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

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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. 66 M-U-M Magazine V2F 2.0 dVd by g Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies Price $30.00 revieW by antonio m. Cabral 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 Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies 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 Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies 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 Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies Price $18.00 revieW by norman beCK AUGUST 2011 67
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Jon Dorenbos page 40 AUGUST 2011
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AUGUST 2011 M-U-M • Volume 101
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6 M-U-M Magazine FROM THE EDITOR’
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Promises - When I ran for second vi
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Newsworthy An Open Letter to All Ma
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ASSEMBLY NEWS of audience member Ed
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ASSEMBLY NEWS no balls, just rolled
Page 16 and 17: ASSEMBLY NEWS From Left: Joe Libby-
Page 18 and 19: ASSEMBLY NEWS you Isaac Brady for h
Page 20 and 21: ASSEMBLY NEWS September thru June a
Page 22 and 23: ASSEMBLY NEWS 266 suMMer Fun LAkeLA
Page 24 and 25: BROKEN WANDS William E. (Bill) King
Page 26 and 27: A Magician Prepares... the delo Cut
Page 28 and 29: it (Photo 2). Now lock these two bu
Page 30 and 31: 21 22 23 between them (Photos 17 an
Page 32 and 33: 32 M-U-M Magazine The Nielsen Galle
Page 34 and 35: BASIC TRAINING Welcome back to Basi
Page 36 and 37: BASIC TRAINING a flag to an observa
Page 38 and 39: Louie Foxx Earlier this year, I was
Page 40 and 41: JON DORENBOS must be one of the luc
Page 42 and 43: aseball. He was also a big Seattle
Page 44 and 45: asked her to dinner. She said yes.
Page 46 and 47: 46 M-U-M Magazine over How Do I Han
Page 48 and 49: UNDER OVER By Joshua Jay Summer Saf
Page 50 and 51: The Houdini Award By Julie Sobanski
Page 52 and 53: Lucille Pierce and the Sorcerer’s
Page 54 and 55: James shares an entertaining tale f
Page 56 and 57: QUICK LOOK BOOK NOOK Barrie Richard
Page 58 and 59: QUICK LooK BooK NooK back to its or
Page 60 and 61: QUICK LooK BooK NooK will have to d
Page 62 and 63: a beautiful but mysterious Russian
Page 64 and 65: featured, or if you are a fan of Da
Page 68 and 69: This is a packet trick that is a tr
Page 70 and 71: menTal epic Trick aVailable From yo
Page 72 and 73: What are your venues? one oF The th
Page 74 and 75: i haVe a couple of things to talk a
Page 76: farewell hank When I became preside
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(Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 - The Society of American Magicians

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