Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Are you working on a new book – should I do a new Agenda?; The Jornadas cartomagicas (Escorial) 2023 – detailed report; Subjects for Escorial 2024.

These are The Magic Memories 149, gone online Sunday, November 5th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Are You Working On a New Book?

Whenever I am at a gathering with other practitioners of the art, someone asks the inevitable question, “Are you working on a new book?”

My inevitable answer is, “Yes, I’m always working on something that could turn out to be a book…” Of course, I do. I have over a dozen candidates…

However, the more books I write and publish, the more I ask myself, “Does the magic world really need this?” I’ve pondered the question in a short essay published in Genii years ago, and if you care to read the one-page text, CLICK HERE.

However, the reason I’m mentioning this here is that after the Escorial Card Conference (see my report below), I went to see my Spanish publisher Laura Avilés in Madrid. Her shop combines magic and teas and is called “Parentesis de olvido” (an Ascanian concept I translated in Card College and Sharing Secrets with “Positive Insertion”…).

Years ago, Laura took over what was then the “Editorial Frakson” from Juan Tamariz and Ramon Mayrata, and then single-handedly went on to publish some of the most important books in magic.

With ten titles of mine, Laura tells me I’m her best-selling author… in a tiny niche-market, that is, which still forces me to fly with EasyJet (a cheap British airline) to Madrid, instead of using a private jet 🙂

Laura tells me that the two Agendas – Secret Agenda and Hidden Agenda  – are very successful in Spain.

Gaby Pareras used to recommend it to everyone and even did a complete week-end seminar just on Secret Agenda and some of its content! And he wrote a lengthy foreword to the Spanish edition of Hidden Agenda 🙂

Anyway, I would like to ask you a questions, if I may:

Are you interested and would you buy a new Agenda, tentatively title The Unexpected Agenda?

If you have an opinion and a moment, please send me an email via the “Contact” item of my webshop HERE.

A simple “Yes” or “No” would do, thank you.

Oh, and if you like, please specify if you would rather have a book like the first two, or a PDF, or, why not, both (book price ca. $ 65, but consider that printing and shipping costs are going up, the PDF ca. $ 29.50, for all the work of writing, illustrating, layouting, proof-reading etc. is the same as if I do a book – only the printing costs and the shipping disappear).

If I get enough “Yes”, The Unexpected Agenda could be out before Xmas 2024… and make a nice gift 🙂

PS: You can also make suggestions for other book topics, but please understand that I cannot correspond.

Las jornadas cartomágicas (Escorial) 2023

This year’s topics were four:

1. Cards and Dice
2. Card Magic Before Robert-Houdin (1886)
3. The Card Magic of Nick Trost
4. Unusual Trick Cards

1. Cards & Dice

The first talk on the subject was a lengthy one, too long, as most felt, but it exposed an original and interesting idea where the (paper) dice were Origamis that when unfolded revealed to be playing cards.

Next, Gianfranco Preverino started with a most interesting and original performance of about twenty minutes, all using cards & dice, of course, really an “act”.

He then commented on the various tricks and principles used, some of which went back centuries (1584!), and also gave a historical overview on the subject.

Gianfranco is quite an expert when it comes to dice, in magic as well as in gambling. He has a large book coming out on the subject of dice & cards, the “Card College” of dice, as he himself said to me.

It will be in Italian, but due to the interesting subject and the scarcity of literature on the subject, it may very well be translate into English soon.

This was followed by a presentation by Juan Luis Rubiales, who surprised us all with lots of novel ideas on the subject, truly exceptional.

This session lasted from 6:30 pm, when the event started, until almost 10 pm, when everyone got up, and swarmed out in groups to support the local gastronomy…

2. Card Magic Before Robert-Houdin (1886)

The talks on the second topic started after dinner, well after midnight, and lasted until about 3 am, without a pause (see below my comment on he lack of pauses).

Decremps: The Testament of Jérome Sharp

I did a very short talk on Henri Decremp’s Testament de Jérome Sharph (first edition was 1785).

Decremps was a lawyer who had an interest in the arts, particularly music and magic.

It is assumed that he was in some sort an amateur magician, and in his landmark books (five!), which were published in France from 1784 to 1789, he disclosed the tricks and secrets of the Italian Giuseppe Pinetti, who at that time was the “Copperfield” of Europe. So, Decremps was the “Masked Magician” of his time… fortunately without TV.

In the photo below I’m sitting next to Juan Tamariz, who took charge of this session.

I made a few comments regarding the importance and influence of the Testament, and I also performed two tricks from the book.

Look at the photo and try to identify a few heavy-weights of international card magic – there are quite a few, literally 🙂

The Testament is arguably the very first didactical work on card magic, as it brought together the knowledge about card magic of the period, and in over sixty pages and two dozen illustrations (woodcuts!) explained the techniques, tricks, presentations and even some abstract concepts in an orderly fashion and an intelligible language, briefly, it was the Card College of its time 🙂

In an upcoming The Magic Memories I’ll make some more comments on it, and will also put the 32-page study I did on the subject on my webshop for a nominal fee.

Juan himself gave a historical overview of the books before Robert-Houdin (1886), with various participants intervening by making more detailed comments on the individual books, and some performing a few tricks, or commenting on some techniques and other concepts.

I’d love to tell you more about this enormously important subject, but am afraid it is not possible…

For those who care, I have been working on a chronological bibliography of card magic, taking into account all languages I know (plus a few more). Usually bibliographies consider only books in one language, so, this might be one of the very few that crosses the language barriers.

It is, of course, incomplete, but you might agree that it is better than nothing.

CLICK HERE to see/download the PDF (please do not circulate on Internet without my permission, thank you).

We stopped at about 3 am, but the talks on this subject were continued on the next day at 6:30 pm, when the “day” starts at “Tamariz Time” 🙂

3. The Card Magic of Nick Trost

This was obviously a huge subject as Trost has contributed hundreds of items to the infinite universe of card magic.

Therefore, the presentations took almost the whole “day” (6:30 pm to 10 pm, dinner break, then again 12:30 to 3 am, considering we got an extra hour because of the shift of time from summer to winter time).

Woody Aragon took charge of the subject, gave a brief introduction about Trost, the man, and also gave a brief overview of his most important works (there are a lot!).

Many of the attendees had been recruited by Woody to perform one or more of Trost’s tricks, and so we had about a dozen presenters who gave their best to perform for us tricks that are usually not in their repertoire…

In any case, this turned out to be a highly entertaining session, as it was mostly tricks, their explanations and occasional comments on the underlying principles.

I apologize that I am not able to credit the presenters by name, but there were so many, several of whom I did not even know, and at some point I stopped taking notes…

However, I would like to mention Aitor Marcilla, who gave a splendid talk on some lesser known Trost-contributions, namely those published in two “Hocus Pocus Parades” in The Linking Ring of 1955 and 1957.

Trost, himself a lifetime amateur, has certainly brought a lot of pleasurable performance pieces for those who like mostly quick, visual and easy-to-do tricks, several using special cards and reduced to packet tricks.

On a professional level, though, and as an influence on the history of card magic, his impact was little. His “Eight -Card-Brainwave” and a handling of the “Ten Card Poker Deal” using two sets of nine cards are an exception.

If someone among you thinks there are more important and influential ideas by Trost, please let me know; I shall be happy to mention them in an upcoming issue of The Magic Memories.

(This said, you will find two items by Nick Trost, which I have only slightly varied, in Volume 1 of Card College, so, like many, I am thankful for his contributions!)

4. Unusual Trick Cards

This topic had been already started last year, and because time was short then, it was decided to pick it up again this year.

Well, this year the “unusual trick cards” suffered a similar fate: Due to the lengthy treatment of the other subjects, most presentations were postponed to Sunday noon, where only a restricted group attended, some sleeping, some going for lunch, and some already leaving.

There were, however, a few quick contributions, among others Consuelo Lorgia, who presented an original “painting” of hers; to the amusement of the group, she choose me as her assistant, this being a sort of “running gag”, since Tamariz once declared that I’m the worst spectator 🙂 This is due to me inevitably changing whenever the performer asks me if I wanted to change… of course I do this on purpose, in order to teach the younger performers that they only have to ask the spectator if he wants to change when they know how to do it (most don’t, they just imitate Juan, and more often than not fail).

Closing Comments

This years’ gathering, as almost all of the others preceding it, had many positive moments making it worth attending.

Before getting into this, I simply have to mention the hotel room I had, with a bathroom the size of a room in Venise or Paris…

Look at the shower in the photo below. If you zoom into the control panel, you will notice it has 35 (!) menu items, with several having more sub-menus.

In front of the cabin is the opened user manual, which has 16 (sixteen!) pages explaining all the functions (in Spanish). After ten minutes I was able to activate the shower function, which was all I needed. The shower had everything, except shampoo and shower gel – these were attached to the nearby jacuzzi and washing basin and could not be removed from the wall…

This shower reminded me of several magic tricks and acts I have lately seen done by young performers: They are incredibly complex, but ignore the essence, namely the effect and how to get it across to the audience in a fascinating (better term than “entertaining”) manner.

Back to “Escorial”: No question, the atmosphere is unique, with mostly world-class, top-notch cardicians attending from over a dozen countries!

One of the amazing things is that they are all coming at their own expenses and give presentations without renumeration. A question you may want to answer yourself: What makes them do that?

Plus: There are great exchanges of wild ideas well into the wee hours, old friendships are renewed, new friendships made. Many of the talks are well-prepared, well-delivered and interesting, a few a little less… with uplifting sessions before, after and in-between…

… and of course, for those who care, some unforgettable meals! Below a frugal meal with only one Carabinero per person…

On the downside are presenters who, understandably, get carried away by their enthusiasm for the subject, but who then lose control of the time allotted to them, thus taking time from other, more relevant presentations.

By no means do I say that I think to know it all, far from it, but I have certainly learned from my own mistakes.

A few years ago I gave a short talk on “How to Give a Lecture”, where I tried to summarize my experience of over forty years doing lectures, talks, presentations, workshops etc. I don’t think that many are interested to hear that again…

This goes hand in hand with the “new schedule” introduced a few years before the pandemic.

In former times the talks started on Friday around 6 pm and went until ca. 10 pm, dinner break, then usually a “gala” until 2 am, plus sessions until, who knows…

Saturday started again towards noon, until 2 pm, lunch break, then from ca. 4 pm to 10 pm with two or three coffee breaks. More talks after midnight.

Then Sunday again talks from noon to ca. 2 pm (for many years Ascanio did a lecture here), lunch break, then last talks and preparation for the next meeting from ca 4 to 6 pm. Back to Madrid for a relaxed dinner.

The “new schedule” has about the same time for Friday, but by starting only at 6:30 pm on Saturday, and dropping almost all of Sunday, the result is an almost 50% time loss for formal talks. Although some of it is compensated by “early risers” in informal sessions (and too copious meals…), a lot of the talent, which came together from so far, is wasted, in my opinion.

Also, when I started to come to Escorial, we were a group of about fifteen people, which not only gave much more intimacy to the affair, but also allowed more and better interaction during the talks.

Nowadays there are simply too many attendants, many of which do not contribute, the latter being a conditio sine qua non. Still, being an invitation-only event, the level of the event is kept at a high level.

This year the schedule was very tight, the subjects hefty, and the session on Sunday cancelled for most, also there was no gala show, were usually those perform who do not contribute to the talks.

This resulted in sessions being longer than usual, three hours and more, without pause, which in turn caused participants to go in and out to go to the bathroom or have a drink. We need to bring those pauses back, after maybe 90, max 120, minutes.

Not only are the pauses beneficial to the concentration, they also allow for welcome interaction with other participants.

The photo (ca. 1980) below with Ascanio and Young Giobbi was taken at the bar just outside the room of the Hotel Victoria Palace, where for at least twenty years the “Jornadas” took place, until a refurbishing of the hotel forced us to move to the Hotel Lanceros nearby.

All this said, attending the “Jornadas” has several additional benefits, such as staying another day or two in Madrid and meeting lots of other magicians (again!), visiting a plethora of cultural institutions (Madrid boasts some of the most important museums in the world), shops, parks, and last but by no means least, some great restaurants (I knew you were waiting for that 🙂

One of the places to eat you can place in your Evernote Notebook (“Travels – Madrid – Restaurants”) is “Barril de las Letras” specialized in seafood and fish: Take “Tartar de atun”, Chipirones”, Pulpo”, “Boquerones fritos”, sharing all with your diners, but stay away from the Arroz (what tourists call (“Paella”).

I went there with Mahdi Gilbert, Christian Engblom, Paul Wilson, José Angel Suarez and Juanjo Alvarez. The latter then invited us to a private club, of which he is a member. The house has seven (magical!) floors, and from the terrace on the 7th floor we had a dashing view over the roofs of Madrid, and you could see the hills in the background with El Escorial, too!

The photo below shows us all indulging in Spanish Brandy and Cuban cigars, late afternoon, in the beautiful library of the club, where the dapper tradition of smoking is still allowed.

And this was not even the end of the day, which would have been indeed a beautiful end, no, in the evening José Angel and I, who were staying at the same hotel, met up with Juan Tamariz and other magic friends for a late dinner at “El Pimiento Verde” (take “alcachofas”, small artichokes – two per person, as well as “rape”, monk fish, and you’ll be a happier person 🙂

I won’t torture you with more details…

Escorial 2024

Next year’s topics will be (in the photo below in Alfredo Marchese’s handwriting):

Translation & Comments

• “Cartas gigantes” means “Jumbo Cards”; tricks, techniques, special cards & decks, etc. Overview, with special attention to original ideas, as usual.
• “Hugard” means Jean Hugard; the author, his work, personal contributions and influence. This will be a combination of biography, bibliography, as well as tricks and techniques.
• “Trilleros” means “Three Card Monte”; history, authentic techniques and strategies, application to magic, original ideas
• “Estuches” means “Card Boxes”; how to use a normal cad box in magic (cards and others…), unusual gimmicked boxes, etc.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: On Effect, Method & Presentation – The Jar of Life Story; The missing link: The Rastelli Clowns (Italy)

These are The Magic Memories 148, gone online Sunday, October 29th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Absence for Escorial Card Conference

As you are reading this I’m at the Card Conference in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid, Spain.

Just in case  you are reading this at 0:07, when this blog invariably goes online, we just came back from dinner (hey, it’s Spain!), and we’re starting our next session on talks (original trick cards; cards & dice; Nick Trost; card magic before Robert-Houdin) which will go until about 4 am. After that quite a few will continue with private sessions, still others might go to bed… next day’s sessions start only late afternoon.

In the photo below, taken at one of my very first attendances at the Card Conference (ca. 1982), you can see, from left to right: Joan Font, Arturo Ascanio, Aurelio Paviato, Toni Cachadiña, and guess who…

On Effect, Method & Presentation – The Jar of Life Story

As the recipient of the FISM Award for Theory and Philosophy (2015) I’m entitled to a little philosophy from time to time, agree?

So, below is a little story that has been circulating on Internet for a while: You may have read it, but forgot it, or you may read it here for the first time. Anyway, you’ll like it, and at the end I’ll make a suggestion how it relates to our magic.

The Jar of Life

A philosophy professor stood before his class, in front of him a large and empty jar.

He then proceeded to fill the jar with golf balls.

“Is the jar full?” he asked his students. “Yes,” everyone responded.

The professor then picked up a box of small pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly; the pebbles rolled into the areas between the golf balls.

“Is the jar full?” he asked again. The students responded with an unanimous: “Yes.”

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled up all the space left.

He asked once more: “Is the jar full?”. “Yes, of course,” everyone responded.

The professor then produced two beers from under the table and poured the entire content into the jar, filling the empty space between the sand.

Everyone laughed.

“Now,” the professor said as the laughter subsided. “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things. Your family, your children, health, friends and favorite passions. If everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house or car.

The sand is everything else, the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit your grandparents. Take your spouse out for dinner. Go out with your friends. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled and said: “I am glad you asked. The beer just shows that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers with a friend.”

End of the story.

Now for the the transfer to magic: Replace the golf balls with “The Effect”, the pebbles with “The Method”, the sand with “The Presentation”. I find this a quite fitting analogy for good magic.

Oh, what about the beer, you ask? Well, that’s a little humor, not comedy, just a bit of humor (humor = intelligent comedy).

Agree with this or not, it will make you think, and that’s what philosophy is about…

The Missing Link

This week’s “Missing Link” takes us back in time (a little) to remind us of one of the most famous clown families in circus history, The Rastelli Clowns (Italy), with many “special effects”, several of them outright “magical”.

See some photos of the Rastellis HERE.

When have you last seen a clown act with so many wonderfully original ideas?

To watch the Rastellis CLICK HERE.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: International Close-up Symposium 2023 – Impressions from Vienna – Close-up Symposium, the location and program; French National Magic Convention 2023 in La Grande-Motte; Tom Stone on the Merlin Award; The missing link (apple carvings).

These are The Magic Memories 147, gone online Sunday, October 22nd, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

In last week’s The Magic Memories I promised to report on my attendance at the International Close-up Symposium in Austria, as well as the French national convention of the FFAP (Fédération Française des Artistes Prestidigitateurs).

So, here we go:

International Close-up Symposium 2023

This gathering with a little over 100 participants and by invitation only, took place in Bill Cheung’s Magic Theatre in Wiener Neustadt.

Some attendants brought their partners along, who were disappointed to see that the event took place in an industrial zone ca. 50 km outside of Vienna, and a small hour by train or car from the Austrian capital. Obviously, a quick look at Google Maps and a little thought would have told them… reminding me of Bertrand Russell, who said: “If he would have thought about it for a moment, he would have known. But a moment is so short, and thinking so painful.”

Impressions From Vienna

Having anticipated the situation 🙂 I came into Vienna already on Monday, spend two great days in the city that is listed as the best city to live in globally, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). So, if you have never been to Vienna, put it towards the top of your “life list” or “things to do before you die list”.

Although Vienna has a large number of museums and historical sites to visit, the city itself is a museum!

So, just walking around the historical center as well as in the surrounding “Bezirke” – that’s how the in Vienna the city districts are called – makes for a memorable experience, and it’s free. And there is a lot of magic, too.

I do not know of any other city in the world I have been to, where the people in general have such a high-standard nightlife culture: People go to the theatre, to the opera, to music performances etc., and of course to magic shows, too.  At one time Vienna boasted seven different magic clubs, each with a very active program for their members and the public.

I will always remember how in one instance I was in Vienna on the occasion of the German Cardworkshop, The German equivalent of the Spanish “Escorial Card Conference”, and on the street happened to meet Gary Kurtz!

I asked him how long he was staying and what he was doing. He said, “Five days – I’m doing five lectures, every day for a different club.”

In the past forty years I have myself given maybe a dozen lectures, workshops and masterclasses to as many different magic groups in and around Vienna.

Anyway, this fact, and having written over a dozen books in German language, plus having been into magic for such a long time, has bestowed upon me the privilege that I can go to virtually any city in this world, and I have a few friends – this is arguably the greatest benefit magic has had for me, and is still having. (As the German writer Jean Paul once said: “Books are only thick letters to friends.”)

Consequently, the very first lunch was spent in the company of the gentlemen which you can admire in the photo below, from left to right: Dr. Peter Wurnig, Wolfgang Moser, Harry Lucas, unknown, Kurt Freytag. They are all members of the prestigious Magischer Cercle Wien worth visiting if you are ever in Vienna – get  a preview of their fabulous club room by CLICKING HERE.

Ref. visiting Vienna (or any other worthwhile location): Aldous Huxley (1884 – 1963) said, “For every traveller who has any taste of his own, the only useful guidebook will be the one which he himself has written.”

Here is how I implement this idea in my own notebooks (meanwhile electronic via Evernote, before using the city notebooks by Moleskine): I create a Main Notebook (folder) “Travels” in Evernote. In this Main Notebook I then create a Sub-Notebook (sub-folder) “Vienna” (actually for any city or place I travel to), within that folder I open as many Individual Notes as necessary, such as “Restaurants”, “Travel Info”, “Hotel Reservation” (I send the reservation email from the hotel directly to the notebook “Vienna”), “Flight/Train Ticket & Reservation”, “Museums”, “Favorite Places”, “Magic Friends”, “Coffee Houses”, “Favorite Shops” etc.

BTW: I quote Huxley at the beginning of most of my lectures, saying that the best Lecture Notes are those written by the attendants of the lecture themselves, and I then sometimes give a 3-minute talk on how to take notes according to Cornell University (I wrote about this years ago when The Magic Memories were called Secret Newsletter).

But I digress…

The restaurant we went to is called “Zum schwarzen Kameel”; Kameel with two “ee” as it doesn’t refer to the desert animal, but to the restaurant’s founder…

So, put that in your note for the restaurants in Vienna. And while you are at it, put “Steirereck”, arguably Austria’s best restaurant: Go for lunch and take the lunch menu (generally speaking, most top restaurants in the world for lunch offer affordable menus, while if you go for dinner you might have to sell your first-edition Discoverie of Witchcraft...). And if you are a meat person, Plachutta in the Wollzeile is your best choice (in my opinion…). If you want a real Wiener Schnitzel go to “Café Engländer” in the Postgasse, and for desert take Milchrahmstrudel at the Café Central. Sorry, I got carried away… and I didn’t even mention that Vienna boasts the best coffee outside of Italy… ok, enough!

In the afternoon I visited Michael Swatosch, the co-owner of the Wiener Zirkus- und Clownmuseum, at Ilgplatz 7, a gem of a museum dedicated to Circus and Clowns, but also to magic.

In the photo below you can also get a glimpse of the performing area that adorns this beautiful little place. Call ahead, say hello from my part, and you will probably get a privat guided tour through the exhibits, all originals.

To get a virtual visit CLICK HERE.

Close-up Symposium – Location and Program

Once you enter Bill Cheung’s Magic Theater, you forget that it is too far away from Vienna and located in an industrial zone, as it is simply put a jewel. CLICK HERE and see for yourself.

Also, all the hotels, were the 100-plus participants stayed, were within 5 minutes walking distance, one of the most important things of any convention.

If you want to get an impression of the program as well know who participated at the competition, read or download the Program-PDF HERE.

There are just three things that can be improved for the next year, just in case the event is repeated.

1. Get a way of controlling the temperature within the theatre – do to the summerly temperatures outside (good!), the temperature in the theater was unbearable.

2. Start the events on time. They did for the first few on the first day, after that almost every event was delayed by up to 30 minutes – I had to start my lecture 30 minutes late on the last day when people had to leave. The problem of delays is that once people get used to it, they simply do not show up on time and you have to push, beg and threaten them to get from the bar into the theater. All of this can easily be avoided by starting all activities on time; people get used to it immediately and all flows. Alternatively, a gong or a simple bell, that signals the start in 5 minutes would do the job.

3. The bar, a potentially great one, was not staffed as it should have been. We asked for a Gin Tonic or a Cuba Libre, and were looked at as if we had asked for the moon. On the second day they did serve a very basic Gin Tonic, but ran out of ice before midnight. I feel sorry for Bill, who could have made at least twice as much turnover just with proper drinks.

All three things are easily solved, you only need to anticipate the problem… (so easy: Go to ANY magic convention, write down what they do wrong, and then do it better!)

The Competition

My tasks at the meeting were to be a judge at the competition, host private sessions at around midnight, and do a lecture on Sunday morning (see below). I was successful with the first and third task…

The “Private Sessions” were a bit of a pipe-dream and need to be re-evaluated. Originally individuals could book 20-minute one-to-one sessions with about a dozen “teachers”. This had worked out quite well in previous editions of the Symposium in Milan, but here didn’t seem to work.

It all ended up with some unorganized sessions, which of course were also great fun, considering the high-density of top talent present at the meeting – simply have a look at the list of participants in the PDF above (p. 13), virtually a “Who’s Who” of international close-up magic. I was so glad to meet friends I hadn’t seen for years (bloody pandemic!), Flip, Kurt Freytag, Robert Stacher, Joachim Solberg, Hanno Rhomberg, Francis Tabary, Jean Xueref, Jon Tgetgel, Tony Cachadiña, Camilo Vazquez, Armando Lucero and so many others – superb.

Let me tell you a bit about the competition, from the viewpoint of a judge.

The competition was called “Fred Kaps Award”, although I suspect that a good part of the attendants didn0t even know who Fred Kaps was, and even less had ever met him personally. I short intro in this respect would have given the event more dignity (we hope that Flip next year can do a short lecture on him).

The competition and judging were to be held according to FISM-criteria. You can get an insight into the FISM Contest Rules HERE (including a 10-page PDF, no less). Or simply have a quick look at the table below:

There were 36 contestants from over a dozen countries to judge, not an easy task for various reasons:

1. Magic is not a sport and cannot be measured in figures – a lot remains a question of what the judge likes or not.
2. Although the heading was “Close-up Magic”, there were at least four categories that are different from each other: 1. card magic; 2. parlor (stand-up) magic; 3. close.up magic; 4. theatrical close.up with no interaction with the audience. It is virtually impossible to compare the beautiful card act of Miguel Ajo, for instance, with the theatrical act of Sergio Starman.
3. If you look at the grading scale in the diagram above, you will realize that the first three prizes will result from the three contestants that have the highest points, i.e., this that are close to the top. There is no point even considering second and third prizes, as those will not even get close to a third prize.
4. Many of the competitors after thewards came up to me and asked for feedback. I had to tell everyone the same: It is impossible to remember in detail what each did, and how, and what he should do differently and better. As a judge you have to concentrate on the one act, judge it to the best of your knowledge and criteria, and then do the same for the next act. In order to satisfy this need, the acts would have to be taped, and later a feedback session provided. Although I am not clear about how this could work in detail, it would certainly be an adorable idea.

Anyway, all these are problems of the FISM, too, but I doubt that they will be doing something about it.

The winners are: First prize Sergio Starman, 2nd prize Rune Carlsen, 3rd Prize Robin Deville. For more info check the Symposium’s Facebook page HERE.

Below is a snapshot of the winners and the jury:

The Lecture – Sleight of Mind

On Sunday morning I gave a 60-minute lecture titled “Sleight of Mind – The Psychological Construction of Magic”, based on the content of my latest book Sharing Secrets.

Although asking me to do a 60-minute lecture is like asking a Michelin chef to serve finger food and sandwiches for a party, I was pleased with the result, and I admit flattered to have some heavy-weights in the audience. In the photo below try to find Magic Christian, Flip, Francis Tabary, Camil Vazquez, Boris Wild, Giancarlo Scaglia…

I presented the lecture similar to the book, i.e., I performed a piece, and then focussed on one conceptual thought. Due to the restricted time frame I was given, I decided to completely ignore the explanation of the tricks. I was glad to note that most appreciated this approach, as the short report below proves:

Together with short seminars, the range of seminars was so large that you left the symposium with what felt like a million new ideas.

From classic seminars with Boris Wild, to an explanation of a beautiful rope routine without any gimmicks from Francis Tabary, to incredibly practical ideas from Flip and much more.

For me, though, the highlight here was clearly Roberto Giobbi. Not so much because of the tricks shown and explained, which were all superb, but even more so because of the many theoretical considerations about magic in general, which we otherwise hear and talk about so little!

Gregor Schubert

Gregor’s complete report is in German, but with Google Translate or Deepl you can easily get it into your native language – CLICK HERE.

I would have liked zo give you a synopsis of my lecture “Sleight-of-mind” I gave on Sunday, but time and space force me (Classic Force) to postpone this to another The Magic Memories…

French National Magic Convention 2023

Since the report of the Close-up Symposium turned out to be much longer than planned… I’ll keep my memories of the convention in La Grande-Motte, in the South of France, brief: All in all, it was an excellent convention, with some great, international talent: Alain Choquette, Juliana Chen, Michael Ammar, David Stone, Ondrej Psenicka, John Bannon, Giancarlo Scaglia, Alexandra Duvivier, Michel Huot, plus many more, and guest of honor Jean Régil, who is a legend in his native France.

Almost everything necessary was excellent: the convention center ideally fitted the six-hundred plus conventioneers without being too big, the larger theatrerwas located within 3-minutes walking distance just behind the convention center; the hotels were almost all at 5 minutes walk away; the temperature in the rooms was acceptable although it was summer weather outside; the dealers room had some innovative dealers and several book publishers (Ludo Mignon’s Marchand de Trucs, Frantz Réjasse’s CCEditions; Daniel Rhod, and George Naudet with a superb array of collectibles). Briefly, a gathering which was worth attending.

By the many photos I had to pose for with participants, and the books I was asked to sign, plus the many people that came up to say hallo and thank me for my contributions to magic, I got the impression that I have a lot more readers in France than books of mine are sold in that country – I hate to think why this is so…

My own raison d’être at the convention was that the organizer Serge Arial had booked me to give a talk in form of an interview conducted by talented Bertrand Mora of Bordeaux.

The topic was “The Book in Magic Learning”, and which turned around the subject of the book in magic, its importance as a learning tool, its history etc. I was quite pleased that during the 75-minute interview only about half a dozen people left… Wish they had recorded the event, as several interesting questions wer discussed and brought up in the final Q&A with the audience.

Tom Stone on The Merlin Award

Sweden’s Tom Stone has published a lengthy report about Tony Hassini’s IMS (International Magicians Society) and “The Merlin Award” Hassini bestowed upon well-known and lesser-known individuals in magic.

Tom tells me he took six weeks (!) to research the matter, investigative journalism at its best, and you can read all about it if you CLICK HERE.

The Missing Link

Make the ordinary look extraordinary – that’s what we magicians do when we take an everyday object, such as a deck of cards, a coin, a length or rope – convert the object into an insrument, and then do something extraordinary with it. Watching this short fruit sculpture video made me think of that – CLICK HERE.

Can you come up with as many Ace Tricks as apple carvings in this video? Why? Because an Ace Trick a day keeps the audience away 🙂

Coming week-end I will be in Spain, attending the prestigious Jornadas Cartomagicas in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, the “Escorial Card Conference”, organized by the EMM (Escuela Magica de Madrid). Therefore, The Magic Memories 148 will be short & sweet, but I will report on the meeting in edition 149 🙂

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Paris, the City That has Inspired so Many Great Minds (The Tartare Recipe – The Magic); Sevilla to San Fernando – The Tamariz Days Nights; Magialdia THE convention; Five-card Follow the Leader

These are The Magic Memories 146, gone online Sunday, October 15th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Here I am, back from France, Spain at two events, Vienna, and then France again, with more to tell than there is space – I’ll start at the beginning and see how far we get 🙂

Paris, the City That has Inspired so Many Great Minds

I’m lucky to live at a little over three hours fast train ride from Paris, possibly my favorite city, certainly when I’m there 🙂

This time it was only a “one-night-stand” at my friend Yves Carbonnier’s home, so to speak “in-transit” to our next day’s flight to Sevilla to visit with Juan Tamariz.

Still, I had time for several essential activities.

First, gastronomy. As I have mentioned several times, gastronomy is the basis of all good magic. Because gastronomy has to do with eating. If you don’t eat you die. if you’re dead you cannot do good magic. Ergo, gastronomy is the basis of all good magic – q.e.d.

So , after Yves met me at the train station, we headed straight away to Le Louchébeme, argot for “the butcher”, a good address for carnivores in Paris, in a typical Bistrot style, at very affordable prices.

In Switzerland for the same quality and half the quantity you pay twice as much – you do the math… Reminds me of Dai Vernon, who once said to Tony Giorgio, “If you were only half as good as you think you are, that would still be twice as much as you really are.” I assume this was said in jest.

For a quick impression of Le Louchébeme and a look at their menu CLICK HERE.

The Tartare

Talking of tartare, and continuing the tradition of the Garcia books (…), here is a succulent recipe Yves sent me and which should please people who like this sort of thing:

BEEF TARTAR WITH ANCHOVIES (serves 4)

Preparation: ca. 30 min
– 400 g of beef fillet – other parts will do, too, such as beef top round or beef sirloin flap (also known as bavette), which are cheaper and make a much better tartare due to their texture and more robust flavor.
– 2 shallots
– 4 anchovy fillets in olive oil or salt
– 8 sprigs of chives
– 2 tbsp. vinegared capers
– 2 tbsp mustard (Dijon-style preferred)
– 4 tbsp. ketchup
– chili sauce
– 4 tsp. olive oil
– 4 raw egg yolks (optional)

1. Chop the beef with a knife into 2mm pieces.
2. Peel and finely chop the shallots. Chop the anchovies. Finely chop the chives. Mix the beef with the anchovies, shallot, chives, capers, mustard, ketchup and a few drops of chili sauce. If the anchovies are in oil, season with a little salt.
3. Serve immediately with 1 egg yolk (optional) and a few drops of chili sauce.

The Magic

Now I was ready for the second part, magic, which took place by visiting Bebel in his hangout bistrot Café le Bruant, in the 18th arrondissement, a neighborhood in Paris that has experienced an upgrade and has become an attractive place to visit, with lots of original shops, cafés, bistros etc.

Needles to say Bebel always surprises me with his creativity and skill, all done low-key with humble authority and competence.

For me – and certainly for many an audience member – a welcome change of pace from the frenzies of “show business” type of braggadocio presentations of which there are too many, were form by far surpasses content, and missing talent is compensated by artificial self-confidence.

Bebel is writing a book, but for those who do not want to wait (you never know how long it takes between announcing and publishing a book…), there is lots of video material of Bebel’s magic around – please honor the legal stuff over the pirated, as Bebel is still alive and does magic for a living.

Also, I gave Bebel my little lecture on how to use Evernote to manage notes and projects – and he seemed to like it 🙂 Hope to put this at the disposal of all, one day…

The afternoon was all too short.

Yves and I spent a quite evening at home, over a simple meal (which to many would be fancy…) and a few bottles of wine… and hit the road on the next day, Friday 8th of September 2023.

Sevilla to San Fernando – The Tamariz Days Nights

We arrived in Sevilla, parts of this outstanding city being under the UNESCO world heritage – but this time no time to visit, instead we rented a car and drove straight away in 90 minutes to Juan Tamariz’s summer home in San Fernando, near Cadiz, another emblematic city in the history of Spain, its origin dating back some ca. 3’500 years – that’s older than playing cards (who, alas, surfaced only ca. 1370 in Europe)…

Needless to say, that after the mandatory dinner at Ventorillo del Chato, one of our favorites – never do magic on an empty stomach! – we headed back “home” and the magic started (well, it had already started around the table, of course…) at Juan’s Magic Round Table, which is actually rectangular.

Yves, as usual cracks at 2 or 3 o’clock, while I endured, and managed to stay awake until 6 o’clock, when I had to call it a day… while the Maestro now turned to other “secret” projects, until 9, 10, 11 in the morning… who knows what the muses and angels do to a genius 🙂

We kept this rhythm up for five days!

For all those who asked how the Maestro is doing: He’s just fine, at (soon) 81 full of energy and ideas, busy with 1001 projects, of which one after the other will reach us (Letters From Juan Volume 6 was just released as I’m writing this…).

In the photo below he drinks to your (and his) health:

Once again my notebook is brimming over with notes of the topics discussed, the tricks, techniques, presentations, theories, bits and pieces that were discussed and demonstrated.

I’ve always kept copious notes of all our encounters over the past 45 years.

I still vividly remember when I took the first note of something that Juan told me in private, at that time an absolute novelty known to only a few close friends from the recently founded Escuela Magica de Madrid: It was what is now know as TPC, the “Tamariz Perpendicular Control”, and below is a photo from my very first notebook, the very first page, which I started at my very first FISM convention in 1979 in Brussels (where I also met Ascanio, Vernon, Jennings, Bilis, Sanvert, Paviato, and were I saw Fred Kaps on video for the first time).

And should I say that the TPC is the subject of one of Juan’s upcoming book projects?

Although the basic technique and some of its applications were described by Juan in his book Sonata, that has meanwhile become a classic, you will be knocked off your socks when you read what else Juan has come up with using the TPC. This is a book Im going to devour from the first page to the last when it comes out.

If you are interested to know what Juan has fooled and then enlightened me with over these decades, then you can do no better than read his literary and video output, but above all his most recent Letters From Juan, which contains much of the stuff that has made me happy.

Lots of it is there, but even more is awaiting publication, and all of it is the output of one of the supreme geniuses in the history of magic. I cannot say how privileged I feel to have been a small part of this history, and to count myself among his closest friends and students.

The photo below shows Juan (with friends sitting around the table) and me performing my version of Vernon’s “Ectoplasmic Aces” (Sharing Secrets, p. 17). Juan liked it, but we agreed it was a “minor miracle”, albeit with a clever construction (you can see a video of it HERE).

This report deserves a lengthy essay, but alas you and I won’t have the time for it, so I’ll just finish by saying that the visits at Juan’s are not only full of fantastic magic and delicious meals, but also encounters with local friends, Pedro, Ramón, Pepe, Juan Luis, plus whoever is visiting, and you never know who and when…

After five days and five nights (!) it was time to say goodbye.

And off we were, Yves and I, in company of our friends Pepe Dominguez and Pedro Morillo, to the airport of Seville, to catch our plane to Vitoria, where we were picked up by Jorge in his limousine that would deliver us at the Hotel Canciller NH, headquarter of the Magialdia convention, the next adventure…

Magialdia 2023 – THE Convention

I’ve been an invited guest for the past almost 20 years – and “invited” means invited in the Old World’s sense of the term, which differs from the definition people have in other parts of the world…

This year I had a busy schedule. No sooner had I arrived, that I started out by taping five lessons of 35 minutes each for Borja Monton’s Card Magic Masterclass, which is part of an ongoing teaching project.

Borja, who during the difficult times of the pandemic was also the president of the Spanish Society of Magicians in Madrid (SEI – Sociedad Española de Magia), is a successful YouTuber, well-known influencer and head of his own “Instituto de Magia”. You can have a quick look HERE.

Borja and I had met in July at the Spanish national convention in Valladolid, and he quickly convinced me to participate in his project.

i suggested to do a five-part Masterclass on the subject of “Sleight of Mind – The Psychological Construction of Magic”. Based on my recent book Sharing Secrets, I conceived five lessons discussing five of the concepts detailed in the book, together with one trick each, where the practicality of the “theory” was demonstrated.

So, the students of the course are now not only learning five polyvalent and super-practical concepts, they also get five good performance pieces to go with it. In a future The Magic Memories I shall be happy to tell you more about the content of the five-part course.

Meanwhile, here is one of the tricks I taught, to illustrate “The Space-Information-Continuum” (see p. 102 of Sharing Secrets). The description is brief, but as an advanced reader you should be able to follow:

Five-card Follow the Leader

Prologue:  The cards have a family sense. Let me demonstrate with the two most important families in the deck: the Royal Flush in Hearts, and the Royal Flush in Spades.”

Drop 5 red spot-cards face up on the table, then drop 5 black spot cards on top. Take high cards as they have more color on the face.

Display the cards face up by spreading them between your hands, “Red and black cards, the values do not matter, as long as they are red and black.” As you are saying this, cull one of the blacks under the spread (I cull the fourth card from the face).

Close the spread, turn the packet face down, and then immediately deal five cards face down to your right, turning the fifth face up and leaving it in front of the face down packet, “Five red cards over here…”

Reverse deal the remaining five cards in a face down packet on your left, turning the last black card face up and placing it in front of the packet analogously to the packet on the right.

As the cards are dealt, merely the first card dealt in each packet must be protected, so the others could be flashed in a natural manner.

Confirm: “The red cards with the red… the black cards with the black.” As you are saying this, each hand turns the top card of a packet face up, keeping it in the space over its respective packet(Space-information Continuum), and then deals it on top of the Leader Card.

Square each of the two three-card-packets, “The cards have a strong magical family sense that keeps them together.”

Exchange the Leaders.

With the right hand pick up the packet behind the red Leader in End Grip, and by supinating the hand show a red card on its face. Place the packet face down in Dealing Position, and then do a Double Lift from the bottom, reshowing the card just seen on top of the packet. Turn the double face down, and then place the packet face down back on the table behind the red Leader.

Do the same for the packet behind the black Leader.

Again exchange the Leaders.

Immediately turn the top card of each packet face up, holding them above their respective packets (Space-information Continuum), and then deal it on top of the Leader Card.

Exchange the packets, show the top card, and then deal on the Leader.

One last time exchange the Leader-packet, hesitate to reveal the last card (Tamariz!), then show.

Epilogue (maybe): “Birds of a feather always flock together…”

Presentational detail: To visualize the transposition of the colors, each time do the “Winged Hands Bit”as explained in the Light book (see Card College Lightest, “Follow the Leader”, p. 26).

As usual the convention was a hotspot of international talent, with great close-up show, lectures, theater shows and a final big show on the Plaza in the heart of Vitoria’s historical center.

Sunday at noon, closing the convention, Ignacio Lopez from Buenos Aires, Michel (also from Buenos Aires) and I filled a 75-minute event where we discussed the Art of Magic in its various facets.

If you understand Spanish or want to practice your language skill in it, you can view the introductory video by CLICKING HERE.

The format with great questions proved to be quite successful, and we were asked to repeat this at some other convention. We’ll see…

Lots more to tell, of course, but we’ll leave it at that.

In the next The Magic Memories 147 more tales about my participation at the “International Close-up Symposium” in Wiener Neustadt, at Bill Chueng’s amazing theater, and some insider-talk from the French national convention in La Grande-Motte in the South of France.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Bonjour, Bonsoir et Bon Appétit!

These are The Magic Memories 145, gone online Sunday, October 8th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Bonjour, Bonsoir et Bon Appétit!

As you are reading these The Magic Memories I’m in La Grande Motte, close to Montpellier, in the South of France, at the yearly national convention of the FFAF (Fédération Française des Artistes Prestidigitateurs).

Sharing Secrets, as well as a new edition of the complete Card College series, will be released in French, there titled Secrets and Cours de Cartomagie Moderne, respectively.

The organizer Serge Arial and his team have invited me to give a one-hour interview-talk on the occasion of these publications, and the subject will turn around “the book in magic”, its importance in a virtual world, its past and future, and I’ll be taking questions on the subject from the audience.

If it’s worth doing, I will tell you about it in an upcoming The Magic Memories.

Below are a few photo-memories from my travels to France.

I will be back in The Magic Memories 146 with some worthwhile contributions. Stay tuned, and please remember that you have to actively seek out these The Magic Memories by going to the webshop www.robertogiobbi.com and clicking “News”, as no reminder will be sent out (well, occasionally I might).

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Greetings from Vienna (with photos); Vernon Says – Remarkable Quotes That Will Make You Think.

These are The Magic Memories 144, gone online Sunday, October 1st, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Greetings From Vienna

As you are reading these The Magic Memories it is the last day of the International Close-up Symposium in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, Austria, taking place at Bill Cheung’s Magic Theatre, have a quick look HERE.

I will tell you more about it and what you missed in an upcoming The Magic Memories.

Vernon Says – Remarkable Quotes That Will Make You Think

Looking through my notebooks I found a large file with utterances of “The Professor” I have collected over the years, most from books, magazines and videotapes, some from direct conversation (these latter too few, unfortunately). Here are some I had forgotten about; if you take the time to ponder them, very much like Zen koans, you will reach some interesting insight, I promise.

“In magic, today as always, the effect is what counts. The method or methods used are always purely secondary.”

“Confusion is not magic.”

“The great difference between the professional magician and the amateur magician is that the professional magician knows what an effect is. He knows what the audience sees. It doesn’t matter how crude the method of performing, as long as the effect is good, he will use it. The amateur is more interested in the method. If the method is very subtle and fine and diabolically clever, he loves the trick regardless of what people think.” (“The Vernon Touch”, the first column, Genii SEP 1968)

“The means of expression can become so exquisite, that you may end up expressing nothing.”

“Strive each time when learning a difficult sleight to do it a little better.”

“Everything a person does in life is important. To be a true artist it takes much more than the audience sees on stage.”

“Natural lines that come up from the spectators are better than concocted ones.“

“I always seemed happiest when I was striving for something. I learned early that achieving anything was a great pleasure. I’m a real stickler. You can strive for perfection in magic, but you can never reach it.”

“In magic you get insight into how people think by the way they react. Character comes out when people watch magic.”

“If you don’t like to rehearse, change your profession”

After a serious accident at age 48, where he broke both arms that the doctors wanted to amputate, but fortunately didn’t, he said, “I didn’t worry. I’ve always believed that in life, when anything happens, the great thing is to adjust and to avoid worry, no matter what.”

“Great magic is simple, and simple magic is great.”

“You should never have to practice, but rather, want to practice.”

“If you have a thorough understanding of things, you can take liberties.” (Dai Vernon in Revelations video Vol. 5)

In a letter (1958) to Roger Klause: “First – thoroughly understand what you aim to accomplish, then practice.”

“What the eyes see, the heart must believe.” (A Hofzinser quote Vernon enjoyed using)

Vernon’s three Credos: “Use your head. Be natural. Be yourself.”

“Everything a person does in life is important. To be a true artist it takes much more than the audience sees on stage.”

When asked if he knew the Bible, Dai Vernon answered, “Of course I know the Bible, it’s the Erdnase of religion!”

“Henry Christ was the brain behind Annemann. Annemann wouldn’t even be known without Henry Christ. He used to say, the trouble with magicians is – and this particularly pertains to Marlo. Marlo is a genius when it comes to cards. But Marlo has one fault. He takes a move, some kind of maneuver, and he makes tricks out of them. This is not the way to do magic. The way to do magic is to have a lot of tools, different ways to do a double lift, a palm, a shift. You have tools, like a carpenter has tools. Now you think of a good effect and then you take the tools and work out the effect. But if you take the tools and try to make an effect out of it, the effect is never strong.” (quoted from his lecture at the Mendoza Magic Day 1979)

Vernon used to call magic converted into a puzzle “intrigue magic”.

Ref. Erdnase: “I can truthfully state, that if this book had not been written, my lifetime devotion to the possibilities of a deck of cards would have been very unrewarding.”

I just ran over these quotes again and am now convinced that today’s The Magic Memories should not be more than that.

My advice is – if I may – that you take three quotes, and then find three tricks you already do well and try to apply the thought.

My first pick would be: “Strive each time when learning a difficult sleight to do it a little better.”

Apply this not only to techniques, but also to a performance piece, and other things you do in everyday life, such as cooking, driving, gardening, sports (if you really have to…), etc.

I let you guess what my other two picks are…

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Remembering Dany Ray; On the palm replacement (5 methods); The missing link (“Hand Tricks”).

These are The Magic Memories 143, gone online Sunday, September 24th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

I’m back from my trip to Paris, then Juan Tamariz’s home in Cadiz, and finally the convention in Vitoria, Magialdia, in the Basque country, with only a few days to prepare for my travel to the International Close-up Symposium in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, Austria, and then the French convention in La Grande-Motte, in the South of France.

Thanks to the “schedule” feature of WordPress I was able to pre-write the texts below, and hope you’ll enjoy them.

However, I look very much forward to be back for The Magic Memories 146 on October 15th, where I shall tell you first-hand of all my adventures, a lot, for sure 🙂

Remembering Dany Ray II

I have paid tribute to French magician Dany Ray (1921 – 1989), whose real name was Raymond Dagnaud, in The Magic Memories 06 of February 6th, 2021 BC (Before Corona), where I also provided a link to a video of his cabaret act he performed in several languages in some of the best night clubs of the time.

For another video of him doing first the Chinese Sticks, and then the Multiplying Bottles, CLICK HERE. Even if you don’t understand French, please look at how he handles the Chinese Sticks, as it is a masterly lesson in how to use small apparatus. The only other person I’ve seen handle them in such a natural way is Fred Kaps (1926 – 1980) – see Fred Kaps doing the Chinese Sticks HERE.

I met Dany Ray about 40 years ago when he worked the then well-known Clara Night Club here in Basel, Switzerland. Afterwards we went for a drink and stayed up late into the night doing magic. He could do a lot of Marlo’s stuff and was quite good with cards and other close-up.

He was a good friend of Ted Lesley, whom I also knew personally, and who told me many things about Dany Ray that you cannot find anywhere else.

For a short time I used to do a trick Ted told me Dany was doing: A regulation deck is shuffled by several spectators and is then assembled. One of the spectators keeps a packet of ca. a dozen cards, you take the balance of the deck, cut it into four packets, and then distribute these pats in four of your pockets (trousers and jacket).

You now ask various spectators, one after the other, to call out cards. When the first spectator calls out e.g., the Jack of Hearts, you first tell them in which pocket it is, or if the spectator is holding it in his packet – that’s the first effect. Then you take the named card out of the respective packet and pocket, or have the spectator, who is holding the cards, take it out and show it. That’s the second effect.

This is repeated with four or five cards.

Occasionally someone would call out, «Joker!» Then Dany would ask, «The small or the big one?» If small was said, he would take out a miniature Joker, if big, a Jumbo Joker, as a gag.

As a finale he would call off the cards the spectator was holding. Eventually the deck was completed by taking the packets from the pockets. I remember I used this for a deck switch, of course (!), but found it difficult to follow this trick with a better one!

I probably added more refinements than were in Dany’s original handling, but I stopped doing the whole thing because it was just a bit more hassle than I allow myself to go into (I’m a minimalist and envy people who go to great lengths and effort to obtain excellent results).

Anyway, this is a hell of a trick that works in formal close-up, parlor, and even on a fairly large stage.

You have all the information to try to come up with a practical method… ok, maybe I forgot to tell you one thing: At the beginning the deck – complete and ungimmicked! – is handed out for shuffling to several spectators, and the same strategy is applied as in “Card Call” (Stand-up Card Magic). At the end, when you take out the remaining cards from your four pockets, the deck is again complete and ungimmicked, and you could give it away. (Little extra-help: In my trousers I was using double-pockets, a ploy I recommend you use in any pair of trousers).

Should you come up with a good method and presentation, and publish it, please don’t forget to credit Dany Ray, Ted Lesley, and myself 🙂

On the Palm Replacement (5 methods)

The replacement of palmed cards is the last phase of Palming (see Card College 2, p. 271 and p. 285).

As always it is advantageous to have recourse to different techniques to fit specific situations, as there simply is no technqiue that can solve every problem in every situation, as little as there is one tool in a tool box that can be applied to every task, or as Maslow put it: “If you have only a hammer in your toolbox, you’ll see every problem as a nail.”

Following are five Replacements for palmed cards from my extensive archive on the subject that I have not discussed in any of my publications, if memory serves me right…

This, This or That Replacement (Green)

This was told to me by Lennart Green in the course of a session we had at my home in January 2009; Lennart said an unnamed friend of his showed him, and if anyone knows who this friend is, after reading this, please let me know.

The cards are palmed in the right hand, and the deck is held in Dealing Position in the other and. Ask the spectator, “Shall I do this…” slap the top of the deck with the flat right hand, replacing the cards, “…or this…”, make a fist and hit the top of the deck, “…or that!” Snap the fingers over the deck.

Cut From Tenkai

This was shown to me in 1985 (!) by my friend Jon Tgetgel, but it also looks very much like Ed Marlo could have fathered this – maybe someone knows and can let me know.

The cards to be replaced are in Tenkai Palm (they can be brought there from Classic Palm or Flat Palm or Clip Palm as soon as the hand rests on the table top or at the edge of the table).

The deck is either on the table or better in Dealing Position. The right hand cuts the top portion forward to the table, and in the process the palmed card are replaced on top of the lower portion. Immediately complete the cut and square up.

Oops Cut Replacement

The cards to be replaced are palmed in the right hand. The spectator has just shuffled and cut the deck and placed it on the table. Look at the deck as your right hand seizes it with the intention of picking it up. As soon as your right hand secures the deck in End Grip, your gaze shifts to the left. As the deck is lifted up, a few cards from its bottom are left on the table. As you place the deck into Dealing Position, turn your gaze to the right, spotting the cards on the table. Cross the right hand and the gaze, i.e., you look back to the left as your right hand moves toward the tabled packet, picking up the leftover cards, thereby replacing the palmed cards on top of the tabled packet – depending in the surface of the table this pick-up is a sweep-up. Smoothly uncross gaze and hand, looking to the right as the right hand moves to the left, replacing the cards just picked up on top of the balance and then squaring the deck to complete the Punctuation. So, the Handling Gestalt is that you pick up the deck, but accidentally a few escaped your grasp, so you go back, grab the left-backs, and then put them back on the remainder of the deck, thus completing it. The whole is done with a double crossing of the gaze, this being an application of the Slydini/Tamariz “Double Crossing the Gaze”.

Obviously, when you turn your gaze, there should be an unspoken reason for doing so. A simple one is to say something to a spectator on your right (right hand goes for deck), turn left as you say something to another spectator to your left (right hand picks up deck and leaves a few cards on the table), and then again say something to the spectator yon your right (right hand replaces cards on top of balance). As the deck is squared look at all and say something final (Good, Thank you… the deck has been shuffled… and the cards are in a haphazard order.)

My note says that Juan Tamariz showed me this in April 1996.

Overhand Shuffle Replacement (Dr. Jacob Daley)

The right hand has cards palmed and takes the deck in End Grip. Immediately the deck is brought to Overhand Shuffle Position, with the faces to the left, i.e., toward the audience, and in the process the palmed cards are almost automatically added to the top of the deck. Middle finger and ring finger of the left hand may assist by extending very slightly and catching the palmed cards at their right side and pulling them on top of the deck as the deck is brought into a vertical position for the shuffle.

The right hand can either approach the deck and immediately start with the shuffle, thereby replacing the cards, or the right hand can take the deck in End Grip, in order to free the left hand, which now moves something on the table. When the left hand is brought back to the deck, the Overhand Shuffle is started and the replacement effected.

When the shuffle is almost finished, the last packet is dropped behind the cards shuffled off, so that the replaced cards eventually land on top of the deck. Or use the Injog Shuffle retaining bottom stock and a second shuffle.

The best ploy, though, is to add the cards in a first Overhand Shuffle, as explained above, and when the last few cards are reached, throw them on the face of the alreada shuffled-off face up cards, but injogged. Smoothly flip the decl face down into Dealing Position, reataining the injogged configuration of the cards. Now simply do a multiple cut to the table, cutting above the Injog on the last cut; this will elegantly bring the replaced stock on top of the deck, which now innocently rests face down on the table . This latter handling is an “Intelligent Movement” (Sharing Secrets, “Intelligent Movements”, p. 54).

(see The Daley Notebooks, Note 236)

Applause, Applause

The cards to be replaced are palmed in the right hand. After the spectator has counted some cards on your left hand, look at the spectator and then into the audience, saying, “Thank you! Let’s give her a nice round of applause.” To illustrate tap the cards in your left hand in an applause gesture with the right hand, thereby replacing the cards.

The Missing Link

Although you’ll mostly see very simple stunts directed at a lay audience, I admit I did not know some of them – maybe you will have the same experience. Remember that in Secret Agenda there is already a very good three-part routine using merely your ten fingers. If you can add just one more from this video it is well worth watching it.

To enjoy the video CLICK HERE.

«The greatest thing in life is to take the insignificant and make it significant, the common and make it uncommon. Simplicity is greatness…»

(The Diebox, Vol. 1 No. 4, OCT 1933)

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Quick greetings from Magialdia; Great photo memory from the “Concilio de Dúrcal”.

These are The Magic Memories 142, gone online Sunday, September 17th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Quick Greetings From Magialdia

As you are reading this I’m still in Spain, more precisely at the Magialdia convention in Vitoria.

Today, Sunday, is the last day of the three-week festival, and also marks the end of the convention which lasts four days, Thursday through Sunday.

The closing event is a big show that takes place in the historical plaza of Vitoria, a truly magnificent location.

More in a future The Magic Memories.

Memories of Sessions in the South of Spain

The photos below are courtesy Miguel Puga, aka Mago Migue.

I knew Migue as a very young and talented chap, always eager to learn and naturally ambitious.

Today, in his native Spain, he’s a star, organizer of magic conventions, author, etc. A good way to get to know him and his magic is through the video series Allegro by Luis de Matos. Or see here: www.magomigue.net, and to learn more about his convention see here www.festivalhocuspocus.com (Instagram @magomigue).

The photos were taken when Juan Tamariz spent two summers at the home of Migue’s mother, in Dúrcal, near Granada (home of the famous Alhambra, worth traveling to), were week after week famous and not-yet-so-famous magic aficionados were invited to share jamón and magic and friendship, quite an extraordinary Trinity of Life 🙂

In the two photos below you can see Juan Tamariz, Rafael Benatar, Miguel Puga and myself “in action”.

So, this was a short one, due to my absence, but I look forward to our next meeting on Sunday, September 24th, when I’ll have more to report from my travels and magical adventures.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Greetings from Spain with a few photo memories.

These are The Magic Memories 141, gone online Sunday, September 10th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Greetings From Spain

This Sunday and the next The Magic Memories will only be short ones as I am traveling in Spain.

The first week I’ll spend in the company of Juan Tamariz at his home near Cadiz, as I’ve done in the past thirty years plus.

These traditional visits abruptly stopped during the Pandemic Years (three lost years!), but I am now  very much looking forward to fully immerse into Juan’s friendship and magical genius.

I will freely admit that my magical life has had many and different influences, but I can truthfully say that none has been as strong and long-lasting as that of Juan Tamariz.

I am so thankful that my life has been influenced by real people and real events, as opposed to today’s generation where many seem to be influenced by, well, “influencers”, on YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok, & co.

The photo below taken in the summer of 2014 shows Juan and me conversing at our favorite restaurant in Cadiz, “El Faro”.

The photo was taken past midnight, as is typical of Spain, were dinner starts ca. 10 pm, and we are celebrating what the Spaniards call “la sobremesa”, literally translated “the over-the-table”, meaning the conversation that takes place after you finished a meal – this can last over an hour, and may be accompanied by coffee/tea, brandy, cigars, or even playing cards and other instruments 🙂

Although I might opt for Asian cuisine (Chinese, Japanese, Thai etc.) if I was forced to choose the best in the world (hopefully I’ll never have to), I find Spanish, Italian and French style multi-course dinners more apt to celebrate friendship, magic and life.

When it came to eating, Ascanio used to tell us youngsters at the table, who would have cards in hands as we were eating, “There are more important things in life than magic!”

He was referring to what Juan later taught me, namely that as you are served a course and eating it, you should talk about what you are eating, exchange opinions about it, tell about similar dishes you might have had, thus amplifying the pleasure of eating, because by speaking about it you become aware of what you are doing, fine-tuning the senses to enhance the experience.

Living by this credo has way more implications than just enjoying a meal, it is a lesson for life, as it teaches you to concentrate on the moment, thus enjoying it more, and if you enjoy something, you are a happier person, and you can share this with others.

This is what ideally happens when we are performing what Vernon called “artistic magic”: We are celebrating in an act of communion our passion through the art of magic, its instruments, effects and presentations, in order to make our audience experience the emotion of wonder in an aesthetically pleasing, original and unique way.

Juan and I agree, that during such moments we should neither do nor discuss magic, well, as a rule, that has exceptions (like always!).

HOWEVER, as soon as the course is finished, and the table has been cleared, and the chef is preparing the next course, well, then is the moment to connect back to magic; we occasionally might then even have the cards in hands.

When the next course is served, we start all over again. And at the end we spend some time at the “sobremesa”. Watch the short video clip below, taken at “Charles” in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, and see how many you recognize – quite a table, I would say 🙂

Escorial (Charoles) 30 OCT 2010

After that we get back home, it is then usually around 1 am, and we continue our hands-on session (that started around 6 pm), and continue until the first of us “cracks”, that’s of course me, at around 6 am, when I go to bed, and the Maestro continues, in a conversation with the angels and muses only geniuses have access to, way into the morning…

The second week I will be in Vitoria, the capital of Alava (think Rioja wines…), at my favorite convention, Magialdia (I have reported about earlier editions in The Magic Memories of 2021 and 2022).

I will give an account of it in an upcoming The Magic Memories.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Addenda to “Applause Card”; Addenda to PATEO; Comments on Don Alan’s Professional Advice; The missing link (“The Ross Sisters”).

These are The Magic Memories 140, gone online Sunday, September 3rd, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.

Addenda to “Applause Card”

Mario Bove, from Brescia, Italy – the “Italian Card Expert” – wrote in and commented on last week’s post, specifically on one of the ten ways of revealing a chosen card I discussed, “Applause Card”, which I attributed to Dutch magician Marconick (see HERE).

Bove points out that Gerald Kosky had published precisely this same effect titled “Applause Card Disclosure” in Genii, vol. 29, no. 5, January 1965, p. 266. Thank you, Mario!

If you care to have a look at my short essay “Monkey Scale” in Sharing Secrets (p. 78), you might agree that the idea is not so high on that monkey scale, so, it is very well possible that the idea occurred to Kosky and Marconick independently. Especially if you consider the fact that neither one invented the effect of a card turning over apparently by itself on top of the deck (they came up with a method and presentation), but that this effect dates back even longer than Marlos’ “Acrobatic Card”, which was my first association, and the method – a folding card – is already described in Tricks With Cards by Professor Hoffmann in 1889.

Anyway, it’s a neat trick 🙂

Addenda to PATEO

Last week’s brief discussion of Roy Baker’s PATEO Force brought in several comments, and I’m glad so many seemed to like it – if you missed it, look it up HERE as the multi-layer technical construction of the trick makes for a really deceptive use of an otherwise not-so-strong principle.

My good friend Kéli Quertinmont from Nanterre, France, wrote in to say:

Regarding the PATEO force, thanks for sharing Roy Baker’s routine.

My preferred routine with this principle can be found in Michael WEBER’s book LIFESAVERS, p. 75, “The Laying-on of Hands”.

Weber has some clever psychological twists – a brilliant mind already at a young age – but above all a lovely way of meaningfully stage the elimination process, by saying that you will now use a similar process as when two brothers have to share a piece of pie: One cuts the pie, the other selects which piece to take. The book, however, is out of print and expensive to get, but you can find it on bookfinder.com.

In his message Kéli also included a link to a TV magic show in Norway where you can see a very young Michael Weber (he’s not using PATEO here, but the Magician’s Choice) and Max Maven 🙂 Although the host speaks Norwegian, Weber and Maven perform in English for your enjoyment – click HERE.

Comments on Don Alan’s Professional Advice

Today’s The Magic Memories are inspired by the last chapter in Jon Racherbaumer’s book about the life and magic of Don Alan, In a Class by Himself – The Legacy of Don Alan , L&L Publishing, USA 2000. It is still available, e.g., from Penguin Magic. When I went to Penguin’s homepage, I noticed the book has one single review by a customer (at least it was a five-star review). It deeply saddens me to see that some crap tricks (please forgive the expression), some of which even make it to being nominated “Trick of the Year”, get dozens of positive reviews, whereas a brilliant book like this one lead a miserable existence. Help!

For my younger readers I’ll explain that Don Alan (1926-1999) was regarded by many as being the close-up man of his generation. The Internet is full with texts and videos about Alan and his work for all those who are interested to learn more. For a start try Magicpedia HERE, and it will take you to any direction you choose to take.

When reading Alan’s advice please remember that he had his heyday in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies of the past century. Still, he touches on questions that are as valid today as they were half a century ago – my comments try to take this into consideration.

SNEAKY THINGS TO REMEMBER

1. List all the steps of a trick’s method, then underline and itemize every boring and banal action from a spectator’s point of view.

RG: Write a script, in two columns, what you do and what you say, and apply Alan’s advice to both columns, because what you say can be equally unneccessary and boring as what you do. It all boils down to the advice Jay Marshall used to give to almost everyone who asked, “Cut, cut, cut!”

2. All tricks must play to women.

RG: This advice comes from Alan’s experience from more than fifty years ago. Many things have changed how women perceive themselves and are perceived. From my personal experience I can say that women have been my best and my worst auciences.

The way an individual reacts, be it a man or a woman or any combination of it, depends largely on the situation the individual finds him- or herself, and also on the company. I always make it a point in my professional bookings to ask about the context of the event (is it a cultural, a private, or a business event), the type of audience (age, social status, language etc.)

In his Genii-column “The Vernon Touch” Dai Vernon even said several times that women don’t like card tricks. However, this is only true if it doesn’t have an emotional appeal, and this applies regardless of what the Instrument is used.

3. Write out all your utterances (patter) that goes along with the action steps. When it is possible and relevant, convert declarative und descriptive statements into questions. In particularly dull parts, interject short Jokes or amusing lines.

RG: See point 1). Generally speaking, tricks with lots of procedural handling should be eliminated. There are exceptions, e.g., when you are performing for felllow magicians, or for a group with specific interests, such as card players etc.

If procedures are necessary, such as dealing five hands of Poker, practice to deal swiftly, pause for a moment after having dealt the first round, look up, make an amusing remark; fascinate the audience at all times with content appealing to them ly. intellectually or emotionally.

4. Figure out where and how you can humanly interact with spectators during an effect. The most interesting aspect of any presentation usually concerns the audience. They are the “show.”

RG: A performance is about creating an act of communication between the artist and the audience, by means of the artist’s instruments and his discipline. In our case, as the performers of wonder, acting in a live situation, we must at all time be able to connect with our audience, and to keep

5. Determine how many spectators you want to involve in each presentation, then connect the dots in terms of interacting with them, playing off of them, and playing them off each other.

RG: Make sure that if you ask spectators to help they really get something meaningful to do. Avoid patronizing them, e.g., saying, “Oh, you did that very well.” That is how you talk to a five-year-old child, not an adult. Interacting with audience members is much easier when performing sitting down at the table, as Alan did, than if you perform in a parlor situation, where the spectator often needs to be brought up. The latter requires an additional set of skills.

6. Use a stop-watch to clock—time the duration of each presentation. If it runs longer than four minutes, figure out how to cut the “fat.” Make every second count.

RG: See 1.) I remember how Gene Anderson, in the pre-video aera, used to audio-tape his performances, and afterwards critically listening to them. Nowadays a good ploy is to ask someone to record your performance with a mobile phone. Both audio and video are also an excellent way of archiving your material, so you can go back to it years later.

7. Figure out which parts slow down a given trick, then figure out ways to eliminate this “drag.”

RG: Refer to 1.) Best strategy is to cut the “drag”, but if it is necessary for the trick to work, stage it properly, make it interesting and emotionally appealing.

8. List the number of unexpected moments or surprises. Every trick should have at least two surprises.

RG: See 9.)

9. List the number of magical moments where something puzzling or baffling occurs.

RG: This point and the preceding relate to 1.), i.e., use a variety of intellectual and emotional moments that keep the audience interested. However, make sure that dramatic unity is maintained, i.e., that those bits have something to do thematically with the main plot of the trick, and don’t use too many, as this would spoil the effect. Try to understand the essence of the trick, its effect, and then use only that many “extras” to enhance the effect, do not bury it under a heap of ketch-up (or mustard, or mayonnaise, or cheese, as is typically done in fast food “restaurants”).

10. Never perform two card-trick presentations in a row and never begin with a card trick.

RG: If two or three card tricks lead into each other in a coherent way and have dramatic unity, why not?

As for beginning with a card trick, and as exposed in my Stand-up Card Magic, I agree that almost all card tricks are conceptional rather than visual and should therefore be used after you’ve connected with the audinece and the ice is broken. However, there are a few things you can do with cards to open, such as “Six Card Repeat” for parlor, or “Micro-Macro”, a quick production of the Aces to lead into another visual Ace trick, such as “Twisting the Aces”, to then end with a strong Ace-piece, such as “Travelers”, or an “Ace Assembly”.

11. Use props that look ordinary or are recognizable as being common-place.

RG: Anything that looks as if it could be bought by anybody in a toy shop (Tenyo trick) should be avoided, unless you have a very good way of staging it. Generally, the quality and look of the instruments and props you are using, should match your “CI & CD”. However, there are exceptions here, too. I am sure Juan Tamariz has never spent a thought on this, and still he is one of the most successful pros on stage and in close-up. But: “Quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi.”

12. If the prop can be examined, leave it on the table after using it… as long as it is not in the way. Invite female spectators to hold, touch, and examine things. Engage male spectators to do anything that requires analysis and thinking—not because they do it better than females, but because it makes them feel relevant and important.

RG: If the prop left on the table entices them to handle it, make it part of the performance and allow enough time for it, but not as much as to break your planned timing. As Rubinstein said, “Virtuosity is when the musician masters his instrument, not vice-versa.” This is also true for mastering an audience.

13. Eliminate all hazards during the performance of a trick.

RG: Denis Behr once reminded me of a line I used in my first Penguin Live Lecture. “A professional does not take risks, he takes breaks.” That’s the idea.

14. Have two of everything.

RG: See The Magic Memories 69.

15. When it comes to Murphy’s Law, consider Murphy an optimist. Gimmick everything. (It is easier to force a corner—short card than to Classic Force a regular card.) It frees your thinking.

RG: Advice born out of hundreds (thousands?) of performances, and any working performer will agree… (However, since cards are my specialty, I’d stick to sleight-of-hands, unless the special card or deck really makes a big difference.)

16. When performing in a public place where other entertainers are also performing, go out of your way to speak to them. They are your allies.

RG: If you are performing as part of a larhger production, it is essential to coordinate your performance with the work of the others. Nowadays, in a professional surrounding, there is a person who manages all this. I always call the client several days before thumb show

17. Maintain momentum at all cost. Keep rolling. Don’t wait for laughter to completely die down. Begin your next presentation while the audience is still reacting to your last trick.

RG: There is a delicate balance between letting the audience react to an effect in the “Pause of Assimilation”, as Ascanio called it (Sharing Secrets, “Pause”, p. 82), and rushing to the next trick.

Even worse: Depending on the performing situation and the dynamics of an audience, this can be differ, even though you are performing exactly the same trick. Sensibility for communicative issues and a long performing experience are required.

If you lack this, because you are just starting out, you can compensate this with true enthusiasm and sincerity; do not be pretentious, and do not act like a smart aleck, and the audience will forgive (almost) everything.

18. Be spontaneous. When you can’t, fake it.

RG: … or as Groucho Marx used to say, “The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”

A communication strategy I have found makes a stock line or one you have learned seem spontaneous, is to deliver it by looking at one single person, rather than saying it out into the audience. (This is not juts a “tip”, like some would have it, this is the expression of an attitude and leads into a much bigger subject.)

19. Use easy sleights, but figure out the best time to execute them. Never look at your hands during the execution and, if possible, ask a spectator a question at the crucial moment.

RG: It’s all there, just do it. One thing: The question asked needs to perfectly fit the context, otherwise it will be recognized as a ploy (see Sharing Secrets, “Clouding Question”, p. 30). You may think this is obvious, but I can assure you I have seen more than one performer who used a presentation and misdirective questions that had absolutely nothing to do with the theme of the trick…

20. If a deck is prearranged for certain tricks, always put a known keycard at the face (bottom). This “tips” that the deck is ready to go and is fully “wired.”

RG: Lennart Green gave me this dodge years ago, and I put it in Secret Agenda (see “December 15 – A Special-Deck Mnemonic”).

21. The ratio of laughter to bafflement should be 6 to 1.

RG: This is easy to misinterpret, but on closer examination makes perfect sense: Most very good tricks have one climax, and that’s the moment of “bafflement”, meaning the moment the audience experiences the emotion of wonder, astonishment. But on t he way to reach it, there might be several humorous situations that provoke laughter, obviously depending on your performance style.

In any case one should follow Dai Vernon’s advice, only to use comedy that arises from the situation, as opposed to extraneous lines put on top of the trick just to get one more laugh. Also, remember what Juan Tamariz says in his The Magic Rainbow (“Magic and Comedy”, pp. 414): “Laughter is very dangerous for magic, artistically speaking. The main reason is that it can reduce the magical impact of the effect by causing a steep drop in dramatic tension, which prevents the audience from feeling astonishment and a sensation of the impossible…”

22. Every trick must be able to be seen by at least 30 people.

RG:  In the first two chapters of Stand-up Card Magic I go to great lengths to explain the importance of setting up the audience so that everyone can see well. The same considerations apply to formal close-up, which is what Alan is talking about here.

That’s all, folks!

The Missing Link

As a little amusing bonus I leave you with a bit of nostalgia with The Ross Sisters. Never heard of them? Well, you should be surprised and amused (watch until the end).

To watch the short video CLICK HERE.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi