extra 

polite during your shows, don’t show off, and stay far away 

from material that challenges the audience. 

You’ll still hear things and get the occasional hostile 

comment, but here’s a secret you can take comfort in: all 

that jealousy is about how good you are. It’s a compliment in 

disguise! Just don’t let that go to your head. 

David oliver on 

watching Magic shows 

Never sit in an audience shuffling, or practicing with a 

deck of cards (or any other prop). And don’t whisper during 

the show to explain your thoughts on methods, routining, 

etc. Talk after the show or at home where there’s no chance of 

non-magicians hearing you and learning any magic secrets. 

Also, don’t forget to act just like every other audience 

member. Don’t take notes during a performance and definitely 

applaud, laugh, and smile. Never try to force the 

magician to pick you as a volunteer over a non-magician

An Inside Guide for Young Magicians and their Parents 

audience member. It’s better for the magician to have an 

unsuspecting volunteer, rather than someone like you, who 

may not react to the surprises. Sit in the back, relax, and watch 

how the magician handles “real people” and learn from it. 

Respect his or her experience. 

To meet the magician, wait until the show is finished, and all 

of the other audience members have left. Don’t assume that it’s 

okay to go backstage without permission. Be careful how you 

introduce yourself. Wait off to the side, away from any ongoing 

conversation. When the magician is not busy, approach and 

introduce yourself. Ask if they have time for a conversation and 

say that you are someone who’s learning to be a magician. Technically, 

you are still a “magician in training,” because there are 

no “Professional Magicians” at your age (sorry egos). Remember, 

respect equals respect. 

are tHere 

organIzatIons 

tHat can Help? 

Yes, there are two large magic fraternities: The Society of 

American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of 

Magicians. These organizations have clubs that meet in cities all 

over the world. You’ll have to look into which group meets in 

your area. 

The real value in these organizations is the face-to-face 

contact your child will get with other local magicians. There is 

no substitute for personal instruction, and once a month your 

child will have a chance to perform and watch others perform. 

Local clubs sponsor lectures, fundraisers, charity events, and 

banquets. Clubs are an excellent connection for shows and 

a good networking opportunity. If your child is serious about 

magic, he or she needs to be involved on a local level. 

My cHIlD wants to go 

to a MagIc conventIon. 

sHoulD I let HIM 

MIss scHool? 

That’s your call, but my parents allowed me. My grades were 

good and I was serious about magic; other kids missed school 

for their interests (sports tournaments, family vacations), and by 

comparison a magic convention doesn’t seem so unreasonable. 

Magic conventions are clinics on magic, where your child 

will see, learn, compete, and buy magic. But conventions are 

also social affairs, and he or she is sure to make friends and get 

priceless hands-on instruction. If your child is under eighteen, 

plan to go with him; if he is under fourteen, plan to attend all 

events with him. If your child is female, be cautious; remember 

that magic conventions are hundreds and hundreds of guys 

who do card tricks. They’re nice guys, but still… 

Conventions typically provide a spousal rate for 

non-magicians and many even have youth rates. Check your 

local conventions for details. 

Magic conventions – particularly your first – are memories 

magicians cherish forever. My mom and I went to Las Vegas when 

I was young, and everything about that trip was an adventure; 

I look back on it as one of my fondest memories with her. 

woulD My cHIlD 

lIke MagIc caMp? 

Almost certainly. Magic camp is a week where campers 

practice, perform, eat, live, and breathe magic. There are several 

magic camps across the United States, but two reputable 

organizations lead the pack. Each camp is one week in duration 

and offers just one session each summer. 

There are lots of concerns for parents sending young kids 

to another state alone, often by plane. These concerns are legitimate. 

Don’t make any decisions until you talk to the camp 

directors. They’ll provide information on airport pickup, safety, 

diet or medical restrictions. I know the directors at both camps 

personally, and I’m sure each of them would be willing to talk 

to you. 

tannen’s Magic camp 

When I was younger, there was really only one magic camp: 

Tannen’s. I attended two consecutive summers and I reflect back 

on those two weeks as seminal in my magical development. Now 

in its thirty-fifth year, Tannen’s offers in-depth classes taught by 

capable instructors. 

The camp takes place at a beautiful college campus outside 

Philadelphia. There are dorm-style sleeping arrangements, the 

food is served in a cafeteria, and the classes are taught in real 

classrooms. 

Campers take morning classes based on ability (beginner, 

intermediate, and advanced). There are elective courses taught 

in the afternoon on subjects like cards, stage manipulation, 

linking rings, and ballooning. There are shows every evening 

and stage and close-up competitions with trophy prizes. 

Because of its close proximity to New York City, the 

counselors and instructors are made up of the best, busiest 

pros in the business. David Blaine attended as a child and David 

Copperfield showed up unannounced a few years ago. 

The classes at Tannen’s are intense and the week is spent 

almost exclusively indoors. 

sorcerer’s summer safari 

Imagine a magic clinic in a real camp setting: this is Sorcerer’s 


UNDER OVER By Joshua Jay 

Summer Safari. 

This camp was formed ten years ago, long after I was eligible 

to attend as a camper. However, I was invited to be the guest of 

honor in 2002 and I have returned several times in subsequent 

years. I have a good feel for this camp, as well. 

This camp is set two and a half hours north of Toronto, 

Ontario, Canada, at Camp White Pines (where they filmed 

Meatballs). The venue is an actual campground, complete with 

forest, cabins, and a private lake; the scenery is beautiful. 

The “feel” of this camp is much more traditional. In addition 

to magic courses, electives, tutorials, and shows, Sorcerer’s 

Summer Safari offers campers free time for swimming, hiking, 

playing volleyball or basketball, or jumping on the trampoline. 

The instructors at this camp are particularly good with 

children and provide excellent teaching for both the beginner 

and advanced student. 

The instructor to camper ratio here is best, and many campers 

graduate into a “Counselor in Training” program, returning the 

following year as staff. Throughout the week, each camper 

receives lots of personal instruction and help. The electives 

are more specific here, offering workshops on individual tricks 

like Zombie or Linking Rings (I taught one on Ambitious Card). 

Star power at Sorcerer’s Safari is also strong: last year two of the 

biggest names in magic headlined. 

The sense of community is strong at this camp, and 

founders Mike and Jen Segal also offer a spring break reunion. 

They have an email list that provides year-round pictures 

and updates. 


Mike segal on sorcerer’s 

summer safari 

Magic Mike Segal runs Sorcerer’s Summer Safari and has 

mentored numerous young magicians. He’s also a busy professional 

in the Toronto area. And he’s the perfect person to help 

define what sets magic camp apart. 

What does magic camp offer that a convention doesn’t? 

Magic Mike: When Sorcerers Safari started, I honestly didn’t 

know what the differences would be. In the ten years we have 

been running I have discovered many unique features. 

Interaction is a huge part of the camp experience. The counselors 

and magic personalities are not hired to do a show and 

then spend the rest of the time in their room. Camp is a social 

affair, and each camper gets many opportunities to eat, jam, and 

perform with the magicians they read about or watch on DVDs. 

All meals, cabin activities, swimming, etc. are done together, as 

a full camp. No one at camp is passive, and we pull together, 

campers and staff alike, to make it work. 

Camp is longer than a convention, and that gives kids 

and their counselors a chance to form close bonds. Lifelong 

connections are made, and we’re proud to spark friendships 

among campers that carry over long after camp is over. 

And, it goes without saying that the camp is an intensive 

magic training clinic. We all work together to make the next 

generation appreciate and add to the art of magic. �


The Houdini Award 

By Julie Sobanski 

Magic clubs have come and gone, but not many have 

endured year after year. The Houdini Club of Wisconsin 

will be celebrating its seventy-third annual convention this year 

in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Labor Day weekend, September 

2-4, 2011. It’s a convention that, throughout the years, has 

attracted many of the greatest magicians of our time. 

The beginnings of the club can be traced back to 1915 and 

Oshkosh. For many years, magicians in Wisconsin had talked 

about organizing a statewide club dedicated to magic. Five 

magicians started the Houdini Club, named to honor that great 

native son of Wisconsin, Harry Houdini. The name “Houdini 

Club” is not original, because many other towns, including 

Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and others cities, also had that 

name. The Wisconsin meetings were informal, and the membership 

small. The club flourished for several years, but soon 

fell to the wayside. In 1928, two magicians tried to resurrect 

the group, but this club also fizzled within a few years from 

lack of interest and support. 

M.F. Zens, Dr. R.C. Finkle, Frank W. Carter, and Joe Walter 

built on the failed clubs to form the new Houdini Club of 

Wisconsin. It was organized on May 28, 1938, with Joe Walter 

as president, M.F. Zens as vice-president, Frank W. Carter as 

secretary, and Dr. R.C. Finkle as treasurer. At first, the club 

only accepted membership from residents of Wisconsin, 

Chicago, and Upper Michigan, but soon the by-laws were 

amended to take in any eligible magician anywhere in the 

U.S.A. The timing must have been right because the membership 

swelled to a record fifty members. The four men built 

upon the success of the club and organized Wisconsin’s first 

magic convention, which took place in Oshkosh in 1938. 

Quite a bit of newspaper press mentioning the Houdini 


Program of the first Houdini trophy 

Club of Wisconsin and the convention coming to Oshkosh 

can be found in the Oshkosh Northwestern. Headlines 

included girl to lose her head at Convention and Creator 

of famed Charlie mcCarthy is at Convention here. (This 

referred to Chicago’s Frank Marshall, the man who created 

the famous ventriloquist dummy used by Edgar Bergen.) The 

funny article stated, “Frank was the one who carved Charlie 

McCarthy out of a hunk of wood.” Another newsworthy article 

mentioned with the bold headline, magician dies at Convention. 

While it seems like impressive news, it’s not exactly what 

happened. Michael Lauersen, fifty-five, of Kenosha, became 

ill at the banquet and was taken to the hospital, where he had 

a cerebral hemorrhage and died the next day. The report notes 

that those around him were unaware of his illness. 

Ben Bergor 

Art, Ben, and Bess 

The growing membership and the success of the first 

convention had the club hosting another statewide magic 

gathering the next year. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was picked 

to host the third convention in 1940. The membership swelled 

to over two hundred, and a contest of escape acts was added. 

On February 8, 1940, Bess Houdini presented to the Houdini 

Club of Wisconsin a beautiful hand-tooled, engraved-leather 

traveling trophy. It was designed by Edward Saint, the founder 

of National Magic Day. It was a bound photo book that

included photos of Houdini and a letter personally written to 

the club by Bess. 

Bess expressed her deep affection and high regard for 

the magic organization named for her late husband, Harry 

Houdini. This award was not as unique as it might sound. Bess 

donated many “Houdini Awards” to other Houdini Clubs. 

Both Bess and Harry’s brother Hardeen were made honorary 

members of the club. It was decided by the membership that 

the trophy would be awarded for one year to the member presenting 

the best escape act. Bess stipulated that if it should be 

won by a contestant three times, it would become his property. 

The inaugural event was held in the afternoon, outside 

at the Taylor Park band shell. The conventioneers as well as 

the public were invited to attend this free show. The judges 

were the Fond du Lac city commissioner, the chief of police, 

the sheriff, the circuit court judge, and a reporter from the 

newspaper. The participants in the contest were Art “Suicide” 

Hanson of Green Bay, who did a chain escape; Ann Mahendra, 

wife of Doc Mahendra, who did an upside-down straitjacket 

escape while suspended from a cable; and Ben Bergor and his 

wife Alvina from Madison, who did a combination trunk and 

straitjacket substitution. After much deliberation, Ben Bergor 

was declared the winner. The pages of the trophy were leather, 

and the words “1940 – Bergor’s Original Combination Trunk 

and Straitjacket Escape and Substitution” were embossed in 

gold letters. 

The fourth convention was held in Appleton, Wisconsin, 

in 1941; the big draw was the attendance of Bess Houdini and 

her business manager, Dr. Edward Saint. The escape contest 

was won for the second consecutive year by Ben Bergor. The 

leather page of the trophy read, “1941 – Bergor’s Improved 

Original Combination Trunk and Straitjacket Escape and 

Substitution.” The presentation was made in person by Mrs. 

Houdini. 

1942 brought the convention to Whitewater. Two contestants 

vied for the Houdini Trophy: Art “Suicide” Hanson 

and Ben Bergor. The judges were the mayor of Whitewater, 

the chief of police, and the county sheriff. Hanson presented 

a torture belt effect. It took four-and-a-half minutes to chain 

and rope him, but less than two minutes for him to make his 

escape. Bergor improved upon his trick of previous years by 

having his wife Alvina tightly strapped in a straitjacket and 

then placed in a trunk that was securely locked and roped. 

Bergor stood on the top of the trunk and held up a curtain 

covering the trunk and himself. On the count of two, Alvina 

appeared standing on top of the trunk and immediately 

dropped the curtain. The trunk was un-roped and unlocked to 

Bergor and Alvina 

find Bergor tightly strapped in the straitjacket. 

The judges were unanimous and voted Bergor the thrice 

winner. The leather page of the Houdini Trophy says, “1942 – 

By virtue of being adjudged to have the greatest escape act in 

three consecutive open free-for-all contests, Ben Bergor has 

won permanent possession of the Houdini Trophy.” 

Ben continued to be quite active with the Houdini Club 

of Wisconsin; he was made an honorary life member. Right 

before his death in 1981, Ben donated a new trophy to the 

club, the Ben Bergor Escape Trophy. It would be awarded to a 

member who competed and won the Escape Contest. 

The leather bound trophy that Ben cherished stayed in his 

possession until his death in 1981. His family later donated it 

and other artifacts to the Wisconsin Historical Society, where 

it resides and (upon special request in Madison) is available 

to view by historians. The escape trunk, a guillotine, and 

a signboard of Ben’s show are on display in the Wisconsin 

Historical Museum in an exhibit called “Odd Wisconsin.” � 

for more information about the houdini Club convention 

visit our Web site at www.houdiniclubofwisconsin.com. 

[A special thank you to Dr. Richard O. Mossey, Ellie Bergor, the 

Houdini Club of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and 

the Conjuring Arts Research Center for research assistance.] 


Lucille Pierce 

and the Sorcerer’s 

Apprentices 


By Tom Ewing 

Digital Photo Restoration by Gene Voshell 

A 

s all fraternal magic organizations know, 

a promising future depends on the ability 

to attract and retain young people to the 

hobby. Currently, the S.A.M.’s Society 

of Young Magicians (S.Y.M.) is a shining 

example. 

Over the years, there have been many efforts aimed at helping 

young people develop in the art; several have arisen from magic 

shop owners. Take for example the personalized approach of 

Baltimore magic shop owner Phil Thomas, who offered personalized 

tips, suggestions, thoughts, and guidance in lengthy correspondence 

he conducted with budding magicians. 

In the Midwest in the early 1930s there was Vernon Lux, 

first president and founder of the International Society of Junior 

Magicians. Some of the young magicians he helped develop 

and who later became famous in the magic world include Harry 

Riser, Jimmy Grippo, and Neil Foster. Later clubs included the 

American Magical Society, Lads of Legerdemain, Magic Youths 

International, Young Magicians of America, and others. 

In the 1940s in Philadelphia, the person who shepherd- 

ed young magicians was Lucille Saxon. She was a talented 

magician, puppeteer, and manager of the Philadelphia branch of 

Holden’s Magic Company. The group she formed and supported 

was appropriately named, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentices.” 

Saxon was born Lucille Pierce in Boston, and graduated from 

Briar Cliff College and Columbia University with a major in 

chemistry. After graduation, she gave up scientific pursuits and 

in 1928 joined up as an assistant for Harry Blackstone Sr. She 

was married to another Blackstone cast member, Frank Luckner, 

who served as prop master and onstage assistant for the show. 

During their time with the show, Lucille and Frank had three 

children, Todd, Pamela, and Judy; they divorced in 1935. 

Frank continued on with Blackstone until 1939, when he married 

another cast member, Bernadotta “Bunny” Smith, who was the 

levitated “Princess Karnac,” and left to pursue his own magic 

career. Lucille had already struck out on her own. Their children 

eventually went to 

live with Luckner’s 

parents in Corning, 

New York. In 1943, 

Lucille landed the job 

managing Holden’s 

Magic Shop in Philadelphia, 

a position she 

held until just after 

World War II. 

Perhaps it was 

the fresh supply of 

youngsters hanging 

around the Holden’s 

shop at 117 South 

Broad Street, or 

maybe she missed 

her children, but 

regardless, she 

soon founded the 

Sorcerer’s Apprentices. 

The club was 

created for aspiring 

young magicians 

fourteen to eighteen, 

ages at which they 

Holden’s Catalog 

were too young to join the local S.A.M. or I.B.M. clubs. Of 

course, there were also exclusive adult groups in the city 

like The Houdini Club and The Yogi Club, but again, not for 

youngsters. 

Not surprisingly, members of her club benefited greatly from 

her operation of Holden’s and her connections in magic. The 

group initially met at the Y.M.C.A. at Broad and Arch Streets in 

downtown Philadelphia, and later at the Sylvania Hotel, across 

the street from her shop. In its later years it met in an office 

building on Arch Street. The club was open to all interested 

youngsters, but the first demand she made of her students was 

commitment. Members could miss a meeting for personal or 

emergency reasons, but miss two in a row and they were out. 

While other clubs for young magicians focused on learning 

and swapping tricks, Saxon also offered her members wellgrounded 

instruction on such things as making a nice appearance, 

interacting with and managing your audience, getting 

applause, and the art of stage presentation. Magic tricks were 

certainly taught and learned, but Saxon believed performing 

magic required the development of well-rounded entertainers. 

She was also connected with the stars of magic and personal 

friends with Dell O’Dell, Jack Gwynne, Tommy Windsor, Al

Holden’s Magic Shop 1944 

Baker, John Mulholland, and many others. When these entertainers 

came to town, they frequently stopped in Holden’s to 

visit Lucille; since many of them were performing nightclub 

shows, they took the opportunity of attending early evening 

meetings of the Sorcerer’s Apprentices. It was for this reason 

that the young men had the opportunity to meet Senor Mardo, 

Cantu, and others. 

Each year the Sorcerer’s Apprentices presented an annual 

show at the New Century Club, an exclusive women’s organization 

at 1520 Chestnut Street. The organization formed shortly 

after the close of Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition and 

served as a place where women could meet, socialize, have guest 

speakers and entertainers, and learn. They also had an elegant 

stage in the drawing room of their mansion. 

During the fourth annual show in 1949, member Jacob 

Needleman recalls that the elegant stage almost burned down 

when member David Ross magically produced a bowl of fire that 

set the curtains ablaze. Club members formed a bucket brigade 

that doused both the fire and the first few rows of the audience. 

Needleman, a noted author and professor of philosophy at 

San Francisco State University, wrote a fictional novel based 

on the club called Sorcerers. Many of the characters are loosely 

based on members of the club, including Lucille, who, in the 

novel, is the “enigmatic and beautiful Irene Angel,” a mentor of 

the young magicians. Needleman never met Lucille, but he still 

recalls a beautiful professional portrait of her doing the linking 

rings that hung on the wall of Holden’s Magic Shop. 

Other members of the club included at one time: Walt Hudson 

the noted magician, sideshow authority and author Rod Ware, 

Henry Perkinson, Dave Rosenbaum, Don Mechlin, Chuck Sovel, 

Jack Key, George Copes, Howard Rice, Paul Voight, Billy Bishop, 

Dick Hagy, Ben Brenner, and Bill Yeager, who billed himself as 

“Pep Williams.” Williams was a designer for Westinghouse and 

served as treasurer of Assembly 4 in the mid 1940s. 

Over the years some thirty different boys were members of 

the club. Her compatriot in running the club was a local magician 

named Jim Kilip, who performed in Chinese costume and billed 

himself as Chang Kuo Lao. Kilip used magic to promote health 

and good nutrition in Philadelphia public schools. 

When not helping young magicians develop, Lucille appeared 

both locally and nationally as an accomplished sleight-of-hand 

artist, being one of the few persons who could execute a triple 

cut with both hands at the same time. During World War II she 

performed for wounded soldiers in area hospitals. She was an 

accomplished artist and puppeteer and designed outfits for her 

characters. Lucille also appeared frequently on the local annual 

I.B.M. and S.A.M. stage shows and throughout the 1940s served 

as secretary of both local chapters. 

In September 1944, Saxon appeared at the annual Abbott’s 

Get-Together. The Sphinx carried a review of the show and 

featured a photo of Saxon on stage. Always with a sense 

of humor, she used to advertise herself by distributing a 

p r o m o t i o n a l 

giveaway in the 

form of a small 

manual titled, 

“What Men Know 

about Women.” 

Upon opening it, 

the reader discovered 

it was filled 

with blank pages. 

She also married 

a local magician 

named Rudy Saxon 

who, in addition to 

doing regular magic 

and ambidextrous 

writing on a large 

chalk board, went 

on to become one of 

the nation’s leading 

Jim Killip 

mentalists in the 

1950s and 1960s. 

Saxon had also been 

an assistant on the Blackstone Sr. show during the same time 

Lucille was on the show. She also kept in frequent touch with 

her children, especially her youngest, Judy, to whom she sent 

detailed letters emblazoned with hand-drawn fairies and princesses 

and fanciful artwork. Judy still treasures a sketch book of 

doll clothing designs her mother drew. 

Although she left Holden’s in 1945, Lucille continued to 

operate her Sorcerer’s Apprentices group; the April 1946 Linking 

Ring mentions that she and her boys attended the third annual 

picnic of the Allentown Society of Magicians/Ring 32 at Dorney 

Park. 

Eventually Lucille left Philadelphia and returned to Corning, 

New York, where she became increasingly ill. A lifetime smoker, 

she succumbed to lung cancer and died on November 10, 1948. 

Magic publications of the time carried her obituary and mourned 

the loss of a talented magician and mentor. 

Today, the care and development of young magicians in the 

Philadelphia area lies with Arlen Solomon and the leaders of Bob 

Little S.Y.M. Assembly 96. Begun in November 1991, the club 

currently boasts twenty-five members and over the years has introduced 

magic to more than 150 youngsters and their parents. 

They have also been assisted by members of Assembly 4, who 

have generously volunteered, lectured, and donated magazines, 

books, and props for these budding magicians. 

Although few of Lucille’s students remain today, those who 

do recall a warm and wonderful woman who cared deeply for 

both the young magicians she trained and the art of magic. At 

a time when magic clubs were exclusive, hers was inclusive. 

No doubt, when she looked in the bright eyes of her students, 

she saw the future of magic. So do we today at every S.Y.M. 

meeting. � 


James shares an entertaining tale from the performing lives of professional magicians. 

These stories illustrate various tricky situations that working pros have found 

themselves in and how they handled them. 

When Washington, D.C.’s Turley the Magician is not entertaining 

audiences, he enjoys reading philosophy and exploring 

the meaning of truth. A student of Aristotle and Aquinas, he 

admits that he is not a fan of popular culture; he steers clear 

of the celebrity-obsessed tabloid media. Turley is erudite and 

thoughtful, with no interest in the superficial. As you will read 

in a moment, he was the perfect man for the job. 

“I have an arrangement with concierges at several major 

hotels around town,” Turley explains. “If a hotel has a VIP 

guest who requires a children’s entertainer, I get a call. There’s 

an unspoken understanding that I never ask who the guest is, 

and they almost never tell me.” 

Turley is an egalitarian. He offers the same great show at 

the same price no matter who the audience is. The rich and 

famous receive no different treatment from him. Whether the 


The inimitable Turley the Magician! 

kid is living in the inner city, in the suburbs, or in a royal palace, 

he or she will have the same Turley experience. In most ways, 

however, the lives of the privileged bear no resemblance to 

those most of us lead. Turley remembers once performing for 

three children who were outnumbered by bodyguards five to 

one. An entire hotel floor had been rented out for their stay. He 

had no information about the family, but the person who booked 

him for the show later informed him that the kids were Osama 

bin Laden’s grandchildren. This was in 1993, long before bin 

Laden became the most infamous household name in the U.S. 

The booker also related to Turley how the children were taken 

to Toys “R” Us for a shopping spree like no other. The store was 

closed for their privacy and they were given free rein to buy 

whatever they desired. As the entourage left the store, one of the 

children saw a homeless man nearby. He asked his bodyguard 

if he could give the man some money. The bodyguard said he 

could. The child went over to the homeless man and gave him 

$800 in cash. 

One day, Turley received a call from a concierge at a luxury 

hotel who asked if he could come down and put on a show 

for some special guests. There would be approximately half a 

dozen children. Turley agreed and turned up at the hotel. As 

usual, he had no advance notice of whom the audience would 

be. He knew they were extremely wealthy because they had 

rented out the entire hotel floor. When Turley was shown into 

the room, he saw that there were indeed six children of varying 

ages. There were also several adults milling around. 

“There were four people who appeared to be nannies. Two 

of them were holding infants in their arms. The other two were 

watching the older kids. There was one guy who looked like 

security. There was a man sitting on the floor with the children. 

I thought he must be the father. Then there was a woman with a 

camera taking photos whom I assumed was the mother.” 

As Turley began performing, he had to adapt his show to the 

small space of the hotel room, performing routines on the floor 

with the kids when necessary. The children responded with 

laughs and delight, as did the father. Throughout the act, the 

camerawoman kept snapping away. 

When Turley performs at kids’ parties, the birthday child 

receives a number of gifts, including a handmade cape identical 

to the one he wears, along with a top hat and funny round 

glasses, all of which transform the child into a mini-Turley. In

this case, he had brought a cape for each child. After the 

show ended, the kids scrambled into their Turley wear. The 

father, too, insisted on his own gear, donning the top hat and 

glasses and posing for pictures along with the kids and the 

magician. Turley had also brought along copies of Woodrow 

the White House Mouse, a children’s book that features a 

character based on him 

performing at a White 

House party. 

None of the people in 

the room were familiar 

to Turley. Nothing about 

the circumstances or the 

faces rang a bell. What 

he did know was that 

his audience enjoyed 

the show thoroughly 

and had a fun afternoon. 

Mission accomplished. 

When he arrived 

back home, Turley’s 

wife Makiko was 

naturally curious about 

the mystery guests. “So 

who were they?” she 

Turley in Woodrow the White 

House Mouse 

asked. 

“Well, I don’t know,” 

said Turley. He recalled 

the scene. “There were 

six kids. They looked like they came from all over the 

world. There were two Asian boys, a little girl who looked 

Ethiopian, a little Caucasian girl, and two babies. The dad 

had a goatee. And there was a dark-haired woman taking 

pictures.” 

Makiko was incredulous. “That was Brad Pitt and 

Angelina Jolie!” 

The next time Turley was in a grocery store, a quick 

glance at the magazine display confirmed that the large and 

diverse family he had met was the globe-trotting Jolie-Pitt 

clan. 

Of course, the Jolie-Pitts couldn’t know that Turley had 

no idea who they were, but it must have been refreshing to 

be around someone who treated them as though they were 

ordinary parents, who did not act obsequious or obnoxious 

or star struck. In what surely must have been a first for the 

family, Turley performed his entire act and left the hotel 

without any evidence of his time with Brad and Angelina 

– not one photo, not one autograph, no endorsements or references. 

His brush with celebrity superstardom hasn’t changed 

Turley. His intellectual and spiritual pursuits continue. 

He is currently reading the works of Thomas Merton, a 

Trappist monk known for his ruminations on social justice 

and pacifism. Although he prides himself in not following 

the herd and is proud of the fact that he didn’t recognize 

Brangelina, Turley does now make a point of perusing 

tabloids in the checkout line “just to keep up.” 

Do you have an interesting story for the Pro Files? Send me 

an email at james@jamesmunton.com. 


QUICK LOOK BOOK NOOK 

Barrie Richardson has established an enviable reputation 

as one of magic’s finest creators of mental effects. His first two 

books for Hermetic Press (Theater of the Mind and Act Two) 

were highly praised. Mr. Richardson completes his trilogy 

with Curtain Call, which features the full details of his entire 

professional act, dozens of wonderful tricks, routines, and tools 

for the mentalist, and concludes with a unique piece that always 

brings a strong emotional response and a spontaneous ovation 

from his audiences. 

As the following two routines aptly demonstrate, Mr. 

Richardson is a master at achieving memorable mysteries by 

simple means. My thanks to Stephen Minch and Hermetic Press 

for allowing M-U-M to publish these excerpts. —michael Close 

mesmer’s Pencil 

In Theater of the Mind, I presented an effect in which a woman 

could not lift an ordinary wooden pencil (Pencil Pusher, p. 71). 

This was a demonstration not of hypnosis but of the power of suggestion. 

Over the past decade, this effect has been presented by 

notable mentalists in North America and in Europe. I have added 

two additional phases to this routine, either of which can be done 

alone or in combination. I have also changed the script and, lastly, 

I have given more specific details on how to tie the threads. 

This is one of those rare pieces that can be done for a single 

person or on stage in a large theater. There is no preparation, and 

all that is required is a sharp pencil, a small invisible gimmick, 

a cooperative helper and a significant amount of stage management. 

It is imperative that the performer establish a friendly yet 

authoritative relationship. There should be the feeling that this is 

an experiment in which failure is a possibility and that success 

is largely dependent on the special abilities of the volunteer. The 

volunteer’s reactions are what make the demonstration so believable, 

and this requires guidance and frequent public affirmation 

of the helper’s success. 

effect and Presentation: 

Phase i 

“Have you ever heard of Anton Mesmer? Mesmer was born 

and educated in Switzerland, and he set up his medical practice 

in Paris in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He believed 

that a psychic ether pervades all space and that this energy flows 


excerpt from: 

Curtain Call 

author: Barrie Richardson 

description: Hardbound 

with dust jacket, 251 pages 

available from: 

www.HermeticPress.com 

through all bodies. 

“He further asserted that sickness and body pain were caused 

by a blockage of this natural flow, and he developed several 

remedies using magnets and hands-on massage to reduce pain 

and promote healing. 

“His spectacular ‘cures’ became the talk of society, and King 

Louis XVI offered him a life-time pension to keep him in France. 

“Mesmer’s patients were mostly wealthy, attractive women 

who had what we might now call psychosomatic illnesses and 

repressed sexual anxieties. 

“Like a modern stage hypnotist, Mesmer discovered the value 

of not accepting all patients. Only those who could supposedly 

control the flow of energy with their own body were accepted as 

patients. 

“Anton Mesmer would have the prospective patient undergo 

tests such as the ones we will try. 

“I need a volunteer. Ideally I would like to have a woman who 

has had natural childbirth training. If not, I would like a woman 

who has a vivid imagination. The experiment will be enjoyable, 

and the helper will receive a special gift.” 

An attractive woman, Carol, comes forward. 

“Let’s assume you are a prospective patient and I am Dr. 

Mesmer.” The performer freely shows a common yellow wooden 

pencil. He places it on his open left hand, with the point resting on 

the middle finger and the eraser on his palm. 

“Please open your right hand – and relax.” The performer 

takes the woman’s right wrist and holds her open hand five inches 

above the pencil. 

“Now I want you to feel that you have the power, due to the 

animal magnetism that flows through your body, to adjust the 

dormant energy in this pencil.” 

He slowly moves her open hand three or four times over the 

pencil. 

Then...the eraser-end of the pencil starts to rise. 

“Strange. Stay focused.” 

A few more strokes and the pencil pivots upward two or three 

inches. 

There are obviously no threads or magnets. 

“Now reverse the flow.” The performer slowly moves Carol’s 

open hand backward over the raised pencil, reversing the flow. 

Ever so slowly the pencil lowers back onto the palm where it 

started. 

“Will you please lift the pencil off my hand?” 

Carol does so without the performer making any motions or 

adjustments. 

Phase ii 

“Carol, you are doing a wonderful job. Would you like to try 

another experiment?” 

She nods affirmatively. 

“Please ignore the audience. Forget they are here. Follow my 

instructions and concentrate on the images I will give you in a 

moment.” 

The performer places the pencil on his open left hand, with the 

eraser pointing to his right. Carol is standing at his right. 

“With your left hand, grip the pencil between your thumb and 

first finger. Good! Now relax and shut your eyes. 

“Relax. Listen to my instructions. Carol, I want you to be successful. 

Use your immense creativity to imagine the pencil you 

are gripping is not a pencil. Imagine it is a metal bar. The metal is

from another planet. It is a hundred times more dense than iron. 

The pencil you are holding must weigh thirty pounds, not one 

ounce. Can you imagine that? Don’t open your eyes. Keep the 

image in your mind. 

“Try now to lift the thirty pound object. [Dramatically] You 

can’t lift it. It is too dense. Your mind sees it, senses it. It is getting 

even heavier. Try a little harder! You can’t lift it. Keep your eyes 

closed. Say out loud to the audience, ‘I can’t lift the pencil.’” 

She says with emotion, “I can’t lift the pencil.” 

“Relax. The others aren’t sure what’s happening. Since your 

eyes are closed, you may think I’m stopping the pencil in some 

way. Try! Remember, you believe it is thirty pounds. Now open 

your eyes.” 

She does. Her hand may be shaking. The pencil is there, 

resting on the performer’s hand. There is nothing constraining it. 

Her face shows wonder. 

“Please close your eyes again. Let’s change the image. The 

pencil is now not thirty pounds; instead, it’s as light as a butterfly. 

Use your mind. Release the weight. There is a butterfly weight in 

your hand. Lift.” She does. 

“Higher! Make it float up like a butterfly.” She does. 

“Open your eyes and take a bow.” 

Phase iii 

“Let’s try the most difficult test.” 

Saying this, the performer removes a small envelope from his 

breast pocket. He opens it and removes a three-inch feather. He 

blows on it. 

He once more places the pencil on his open left hand. 

“Carol, forget the audience. Concentrate on my instructions. 

“This feather will gain weight when I put it on my palm. It will 

weigh thirty pounds. You must create this image.” 

The feather is placed across the center of the pencil. 

“Carol, this time you will use both hands, but the feather will 

be dense and so heavy it virtually locks the pencil down. You will 

not be able to lift the pencil. 

“Now grasp the pencil with the thumb and first finger of your 

left hand, near one end, and grasp the other end in the same way 

with your right hand. 

“That’s perfect. Now close your eyes. 

“Use your immense imagination. Direct your mind to making 

the pencil immovable. Try, gently, to lift the pencil. Now try 

harder.” 

Her face shows a mixture of astonishment and self-congratulation. 

“Open your eyes.” 

She shakes her head in wonderment. 

“Relax your grip. The feather is now as light as a...as a feather. 

“Gently lift the feather with your right hand and blow on it. 

Now, with your left hand, lift the pencil into the air – and take a 

bow.” 

She does, and the audience applauds. 

“Mesmer would want you as a patient, and just as Dr. Mesmer 

did, I invite you to keep the feather and the pencil as reminders of 

the invisible forces in the universe and – most important – in you.” 

method: 

Phase i – the rise 

The solution to this perplexing demonstration is a hidden loop 

of invisible thread on the first joint of your left middle finger. 

I originally used the 

common “invisible thread” 

sold in fabric shops. It is 

made of strong nylon; and as 

you will soon see, I still use 

this in the second and third 

phases of this routine. This 

works fine, and I wear one 

tight loop on my left hand. 

I have recently discovered 

an even thinner nylon 

thread, which you may wish 

to try. Also a sewing thread, 

it is called Wonder Invisible 

Thread and is made by the YLI 

Corporation in Rock Hill, SC. 

This clear thread is listed as size 

.004 and comes on a spool holding 

1,500 yards. There are, no doubt, 

other similar threads available. Any 

“invisible” nylon monofilament sewing thread 

should work. 

After trying many options, I have found 

the simplest way to tie the loop is the best. 

Cut off about eighteen inches of thread, 

double it and tie a single over-hand knot in it, 

forming a one-inch loop in the middle. Slip your 

left middle finger into the loop and pull the single 

knot fairly tight at the crease of the outer joint. 

Because the thread is nylon, even though there 

is only a single knot, it will hold. (If you doubt 

this, there is little harm in tying a square 

knot instead, although this knot is slightly 

more visible.) 

The loop should fit your finger 

like a snug ring, without being 

harmful. When you turn your 

hand over, you may see 

a mark where the loop 

circles the knuckle. 

Finally, snip off the ends 

as close to the knot as 

possible. The nylon 

loop is “permanent.” 

You wear it day and 

night, so you are 

always ready for this 

demonstration. 

The pencil is ordinary 

but must be sharp. The 

point will squeeze just 

under the tight loop. You 

want only the tip – the 

smallest length you can dependably 

use – engaged. 

To cause the eraser-end of 

the pencil to rise, very slightly 

straighten the middle finger. 

Properly done, this action is 

imperceptible. 

After you lower the pencil 


QUICK LooK BooK NooK 

back to its original rest position on your palm, a slight movement 

of the middle finger toward the palm will release the point and 

allow the pencil to be freely lifted away. This is a surprisingly 

simple action, which is done openly. 

Phase ii – the heavy Pencil 

This demonstration uses another loop of thread. This is a loop 

of the standard clear nylon sewing thread. Some magicians have 

told me they use one-and-a-half-pound fishing 

line, which is also very light. 

Tie the loop in the same manner 

taught above. Once again, the thread 

must be snug on your finger, without 

constricting blood flow. This 

loop goes at the crease of the 

inner joint of your left middle 

finger; and like the first loop, 

you will wear it always. When 

preparing for the heavy-pencil 

test, you squeeze the pencil 

under this hidden loop, and let it 

lie in a perfectly normal position 

on your hand, with the eraser end 

pointing to your right. 

The loop may rest a few inches past 

the point of the pencil. 

This works. 

However, you may also place the 

pencil across your open palm, with 

the loop engaged near the center 

of the pencil. Turn the pencil so 

that the printing on the pencil 

faces upward. The print helps to 

hide the thread. Even a careful 

observer cannot perceive it. But 

there is no careful observer in 

this routine. 

If the woman holds the 

eraser end between her thumb 

and first finger, the pencil will remain 

secure and unliftable. It will take a little 

practice to learn how to position it. You 

may have to move the eraser end forward 

an inch or so to get a secure hold. 

When you remove the pencil, do not pull 

it rightward to free it from the loop. Rather, use your right fingers 

to grasp it, hold it steady and, as you patter, move your left hand 

sideways. This cleanly releases the pencil. It’s a small thing, but it 

adds to the appearance of total fairness. 


Phase iii – the feather test 

A few years back, I got a phone call from Chuck Smith, a 

brilliant professional magician. He has a reputation for fooling 

everyone, even the most knowledgeable magicians. 

Chuck asked if I would give him my permission to use the 

heavy pencil test in his program. 

“Of course,” I said. “It is published and therefore available for 

use.” I thanked him for the courtesy of his call. He then asked 

for my address, as he wished to send me some of his material. 

How gracious, I thought. Before he hung up, he told me how he 

used a small feather to “add weight.” This did two things. First, it 

completely covered the loop; and it made everyone focus on the 

feather. What a clever man Mr. Smith is. 

The third phase is much like the second. However, I raise 

my left hand to the height of the woman’s shoulders. Her lifting 

motion is made more visible to the audience, and it is diminished. 

This prevents her tugging strongly upward, since she is forced to 

lift with the fingers of both hands, rather than with her arms. 

There you have it. It isn’t a spectacular illusion, but it holds 

the attention of audiences and directs attention to the unexpected 

mesmeric talent of your helper. Best of all, it doesn’t seem like a 

trick. 

P.S. The hidden loop of thread used for the rising pencil can 

also be used to make an ordinary fork rise. This can be done 

in a restaurant without any preparation. The thread, though, is 

more likely to break, due to the greater weight of the fork and the 

thickness of its tines. On the positive side, the fork rises higher 

than the pencil, thanks to its curvature, and it does look very 

spooky. 

The Magician – Summer 2007 

symbologic revisited 

This routine is one in which the participant is successful in 

intuiting the colors of unseen objects. The experiment is done 

first with three choices and then repeated with five. The second 

matching is the more dramatic and, if desired, can be performed 

without doing the first phase. 

Effect and Presentation: The performer opens a small purse 

and dumps ten quarters from it onto the table. There are round 

stickers on the tails sides of all ten coins. These stickers are 

colored to make two corresponding sets of coins, each set consisting 

of a red, a white, a blue, a green and a yellow coin. 

“Marked coins like these are used in statistics courses to demonstrate 

how most of us incorrectly estimate the probability of 

events. Let me show you an experiment.” The performer pushes 

three of the coins to a woman sitting opposite. Assume they are 

red, white and blue. He picks up the three matching coins and 

hides them from view in his left hand. He next removes one and 

places it colored-side down on the table, so that no one can discern 

the color. 

“Your job is to use your intuition and try to guess the color 

on this coin. Simply push one of yours forward to declare your 

choice.” 

The woman pushes one across the table; say, the white one. 

The performer sets it, colored-side down, on top of his quarter. 

This procedure is repeated twice, accompanied by some 

urging that the woman follow her intuition as she tries to match 

the unknown color of each of his coins with one of hers. 

The three pairs of coins are neatly stacked, each on the last,

into a single pile. 

“What is the probability that all your selections have been 

correct? Well, this is how it works. The first choice – the white 

coin – was one chance in three, right?” Holding the stack in his 

hand, the performer removes the two bottom coins and sets them 

on the table, with their colored sides still down. 

“For the second guess, you only had two choices, remember?” 

The next pair of coins is removed from the stack and similarly 

tabled. 

“Now here is the point most people miss.” He sets down the 

remaining two coins. “The probability of getting all three right is 

what – one out of twenty? One out of fifteen? No, it is one out of 

six. Let’s see how you did on your first try.” 

The first two coins are turned over. Their colors match. “Good 

guess! Look, the second pair also matches. That means the last 

two have to – match!” 

When this has sunk in, and the situation has been appreciated, 

the performer continues. “Let’s try to raise the bar. We’ll use all 

five pairs of coins.” He picks up one set of five and places them 

colored-side down in his hand. He then lays the remaining set 

colored-side up in a row in front of his intuitive helper. 

After some hesitation, the performer places one of his quarters, 

colored-side down, on the table. The woman pushes a colored 

coin of her choice forward as her guess. As in the first test, the 

performer turns this coin colored-side down and stacks it with its 

target coin. This is repeated twice. 

The performer sets a fourth coin colored-side down on the 

table. “Please place your guess colored-side down on this one.” 

As she is making her decision, the performer neatly and fairly 

assembles the previous three pairs of coins into a stack. 

By this point, the woman has elected her fourth choice. “You 

did that one with more certainty. Now put your coin on top of mine 

– and place those two onto these.” In concert with his instructions, 

he points to indicate she should place the fourth pair onto 

the stack of six previous coins. 

“And now put your last coin on mine.” The performer places 

his final coin colored-side down on top of the pile, and the woman 

does the same. 

“How well did you do? Two out of five is average.” 

The performer picks off the top two coins and sets them to his 

right. He places the next pair beside these, then the next and the 

next, forming a row of five pairs. These, and all actions, are scrupulously 

fair and open. 

“Now help me. I don’t want to disturb any of these pairs. 

Please turn over the top coin of each.” 

She does so, showing her five colors. These are in the order she 

dispersed them, as they should be, though this isn’t mentioned. 

“Turn this one over,” the performer says, indicating the first of 

his coins. It matches. 

“And this one.” Another match. 

“And this one.” Again, a match. 

This is repeated, and all five pairs are seen to match. The result 

is astonishing, and there can be no trickery. All the coins are left 

on the table, as all are innocent. 

Method: Hen Fetsch’s wonderful trick, Symbologic, was 

released in 1954. It is still an amazing trick. But there are some 

things that, in my opinion, make the treatment of Symbologic 

I’ve just described even more amazing. First, using coins seems 

somehow inherently less tricky than using playing or ESP cards. 

The coins also make a tall stack, which appears to prevent sleightof-hand. 

And there is the sound made as the quarters are slid and 

turned over, which somehow adds an extra dimension of honesty 

and conviction. 

Initially, I marked the faces of the coins, so that all of them 

could be placed colored-sides down during the pairing phases. 

This, though, often created difficulties caused by my poor vision 

and circumstances of lighting. I’ve found that leaving the helper’s 

coins colored-sides up does not weaken the effect. In fact, it has 

the advantage of stimulating the onlookers’ interest. In addition, 

the correct sequence of the selected colors is noted by close 

observers. And as the coins are unmarked, there is nothing suspicious 

to find. 

The basis of the method is an expanded quarter shell, head side 

intact, and the ancient one-behind strategy. 

Phase i – three matches 

The first phase doesn’t use the shell, so you keep it safely 

hidden for the time being. An easy and practical way of concealing 

it is simply to nest it over one of the quarters that is not used in 

this phase. Alternatively, you can keep it on your lap. 

The particulars of the handling are based on those taught in 

Douglas Dyment’s Bob’s Your Uncle (see his Mindsights, p. 28), 

which in turn is a variation of a Charles Pecor idea (Bob’s ESP 

Demonstration in Pecor’s Sinister Variations, p. 5). 

In your hand, you hold three coins with colors matching those 

given your assistant. To start things off, you place one of your 

coins down with the color hidden on the underside. Assume it is 

the white coin, although it could be any one you like. Take care 

that no one sees the color as you remove the coin from your closed 

hand. If your helper pushes her white coin forward to join yours, 

think to yourself, “Match.” If not, think, “No match.” 

For now, I will proceed on the assumption that the colors of 

this first pair of coins do match. We’ll discuss later what happens 

when they do not. 

Cleanly turn your helper’s coin colored-side down and set it 

onto your coin. Next put down a second coin; let’s assume it is the 

blue one. If you are very lucky, and the participant pushes forward 

her matching blue one, the effect is an automatic success, since 

the third pair of coins must match. 

Suppose that either the first pair of coins or the second do not 

match. Think, “No match” to yourself. As soon as you get a “No 

match,” follow the one-behind rule, choosing for your next coin 

that which matches the previous color your helper has pushed 

forward. 

When your helper pushes out her next coin, it cannot match 

yours, so you continue the one-behind strategy to the end. 

While your helper makes each new decision, you turn the coin 

she previously picked colored-side down onto its target coin, the 

one your helper hopes to match. This eventually creates three 

piles of two quarters, all colored-sides down. 

Gather them into a single stack, placing the center pair onto 

the first, then the coins last paired onto the four just stacked. 

As mentioned earlier, sometimes the matching happens 

honestly. The rest of the time you will have to resort to a little 

simple sleight of hand. The key move is a version of the glide, 

adapted to coins. 

Grip the stack at the fingertips of your palm-down left hand. 

Suppose you know that the bottom two coins match. In that case, 

you simply slide them one-by-one off the bottom of the stack and 

place them on the table. If, however, they do not match, your right 

fingers secretly push back the bottom one about a quarter of an 

inch. Pull out the two coins above it, one at a time, and place 

them together, colored-sides still downward, on the table. You 


QUICK LooK BooK NooK 

will have to do this twice if none of the three pairs match. The 

third pair always matches, once any necessary adjustments have 

been carried out with the first and second pairs, so these last two 

coins are simply set down. 

If this explanation seems complicated, please go through the 

procedure two or three times and you will discover how easy it is. 

All that is required of you is that you do the glide whenever you 

think, “No Match.” 

Phase ii – five matches 

The second phase translates Hen Fetsch’s method for ESP 

cards to an equivalent one for coins. Instead of a hidden extra 

card, we use a shell to perform the same secret function. Pick up 

one set of five differently colored coins, including the one wearing 

the shell. 

First place one of the coins colored-side down on the table – 

then apparently change your mind. Pick it up, allowing it to be 

seen on both sides without mentioning the color. Replace it in 

your hand and set the shell on the table instead. The innocence of 

the first coin is transferred psychologically to the shell. 

You will again rely on the one-behind principle. For example, 

if your helper pushes her blue coin forward for her first selection, 

you set your blue coin out, colored-side down, as your second 

target. If your helper then pushes forward her red coin, you lay out 

your red coin for the third target. Let’s assume she pairs this with 

her green coin. As she considers and makes each of her choices, 

you turn her previously chosen coin colored-side down and stack 

it with your target coin. 

While this procedure seems 

identical to that used in the first 

test, there is a small modification 

that seems inconsequential 

if it is noticed at all. As you 

stack the first pair, you set your 

coin (the shell) over hers, rather 

than the reverse. In addition, 

when you set the shell onto her 

coin, don’t let it nest; rather, let it 

rest on the coin, overlapping it while 

one edge stays in contact with the table. 

Stack the other two sets of coins as you have 

before, hers on top of yours. You may leave these pairs arranged 

similarly to the first. The important thing is that your actions look 

entirely fair and casual. 

Set out your green coin (as her last choice was green) for the 

fourth target. While your helper is making her fourth decision, 


casually assemble the previous three pairs of coins, as you did in 

the first test. As you stack the second pair onto the first, squaring 

the coins, the shell automatically slides over the bottom one, 

covering it. No one ever notices there is one coin less in the pile 

than there should be. Then set the third pair onto the others. 

By this time your helper will have set down her fourth coin. 

Ask her to turn it colored-side down, put it onto your fourth coin 

and place the pair on top of the stack. 

Everyone believes you have only one coin left in your hand. 

In fact, you have two. As you focus your attention, and everyone 

else’s, on your helper’s stacking of the coins, slip one of your 

remaining two into right-hand thumb palm. You can then casually 

flash the silver side of the remaining coin in your left hand. 

The woman’s actions provide exceptionally strong misdirection, 

during which you place the coin in your left hand either 

under or over the thumb-palmed one. The order of these last two 

coins is determined by the color of your helper’s last coin. The 

top coin of the two you are holding out of sight must match this 

color. Immediately but casually set both coins onto the stack, as if 

they were one. When you do this, slide the top coin slightly out of 

register with the rest, making it look as if you’ve set just it on top. 

This furthers the impression that you’ve deposited only one coin, 

although there should be no suspicion of anything else. 

Ask your helper to place her final coin on top of the others. 

Now remove the top two coins as a unit and place them well to 

the right on the table. Take off the next pair and set them slightly 

to the left of the first pair. Continue to remove the coins in pairs 

from the stack, forming a row. The final pair, the bottom coin of 

which wears the shell, is not moved. Arrange matters so that the 

others form a straight line with this pair. Now ask your helper to 

turn over the top coin of each set and place it in front of its mate. 

When the coin over the shell has been taken off, casually place 

your left fingers on top of the shell for a moment. Simultaneously, 

place your right fingers similarly on the corresponding coin at the 

right end of the row. 

Slide both coins forward an inch or so, while pressing your left 

fingertips down firmly on the shell. It should look as if you are 

tidying up the display. 

When you raise your left hand, the shell will stick momentarily 

to your fingers and is secretly stolen away. This works perfectly 

if your fingertips are slightly moist. Move the shell into classic 

palm before it can fall, or simply curl the fingers loosely, letting 

the shell rest on their tips. 

You are now ready for a dramatic revelation, after which everything 

can be examined. 

The Magician –August/September 2006

INFORMED OPINION 

unspeakable acTs book 

by Jim magus wiTh Terry nosek and neil Tobin 

Available from Jim Magus through PayPal to 

jimmagus@comcast.net 

Price $75.00 plus $8.00 shipping in the USA 

revieW by Joshua Kane 

Unspeakable Acts is this year’s 

guilty pleasure read. It is a witty and 

salacious roller coaster ride through 

the life of one of magic’s most complicated 

and creative individuals; a man 

whose legacy has left three distinct 

identities for historians and friends 

alike to contend with, be confused by, 

and miss seeing at the bar or hospitality 

suite. The man, the myth, and the 

magic are inseparable in the tripartite 

subject of this volume. Three of the 

most creative and impactful performers, 

whose work I frequently bought 

from Magic, Inc. in my teens, were 

Tom Palmer, Tony Andruzzi, and Masklyn Ye Mage. Imagine 

my surprise later in life when I learned that all three people were 

actually one person, whom I came to hold in high regard and 

knew from late night phone conversations. 

Over the years, it has become clear to me that almost everyone 

I have met in magic either knew Tony Andruzzi or had a story 

about him. Tony was one of those performers whose name you 

could have used for a round of “six degrees of Kevin Bacon,” if 

the Bacon game had been played with magicians. His fingerprints 

are all over contemporary magic history. 

Andruzzi was the undisputed godfather and public representative 

of bizarre magick. Despite Tony Raven being the actual 

creator of Invocation magazine, it is Andruzzi who is most 

often identified with the monthly journal that united shamanistic 

performers and Lovecraftian writers. Prior to this, as Tom Palmer, 

he was involved in the early days of televised magic and worked 

with such luminaries as Mark Wilson. As Masklyn Ye Mage, he 

was an early member of the Psychic Entertainers Association and 

was just as famous for effects that did not work as he was for 

ones that did. He was happily infamous for his ability to terrorize 

hotel staff with his portable Satanic altars and rituals. His Invocational 

conventions were famous in their time; being able to claim 

attendance at them is still a status symbol equal to being able to 

claim that one saw the original NYC production of Harold Pinter’s 

The Birthday Party. And like that event, which would still be 

running today if as many people had actually seen it as claimed to 

have, Madison Square Garden would have been required to seat 

all those who claim to have played with Tony and his gang. 

If there ever was a performer whose life was stranger than 

fiction and suited for a mad bio-pic, it was Tony. If it were not for 

the careful documentation of newspaper articles and references 

Latest Product Reviews 

Compiled and Edited by W. S. Duncan 

to primary sources included in the volume, no one would believe 

even half of the tales that have been collected and published. Tony 

even knew Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who shot Lee Harvey 

Oswald after President Kennedy’s assassination. Tony’s testimony 

to the Warren Commission is included in the detailed appendix. 

Jim Magus, Terry Nosek, and Neil Tobin (the star of Chicago 

Supernatural) are to be commended and thanked for compiling 

and editing so much material into a volume whose momentum 

and page-turning energy never flags. The book is hardbound, 533 

pages, and is lavishly illustrated with line drawings, photographs, 

and reproductions of articles, ads, and ephemera. I thoroughly 

enjoyed the read and know that I will return to it often. 

Because no effects are taught in the book, and because the 

community who most passionately remembers and reveres Tony 

is a self-selecting one, I feel that the publisher could sell ten times 

as many copies as a $35 paperback. At that price it would be a 

no-brainer. At the hardbound price, some folks may be scared off. 

I recommend that every collector, magic club, and assembly order 

at least one copy for their library. 

danger in paradise/malay woman book 

by sid Fleischman 

Available from Stark House Press 

Price $20.00 

revieW by Jim Kleefeld 

Just when you get ready to waste some 

free time and think there’s nothing in 

escapist literature around, along comes 

a pair of saucy stories about adventure 

in exotic lands. Stark House Press has 

gained some renown by republishing 

pulp fiction of the ‘40s and ‘50s. About 

five years ago I picked up a book with 

two stories by Fleischman, Look Behind 

You, Lady and The Venetian Blonde. 

Both were about magicians caught up in 

crime and turmoil. I thoroughly enjoyed 

both stories for what they were – light 

reading with a bit of nostalgia thrown in. 

This new Stark republication contains another pair by the 

same author. Two short stories, Danger in Paradise and Malay 

Woman are combined in one 276-page book. Written in the early 

1950s, they both contain great gobs of post-war pulp escapism. 

Hard-boiled mugs duke it out with foreign bums and miscreants, 

while dames with great gams and ulterior motives entice them 

with feminine wiles. It’s all very Dashielle Hammet and Ellery 

Queen, with a touch of Fu Manchu. 

Fleischman spent the war years in Indonesia and the Far East, 

so he learned the ins and outs of tropical settings. He uses his 

travels (and a great deal of research) to make Malay, Bali, Kuala 

Lumpur, and Singapore come to life in these stories. Steamships, 

ports, seedy bars, and rubber plantations provide the backdrop for 


a beautiful but mysterious Russian woman to who tries to smuggle 

gun-running information, an on-the-run overseer who awoke to 

find his wife murdered, and a local control war between native 

terrorists and the Red Army. And then there is the enigmatic 

Asian who carries a tiny deadly bird in his bare hands. 

I reviewed a prepublication edition – the actual book will be 

available in August – but there is little to suggest the final product 

will not be exactly the same as my copy. And aside from a typo 

or two, there is little to change: in one volume, two short stories, 

written and sold to pulp magazines back in 1953 and 1954. There 

are exotic ports of call, mysterious women, danger around every 

corner, and several well-plotted twists in the tales. I loved the 

intrigue, the mystery, the romance, and the nostalgic look at 

what used to pass for common literature. But then, I’m a Maltese 

Falcon kind of guy. 

You probably already know whether you like pulp fiction or 

not, but if you have never read the genre, this is a great place to 

start. The characters are well-defined and things move quickly. 

Surprises and adventures pop up as quickly as in an Indiana Jones 

film. People are shot and stabbed in the back. Jock’s best friend 

leaves town and his wife tries to seduce Jock. Gun-runners stage a 

gun battle against island natives. A widow who inherited a plantation 

drives around in an armored car. There is a rich American in 

a white suit who kills everyone that gets in his way. Jeff falls in 

love quickly, discovers his lover is deceitful, and falls in love with 

someone else. 

The Fleischman stories would make great beach reading. Or 

save them for a lonesome winter night by the fire. Which almost 

brings me to closing, except for a possible mystery of our own. 

Why is M-U-M, the magazine for magicians, reviewing a book of 

fiction with no magician characters or magic settings? Well, if by 

now you have not recognized the name of the author and his connection 

with our world, maybe you should buy this to find out. Sid 

Fleischman, besides being a terrific magician and writer of great 

magic books, both fiction and non-fiction, is a great writer, period. 

If you have to have magicians in your reading, then the fine introduction 

about Fleischman’s life and writing provides a concise 

biography of the man and his magic. Or, look up the great 2006 

book with the two stories mentioned in the opening paragraph. 

For a great read and a fine example of a particular genre, this is a 

fine publication by a fine writer. As for Danger in Paradise and 

Malay Woman, there is no magician in these stories, but there is 

magic. 

pockeTs Full oF miracles dVd 

by diamond Jim Tyler 

Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies 

Retail Price $34.95 

revieW by Jamie salinas 

This DVD contains close-up routines from Diamond Jim 

Tyler’s repertoire. Jim is an accomplished performer who provides 

you with many effects that he has created or varied. The routines 

are easy to follow and easy to master. There is a ton of material 

on this DVD. 

The first effect is called Baseball Diamond. A deck of playing 

cards with baseball players on the faces is shuffled. A spectator 

selects a card at random and Jim explains that he has a prediction 

card in the box that was lying on the table from the very 

beginning. The box is tipped down and out of the box falls a fullsized 

baseball. The selected card is shown to have Juan Gonzales 

on the face, and the baseball is signed by Juan Gonzales. 


Next up are Nimble Thimbles and Three Burnt Matches. The 

routine starts out with two corks on a table. Using just two fingers 

like a pair of scissors, Jim lifts the corks that are side by side 

and turns them over three times. A 

spectator is offered a chance to 

try to repeat the effect. The 

spectator fails. Jim offers 

a dollar if a spectator 

can do it and lets him 

try again. In the performance, 

one spectator 

is able to duplicate the 

stunt and wins the dollar. 

Jim offers another stunt 

to win his dollar back. Three 

paper matches are removed 

from a match book; they are lit 

and extinguished. Jim explains that the 

spectator is to respond “three burnt matches” to 

a series of three questions. The spectator fails and Jim gets his 

dollar back. These are bar stunts as opposed to magic, but in the 

correct venue they are interesting and are a nice interlude between 

magical effects. 

Following this interlude is the FBI Trick, a classic thumb cuff 

escape. Jim demonstrates the thumb cuffs by placing them on an 

audience member. Jim is then cuffed and a handkerchief is used 

to cover his hands; he is able to quickly make his escape. There is 

some nice byplay with the audience as he is able to escape with a 

surprise finish. There is nothing new here in the escape but Jim’s 

surprise finish is a nice touch to a classic. 

Soaring Straw is the next effect using a straw that seems to 

move on its own and levitate. This is a very quick, visual routine. 

Following the straw effect is Invisible Thumbscrews. This is an 

old classic stunt with a spectator using nothing more than his 

clasped hands and extended forefingers. The Animated Card Box 

is Jim’s adaptation of the animated match box using a card box. 

The box rotates, stands up, and opens. It looks very good and at 

the end, the box can be examined. Following the animated card 

box is a routine with cards called One-armed Aces. The premise 

of this effect is that using only one hand, Jim is able to produce the 

first three Aces with a series of one-handed cuts. The last Ace is 

missed; the card produced is a Joker. The Joker is turned into the 

final Ace. This looks great and it demonstrates your dexterity with 

a pack of cards. This routine is for the intermediate to advanced 

card worker. 

The first coin routine is called Trapdoor Coins. Three coins 

are passed through the solid table one at a time. The effect is short 

and straight to the point, using just three coins. There is nothing 

new here, but it is a nice routine. Returning to cards, Jim presents 

Diamond Dazzler. A spectator selects a card at random. The card 

is approximately near the middle of the deck as the cards are held 

face down. The deck is opened by Jim from the front as he lifts 

approximately half of the pack, and the selected card shoots out of 

the pack. This is a nice production of a selected card. 

In Cat and Mouse a spectator selects a card to represent a 

mouse. The mouse card is shuffled back into the pack and a mouse 

trap is brought out and set. The cards are removed from the top of 

the pack one by one and held near the trap. After several cards go 

by, the trap catches one card. The card is the selected mouse-card. 

The trap is turned over and on the bottom is a message that has 

a warning about the selected card. The trap creates tension in the 

routine and is a novel card revelation. Thankfully, Jim includes 

tips to present the routine safely.

At this point in the DVD, we have not yet reached the half way 

mark! The marathon continues with Gun Slinger. Jim draws a 

cowboy on the back of a spectator’s card. The card is bent vertically 

and placed on the card box so that it is standing up. Jim 

makes a gun shape with his hand and pretends to fire the weapon 

at the outlaw. The card falls over as a loud bang sound is heard 

and a hole is now found through the card. This routine has a nice 

Wild West theme. The appearing hole in the card is a nice touch 

to round out this routine. 

Breaking away from card magic, Jim borrows a bill, folds it 

into a small packet, waves a hole-puncher around the bill, and 

when the bill is unfolded, many punched out pieces fall to the 

table; the bill is now seen to have the words “Happy B-day” 

punched in it. The bill is handed back as a souvenir. This is definitely 

something different from your standard effects with money 

and is my favorite item on the DVD. 

We are next treated to a classic Ring and String routine using 

a borrowed ring and a leather lace. There is nothing new here, but 

it is a nice routine. Continuing with the classics, Jim performs a 

Coins Across routine using five coins and a glass. Jim concludes 

the routine with the production of two large coins and one jumbo 

coin. Again, there is nothing new here, but it is a well-routined 

version of a classic of magic. 

As I was watching Jim perform the next routine, Fire Ball, I 

could not help thinking I had seen this before. A piece of tissue 

paper is torn into four pieces and rolled into a ball. The ball is 

pierced with a large needle and held over the flame from a lighter. 

The paper busts into a flash of fire. As the fire subsides, the ball of 

paper remains in a ball. The paper ball is removed from the large 

needle and opened up. The paper is found to be restored to one 

single piece. I remember this effect, in a smaller scale, as John 

Bannon’s trick Shriek of the Mutilated. During the explanation 

of the effect, Jim credits John Bannon. Jim has a slight variation 

of the handling that is designed for the larger tissue paper. This is 

very visual magic. I loved the effect when I first read about it from 

Bannon and I really like how Jim has made this effect play bigger. 

Jim presents another quick effect called New Age Spellbound. 

This routine uses a small black stone that is turned into a diamond 

(clear stone) and back to a black stone several times. This one is 

really quick and is great for walk-around magic. In Mathamagic a 

spectator selects a small block of cards and is asked to count them 

in a special manner. Before the spectator finishes counting the 

cards, Jim has the spectator guess how many cards he has. In this 

case, the spectator guesses eighteen and Jim guesses twenty-one. 

The spectator continues counting and finds that he has eleven. 

The cards are handed to a second spectator to count the cards; 

he counts fifteen. The cards are handed to a third spectator for 

counting and he gets twenty-one cards. The first count is a little 

fishy but the second and third counting sequence is very straightforward. 

Jim’s inspiration for the routine comes from a Paul 

Harris effect. This is a very different effect with a pack of cards. 

There are twenty-three effects, routines, and bits of business 

covered on this DVD. For the most part, the sleights needed to 

perform the material are not very difficult and the material can 

be performed by the beginning-to-intermediate performer. Jim is 

obviously a veteran and everything is well thought out and honed 

through many hours of performance in front of live audiences. 

He is a very good teacher of the routines presented. For the 

most part, there is nothing new here, but there is a lot of 

very solid magic and a couple of gems that are great for the 

working professional or the casual performer. Boost your 

close-up magic repertoire with a dose of twenty-three 

effects for only $34.95. 

The minoTaur Final issue 2-dVd seT 

by dan harlan and marV leVenThal 

Available from: www.danharlanmagic.com 


Price $60.00 

revieW by miChael Close 

Sadly, one of my small pleasures in life has been taken 

away from me. For many years, whenever I happened to be at 

the same magic convention as Marv Leventhal, I took great 

delight in shouting at him (preferably at a distance), “Where’s 

my Minotaur?!” Marv and his partner (in the publishing sense 

of the word) Dan Harlan put out a very nice magazine in the 

1990s, called Minotaur (half magic, half bull). The magazine was 

published quarterly and ran for eight volumes. The frustrating 

thing for subscribers was that the final issue, Volume 8, Number 

4, never appeared. At the various conventions, after I had stopped 

shouting, Marv always offered 

apologies to me, but the world 

(as it is want to do) moved 

on, and the final issue never 

showed up. 

Until now. The boys 

have released The 

Minotaur Final Issue, a 

two-DVD set that fulfills 

their commitment to subscribers 

(and if you were 

a subscriber you should 

contact Dan through his Web 

site) and allows those who never subscribed 

to get a feel for the kind of magic that 

made the Minotaur such a great magazine. 

There are twenty-five effects on the first disc, which is labeled 

the Feature Presentation. These effects are a mix of close-up and 

stand-up effects, magic and mentalism, with a variety of props. 

Not everything appealed to me (nor should it), but there were 

several items I liked very much, including Harlan’s Cupside Down 

(a full cup of coffee is placed in a small bag and inverted – no 

coffee is spilled) and Royal Plushy (a full-deck stack that delivers 

a winning poker hand to the dealer regardless of the number of 

hands requested). I’m sure you’ll find several things that will 

appeal to you. Interwoven between the tricks is a storyline 

concerning a Dan Harlan look-alike robot. To be honest, I fastforwarded 

through all of those. 

The second disc contains eight bonus effects, one from each 

of the eight volumes of Minotaur. Again, you’ll find a variety of 

effects, and one or two are sure to appeal to you. The second disc 

also contains several files of interest and usefulness: three indexes 

covering all eight volumes (by issue, by the name of the trick, and 

by the creator), some photographs taken during the video shoot, 

and files that are needed for a few of the tricks. 

I have only one gripe about this product, and it is not really 

a legitimate criticism; I can’t complain about what a product 

isn’t, anymore than someone could complain that pigs don’t have 

wings. Things are what they are. But, for those of us who would 

have liked to have put our file of Minotaur to rest, it would have 

been nice to at least have prepared a PDF file of the final issue 

of the magazine. This would have allowed collectors to print out 

the final issue and bind it up with the rest of the volumes. But, 

unfortunately, that wasn’t done, so there you are. 

If you are familiar with the kind of material the Minotaur 


featured, or if you are a fan of Dan Harlan, you are sure to enjoy 

The Minotaur Final Issue DVDs. If you aren’t familiar with the 

Minotaur, the product is worth the money; the discs offer fine 

examples of the type of material that was featured within its many 

pages. You may even be inspired to try to track down the back 

issues. As happy as I am that the Minotaur has been put to bed, 

I’m bummed that I’ll have to figure out something else to yell at 

Marv the next time I see him. 

Tenkai pennies and milliken’s TransposiTion dVd 

Available from: www.llpub.com 


Price $20.00 

revieW by W.s. dunCan 

If you’ve been reading this magazine for a couple of years, 

you may have noticed that if I review a DVD from the World’s 

Greatest Magic series, it’s likely to be a recommended buy. 

From the first DVD of this series, which I 

reviewed when I was a staff writer 

and Dick Hatch was editing 

this column, to the arrival of 

the latest volumes, one thing 

has remained constant: if the 

subject matter of the DVD 

is of interest to you, then the 

twenty bucks is money well 

spent. 

Daryl, classicist that he is, does 

something I’ve never seen before. 

He does the Tenkai Pennies with pennies. 

And while I’ve done the trick with quarters, 

halves, and even dollar coins (using the method from 

Ponta the Smith’s DVD Sick), I have never tried it with pennies. 

Turns out, the trick is just as strong with the tiny coins, perhaps 

even better, and much easier to perform. Daryl teaches the original 

method, which, if you call yourself a magician, you should know. 

It’s one of the true classics of close-up and not as demanding as 

it seems. Or maybe it’s just that Daryl is an excellent teacher. 

No matter. Buy the DVD, learn this, and you have received your 

twenty bucks worth. 

After learning the original, you can advance to Steve Draun’s 

handling, which uses a different, and more advanced, back 

clipping method. Draun’s version doesn’t alter the effect, but does 

allow you to work with larger coins without the angle problems 

raised by the original method when using half dollars. 

There is also a short home movie clip of Ross Bertram, in 

full kimono, doing the effect with English pennies. There is an 

unfortunate cut to show a close-up that occurs before showing 

the effect. It makes it appear that the camera edit is the method. 

Fans of magic history may be happy to see the legend do some 

coin magic, but kids will probably wonder what all the fuss was 

about. If you are one of those kids, let me assure you that you do 

get to see Bertram do the move, although you may not think so 

upon first viewing. 

Following Bertram is David Roth teaching his Deep Palm 

version of the effect, another method that allows for larger coins. 

David then returns to introduce (Harry) Milliken’s Transposition. 

This routine uses two pairs of differently sized coins (in Roth’s 

demonstration halves and quarters are used, and in Daryl’s presentation, 

which follows, halves and copper subway tokens). 

In Milliken’s Transposition, you show (for example) two 


halves in the right hand and two quarters in the left. After the first 

transposition, you have one of each in each hand. At the end, you 

have quarters in the right hand and halves in the left hand. It’s 

dead simple, but you end dirty. Pairing it with the Tenkai Pennies 

allows you to dump the something extra when you put away the 

halves to “make things simpler” for the audience to follow. 

Combined, the two effects create a nice mini-act with coins 

that can be performed with quarters and pennies…nothing more 

than pocket change. How many twenty dollar investments will 

give you a solid multi-phase routine that you can perform anytime 

you can break a dollar at the corner store? More than worth the 

money and the time invested. 

Tea leaF reading and more 2-dVd seT 

by dean monTalbano 


Price $75.00 


In several world cultures, serving tea is a ceremony invested 

with meaning and involves significant ritual. The observation of 

teatime deepens communal bonds and can instill a serene sense 

of order. It is a centering process, and allows one to be deeply 

present. The antithesis of coffee in a cardboard cup, it encourages 

self-reflection and conversation. It can usurp anger and offers 

people a face-saving opportunity to reconnect when a day has 

been falling apart. It is, in effect, a mini Sabbath; and as such, it 

offers the opportunity for participants to create new beginnings. 

It also puts people in a receptive state 

to be entertained and diverted. 

Despite most Americans having 

only experienced tea in a bag, 

the idea of someone reading 

meaning from the dregs of a 

cup of tea made with loose 

tea is firmly imprinted in 

our culture. Even in the 

Harry Potter novels, the first 

lesson in clairvoyance taught 

by Professor Trelawney is the 

reading of tea leaves. 

We are meaning-making creatures. In 

addition to the snap judgments that are initiated by our primitive 

survival instincts, we also have the ability, when relaxed, to 

daydream a bit and find meaning and images in the most unlikely 

places. Which of us has not laid on our backs on a summer day and 

looked up at the clouds, discovering bunnies and faces floating 

by? Reading tea leaves is largely based on the same principle, 

known as pareidolia. (Now there’s a neat Scrabble word!) Pareidolia 

is the psychological phenomenon that encourages us to see 

bunnies in clouds and images of religious figures on the toasted 

bread of a grilled cheese sandwich. For those of you who possess 

a pareidolic nature, tea leaf reading will be a quick-to-learn and 

fun-to-implement divination system. 

Montalbano teaches a thorough introductory course on 

the system of reading tea leaves. The instruction is lucid and 

engaging. As with his Tarot instruction set, we are once again 

treated to a combination of animations and live footage. There are 

also printed materials in a DVD-ROM section of the second disc. 

There is more than enough information to put you on the road of 

learning the basics over a weekend. Recommendations for print 

book sources for further education are also provided. In addition

to tea leaf reading, Montalbano has expanded upon the theme of 

utilizing a pareidolic skill set to include Blei Giessen, (a German 

divination system used at the New Year that involves the melting 

of lead figures and dropping them into water so the that the reconstructed 

shapes can be interpreted to reveal meaning for the 

coming year), wax splatter readings, dry tea and herb readings, 

and finally lipstick print readings, which are sure to be popular at 

singles events and other parties. Unlike the Tarot DVD set, there 

are no subtitles with this set. Instruction on the ethics of reading 

and a business model on how to get bookings doing such readings 

are once again supplied and are worth the second exposure. Demonstrations 

of sample readings are also provided. Altogether, 

I found this to be an enjoyable set and am looking forward to 

adding tea leaf readings to my own social repertoire. 

The classic Force dVd 

by phil Jay 

Available from JB Magic and Mark Mason 


Price $30.00 

revieW by norman beCK 

I had never heard of Phil Jay, but 

then I don’t get out much, and Phil 

Jay is not a magic dealer/lecturer 

kind of guy. Phil Jay is a worker 

and one of the tools he uses, and 

uses a bunch, is the classic force. 

I think it is one thing to learn a 

sleight from a guy who makes his 

living selling things to magicians and 

another thing to learn from a guy who 

makes his living doing magic for the real 

world and getting paid to entertain. That is why 

you have never heard of Phil Jay. 

He works, and when you work you get good at your craft. The 

DVD teaches you how to do a classic force and a touch force, and 

offers tips that only come from doing them over and over again. 

The DVD has a fair amount of actual footage of Mr. Jay doing it 

for real people in the real world. I think this is really good money 

spent for one of the most important moves one can learn in card 

magic. 

rizer dVd 

by b. smiTh and eric ross 


Price $30.00 

revieW by antonio m. Cabral 

Rizer takes dead aim at the street magic 

crowd, and, with any luck, it’ll succeed. 

Martin Lewis’s Cardiographic is undoubtedly 

a classic. Now imagine 

being able to do it without the 

pad. Imagine being able to do it 

on your own bare skin, without 

surgery. That’s Rizer. 

B. Smith and Eric Ross came up 

with the idea independently, and then 

got their heads together to come up 

with this ultra-accessible, killer piece of 

street close-up. In the basic version, after the obligatory card is 

selected, you roll up your sleeve and draw a picture of a playing 

card on your forearm with a Sharpie in an attempt to divine the 

selection. It’s the wrong card, but you save the day by announcing 

the drawing is actually a deck of cards and the selected card 

is somewhere in the middle. You then grab your forearm, give it a 

shake or two, and the drawing animates to show the selected card 

rising up out of the middle of the deck – in ink. You’re left with 

the complete image indelibly scribbled on your flesh. If you want 

to end as in the Martin Lewis original, you can tear the skin with 

the drawing on it off your forearm and give it to the spectator as a 

souvenir. Okay, you can’t. Rather, you shouldn’t, but I’ll bet David 

Blaine or Dan Sperry figure out how. 

This is a great idea. It’s a strong idea, and it’s a diabolical 

idea. The method comes straight out of another classic effect – if 

I said which, I’d give the game away. It’s good enough that I’m 

actually a little disappointed I can’t do it. Not “can’t” as in skill 

(although I’m betting my skin would give me trouble trying to 

perform this), but “can’t” the same way Woody Allen never casts 

Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead in his films. I wear suit jackets 

and ties. I have no tattoos. If I want to draw a picture or write 

something down, I carry paper or index cards. Barring developing 

Memento-like problems with my memory, I’m not going to 

roll up my sleeve and start scrawling on myself in Sharpie in front 

of people. Penn & Teller could do this in suits. I can’t. And given 

how good this idea is, that’s a bit of a shame. 

The instructions on this DVD are crystal-clear. Nothing is 

supplied (save a pill fob keychain to carry the “secret stuff”), but 

a quick trip to your corner drug store and you’re all set. There’s 

the basic version I described, and another where you have two 

cards selected and get an extra “pop” by getting the first divination 

right. The necessary basic card moves are taught for both 

versions. But who cares? The card rises up on your skin! Plus 

they give some very helpful tips for being able to repeat the effect 

if needed, and ultimately how to get all that permanent ink off 

your flesh. The only other “problem” some might have is that the 

“height” of the rise is only about the width of a Sharpie itself. 

The effect, however, is so startling and flat-out cool that it really 

doesn’t matter. Heck, it might not even matter if you get the card 

wrong. 

The one suggestion I’m surprised no one mentioned anywhere 

on Rizer (probably for legal and demographic reasons) is the one 

way I could conceive performing this effect for myself: actually 

get the image tattooed on your arm. You lose the immediacy of 

apparently creating the drawing right in front of the audience, 

but imagine rolling up your sleeve to reveal an actual, permanent 

inked-in-the-flesh tattoo, and making a card rise up out of that. 

Whether or not you follow up with a belly-dancing mermaid or a 

chorus or three of “Lydia the Tattooed Lady” is up to you. I can’t 

recommend this trick to everyone, but holy cow, is it ever a great 

idea. Kudos, gentlemen. 

laws oF aTTracTion dVd 

by shooT ogawa 


Price $35.00 


The trick explained on Shoot Ogawa’s Laws of Attraction 

is an interesting example of how an “effect” can be widely 

open to interpretation. When I first saw the DVD box copy that 

discussed how Shoot’s technique will allow you to “magnetize 


any object,” I expected a suspension-type effect along the lines of 

the Magnetized Cards. Laws of Attraction isn’t that kind of effect. 

Shoot Ogawa’s techniques will allow you 

to create a very nice illusion of 

various objects being attracted 

to each other as if magnetized. 

However, to present this as a 

showpiece of its own would 

be like forgoing Cigarette 

Thru Quarter in favor of the 

old Cups and Balls business in 

which you penetrate the bottom 

of the cup with the wand. 

The technique at work is a combination 

of some clever sleight of hand, the 

use of sound, and good old-fashioned mime. In 

many places, this looks very good. In a couple of places, it looks 

amazing – in a few others, not so much. The DVD is an hour long, 

and Shoot covers myriad possibilities for making things stick to 

other things and then pulling them apart. The explanations are 

very thorough – perhaps more than they need be in some places. 

And after an hour, you might start to feel like you get the drift 

already. That’s a good thing to keep in mind. 

I’ve never seen Shoot Ogawa perform this in person, but the 

DVD gives the impression that you could perform a whole routine 

of these demonstrations amidst claims of “magnetism.” In my 

opinion, that would be a mistake. There’s no build or escalation; 

you just keep sticking things together and pulling them apart. 

Not only does the repetition wear thin, but someone’s bound to 

ask you to leave the two things stuck together without holding 

them together. You know, like a suspension. And with these techniques, 

you can’t. One solution is to not sell the effect very hard, 

or not so hard that it can’t support the weight of its own claims. 

On the other hand, if you do some kind of suspension effect with 

an invisible thread or something like Gary Plants’s beautiful Magnetized 

Cards, and you throw in some of these bits in or around 

one of those tricks – ah, then you have something. Or you could 

use these techniques to support a spurious claim of using “trick 

magnetic” coins before going into a Coins Across routine to 

explain how the coins jump to be next to each other. Maybe. (I 

wouldn’t recommend it if you actually use magnetic coins in your 

coin work.) But by itself, the illusion – while again it’s very good 

– doesn’t hold up (hah!). 

Which brings me to yet another observation on the “onetrick 

DVD” phenomenon: is it worth spending $35 on what is in 

essence a gag? I’m not calling it a gag derogatorily, either. It’s 

a very good, magical-looking gag. It’s a useful gag, very worth 

doing. But it’s still a gag, like the aforementioned Cups and Balls 

business of making the cups penetrate one another or making the 

wand penetrate the cups. There’s a difference between those types 

of illusions and the kind that drive their point home hard, leaving 

an undeniable feeling of having seen something that shouldn’t be. 

If you can get anyone to buy hook, line, and sinker that these bits 

on their own add up to “magnetism,” you might want to book 

them into the act, because at that point they’re the entertainment. 

I’m not sure what the answer is. Some performers will think 

that the bits and techniques on this DVD are worth the price, and 

find all sorts of places to use them. Others, like me at the beginning, 

will be expecting a suspension effect and be disappointed. I can’t 

heavily endorse Laws of Attraction because it falls short of my 

expectations. But I can’t condemn it just because it’s not a suspension 

effect; that feels like saying “Don’t buy this sandwich, it’s not 

a car!” Let the buyer, at the very least, be informed. 


V2F 2.0 dVd 

by g 


Price $30.00 


V2F 2.0 makes a very interesting claim in its ad copy: “While 

everyone else is still doing card to wallet with their expensive 

gaffed wallet, you can advance to the next level with V2F 2.0.” The 

cost of this DVD is $30. My card-to-wallet wallet, a Tony Miller 

Hipshot Wallet, costs $40. I suppose in this economy ten dollars 

can make all the difference (ignoring the 

fact that you’re spending money on 

card tricks at all), but this claim 

still raises my eyebrows 

– particularly so in light 

of what the “next level” 

appears to be. 

V2F 2.0 (the “V2F” 

stands for Visual Vanish 

Fantasy) makes a lot of simultaneous 

claims. On the one 

hand, it claims to be an amazing 

visual vanish of a playing card. On 

the other, it claims to be an amazing 

signed card to any impossible location you 

can think of. Which is it? Well, it’s an amazing visual 

vanish, if by that you mean “pretty good color change.” And it’s 

an amazing signed card to any impossible location, if by that you 

mean “card fold, after which, with the card securely in finger 

palm, you can load it wherever you like.” And it is, in fact, both of 

those things at the same time. 

The video quality is very good on this DVD, but the instructions 

follow what I fear is becoming a trend in magic DVDs: the 

hands demonstrate while the instructions appear as captions along 

the bottom of the screen. If this goes any further, I half expect 

to have to follow a bouncing ball to learn the next hot move; the 

upside, I suppose, will be that no one will be able to complain that 

the DVD crowd doesn’t read. I’ll also point out that if you’re going 

to produce a DVD on the cheap, using a standard iMovie/iDVD/ 

iWhatever menu screen is a dead giveaway. But you should have 

no problem learning the technique from this DVD. 

G, the creator of V2F 2.0, makes the vanish look very pretty. 

And when it is performed that well, it’s a very disarming 

vanish – it almost looks like you’re erasing the card from one of 

those magnetic drawing toys. Unfortunately, the move is built 

backwards: it starts off looking very open and ends cozier than 

I’d like. A better picture of the card vanishing completely would 

end with the hand doing the “erasing” to be open and obviously 

empty, which could happen here with a little more development, 

but doesn’t as is. 

The problem with any extremely direct method like this one 

is that the secret workings of the trick follow the same path as 

the audience’s attention. You’re doing everything directly in front 

of their eyes and hoping no one puts two and two together. And 

while there are other similar “under your nose” vanishes/changes, 

the best ones are quicker and more startling. V2F 2.0 is a very 

deliberate, slow visual effect that invites the audience to stare at it. 

When you invite your audience to stare and wonder for a long time, 

unless you’re doing a really thorough job of covering your tracks, 

don’t be surprised if someone comes up with an answer. That’s not 

to say it can never work, but a more standard color change would

offer a cleaner vanish, and after they’re really convinced the card 

has disappeared, while you’re directing attention to their shoe or 

wherever, a standard card fold would take care of the rest. Strong 

misdirection might seem boring from a mechanical standpoint, 

but there’s no denying how well it works. 

While V2F 2.0 might have its problems as a vanish, it makes 

for a very effective appearance of a card, an idea offered here as 

V2Ambitious, an ending for an Ambitious Card routine. This idea 

has some very clever extra thinking involved, and is arguably the 

real use for the move. The other routines offered are good but 

unremarkable, because once you’ve got the card folded, whether 

or not you load the card in a shoe or a wallet or a ham sandwich is 

almost academic. G’s Card under Wallet routine is a good one, but 

again unremarkable given all the really strong card-under-the-box 

routines already in print. 

Despite all my reservations about the technique, the audience 

footage shows some very satisfying reactions to the V2F 2.0 used 

as a vanish. And again, done well it’s very pretty. If you’re a card 

nut into color changes, it’s worth playing around with. I’m not 

convinced it’s worth $30, though. 

ulTra TeleThoughT walleT ii prop 

by chris kenworThy 


Price $65.00 

revieW by danny arCher 

This an updated version of a peek 

wallet that Chris Kenworthy had on 

the market a few years ago. The 

basic effect is that a card is removed 

from the wallet and an assisting 

spectator writes something down 

on it (symbol, drawing, word, etc.), 

after which the spectator inserts 

the face-down card into an outside 

pocket on the wallet. The performer 

opens the wallet to remove another 

card and he/she successfully duplicates 

the thought-of information. 

The wallet is nicely made in 

leather with brass corners and 

can certainly pass for a standard 

business card case. It also comes with some blank card stock 

and some cards printed with the words ESP Laboratory. These 

included cards are slightly wider than a standard business card. 

What makes this wallet different from the standard peek wallet is 

how the peek is gained. Without giving away too much, there is 

a special surface that appears to be a blank surface, but through 

which the performer can secretly see the written info. This is very 

cool. 

On the Internet boards, there is talk about using the wallet in 

a different fashion than is explained in the two pages of text and 

photos that accompany the wallet, to gain the glimpse without 

having to open the wallet. I can see that this can be accomplished 

easily by folding the wallet in a different direction than it comes 

in the package. 

As with any peek wallet, thought must be given to how and why 

the information needs to be written down in the first place. There 

is no real presentation or routine included with the wallet; the instructions 

cover the handling of the wallet and the all important 

glimpse. This is a fun utility device, and is a must-have for any 

fans of peek wallets (you know who you are), or for someone 

looking for an entrée into the fascinating world of mentalism. 

deVasTaTion Trick wiTh dVd and props 

by wayne dobson 

Available from: www.jbtvusa.com 


Retail Price $40.00 

revieW by Jamie salinas 

For some strange reason, I am 

drawn to leather magic wallets. I 

have owned many different ones, 

but I only keep a few. Devastation 

is a named-card to wallet effect that 

has been created by one of our most 

respected and creative performers, 

Wayne Dobson. Is this one a keeper 

for me? Keep reading. 

The routine begins with the 

magician recounting a dream that 

featured the spectator. In the dream, 

the spectator named a card, so the 

helper is asked to name a card. The 

magician exclaims that was the same card named in the dream. 

The magician then shows a pack of cards that are double-backed 

cards. The magician removes two double-backed cards, calling 

them Jokers, in spite of it being very clear that the two cards are 

double-backed cards. The two “Jokers” are placed in a wallet. 

The double-backed deck then instantly changes into a deck of 

regular (and different) cards, in new-deck order. As the magician 

points out that all of the cards are in order, it is seen that the named 

card is missing. The two double-backed cards that were referred 

to as Jokers are removed from the wallet and they are found to 

have Joker faces on each card. In addition to the two (now real) 

Jokers, there is an extra card in the wallet. The card is removed 

and shown to be the named card that is missing from the pack. 

The effect is very straightforward and is fairly simple to 

perform. You are supplied with the specially printed cards and the 

special wallet that allow you to perform this miracle. Mark Mason 

provides the demonstration as well as the explanation portion of 

the video. Mark does a very good job in both the performance and 

instructional segments. The trick resets in ten seconds. Mark also 

includes his handling for the wallet. 

The wallet is well made and very thin, with a simple design 

in black leather. The quick reset makes this a very good trick for 

the strolling magician. The magical effect of having a deck of 

double-backed cards transforming into regular cards and having 

the named card in the wallet is very strong. Finger flickers will be 

disappointed, as there is none of that here. The routine is great for 

the beginning magician as well as the seasoned pro. 

So will I add this wallet to my collection of keepers? If you 

have not already figured it out yet, this wallet, as well as the 

routine, is a keeper. Priced at $40 including the leather wallet, 

special gaffed cards, and instructional DVD, this a very good buy! 

double back Trick wiTh dVd 

by Jon allen 


Price $18.00 



This is a packet trick that is 

a transposition. The performer 

shows four cards, for example 

two Fives and two Kings. 

The two pairs change places 

after the fashion of The Last 

Trick of Dr. Jacob Daley. The 

key word here is clean. You start 

and end dirty, but it looks clean 

– very, very clean. Dean Dill says it is 

his favorite packet trick, as does another top 

performer in the Philly area, who does it at every walkaround 

gig. The trick is easy to learn and the DVD instructions 

are very clear. It comes with the necessary gaffed cards. At this 

price it is well worth the money. 

plF esp collecTion seT book and esp cards 

by plF 

Available exclusively in the USA from: www.Tannens.com 

Price $64.95 


When I first started performing 

mentalism, I bought several sets of the 

actual ESP/Zener testing cards used by 

Dr. Rhine of Duke University. They were 

about the size of bridge-size playing 

cards and had a one-way back design that 

was composed of a field of white stars on 

a blue background. While the scientists 

may have been serious, the cards looked 

as if they were designed for a kid’s magic 

set. They were also finished and sized in 

such a way as to permit them to be used 

like regular playing cards, which, unfortunately, 

tempted many performers into doing card tricks with an 

ESP testing deck. The cards used to be packaged in a little blue 

box that actually had an image of Duke University’s testing lab 

on the cover. This added an air of authenticity. Over time, the 

studies were abandoned, the cards and case went out of print, and 

when the cards were reissued just for magicians, the box was gone 

and the backs either retained the star pattern or were given clarity 

as magic shop props as they were printed with backs to match 

regular playing cards. I dropped ESP card routines from my repertoire 

and boxed up the related books. 

Recently, Tannen’s magic shop in NYC has become the 

exclusive distributor in the USA for a series of well crafted 

mentalism products produced by a company in Germany that 

values secrets. They clearly want to make these cards available 

to performers while at the same time taking great pains to keep 

them secret from the public. The question is: can magicians keep 

the secret? So long as the actual name of the product is not posted 

in reviews that are stored electronically or on Internet forums that 

can be Googled, the secret should remain intact. This is why I 

refer to the company as PLF. I request that you do the same. 

The first product of theirs I picked up is a new version of the 

classic ESP cards. You receive two packets of twenty-five cards. 

One set has blue backs with white print that clearly states the actual 

PLF company name and the phrase “testing cards.” The second 

set has white backs and blue print. Each set has the standard five 

designs printed on the front of the cards along with a set of five additional 

gaffed cards. The markings on the back can bear scrutiny, 


but can be quickly read by the performer. The look of the cards is 

a wonderful departure from playing cards, and the stock is thick 

and deliberately lacks the air cushion finish of standard playing 

card decks. The cards are cased in a white cardboard box with the 

PLF testing cards phrase and a very official company logo. This 

box is packaged inside of a plastic box of its own, which can be 

used separately or in conjunction with the cardboard container. 

The packaging reminded me of testing kits that I have seen being 

used by psychologists who test children. 

PLF has even gone to the effort of creating a Web site for 

their imaginary testing company. This means that if a spectator 

Googles the name on the back of the cards, they will be taken to 

an official-looking Web site that will further confirm the cards as 

scientific tools. Mentalism and magic literature has produced a 

wealth of effects that can be effectively exploited with these cards. 

A book is included with the PLF ESP Collection set and is also 

sold separately for $35. In addition to several strong effects, the 

book contains the necessary psychology and vocabulary needed 

to portray the effects as experiments and not tricks. It is well 

written, clearly illustrated, and required reading for those who 

want to ratchet up their believability. I recommend you buy the set 

and an extra deck while they are available. And sshhh... remember 

to keep the secret. 

personal FX dVd and gimmick 

by wayne dobson and mark mason 

Available from Mark Mason Magic 


Price $25.00 


I will give full disclosure 

here: I am friends with 

both Mark and Wayne, and 

I like them both very much 

as magicians and dealers. 

Personal FX is a mental 

effect in which you remove 

a card case and place three 

of your business cards 

on the table. An assisting 

spectator places his cell 

phone on one card and his 

keys on another. The last 

card goes back in the case. 

When the cards are turned over, all three match the choices made 

by the spectator. The instructional DVD is well done, and the 

routine is easy to learn. I like this very much. This is a good buy 

at $25. 

posTcards Trick wiTh dVd and gimmick 

by hernan macagno 

Available from: www.tangomagic.com 


Price $45.00 

revieW by Payne 

I recently attended a lecture by Doc Eason during which he 

wisely advised that one should never start a set with a card trick 

– a sentiment I wholeheartedly agreed with. Nothing is as potentially 

off-putting as walking up to someone, cards in hand, to ask

if they’d like to see a trick. Even though you could be the greatest 

entertainer in the world, you can all too easily end up looking like 

their weird Uncle Charlie who foists unwanted card tricks upon 

them at holiday gatherings. Deserved or not, there is a certain 

social stigma associated with the purveyors of card tricks. 

There are of course, as there always are, dissenters to this 

theory. The loudest of these are, of course, the weird Uncle Charlie 

types who enjoy inflicting 

the latest card trick they’ve 

extracted from the periodicals 

on the unsuspecting. 

But other voices that can 

be heard in the cacophony 

of protest: those magicians 

who only have card tricks 

in their repertoire. This 

puts them into a bit of a 

quandary. If one shouldn’t 

open with a card trick, but 

the only tricks you know 

how to do are with cards, 

then what is one to do? 

There is a simple way to 

reconcile Doc’s advice with 

the “all cards” repertoire. Make the first trick you do a vehicle 

to produce the deck of cards you are going to use for your performance. 

There have, over the years, been many novel ways to 

accomplish this feat. One of the more interesting ways was found 

in an early Paul Harris book. It was called Dehydrated Deck. 

The basic effect was to magically remove a deck of cards from a 

previously folded-up card box. More recently, David Regal came 

up with Sudden Deck. This involved producing a deck of cards 

from a previously shown empty and dismantled card case. This 

had the advantage of being a lot easier to do than Dehydrated 

Deck, because no difficult sleight of hand was required. But it 

had the weaknesses of not being examinable (you could hand out 

the folded up Dehydrated Deck at the beginning of the effect) and 

containing a topological incongruity at one point of the routine: 

the box is shown to have an extra, third side during one of the 

displays. 

Hernan Macagno’s Postcards from Tango Magic is the latest 

foray into the concept of extracting a deck of cards from a previously 

folded up or flattened box. And it’s a pretty good one to 

boot. It’s very much akin to Eugene Burger’s Shotglass Surprise, 

because the envelope containing the flattened card box can be 

freely passed around before the effect. The envelope is opened 

and the card box removed. It can be shown on both sides and very 

freely handled by the performer. The envelope is then discarded, 

the card box folded up, and a complete deck of cards is then 

removed from the box. 

The box can be set on the table as it will retain its shape and 

pass a cursory visual inspection. However it cannot be passed out 

for perusal. Unless you want your audience to know how the trick 

is done. But there is really no need for it to be examined. After all, 

the spectators have just held the envelope containing the box and 

they saw for themselves that it in no way could conceal a deck of 

cards. 

The angles are no worse than Sudden Deck, and multiple 

handlings are taught on the DVD. It is best performed at a table but 

there are a couple of stand-up variants shown as well. However, 

most of the stand-up variations require a jacket and the ability 

to secretly get a deck of cards out of your pocket and into play. 

A method where you simply walk on stage holding the envelope 

or take it out of your performing case at the start of the effect is 

demonstrated. The reset for this trick is quite quick and can easily 

be done in a matter of seconds, making this a good little opener 

for the table-hoppers out there. All in all, I think this is a clever 

prop that lots of performers will have a fun time using. My only 

complaint is that the card box should have been laminated to help 

it stand up to the wear and tear it’s going to get. 

sTarlighT Trick 

by kreis-magic.com 


Price $20.00 


The basic idea behind Starlight 

is that you can, for lack of a better 

term, make a spectator into an 

instant stooge. A card is selected and 

returned to the deck, after which a 

second card is handed to a spectator, 

who is then able to figure out what 

card was selected by spectator 

number one. The trick card looks 

normal from a distance, but the 

second spectator will know the card 

selected by the first spectator when 

he holds the card up to the light. 

I have a couple of problems with 

this. First, the assisting spectator 

doesn’t know what he is looking for, which makes the gimmick 

less than perfect, and second, there are lots of better, cheaper ways 

to give the information to the spectator. Not recommended. 

don’T blink Trick wiTh dVd 

by salVador suFraTe 


Price $40.00 


The basic effect is 

simple, you show one 

card and it changes in 

your hands with no 

funny moves; or, you 

can place the card in 

your mouth, turn away 

from the audience, and 

when you turn back the 

card has changed. The 

video looks great, but 

(and the “but” is quite 

large) you need to know 

several things about this 

project before you buy 

it. My problem is that telling you what the problems are would 

give away the secret. Let me just say that I do not think you can 

do this up close, and you have restrictions on what you wear when 

performing it. You also stand a good chance of being caught after 

the fact. I will say it looks great on video. I won’t tip the method, 

but let’s just say that you have to dress like Max Maven. I fear that 

this will be of limited utility. 


menTal epic Trick 

aVailable From your FaVoriTe dealer 

Distributed by D. Robbins 

http://www.ezmagicrobbins.com 

Price $22.00 

revieW by Payne 

All I can say 

about this “prop” 

is that you get what 

you pay for, which 

in this case isn’t 

much at all. For 

a start, a proper 

Mental Epic is 

supposed to look 

like a chalkboard 

or a more contemporary 

erasable 

white board. This “prop,” to use the term loosely, more 

closely resembles a cafeteria tray than it does the previously 

mentioned two items. To say it is shoddily put 

together is to insult all other things that are shoddily put 

together. The frame is constructed out of miserably thin 

vacu-formed plastic reinforced with shiny black tape. 

The areas given to you to write in are painfully small, 

about two and a half inches square. This combined with 

the fact that they are also recessed about a half an inch 

makes writing anything in them cumbersome. 

There are three doors to cover the performer’s predictions, 

which on the outset look handy. But the way they 

are constructed (tape hinges) keeps them from staying 

open on their own when you do the final reveals at the 

end of the trick. So you’re left showing that prediction 

one matches and then closing the door; then moving on 

to prediction two, and then again closing that door before 

moving on to revealing prediction three. This makes for 

a less than impressive final display of all three matching 

predictions at the conclusion of the effect. The visual 

image that the audience is left with is that you got one 

prediction correct. Add about thirty-five bucks to what 

you’d typically pay for this thing and you can pick up 

Paul Romhany’s excellent book The Mental Epic Compendium 

(reviewed in the July issue), which has many 

variations on this effect. All of which look a hundred 

times better than this prop. The only positive thing I 

can mention about this piece of apparatus is that it does 

come with an erasable whiteboard pen that you can use 

for something else. Avoid this poorly made prop like the 

plague. � 

If you wish to have your product 

reviewed please send it to: 

BIll Duncan 

P.O. BOx 50562 

Bellevue, Wa 98015-0562 


Joining Forces 

By Debbie Leifer 

s.A.M. Veterans entertainment chair 

“Joining Forces – Taking Action To serve 

America’s Military Families” is the powerful initiative 

spearheaded by First Lady Michelle obama 

and Dr. Jill Biden to support and honor America’s 

service members and their families. The initiative 

focuses on employment, education, and wellness, 

while engaging in a comprehensive effort to raise 

awareness about the service, sacrifice, and needs of 

military families. 

i’m sure all magicians will agree that the relaxation, 

humor, and entertainment derived from 

our art is a joy to engage in while recovering from 

injury, illness, or trauma. imagine how appreciative 

an audience of men and women who have served 

our nation would be to receive the gift of a magical 

performance while confined to a Veterans Hospital 

or Veterans Nursing Home. When you attend your 

next assembly meeting, please consider making 

the suggestion that your members get together 

to donate a performance at your local/regional 

Veterans Hospital! 

our Veterans entertainment program, also 

known as “Operation Hocus Pocus,” is described 

in great detail on the Web at www.magicsam. 

com/VHSP-home.asp. You’ll find pages on How 

To Volunteer, Tips and guidelines, and a list of VA 

Hospitals across the U.S. that your assembly can 

contact to donate performances. 

You’ll also see an image of the impressive 

Veterans Program Lapel Pin you’ll be sent to 

celebrate the performance you’ve so generously 

donated. Many of our members and officers wear 

that pin with pride. 

We’ve got good company! Major League 

Baseball, Sesame Street, AOL, The American Heart 

Association, McGraw-Hill Publishing, YMCA, Best 

Buy, Intel, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Tennis Association 

are among the diverse corporations and organizations 

supporting veterans and the Joining 

Forces program this year. so, borrowing a phrase 

from one of those popular organizations, let’s all 

“step up to the plate” and hit a home run this year 

by donating our time and talents to entertain our 

veterans confined to hospitals and nursing homes 

across America. �

Spotlight on... neil tobin 

neil is President of assembly 3. He has instituted a fund-raising séance each October and 

acts as the necromancer who performs the séance. He sets 

up the room, does the blackout, and requests club volunteers 

to help. 

neil started an annual magic competition held at 

chicago’s navy Pier. This free show was created 

to bring magic to the attention of the general 

public, and up to twenty area magicians take part. 

The first-, second-, and third-place winners each 

receive a specially made wand. The first-place 

winner receives a show contract. neil publicizes 

the show, lines up community judges, requests 

club volunteers, and emcees the competition. 

– Darlene Bull 


What are your venues? 

one oF The things philosophers 

do is pay close attention to words 

and concepts. We do this because 

it is easy for ways of thinking and talking 

to lead us astray. And if those misleading 

terms become a habit of thought, then we 

have a problem on our hands: we end up 

missing the true complexities of things, 

which often leads to flawed or confused 

action. 

It is in this spirit that I want to 

consider the common way magicians talk 

about their venues and styles. If you ask 

magicians today what kind of magic they 

perform, you are likely to hear, “Oh, I 

perform close-up magic,” or “I perform 

mostly stand-up magic, but some stage 

magic, too.” Indeed, “close-up, stand-up, 

and stage” have become the fairly standard 

ways magicians describe their venues and 

styles. 

But is this adequate? One obvious 

problem is that it is essentially gibberish to 

clients who aren’t magicians; you always 

have to add two or three sentences to 

explain what “close-up” and “stand-up” 

magic are. The bigger problem is that this 

classification is so general and abstract it 

isn’t even true. 

The fact is that there are at least seven 

different venue-styles of magic and each 

one of them has its own distinct character, 

conditions, and challenges. If we don’t see 

this clearly, if we don’t understand each 

of them precisely, it is easy to select the 

wrong material and easy for our performances 

to be weak and unsuccessful. 

My goal this month is to briefly discuss 

what I see as seven main venues for live 

magic. The fact is I could write a whole 

column about each of them, and there are 

certainly more than seven. But I want to 

get the conversation going and start to 

show how many vitally important details 

our current three-tier system ignores. 

1. greeting magic. This venue happens 

on the fly. You are attending a party or 


THEORY & ART OF MAGIC 

LARRY HASS 

shopping and someone you meet says, 

“You are a magician…?” So what are you 

going to perform? Remember, it comes up 

by surprise and your performance needs to 

happen fast and it has to be fast; it is too 

slow to take out a pack of cards and start 

shuffling. You need something direct and 

fun, something that “makes friends” rather 

than shows off or “puts off.” I never leave 

the house without one or two rock-solid 

pieces of greeting magic in my pockets – 

with coins or bills, or small objects I can 

give away as gifts. 

2. Walk-around magic. When you 

are engaged to perform walk-around at a 

cocktail party or reception, your performance 

needs to be more formal: a series 

of mini-shows – each one with some kind 

of beginning, middle, and end. You need 

strategies for “breaking in” to groups and 

“bailing out” if one is unruly or unresponsive. 

Reset is crucial. Flash is excellent. 

Getting people involved, talking, and 

laughing is outstanding. 

Quick aside: Do you see how different 

walk-around is from greeting magic? Do 

you see how the general category “closeup” 

ignores these crucial differences? Do 

you see how having only greeting magic 

for a walk-around gig would limit your 

success? The needs and goals are different; 

you would fall short of what the venue 

requires. 

3. after-dinner table magic. At a 

dinner party or restaurant with non-magicians, 

the entrée has been eaten, dessert 

has been served, and things are winding 

down. So what are you going to do to 

bring down the house? What is required 

here is a very particular kind of magic. 

It has to be incredibly strong, not hack, 

lame, or gimmicky. It is probably one 

piece, not two. It has to feel informal and 

impromptu, even if it is not. It is excellent 

to use playing cards or common objects 

that are lying around. All night long people 

have been thinking about the fact you are 

a magician; this is the big moment. Think 

Eugene Burger, Juan Tamariz, Eddie 

Fields, Johnny Thompson – masters of the 

form. 

4. formal Close-up. Here you have 

some distance, so it is time for servantes, 

loads, switches, and lapping. You might 

stand up for part of it. You may have some 

lighting; you might play music. But the 

heart of it is you need a real show, not a 

collection of tricks – one that is carefully 

composed for flow, texture, build, and 

closure. Think the close-up room at the 

Magic Castle. Think the maestro René 

Lavand or Al Goshman. Time to read 

Fitzkee. 

5. stand-up. Whether you call it 

“stand-up,” “parlor,” or “cabaret,” this 

venue requires that you stand and deliver 

for up to about eighty people. Visibility 

may be an issue, so the magic should 

happen vertically and at chest level, not on 

a tabletop. Because you are so close and 

there is no “moat,” you should break the 

fourth wall early and often. Also, audience 

members will join you up front and need 

to be managed. Some permutations may 

feel casual and loose, but unless you are 

part of an ensemble, you need a formal 

show. Typically, you will need to adapt to 

existing light sources and bring your own 

music. Think John Carney. 

6. Platform magic. Over about eighty 

people, stand-up magic becomes platform 

magic. That is, you are (or should be) on 

an elevated platform and your magic has 

to play much larger. (For example, the use 

of playing cards is highly limited in this 

venue.) Audience interaction becomes 

more difficult because of stairs, distance, 

and visibility. You may have lights and 

sound, but you are unlikely to have an 

assistant or wings so the whole show 

needs to be set before you start. This is 

unquestionably a formal show and needs a 

strong opener and killer closer. Think Paul 

Potassy and Jay Marshall. 

7. stage magic. The whole smear: 

lights and sound, wings and assistants, 

technology and the staff to run it. I could 

go on, but you get the idea and know the 

names. 

There you go: seven venues of magic, 

not three. And I haven’t even gotten into 

TV, radio, or street magic. But already 

with this more detailed thinking in place, 

we can get some good work done. Ask 

yourself: in which of these venues do you 

have real expertise? For which ones do you 

need new material and better presentations? 

Is there one or more that you want to 

become better at? What specific course of 

study and skill development do you need 

to take the next steps? 

In magic and life more precise thinking 

brings better action! �

The Tax Magician by Steve Snyder 

Business and Tax Advice for the Self-Employed Entertainer 

Which of My Convention 

Expenses is Deductible? 

Last month I wrote about the joys of going to a convention. 

I hope you went, or are still planning to go to 

one. I can’t say it enough times – it’s worth the trip. 

This month, I’d like to discuss your expenses going 

to and during your convention experience. As always, 

good recordkeeping now will avoid the headaches later. 

Let’s begin with your registration. Your registration 

fees are one hundred percent deductible. I’ll discuss the 

deductibility of family members you may be bringing 

with you at the end of this article. 

Next comes your trip. How did you get to the convention? 

Did you fly or drive? If you flew, all your expenses 

are deductible: the trip to the airport, the flight, getting 

from the airport to the hotel. How did you get to the 

airport? Taxi? That’s deductible, including the tip. Did 

a friend drive you? You can claim the mileage and 

reimburse your friend later. Did you drive yourself and 

leave your car in long-term parking? You can deduct 

that expense, too. 

Perhaps you live close enough to drive to the convention. 

If you drove your own vehicle you are limited to the 

mileage allowance or your actual expenses, depending 

on which method you use for your tax return. As of July 

1, the allowance is 55½ cents per mile. 

Maybe you drove a long distance, spending a night 

or two in a motel. The motel expenses are deductible, 

too. I’ll discuss meals later. 

Now that you’ve arrived, we can deal with your hotel 

bill. Your hotel bill is completely deductible. However, 

keep away from the snack bar. Not only is it expensive, 

but meals are limited. However, using the snack bar 

would be included on your hotel bill. So if you must 

use it, try not to get caught if you decide to deduct it. 

Better yet, stop at a local Wal-Mart type store and buy 

whatever snacks you need for your room. Hey, the ice 

is free! 

While at the convention you just happen to wander 

into the dealer’s room. Who could blame you? All those 

effects are calling your name, a temptation much too 

hard to resist. Anything you purchase should be deductible 

as supplies or equipment. If it’s a big-ticket 

item, you may want to deduct it under Section 125. 

I don’t believe in depreciating my assets if I can write 

them off. After all, I had to pay for them all at once; 

why not deduct them all at once? 

Let’s talk about meals. Some hotels provide a free 

continental breakfast. Nothing to deduct there – it’s 

free. When Liz and I go to conventions, the free continental 

breakfast is actually our preferred method of 

breakfast. And while we’re at it, we also pick up a 

few pieces of fruit or granola bars to snack on later. 

But other hotels do not provide such amenities and 

you are on your own. Or you may prefer to eat at the 

hotel and charge the meals to your room. Meals are a 

tricky deduction. Generally, meals are limited to a 50% 

deduction. The thought being that you could have 

eaten at home. Not likely since you’re many miles away. 

I usually deduct the full cost of my breakfast on those 

occasions when I have to purchase it. Not legal, but 

worth the risk. Lunch is always available at the hotel – 

somehow. But if you do need to go out, keep in mind 

the 50% rule. Dinner is usually eaten with friends from 

the convention, or with my wife. We usually choose 

something a bit nicer than a local fast food place. So, 

here I follow the 50% rule. 

Let’s talk about family members. As I mention earlier, 

my wife Liz usually accompanies me. Although she 

does not perform with me, she is my consultant. She 

know better than anyone else, what effects are me, 

and which ones I need to avoid no matter how much I 

whine, beg, or plead. As my consultant, her part of the 

trip is also deductible. 

All our children are grown and gone, so we never 

have to deal with them. You, on the other hand, may 

be bringing other family members – depending on the 

convention location and what other stuff there is for 

your family to do. Their expenses are not deductible. 

None of them! You cannot claim your ten-year-old son 

as a consultant. However, if your children are truly a 

part of your act, performing with you as a regular part 

of your show, then you may deduct their expenses as 

indicated above. 

That about covers all the expenses I can think of in 

conjunction with what I hope was an experience of 

a lifetime. If I left anything out, or if you still have a 

question or two, write to me, call me, or if you see me 

at a convention, just come up and ask me. 

Whatever you do, whatever you bought, wherever 

you ate; keep all your receipts. � 

Steve Snyder has a BS in Accounting and an 

MBA. Let him put his knowledge to work for 

you. Send business or tax questions to him at: 

thetaxmagician@centurylink.net. Please put “M-U-M 

question” in the subject line. Steve is also the 

author of several books, all of which are available at: 

www.thetaxmagician.com. 


i haVe 

a couple of things to talk about 

this month. I just read Michael Close’s 

review of The Berglas Effects in the 

June issue of M-U-M, and a quote from 

Berglas caught my eye: “The order of 

importance in doing magic is personality, 

presentation, effect, and method.” The big 

mistake that many magicians make is that 

they work on their magic and spend little or 

no time on their personality. 

I travel to Vegas a great deal; the idea 

of personality rings true in that city. You 

would never just say, “I saw a magic show 

in Vegas.” The more common statement 

would be, “I saw Mac King,” or “I saw 

Penn & Teller.” The achievement of these 

performers has less to do with tricks and 

methods and more to do with personality. 

Many magicians who can do great 

sleight of hand cannot carry on a conversation 

about anything that doesn’t involve 

magic. Their time is spent working on 

tricks and methods. The price they pay is 

too great and the amount of money they 

make is too small. The only way to develop 

an interesting personality is to do things 

and learn things that have nothing to do 

with magic. 

The fact of the matter is that you can’t 

make it as a performer without a strong 

personality. When someone tells me that 

he saw a magician at a party, and I ask 

what his name was and he says, “Oh, I 

don’t remember his name, but he was real 

good,” it makes me sad. I once spoke to a 

very good magic booker who told me that 

he hires guys whom the CEO would want 

to have come to the house and hang out 

with all afternoon. 

Unfortunately, on this subject I’m 

probably (as Michael Close said in his 

review) preaching to the choir. So, let’s 

move on to something else. 

I like to dig in the dirt. By dig in the 


I’VE BEEN THINKIN’ 

NORMAN BECK 

dirt, I don’t mean literally, but rather figuratively; 

it is amazing what you can find 

sometimes. My favorite digging spots are 

pawnshops, thrift stores, flea markets, 

swap meets, estate sales, and used book 

stores. Used book stores have that smell 

of dust and old paper that makes me want 

to see what I can find. Powell’s Books in 

Portland is a city block in size. Last week 

I was in Rochester, New York, and I found 

The House of Guitars, a used music store. 

I have a big passion for music and books. I 

find many crossovers between the two. 

In digging around, I found a CD on 

comedy that those in the magic world 

may find of interest. Topics included 

comedy magic, writing jokes, the entertainer, 

likeability, ad-libbing, technique, 

joke construction, acceptance, persona, 

ego, rapport, and the list goes on and on. 

The person who was giving the advice 

was some guy named Carson. You can 

probably find it; the title is Johnny Carson 

on Comedy and it is from 1968. I thought 

that it was a very good find for eight bucks, 

but it wasn’t my best find of the day. 

You have to understand that I travel a 

great deal, and I read a lot; on this trip the 

books I brought had not lasted as long as 

I hoped. I needed something for the trip 

home. I saw a used paperback with a bad 

title. I sometimes will judge a book by its 

cover or its title, and The Music Lesson: 

A Spiritual Search for Growth through 

Music did not seem like the type of book 

that would be much fun to read. The author 

was some guy named Victor Wooten. The 

bio on the back cover told me he was a 

three-time Grammy award winning bass 

player and that he plays with Bela Fleck 

and the Flecktones. 

As I put the book down, I noticed that 

on the first page, in big red letters, were the 

words: “Warning! Everything in this book 

may be wrong, but if so, it’s all right!” I 

still had no idea what the book was about. 

I wanted to put it down, to move on down 

to other books on the shelf, but that one 

sentence made me turn the page. I found: 

“Truth? What is truth? And by the way, if 

I always tell you the truth, you might start 

to believe me.” I was finding it harder and 

harder to put the book down, and I didn’t 

even know how much it was. I turned to 

the back cover and looked at the people 

who had said nice things about it and read: 

“Don’t let the title fool you…It’s not just 

about music. Victor’s book blended beautifully 

with my vocation…in fact, it applies 

to everything we do in life. – Shano Pable, 

Master Garden Designer.” 

Okay, I bought the book and I’ve read 

it. My quote would be: “Every close-up 

magician who has ever wanted to perform 

in the real world must read this book.” I 

would put it in my must-read stack and, 

more important, I’d put it in my must-reread 

group. I have one bookcase that contains 

my treasurers; Wooten’s book goes in that 

case. The book is sort of a novel, but it is 

really about how to entertain with music. 

Watch a YouTube clip of Mr. Wooten and 

you will understand; words just won’t do 

it. I was hooked; he had explained more 

about being an entertainer in thirty-five 

short pages than I have seen written in 

all the magic books I have read, and he 

never once talked about magic. I have 

since learned that he is also a magician; an 

article was written about him in Genii. 

Let me quote some advice from the 

book: 

“You should never lose the groove in 

order to find a note. 

“Your problem is this: You have been 

trying to tell your story with a bass guitar 

instead of through it. 

“The foundation of any building has to 

be the strongest part; the life of a true bass 

guitarist is the same.” 

I will close with what Wooten says on 

page 64: “Many musicians get caught up, 

way too caught up, in the technique, when 

it could benefit them to get caught up in 

the music. Some of them measure their 

accomplishments on whether they can do 

a certain technique or not.” You can take 

this book and swap the word music for 

the word magic and the advice will still 

work. I think of Don Alan in this regard; 

he didn’t have a ton of technique, but when 

he performed he produced a lot of magic.�

OUR ADVERTISERS 

Axtell Expressions 7 

Balloons to You 45 

B. Happie Entertainment 5 

Burgoon Magic 55 

Colombini Magic 71 

Elmwood Magic 77 

Genii Magazine 49 

Hermetic Press, Inc. 2 

Hottrix ® 3 

Ian Kendall 39 

Joe Mogar - Magic Stars 30 

Klamm Magic 48 

La Rock’s Fun and Magic Outlet 79 

Loomis Magic 55 

LotaBowl.com 30 

Magic Bistro 75 

Maxello Magic 75 

M.H. Magic Magazines 30 

Mystic Moose Magic 51 

Nielsen Magic 71 

Phil Kampf 9 

Rich Hill’s Illusionshop 55 

Show-Biz Services 9 

TeachByMagic.com 80 

The Balloon Guys 48 

The Tax Magician 9 

T. Myers 75 

Tom Gagnon 5 


farewell hank 

When I became president of Parent 

Assembly 1, I was called upon to 

perform a Broken Wand ceremony for 

a departed member. I had known him 

as a fun performer, but never really got 

to know the “man,” behind his tricks. 

Since that time I have performed the 

ceremony far too many times. As my 

years with the Society add up, I have 

gotten to know many of the magicians 

who have left us, and each year the 

ritual gets harder to perform. I can 

recite the words by heart. 

In July, I suddenly heard and felt 

the words in my heart and not on my 

lips. “One we talked with yesterday 

is silent today.” Hank Moorehouse, 

“who walked with us, has gone on 

without us.” 

Our friendship lasted many years. 

Each and every one of us around the globe 

has been touched by the real magic of this 

man. His unselfish giving and straightforward 

manner endeared him to us all. His 

even temper never got out of hand. He 

and Jackie have always been great hosts 


THE DEAN’S DIARY 

GEORGE SCHINDLER 

to magicians from around the planet. 

Although he spoke no foreign languages, 

he was a world traveler who did business 

as a magic dealer and a consultant; he 

never missed a trip to his favorite place, 

Sindelfingen in Germany. His generosity 

extended beyond all limits. Hank opened 

doors for me, introducing me to foreign 

Photo by Dale Farris 

dealers and negotiating deals for me. Years 

ago, when I was producing shows, he could 

always be counted on to recommend great 

acts. 

In his travels he found acts for his 

sixteen years as producer of the S.A.M. 

convention shows; he also booked talent 

for the FFFF convention and the Abbott’s 

Get-Together. Hank, Brad Jacobs, David 

Goodsell, and I spent many conventions 

together as “magic widowers,” while our 

wives took over the registration desks as 

the “Unholy Four.” 

While you are reading this, I will 

be at the Abbott’s Get-Together, where 

Hank really shone. He never asked us 

to have dinner with him each evening 

before the shows. He just said, “Look 

it! Meet me at the showroom at 5 

o’clock; we are eating at the Lakeside.” 

On our way to visit our kids in 

Chicago, the Moorehouse home in 

White Pigeon was the “open house” 

place to stop, have a Manhattan with 

Hank, and visit with Jackie. Hank was 

a good cook. Occasionally we’d stay 

over in the guest room, where more 

magicians than there are cards in a 

deck have slept! We are not sure about 

George Washington. 

There are too many wonderful 

memories to share in this small space. 

At the Pittsburgh convention (which, 

as I write this, is a week away) there 

will surely be a great sharing of 

Hank Moorehouse stories. He touched 

many, many lives. “No greater tribute can 

be paid to any man than this; to say that 

he lives on in the hearts of his friends.” 

Hank Moorehouse will live forever in our 

hearts. �

This monTh we finish our inventory 

section in the binder. We’ve organized 

our tricks, but we carry a lot 

more than that to each performance. Some 

of us use a PA system or a backdrop curtain. 

A few of us have our own lighting 

system or a portable stage. You should 

have a separate list for all of the accessories 

you take to each show. 

I have several tables, each designed for a 

specific purpose. I’ll use my suitcase table 

as an example. My permanent suitcase 

table inventory includes a servante tray, 

a close-up pad, and a folding lint brush 

to keep it fresh. I carry rechargeable LED 

lights with charger to illuminate the inside 

of the case. 

I have a tool kit that includes nail 

clippers. Did you ever break a nail while 

setting up? Those rubber squares that go 

under table legs are handy for blocking 

your wheels. Some outdoor stages are 

not on level ground. One of those large 

gag cellphone magnets goes to every 

show, because that has become a common 

problem. 

I always carry one of those oldfashioned 

movie clapboards as a 

permanent out. Mine says: “Polish Wiserd 

Magic Act, take 137.” When you can’t 

think of a comeback, it always works. 

Making fun of yourself keeps the audience 

on your side when something goes wrong. 

Not only are each of my tables inventoried 

in a similar manner in my master 

binder, a copy of the inventory is on an 

index card in each table. I refer to it both 

when packing for the show and when 

breaking down after the performance. 

There is room on the card for notes, such 

as “put fresh batteries in the system.” 

This is work the audience never sees, 

but it is necessary if you want to convey 

the image of a professional entertainer. 

It will enable you to concentrate on your 

presentation instead of worrying if you 

remembered to load your rabbit in the 

Square Circle. Being organized buys 

you time, a commodity that is generally 

unavailable at any price. 


CONFESSIONS OF A PAID AMATEUR 

ROD DANILEWICZ 

Finally, we get to the magic. The reason 

we cleaned house in phase one can be attributed 

to a statement Jamy Ian Swiss 

includes in his lectures. He says, “If you 

have been involved with magic for at least 

five years, you do not need more tricks. 

You will do better as a magician to perfect 

the performance of a few effects that are 

suitable for your stage personality.” He’s 

right. 

I fell into the same trap we all do at 

the beginning, I’m always working for 

hometown folks. I needed new stuff for 

every show. That gets expensive, and you 

end up doing three hundred tricks poorly 

instead of becoming an accomplished 

entertainer. It took me almost six years 

before I applied the brakes. Why is there 

no twelve-step program for recovering 

magicians? 

When I had completed all of the steps 

described over the past few months, I 

finally had a sense of direction. I now was 

aware of what type of magician I could 

become based on tricks I had kept that 

were enjoyable to me. I had created a solid 

foundation on which to build. 

On the surface it appeared I had a 

larger problem. I was still performing for 

the same people, but now I had fewer tricks 

to share with them. I solved the problem by 

creating different shows with the materials 

I had. Because I do mostly children’s 

shows, I decided to create three different 

shows for kids. 

A page for each went into the inventory 

section of the binder. I do a lot of repeat 

shows, so I have three years of “new” 

material. In year four you can repeat show 

number one. Most organizations have an 

age cut off for attendees, so your audience 

does change. 

I did the same with shows for adults 

suitable for stage or parlor. I have two 

walk-around shows and one mentalism 

show, which is not done seriously. I don’t 

feel comfortable having people come up 

after a show for a private reading concerning 

their upcoming heart surgery. I have 

spoken with mentalists who have had that 

happen. 

I have close-up shows, table magic 

shows, and even an inventory for 

impromptu performances. I have fourteen 

different shows I can do for local audiences 

before I have to repeat a performance 

verbatim. This was accomplished after 

reducing my inventory to just fifty tricks. 

This is work the 

audience never sees, 

but it is necessary if 

you want to convey the 

image of a professional 

entertainer. Being 

organized buys you 

time, a commodity that 

is generally unavailable 

at any price. 

All instantly resettable card and coin 

tricks have a separate inventory page. 

Finally, I have a page for filler material 

such as Tricks for Food or Grave Mistake. 

Add pages as needed for things you do that 

I don’t, such as large illusions or balloon 

animals. 

I have a personal problem with 

magicians who are always on. In the April 

issue of M-U-M, Bruce Chadwick said, 

“A good magician always has a trick in 

his pocket.” In his 1951 book Scarne’s 

Magic Tricks, John Scarne stated, “As a 

magician you must always be on stage.” I 

see the value in being able to do something 

on the spot that might result in a booking, 

but pulling sponge balls out of your pocket 

seems a bit contrived. 

My list of impromptu magic is 

composed of everyday items – for example, 

rubber bands or coins. Even doing a prediction 

using the PATEO force with items 

on the table can be effective. There are a 

few innocent magic items you could ring 

in such as a Pen through Anything. I think 

the magic is stronger when you’re put on 

the spot and can perform while seemingly 

unprepared. 

Next month we finally get to the actual 

tricks. We are, however, still a long way 

from building a show that has entertainment 

value. It’s time you began thinking 

about performing magic from your 

customers’ point of view. � 

Email me at polishwiserd@sbcglobal.net

(Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 - The Society of American Magicians

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?