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

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
Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies
Price $20.00
revieW by norman beCK
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
Distributed by Murphy’s Magic Supplies
Price $40.00
revieW by norman beCK
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.
AUGUST 2011 69