New Cervon Notebook Coming

From the LLPub website:
Bruce Cervon’s­ Castle Notebooks Volume 5 – the final volume includes a complete index of all 5 volumes Bruce Cervon’s Castle Notebooks are a holy grail for students of close-up magic from the golden years of the Magic Castle. Within them are held countless tricks, sleights and secrets that were kept exclusive by Cervon for many years, and are still ahead of today’s cutting edge. Respecting Bruce’s desire that this information remain exclusive, his wife, Linda Lipps Cervon, in conjunction with L&L Publishing, is releasing Bruce Cervon’s Castle Notebooks in a facsimile set of hardcover books. Each page scanned from the original hand-written notebooks. Volume 5 containing Cervon notebooks 12 and 13, composed from 1967 through 1986 — 403 pages— is now available in a limited edition —just 500 copies will be sold! A must-have for the serious student of fine, advanced, close-up magic. $200

My Take: if you have the money, go for it. If you don't...borrow, beg, go on welfare. I've seen the first four volumes go for over $1000 on ebay. My guess is that for magic book collectors this volume will up the price.

I have the first four volumes. When I first received Volume 1, I was a bit disappointed. LLPub makes no bones about it- these are cleaned up scans of Bruce's meticulous notes from his years at the Magic Castle. And yes, using the books, you can track down where he published certain items. But there is nothing like looking at the thinking that went behind the effects. The contents are mostly card magic, as Bruce was mentored by Dai Vernon. I met Bruce back in 1986 and my wife said he was the best magician she had ever seen, which is saying a lot (she's very discerning). I purchased some items from Bruce over the years and he was always kind and had a wicked sense of humor.

You'll have to dig through the books for material if you want to perform them. There are little presentation notes but heavy on moves, and routines. They are, in my opinion, a great legacy from a great magician.

Masonic secrets?

Its been a while since I posted but I ran across this on the MSNBC website: it makes for a quick topical presentation for a dollar bill trick-

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Bad Magic

Here are a few videos of magic... failing.

1. This first one, the illusionist exposes his effect. I don't know what is worse- messing up, or messing up and denying it.


2. Illusionist Ed Alonzo accidently drops the levitation. I like Alonzo. He was recently written up in Magic Magazine for getting the magic gig with Britney Spears. Moral: Mistakes happen.


3. The infamous Cannon Duck- this is clip from Britain's got talent. Moral: If it can go wrong, it will.


I have learned though, that we cannot always trust the editing that these talent shows do. Case in point: Dan Stapleton is one of the best, hardk working magicians around. He went on American's got Talent, and they chopped up his audition to make it look like he was a hack. Not good.

No one is innocent of making mistakes. When I was the house magician at Casa Bonita in Denver I was doing my linking ring routine (which I learned from Dai Vernon's routine), for some reason the key ring snapped off and went into the audience. I picked it up and showed it, saying, "That's the last time I buy rings with cheap welding."

Magic Escape artist Problem

Escape artist Kristen Johnson has a very close call at a half-time show. She was recently featured on the cover of one of our magic magazines.

On Derren Brown and Presentation

When I first heard of Derren Brown I was skeptical. I purchased both of his books I started to read them and thought it was claptrap. But then I saw Brown perform and jumped back on the books. They are very expensive now and hard to find at a good price.

The more I've read by him the more I appreciate what he had to say. Magicians tend (at least table hoppers) to try and come up with an ice-breaker to get people's attention in a restaurant or hospitality venue. They persuade the owners to post a tent-card introducing the magician. But this is only treating a symptom. As I've gotten older I resent the constant interruptions at the restaurant table by the waiter/waitress and just want to visit with my friends or family. Then some guy comes up, as Brown points out, and says, "Excuse me sir, did you lose a white pen knife"? Brown's essay in Absolutely Magic is hilarious, especially his response to this nonsense (which I admit I have done with different effects- money, salt shakers, etc). Of course I didn't lose a pen knife, I know that red ink weighs the same as black ink, and I could care less that coins can travel from hand to hand. I just want another soda and no interruptions.
Brown's point about magic is not intrinsically meaningful is well-taken. Imagine going into a theater and paying 20.00 for tickets (that's cheap) and you see 3 minutes of a slow-motion explosion created by CGI. Then the show is over. That is comparable to watching a 3 minute routine by a magician. It has no context, and no meaning. It may be astonishing to see a coin visually vanish at the fingertips, but who cares? It doesn't mean anything to watch a coin vanish. Brown uses the example of coming into the house, laying down a book that you've been reading, getting distracted and then finally coming back to where you put the book down. And its gone. Now the mind tracks a moment of confusion and immediately goes backwards to track down the book. The mind does the same thing with magic. There is meaning for a moment in the desire to figure out where the book went. But it is not a pleasant experience.
I've been thinking quite a bit about what Brown says about magic as art and theater and his thoughts are well taken. Let me give you an example. I'm a science fiction fan and recently watched some episodes of Star Trek Next Generation. In season 6 an episode, "Lessons" is a poignant take on relationships. Picard meets an attractive crew member, Lt.Cdr Derren played by Wendy Hughes. They grow in attraction and then the plot thickens where he has to send her to a planet that is going to experience a storm which rages in unsurvivable fire (note the plot conflict). She survives but they both realize, without saying it, that she can no longer have a relationship with Picard because he may have to send her to face her death. How will they resolve it? This conflict and the personalities involved bring the viewer into the story and it becomes meaningful.
Brown notes that the magician typically is like a god who snaps his fingers and the magic happens. There is no inherent conflict, no display of likable personality (he interrupted your dinner, didn't he?) and silly patter about ink being heavier with more printing). In our Star Trek analogy, the transporter, the star ship, the phasers, etc., are all props that provide set dressing to the real point of interest, the players. The frame work is relationships. It is not the transporter that we are interested in. It is the person being transported to the planet to face danger that is our focal point of interest. Brown points out that the average magician can make a bill float. But why? Who cares? Everyone knows (when their mind back-tracks) that there is a thread, a magnet, etc. But Brown's presentation provides the framework- the lady's relationship with a pleasant memory surrounding the ring, and the implied method is the energy of her thoughts that make it move. And for her, the magic is now meaningful.
What I (and Brown) are not saying is that you tell a story with a plot and relate it to the effect. Magic can be a polemic for some ideology but this is not necessarily meaningful. In a postmodern sense, the magician must tap into the experiences of the audience and use this as his portrait where the magic is one of the props in the story. I'm reminded of a magician who put out some DVD's and is frolicking in the forest (I'm not making this up). He then finds a coin on a rock and he and his pal cover the coin with paper telling some inane story about fairies and light flash paper around the coin and it disappears. What hackneyed silliness is this? People may want to believe in Tinkerbell but that is not our common experience and if you saw a fairy in the woods you wouldn't set her or him on fire to make him disappear. You would likely take a picture of it with your cell phone.
Magic is changing to be sure. But as I get older I'm less and less fascinated with somebody doing spread leg postures, making a dove appear and cards at his fingertips. Who cares? I'd rather watch Star Trek or Dr. Who.

Chan Canasta- A Remarkable Man

It has been some time since I posted. Since then I was able to obtain a copy of David Britland's, Chan Canasta- A Remarkable Man. (Here is a video of Canasta doing his impossible book test.

Over at the magic depot one of the "reviewers" said he was greatly disappointed with the book. I think this is likely due to the reputation of Canasta as a remarkable mentalist vs. the methods that he used as revealed in the book. Magicians are constantly looking for fascinating methods to perform an effect and Canasta seems to have understood that it wasn't the method that was the focus but upon the audience, to lead them to an incredible experience of magic. This is clear from what he tells his TV host on the next videos:




Watch the videos, especially the card work. Canasta used the Eight Kings stack and was an expert at using it. Rather than calling out the cards in order, he often transposed or leapt around the stack to confuse those who had seem him before. One of the British newspapers had exposed Canasta's methods as well as those of Maurice Fogel. Canasta didn't care. And he didn't care if he failed... it only added a bit of humaness to the mystique that he created. During the first interview you can hear Canasta telling the host two of his most precious secrets: psychology and memorizing the cards. Both are true, but Canasta does it so well that people naturally attributed his abilities to some sort of mystical quality.

If you watch the first video you'll see Canasta doing his book test. It is impromptu and carefully orchestrated, so natural. All of these methods are revealed in Britland's book

On another note, there are effects that simply do not read well. They do not convey the incredible experience that an actual performance does. For example, watch this video of Al Koran:

Koran's effects:
Gold Medallion
Number duplication
Headline Prediction.

All three of these can be found in Hugh Miller's two books on Koran, including Professional Presentations. Koran's medallion is a classic effect, often duplicated to lesser impact upon the audience. Don Wayne's version that was performed by Copperfield (Room Service) is a good take on it but requires two persons. Imagine Koran walking out to the stage in the Ed Sullivan show with no visible props and performs for 9 minutes with nothing but a few pieces of paper, an envelope and a tabloid newspaper. It is obvious that it is not the magic or methods but Koran that is on stage.

Fraud- Promo Clip

Here's the promo clip for Fraud by Daniel Garcia. Believe me...what you see is what you get. Great effect.

Fraud- by Daniel Garcia Review

I didn't think much of the article in magic magazine about Daniel Garcia because I'm not fond of street magic; i.e., guys who appear to mimic David Blaine, going about the streets and doing magic for spectators. Was I ever wrong! I recently saw Daniel Garcia's Fraud and consider it to be one of the top magic effects recently released.

Here's the effect: The magician borrows a one dollar bill and has the back signed by the spectator. After some comments about the security features of the bill, the magician very slowly moves the "letter stamp" on the bill across the bill to the right side of the bill. He cleanly hands the bill back to the spectator with no switches and it can be examined.

What I Like- the impossibleness of the effect. When a magician takes an everyday object and does magic with it, it screams impossible. When the magician leaves the object with the spectator it jumps up and down yelling impossible.

I like the fact that it will take time to prepare this effect. You can do several of them at once (I'm not giving anything away here). I like it because that means all those who don't like to put together magic that takes time to prepare will skip this effect, saving it for those of us who relish the impact more than the pain of preparing it. At 24.95 it is a steal...literally

Five Stars on this one

Worst Magic Acts of 2008 update

Some time previously I posted a clip of the "worst magic acts of 2008." Later, (some months later) the truth came about about Dan Stapelton's act. What happened was the producers of the show (director?) re-cut the footage so that when Stapelton was dismissed it appeared like he sulked off stage, dropping some of his props on the way. This was far from the case. Stapelton is a very experienced and entertaining magician who is extremely professional and commercial. He has years of experience of "magishing" on cruise ships. It is unfortunate that this TV show gave another impression.

22 Blows to the Head Review

All of the major magic magazines publish reviews of current and newly released magic material; DVD's, books, tricks, etc. I have found for the most part that the reviews are helpful. Very rarely do I find a review that I really disagree with. In this review we'll take a quick look at Jay Sankey's 22 Blows to the head.

I met Jay when he lectured for the Mile-Hi magicians back in 1985 (has it been that long?). Since then, Jay embarked on launching a career in comedy clubs and then came back to the magic community as one of the most prolific creators today. Jay has the unique ability to think outside the box in magic and offer creations that are really different. But, unfortunately, I do not think these offerings are that outside of the box when it comes to mentalism.

The effects:
1. Graffiti - A spectator's own name appears on a card!
This is one of the strongest effects on the DVD. The spectators will wonder how in the world a card in your pocket has their personal name on it.
2. Homocide - Russian roulette with a hole punch!
Jay will fool you with this one. My only complaint is that the "work" to accomplish the effect is repeated several times over and over again for subsequent effects. The warning: you can't do two of these effects in the same show.
3. Laying on of Hands - A kick-ass three phase demonstration!
4. Mute - Mentalism with jingle bells!
5. Simply Divine - So easy, so satisfying!
6. Resistance is Futile - The ultimate psychic packet trick!
7. Casualties of War - You'll love the presentational "hook!"
8. Divided Attention - A picture is worth a thousand words!
9. Fade Away - Jay has sold this item alone for 20 bucks!
10. Black Market - Mentalism with matches!
11. Mercurial Prediction - This drops the most jaded of jaws!
12. Symbolic - A very clever variation on a classic!
13. Shufflecutdeal - The spectator does everything!
14. Formal Affair - Jay's pet handling for bending a spoon!
15. Confession - "Out of this World" leaves the galaxy!
16. Reinactment - You'll grin like an idiot every performance!
17. Vital Statistics - A lean, mean, devastating machine!
18. Memory Lapse - Cause a spectator to forget a thought!
19. Greed - "Bank Night" with a difference!
20. Hide, Keep & Give Away - Three blows to the head!
21. Serial Killer - The best "reading" of a borrowed bill ever!
22. Locked Room Mystery - A terrifying "over the phone" effect!
A great effect for publicity or to book a show. The spectator receives a package with a deck of cards and he/she cuts freely. The magician then tells the spectator which four cards he chose, one of which the spectator has not looked at.

The remainder of the effects are self explanatory.

What I like: The effects are easy to to do, except perhaps the hide, keep and give away, which will require you know how to do a pass. They are for close up situations and will get the attention of the spectator.

I also like is Jay seems to have calmed down in this offering. In many of the DVD's Jay jumps around like a fellow who has forgotten to take his Ritalin. This is just a personal preference but I find the manic Jay to be very distracting rather than the straightforward descriptions that are on this DVD.

What I don't like:
1. Fire the camera man. Whoever filmed this might have thought he was being artsy. Though the scene cuts are fine, there are a few of the segments that seem like they were filmed on a boat rocking side to side- I find this annoying.
2. Fire the set decorator- This appears to be filmed inside of a huge open loft apartment. Though it is neat and clean, Jay bounces all over the place for each trick and uses cases, tables, etc. upon which to perform the effects. This is just a personal preference.

Personal opinion dept: 30.00 is a lot to spend for a DVD. But if you are just beginning mentalism this might be a good investment. There are 22 effects, half of which you could put into a show with little effort. So Jay delivers on this DVD a good buy for the money.

But I do feel there is a difference between a magician doing mentalism tricks and a mentalist doing mentalism. With the former, the spectator can think that the fellow is clever and is doing tricks. In other words, they have an explanation (however unplausible) in the back of their minds. With the latter, there is the "locked room" or reasonable doubt explanation. By that I mean a good mentalism effect ought to appear as if there is no solution or at least a reasonable doubt about a solution. For example, if you watch the movie "The Illusionist" Edward Norton carries a persona that makes you wonder whether he does have some powers. There's enough doubt to say that he might just be a clever magician. But there is the reasonable doubt (within the story line) that he might have a power of some sort. This means that one has to frame the mentalism with a persona that gives it an air of reasonable doubt. This likely means that one should be advised to take the material Jay has put out and wrap it around your own personality (read: this doesn't mean you should dress all in black).

Conclusion: again, if you're just getting into mentalism you might consider this a good buy.

Magic From the Heart

As many of you know, five years ago Roy of Siegfried and Roy was attacked by one of their tigers and in the process suffered a heart attack or stroke. The duo maintain that Manitcore, the tiger, was protecting Roy, sensing his distress over the heart attack. It has been a long five years without the magic duo as Roy Horn went through recovery. Last Friday night their "comeback" was featured on national television. ABC news has posted clips of the show and the magic. It is tender-hearted and a genuinely moving experience. You can find it here.