These are The Magic Memories 124, gone online Sunday, May 14th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.
Back, But
I’m back from the “Anneaux Magiques” in Morges, the visit at Don Silvio’s Magic Museum & Library, as well as from the “Masters of Magic” convention in Torino, but a show comes up in 24 hours, and the “jet lag” plus the preparation for the show result in today’s The Magic Memories being again shorter than usual, BUT I promise a lengthier one with all the reports and photos and some extras next week 🙂 Below a photo taken after the show in Morges, Switzerland:
Thank you to all of you who sent in good wishes for my birthday on May, 1st – I’m now 64 years of age, and my friend Joe Gallant in his email assured me that at least some among you will “still need me, and still feed me”, in the best of Beatles manner… so, I’ll try to keep doing what I’ve been doing up to now. To hear the song and read the wonderful lyrics, CLICK HERE.
The Eleven Fingers Routine
In my book “Secret Agenda”, entries for May 7 & 8, I mention a very simple three-part routine using fingers.
My friend Alfonso Aceituno asked me for it, after I had shown it to him years before. Therefore, I made this little private video clip for him, and thought some of you might be interested in it, too. So, here it is, with my compliments.
This little routine is ideal to show to a small child, but all the adults around will also enjoy it. I found that it even surprises those into magic, as somehow most have never seen it, at least not the first two parts. It also comes in handy if someone asks you to “do a trick”, and you don’t feel like it: Simply do the stunt as shown, and then say that with those fingers you simply cannot do anything. There will be a laugh, and that will be it.
Besides, I would like to say that it is absolutely not necessary to “do a trick” when someone asks you, as is so often suggested by dealer ads, who want you to sell a trick with which you will be “always ready to perform when asked for”. But this subject is yet another conversation, and we won’t lead it today (but you’re welcome to think about it).
I can’t remember where I saw the first part, but the second part was done by someone at the G4G7 convention, a meeting dedicated to Martin Gardner, at a Night Before Party on the subject of puzzles and stunts. The handling was different, though. When I showed it to my sons, Miro remarked that folding back only one finger instead of two and changing the rhythm could be more deceptive. He was right, and you can see the result in the clip.
The very last part, with the twelve fingers, the one I’m using as the Epilogue, was suggested by Ron Wohl.
Today’s topics are: The Acrobat family video clip – a different handling; Pause for travel to Morges and Italy.
These are The Magic Memories 123, gone online Sunday, May 7th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.
This week’s The Magic Memories will be short as I’m on the road lecturing at the one-day event “Les Anneaux Magiques” in Morges, Switzerland, an invitation-only high-caliber competition.
After that I’ll head to Cherasco to visit Don Silvio Mantelli who has a magic museum and one of the largest magic libraries (I’ve reported about this before), this together with my friend José Ángel, the organizer of Magialdia, the world’s most remarkable convention (my opinion, of course). Then a quick visit to Walter Rolfo’s Masters of Magic convention in Torino, and back to Switzerland for an evening of magic for the “Kulturverein Muttenz“.
Hopefully I’ll find time to tell you about my adventures abroad in The Magic Memories 124… else, it will be in The Magic Memories 125.
The Acrobat Family
Here is a little video clip you might enjoy: It is a really simple and straightforward trick, purely for laymen, based on the “Elevator” plot, as dealt with in the Chapter 8 on the Glide in Card College Volume 1.
Obviously, at such an early stage in the Card College course, I was forced to stick to the techniques that had been taught up to that point, which were not many. But I still think that the original as described in Card College using the Glide is an interesting use of that almost-forgotten sleight.
The version you’ll see in the video uses a more advanced technique, the Braue Addition (Card College 1, Chapter 14). Note how the “Space-Information Continuum” explained in Sharing Secrets is applied to make the position of the cards crystal-clear and thus enhance the effect.
Also observe how the pacing is an important part of the performance, with the hesitation at the end, in order to break monotony, boosting the curve of interest and adding suspense before the final reversal is revealed, a slight variation in effect, all previous ones being penetrations, a little-used phenomenon in card magic. There are indeed a lot of details in this little piece…
Ref. Glide I remember an anecdote with Juan Tamariz. Years ago, we were sessioning at Juan’s home in San Fernando, in the south of Spain. Several renowned performers were present, each performing his latest ideas. Imagine…
At some point the discussion came to the Glide. Most opined that the sleight was old-fashioned and not very useful and natural. Juan, as usual, did not agree, and defended the Glide passionately, also bringing up the original handling described in Scot’s Discovery of Witchcraft (look it up!).
A little later we went for dinner. And to prove his point about the effectiveness of the Glide, after dinner Juan did a 20-minute show (at least!) for the waiters of the restaurant, in which he used the Glide in every trick! Now even the most sceptic had been converted. Such is the power of Tamariz…
Today’s topics are: Berlin Visit; Crazy cut-ups; Card College 5 on video; Masters of Magic Convention in Torino, Italy.
These are The Magic Memories 122, gone online Sunday, April 30th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.
Berlin Visit
I’m just back from a flying visit to Berlin to meet my old friend Chris Wasshuber, founder & owner of lybrary.com.
Chris has devoted himself full-time to e-books since 2009, but started much earlier, and has now accumulated the largest collection of commercially available magic e-books. To get on his newsletter, which I recommend, and to see what he has to offer, CLICK HERE.
Chris and I have done some very interesting projects together, if I may say so myself, such as Ask Roberto, originally conceived as an e-book, later also available as a book, and now again only obtainable as a PDF (this is the ideal format for this type of publication).
The last time we met was in 2001, at my home in Muttenz, Switzerland, were he made video clips of all the moves from Card College volumes 1 and 2, and then created an e-book version with the text from the books plus the videos to illustrate the sleights. Originally, this was available in a HTML-format on a CD/DVD, and has now been converted into PDFs. So, if you are interested, you can get each chapter individually, or the whole lot together from Chris’s webshop HERE.
We kicked back and forth a few ideas, and in the near future you might hear about them – stay tuned (get on the Newsletter on my webshop, and read the The Magic Memories every Sunday…).
Our meeting took place at a perfect location, a restaurant named “The Kitchen Library”!
In the photo below you can see the reason for the name: The walls are filled with hundreds of books, obviously all about food, wines, cooking etc. Great location for an illustrator, layouter and Orimoto artist (Barbara), an author of magic books (me), and another author, publisher and entrepreneur (Chris).
Barbara, RG, Chris at “The Kitchen Library”, Berlin 2023
Although the table is cleared, as the photo was taken at the end of the meal, the menu was a sophisticated one and worth at least one Michelin star.
The photo below shows one course: A beef’s heart, braised for 72 hours, served as a (cold) tartare, with celery mousse and with a dried heart of a tuna fish (!) grated over it, with a crispy cone filled with fresh cheese as a side (in the bowl behind).
I’m mentioning this because this dish is so incredibly unusual and original, and it was excellent.
This is just one of the similarities between gastronomy and magic, that we are in constant search of innovation in methods, effects and presentation.
Much of it is to no avail, in gastronomy and magic (“good is better than original”). BUT, it is necessary and it is the price to pay for progress: We need to create a lot, eliminate most, to keep a little, but that little advances the art, and it reflects life and the universe around us.
As you can see, whenever I’m in those restaurants, it is not for pleasure, of course not… it is hard work, to be inspire and to inspire 🙂
beef heart tartare with tuna fish heart flakes
On a side-note: Since Chris is a teetotaler, we didn’t have wines with the meal, but excellent “Chateau d’Eau 2023” 🙂
However, perhaps for an “occupational hazard”, I spotted a bottle of wine which I’ll reproduce below.
Without claiming to be a collector of such things, in the past years I have accumulated in my wine cellar a small dozen of wines that have a label relating in some way to magic, several of them to playing cards as can be seen in the photo below. So, if you happen to have one, too, send it to me, and I’ll publish it in a forthcoming The Magic Memories.
wine with a “magical” label
There is so much more I’d like to tell you about Berlin, certainly worth the trip from any part of the world, but your time and mine, too, is limited, alas…
Crazy Cut-ups
I received some lovely comments for last week’s “Behind-the-ear Glimpse”. Gary Plants, a much admired friend and creator, for instance, wrote in to say, ” Behind the ear glimpse is a wonderful idea. It would have fooled me easily.” If you missed it, check it out HERE (at the end of the blog)
So, here is another idea, completely different, that might find the favor of some of you, not only to do at a special occasion, but maybe also to teach a child (remember to make a list of tricks and things magical that could be taught to a child or to a layperson – see Hidden Agenda, entry for January 27). I found it as a single photocopy in my archive, without reference, but Thomas Lenouvel tells me it was first published in a little booklet called “Party Trix a la Carte” by Howard P. Albright, in 1936 by Unique Magic Studio, Albany, NY, and later by Supreme Magic, England, in the 1950s.
I keep getting requests for a video-version of Card College Volume 5, similar to Card College 1&2 – Personal Instruction and Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction. This is much appreciated, and I thank you all for your interest.
However, I’m a bit reluctant to do this, for several reasons. Besides being another herculean task, requiring not only a lot of my time for preparation and recording, it will be taxing on Guillaume Cerati who so beautifully did the Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction.
Also, I will not hide from you, that I’m a bit disappointed with the reception of the last project we did, the Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction.
Certainly, I got a rave review in Genii, and everyone whom I asked and who owns the product speaks highly of it. That’s fantastic, and I’m very pleased.
Also, several friends are helping promote it (big THANK YOU!), as I’m a dead duck when it comes to marketing, preferring to waste my time on a blog like this one, rather than cultivate the socials and other marketing platforms that would sell.
But, although several hundreds were sold, and it keeps selling, I feel it is not enough to make it worthwhile – after all, magic is my profession, and not my hobby, and I have to make a living from it. It is a slap in my face to see that some people are sending the downloads around to their friends, and that professional webshops offer a pirated version of the product.
I don’t care so much for the pirated PDFs of my books (all my books have been pirated!), as a PDF is never the same as a real book, and those who get the PDFs would probably not have bought the book, but the pirated MP4-downloads are technically the same as the originals, so those are taking away a lot of business from me. And there is no magic organization or foundation in the world that helps protect the rights of us authors.
Last but not least, I find it hard to understand that some people spend $10 or $12 to buy the download of one single sleight or one single trick, but shy away from spending the $78 it costs to buy the Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction that contains over 150 sleights AND over 40 tricks, all explained in painstaking detail, with the theory and the professional experience of almost 50 years that goes into their execution and performance, all in all over twenty-two (!) hours.
Anyway, that’s the long answer to why I probably won’t do it… (unless there is a millionaire among my readership who wants to sponsor such a project for charity’s sake…). Yes, I know, I could do that as a fundraising project, but the procedures involved for this are just not my cup of tea…
To end this on a positive note, I would like to thank all of you honest people who have bought Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction (and Card College 1&2 – Personal Instruction) from me and have thus supported the project, and I hope you feel you have received a lot more than you have paid for 🙂 Please keep telling your friends, and send them to my webshop.
Masters of Magic Convention in Torino, Italy
Walter Rolfo, organizer of the past FISM 2014 in Rimini and future FISM in Torino 2025, kindly invited me to attend his convention “Masters of Magic” (MoM) in Torino from May 11 to 14. So, if you are there, please come up and say hello.
Masters of Magic, Torino 2023
At Walter’s conventions you are always in for a surprise, actually several.
Talking to Max Maven at a past MoM-convention, Max mentioned the famous quote, “Less is more“. (This oxymoronic quote, usually attributed to Mies van der Rohe, a German-born architect, is much older, though,…). Max jokingly commented, “With Walter more is more!” Fact is, that you meet a lot of talent, and that’s the good part. And Torino, the capital of Piemont, is simply a superb city, with lots of history, fantastic museums (film museum, Egyptian museum, Royal Residence, automobile etc.), great architecture, and some of the best food and wines on this planet.
However, personally, I wish most conventions booked less performers who were give more time (and a better fee…). I will never forget the French convention in Vannes years ago where they had booked Johnny Thompson to perform in the gala… and that was it.
Here they had one of the last Greats of the “old school” (Vernon, Slydini, Goshman, etc.), who would have been more than happy to give a lecture, a workshop and even a talk-interview of some kind. Instead, the organizers preferred to fill the time slots with items on the programme with performers of less interest and talent.
For more information on MoM 2023 and how to register CLICK HERE.
Today’s topics are: International Magic Festival of San Marino; Behind-the-ear Glimpse
These are The Magic Memories 121, gone online Sunday, April 23rd, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.
International Magic Festival of San Marino
San Marino, located in the middle-south-east of Italy, near Rimini (FISM 2015!), is number four in the list of the smallest independent countries in the world (what are the other three?). Gabriel and his team organized the 24th edition of the Festival internazionale della magia di San Marino. This event is not only remarkable for its magical quality, but also for the fact that it is sponsored by the government. This really is the type of festival-convention we should aim for, as it brings far more recognition to the art and the artists than merely a public show as it is the case for most magic conventions.
From left to right: unknown, Gabriel, José Angel
I was booked for a lecture and to be part of the close-up show.
I did my lecture on Stand-up Card Magic, which they put on as the very first event of the convention, on Friday at 11:30 am. I was told that in earlier editions of the festival they started the events only in the afternoon, giving people time to come into San Marino. So, I had only about 60 people in the audience, but at least everyone seemed to leave with a happy face.
Nonetheless, 75 minutes are a very tight timeframe for my type of lecture, which I would characterize as a conceptional lecture, where the tricks, techniques and presentations are placed into a larger context: Although I try to give a detailed explanation of the technical construction of the individual items, my focus is on the polyvalent principles that make magic work, and that can be applied to all magic. The result is that even if someone will not do the trick or technique performed, they will still be able to learn something to apply to their own magic.
Since the lecture was delayed by about 15 minutes, but most of the audience was present, I did a “pre-show” by giving a mini lecture on how to take notes, and also mentioned how I transfer the notes in a more sophisticated system using Evernote. This seemed to be very much appreciated by several.
An Artist’s Badge
Friday evening saw a stage competition, sponsored by a jeweler of San Marino (lovely idea), with twelve acts. Fortunately I was not asked to be a judge (in theory I’m a FISM judge, but am glad most don’t seem to know…), although the task for once would have been easy, as most were so bad that you didn’t even have to consider them for an award. The standard was one of the lowest I have ever seen, with but three or four acts that should have competed. This, of course, is an eternal problem of all competitions, and the only way to get around it, is to have a pre-selection, which admittedly is a hassle and takes time and nerves, for various reasons we won’t discuss here…
This said, I would still want to express my respect and in a certain way my admiration for all the participants. I learned this from an advertising expert, who, years ago, said to me, “Even those with bad ideas and poor execution have invested a lot of their time and thinking in what they do.” Hmmmm…
This was certainly true of most acts, some of which must have spend thousands of Euros and hundreds of hours making up their props and practicing and rehearsing; unfortunately to no avail. Very much like a beautiful sports car that drives into the wrong direction… One of the conventioneers was overheard to say, “They don’t seem to have any friends…”
But of course we all know how difficult it is to tell a friend that what he’s doing is not as good as he thinks… The only solution I see is to try to take yourself not too seriously, to develop a sense of healthy self-criticism, to learn the tools of the trade, to develop criteria, and to have a small group of friends whom you can ask for their sincere constructive opinion.
In theory a magic club could be such a place, but it is also the place that shows that the difference between theory and practice is even bigger in practice than it is in theory. Reminding my of what Al Goshman once told me when I asked him about his opinion of magic clubs. He said, “That’s were the blinds lead the blinds.” I don’t entirely agree, but I will never forget what he said.
Saturday evening saw the traditional gala show which lasted about two and a half hours, too long like most convention gala shows, but with an enthusiastic audience and a group of talented performers. To comment on all the acts simply goes over the scope of this blog, as all the thoughts and implications would deserve an essay of its own.
I liked the dove act of Maxim a lot (you can see two of his remarkable productions HERE).
I realize that magic with animals in general, and doves in particular, are considered problematic by several, and I don’t want to argue this here. As far as I could judge, Maxim treats his animals really well, and the effects he does with them are truly magical with a poetic quality. In my opinion the appearance of a dove, if done artistically, is the epitome of the symbolism of creation; there is no other type of production that so deeply affects the mind and the heart. A subject that merits to be discussed. (Every convention should have at least one 60-minute format or so that has a panel of competent people discussing topics that are normally not treated in the books and magazines, and there are plenty of them: Let’s make a list of such topics and compare in a future issue of The Magic Memories!
Gals Show San Marino 2023
I was also greatly amused and laughed like seldom before by the presentations of my friend Raul Cremona of Milan, who emceed the show and who is a household name in Italy, with hundreds of appearances on TV and full-evening theatre shows were he mixes magic and stand-up comedy.
What is so incredible about him is that he’s a stage animal, I mean he has a stage instinct only few have, and within the first few seconds puts any audience into his pocket. It feels as if he was born on stage, and the stage was his natural habitat. For all of us who struggle with stage fright and similar inconveniences days before a show Raul is inspiring. (Although I did not like so much what he said the next day in his lecture, were he explained that the reason he could feel so comfortable on stage is that he despises the audience. Of course it is still an interesting point, as it seems to work, at least for him. Yet another subject to discuss on a panel: “What are your thoughts towards an audience before, during and after you perform?”
Years ago Raul and I met after a lecture of mine in Bologna (he says he’s a fan of mine and has all my books!), and it was already quite late, midnight or so. The two of us, along with a few friends, were hungry, but didn’t know were to go to eat at this time. It so happened that we were standing on the sidewalk in front of the convention center, under a bright street lantern, and a police car passed by. They suddenly stopped, and one of the policemen shouted out of the window, “Hey, you, aren’t you Raul Cremona!? We’re great fans of yours!”
Raul joked around with them, as is his way, and then said they should escort us to a place we can eat. Said, done. We got in two cars, and the police car in front of us took us to the only Pizzeria in Bologna that was open at this time and that had a line waiting to be seated. Unimpressed by this the two policemen got out, and by their authority got us immediate seating in that great Pizza place. Needless to say that Raul had to give dozens of autographs and make photos. Certainly, this can only happen n Italy 🙂
Before I leave the convention, I would like to comment on two more lectures. One by someone you will never have heard of, Lodovico Marchetti, and whose vocation is not giving lectures. But in spite of his poor abilities as a lecturer, he delighted the audience (and me!) with his original ideas and his superior skill, very much in the style of Vernon’s philosophy of naturalness, as there was not a second were you would suspect a move, and there were many! He lectured on three variations of the Cups & Balls, with truly excellent ideas and handlings.
Although he had a special table, he also showed two ideas of how to provide a table with an improvised servant. One of them was to sit down, place a doctor-type of bag (see in the back in the photo below) on his lap to overtly take out some props and place them on the table. When the bag is removed and placed on the floor or on a nearby chair, the loaded servant is left on the lap. It reminded me of the initial coffin scene on the roads of New Orleans in James Bond’s Live And Let Die 🙂
I’m convinced you would have appreciated him.
Lodovico Marchetti on C & B
The other lecture that impressed me a lot was that of Gabriel Gascon. You can see him HERE fooling Penn & Teller.
He and Julio Merino have done to sponge ball magic what David Roth did to coin magic in the Seventies and Eighties: With their original gimmicks, techniques, handlings and presentations they have elevated sponge ball magic to a level it had never been before. I remember when in the seventies Benito and Giannola Nonino, brought Grappa, in particular Picolit Nonino, to the level of a great Cognac. Now these two have brought sponge ball magic to the level of great card magic…
But what would a convention be without meeting old friends, making new ones and spending great moments in their company!
I have always been a great admirer (and secretly in love…) of Karly Ann from Trieste, one of the few Italian magiciennes who won international awards. Well, I found her as charming and beautiful as ever, and we had a great time remembering our first meeting in Austria years ago…
Nada (Karly Ann) and Roberto
And then there were several memorable excursions, one to Rimini and the other to San Leo, in the company of my friends José Angel, Victor and Marta from Magialdia, Vitoria, Spain. You can see us on the photo below on the beach of Rimini: In a few months this beach will be populated by thousands of vacationers seeking the sun and waves of the Mare Adriatico.
Victor, Marta, unknown, José Angel at Rimini beach
unknown, José Angel, Marta, Victor with old bridge in Rimini
And what would be a convention report without a glimpse (see below for a real Glimpse…) at one of our legendary meals… here at the Osteria Belvedere (it truly had a superb view) in San Leo.
Possibly the best “Bistecca alla Fiorentina” I’ve ever had
Behind-the-ear Glimpse
Reading through an old Swiss magic magazine titled La baguette magique – Der Zauberstab (“The Magic Wand”), one of the earliest periodicals in Switzerland, published in French and German (there are FOUR official languages in Switzerland, in country with just eight million people), in vol. 1, no. 4, of July 1945, I ran across a short article signed Dr. W. Weyeneth, a dentist by trade, who was an active and influential amateur in his time. He was a prolific author, bringing a lot of information from around the world to Switzerland, and corresponding with some of the important professionals of his time, such as Stanley Jaks and Rolf Andra.
Albeit a relatively small thing, I cannot remember having read it before, and immediately liked it and thought it practical… and whenever I do, I assume a few others could like it, too. So, here is a little shenanigan that allows you to glimpse the top or the bottom card of the deck in the course of a humorous byplay.
Give the deck to someone for shuffling, and as you take it back say, “…and may I have these, too, please!” With your right hand palm off a packet of cards from the top and produce them in a one-handed fan from behind the ear of the spectator who just shuffled the cards.
Producing something from behind a spectator’s ear – a coin, a card, or anything – is a long-time favorite in magic and always produces a laugh. Correctly done, it is a beautifully innocent sight-gag, and the emotional reaction it provokes will not only bring you closer to your audience, remembering that “a laugh is the shortest distance between two people”, as Victor Borges once said, but it will also create an interference in the audience’s ultra-short memory, and not make them suspect, let alone detect, that you glimpsed the top or bottom card of the fan!
Depending on where you need your glimpsed card, on top or on bottom, you look at the top or bottom card of the fan, and then replace it on top or bottom of the deck. Punctuate the action (Sharing Secrets, “Punctuation”) with an Intelligent Injog Shuffle (Sharing Secrets, “Intelligent Movements”), as you say, “Good, the deck has been shuffled and cut. Would you please…” Proceed according to the requirements of the routine.
Today’s topics are: Letters From Juan (Vernon’s three secrets); Chalk Talk; Hintertuxer Zaubertage
These are The Magic Memories 119, gone online Sunday, April 9th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020 can be found HERE.
Letters From Juan
A few weeks ago the first installment of Letters From Juan by the one and only, the inimitable, Juan Tamariz arrived, and a few hours before I started to write these lines, the ad for the second volume reached me via the Penguin Magic Newsletter.
I’m sure most of you who are reading these The Magic Memories know about it, so I won’t need to say much, besides, going to the Penguin website will tell you all you need to place your order and form your own opinion.
I was surprised to read two negative comments on the Penguin website, and it is the price we are paying for a free and democratic civilization where everyone can express his/her opinion on everything, and the Internet has potentiated this to the n-th degree, where people who have nothing to say actually do. On the other hand, it might be a good thing, as those who let themselves be influenced by such opinions, will not get the books, and those wonderful secrets (now no longer secret) will only reach those who deserve it.
As for comments on products, my opinion is that all buyers (and only those!) should have a right to express their opinion, unless it contains obvious incorrect information and/or insulting formulations, of course. But at the same time I opine that their full name should show up, and not just an alias. Whether you are in favor or against something, and you try to influence other people’s opinion by publishing yours, is OK, but you should at least stand by it with your name… as I do now with my opinion (no more, no less).
Anyway, the reason I’m mentioning Juan’s Letters is that the first volume already brought back great memories, as I’ve had the privilege of seeing almost all of the items explained on the occasion of my many visits to Juan’s home in the past forty years plus, either in Madrid or in the South of Spain. And I can’t wait to see what the next volumes will bring…
Here, I would like to address something Juan writes in his first “Foreword”, concerning the sharing of secrets, namely when he went to the Magic Castle for the first time and there met Dai Vernon, who later would call Juan “the best in the world”.
They obviously had several sessions, some with others, some in private. On one such “private” occasion Vernon took Tamariz to the library, at that time located on the Castle’s upper floor, and said, “I’m going to show you three things that you must keep to yourself.” And when Tamariz protested, explaining that he is used to share his secrets with his closest friends, Vernon was very firm, “No, no! Just for yourself!” He then proceeded to show Tamariz three quite wonderful moves, which at that time were still closely guarded secrets.
Well, meanwhile Dai Vernon is unfortunately no longer among us, and as Juan writes, “…I feel liberated from the secrets, which I eventually shared with my friends.”
Juan tells this story to express his attitude towards magic secrets in general, and those revealed in these volumes in particular, a philosophy that has been responsibly for putting Spain on the map of the world of magic, and which in my opinion is the main reason why today’s generation of Spanish close-up and card magic is at the very top. It also led to the foundation of the EMM, the Escuela Magica de Madrid, about which I have written in earlier posts (you’ll find the the PDF of the Manifest of the EMM in an earlier The Magic Memories, or in Ask Roberto).
(Yes, I remember that library on the upper floor, where I also met Vernon and had a long session with Bruce Cervon, where he showed me some “closely guarded secrets”, two of which went into Card College (with his permission)… but that’s another story for some other time…)
Juan further comments in reference to those “three secrets Vernon told me”:
Nowadays they are public domain because they have already been described by Stephen Minch in the magnificent Vernon Chronicles books.
Unfortunately, he gives no more detail, and “The Chronicles” spanning over four volumes, make it three needles in a huge haystack…
Would you like to know?
After Vernon left us, and after Tamariz has now unveiled the story himself, I, too, very much like Juan, feel “liberated” from my oath to secrecy: Yes, because I was one of the fortunate close friends to whom Juan told them.
So, without further ado and flourish, here are the “secrets” and their exact lieu of publication for you to explore over the Easter Holidays:
“A New Peek Control”, in Minch, Stephen, The Lost Inner Secrets, Vol. 1, p. 86
“The Transfer Force”, in Minch, Stephen, The Lost Inner Secrets, Vol. 1, p. 93
“The Gordon Bruce False Shuffle”, in Duffie, Peter, 5 Times Five of Scotland, p. 16
I know this will make the day of some of you… You’re welcome 🙂
Unknown and better-known discussing secrets in books…
Chalk Talks
According to Wikipedia:
“A chalk talk is an illustrated performance in which the speaker draws pictures to emphasize lecture points and create a memorable and entertaining experience for listeners.
I know this will interest only a few among you, but if it does and helps only one, the purpose is fulfilled.
Briefly: I have a collection of twenty publications on the topic, one hardbound, the rest softbound, all in immaculate condition. You can have them for $ 150 including shipping worldwide. Check Internet, and you’ll see that they are worth a multiple (just the Tarbell book goes for up to $ 80), and as far as I know, these are complete collections of the respective authors, which is an additional feature. See the photo below.
Collection of 20 publications on “Chalk Talk”
If you’re interested send me an email HERE, and I’ll send you a PayPal-link: First come, first served (I ship from Germany).
Hintertuxer Zaubertage
From WED, July 12th to SUN July 16th I’ll be lecturing and performing together with Thomas Fraps and Christian Knudsen at the Hintertuxer Zaubertage. If you can handle German and want to spend four days in a superb location in the Austrian Alps, with lots of magic, excellent food and as much drinks as you can handle, this is the place.
Unlike a large convention in Las Vegas, where everyone rushes off to some restaurant or show after the last event of the day, once you are stuck at the Adler Inn in Hintertux you won’t want to get away: On one side is an insurmountable glacier that allows for alpine skiing even in summer, on the other side a looong way back to the next spot of civilization. In others words: Once you’re there, you’re there. And that’s, of course, the whole point.
I’ll tell you more after the event. All info in the PDF HERE. (All of this at a fraction of the money you’d have to spend if you went to the VI-Retreat in Alaska…).
The Magic Memories 120 Pauses
Next week-end The Magic Memories will go on another hiatus, as I will still be at the international convention in San Marino. See you all back on SUN, 23rd April, with The Magic Memories 121.
Wish you all a very successful week – and Happy Easter to those who celebrate that (all religious holidays should be celebrated, by all, not so much for the religion, but because a celebration is something against war and hatred, and for peace and love, and that’s what it is all about)!
Today’s topics are: Remembering… the guillotine (an anecdote with lots of interruptions); a marketing idea (photo-postcard); News from Helder Guimaraes; practical advice for downloads.
These are The Magic Memories 118, gone online Sunday, April 2nd, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020 can be found HERE.
Remembering… the Guillotine
As I’m wading through the estate which a deceased friend left me, trying to sort out what can still be used, and donated to our club, I keep running into memories, not only of the life of my friend, but also of the many tricks and props I’ve come across in the past fifty (!) years of my involvement with magic. I had almost forgotten my fascination with all those things I consider trivial today… but they were part of my magical apprenticeship and education, if you will, and as such more important than I thought.
Finger Guillotine by Tenyo
One of the props that made me smile and reminded me of an amusing happening was the guillotine depicted above. This is a model created and sold by Tenyo years ago. Although it functions admirably well, with little risk of really cutting off one’s finger (see below!), it is not a good one, and a good example why psychology comes before design, mechanical working, handling and presentation. I’ll explain:
The Tenyo guillotine misses the essential second hole below the large hole. In the presentation you first show that the guillotine works and its blade is “sharp”. For this you introduce an object that represents a finger into the “Work Hole” (a small carrot), as well as a “checking-prop” into the “Check Hole” (e.g., a cigarette). The blade is then pushed down with force, cutting both through the carrot and the cigarette, proving in an “Action of Explicit Conviction” (Sharing Secrets, p. 16) that the guillotine works as it is supposed to. And of course this is where the situation comedy starts… (no explanation needed).
When the climax occurs, and the guillotine magically “penetrates” the spectator’s finger, leaving it unharmed (symbolism of invulnerability – s. Sharing Secrets, p. 110 “Symbolism”), the blade must cut the cigarette in the “Check Hole”, this being an “Action of Implicit Conviction” that proves the blade is sharp after all and works. Without this, the piece remains a demonstration of a mechanical curiosity.
Bottom line: A trick that doesn’t consider the psychological construction of a trick, and only its technical and dramatic construction, may be surprising, even entertaining, but will never be magical in the sense of evoking the emotion of wonder.
Anyway, back to the anecdote I was going to tell you: I was booked by a private bank in Liechtenstein (info about this micro-state HERE), maybe it is the bank you have your money in 🙂 The event was the Xmas Party for the employees of this small private bank, as far as I can remember less than twenty people, all seated around one large table, and taking place in the country’s best restaurant inside a castle.
Upon my arrival the organizer informed me that they would have a six course dinner, and that they would like me to do a short interval with magical entertainment between each course, total 5 mini-shows. Good for me, my specialty!
Of course I was prepared, because before any show, I call the responsible person for the event, and I run through the evening with them in our mind… but that’s another conversation we’ll have to leave for some other time (still, I mention it because occasionally I have professional friends who complain about the conditions of their performance, whereupon I always wonder how this can be, as it is a professional imperative to foresee such things – and it is really very easy provided you talk to your client before the event, regardless of how many agencies are in-between…).
OK, back to the story. First course has been enjoyed, I wait for the table to be cleared, drinks being served, and get the maître d’ to withdraw his staff for the duration of my short performance (again, I have seen colleagues who start before, and then wonder why they’re not receiving full attention…). After having been announced by the CEO (no less!), who first explained how successful their bank business has been during the year, and that they had to do quite a bit of “magic” to achieve this, and this is why they have hired a professional magician tonight, to see if he can, “…teach us a few tricks. Please welcome Mr. Roberto Giobbi!”
I come on, thank and greet, perform some kind of visual opener (can’t remember what, as this is over twenty years ago…), and then, for my first audience participation piece, address a gentleman sitting near me. Immediately a big uproar, loud laughs, applause, cheers… I mean, I had no idea what was going on.
I had not said anything funny, I had not done anything (neither funny nor else). However, with the stoicism of the consummate professional I carried on as if nothing had happened, but made a mental note to ask the organizer in the break what had happened there, as I was sure it was some kind of inside-joke that I simply didn’t get.
Briefly, I finished the trick to kind applause, and let the restaurant staff discharge their duties… they served the second course.
And so it went until the end, to the satisfaction of the customer and his invited guests. After this show they booked me back two years later, being of course the most sincere way of saying, “We liked what you did.”
Oh, yes, lest I forget… the punchline: In a break I asked the organizer about that incredible reaction when I picked an assistant. She laughed and almost fell over, but finally told me that last year they had also booked a magician, a young one and apparently not so experienced, she pointed out.
One of his tricks was the “Guillotine Trick”, as she called it, where a spectator has to put his arm into the guillotine. Well, to cut this short – forgive the pun – the poor chap must have forgotten to activate the mechanism before letting the spectator put his arm into the “Work Hole”. When – after apparently endless jokes – he eventually slammed down the blade, the spectator was seriously injured and had to see a doctor after the show. Apparently he had the arm in a sling for a while, and of course his colleagues at work kept picking on hin and making jokes about it. So, when I chose exactly that one spectator, it all came back again!
Yes, very funny, I agree!
And, of course, I’m full-circle back at the guillotine I started with, proving that although I keep side-tracking all of the time, I never forget the point I want to make 🙂
A Marketing Idea
Recently my young friend Kevin Stieger sent me a physical postcard through the mail, reminding me of a lovely dinner we had in a one-star Michelin restaurant in nearby Alsatia, France: Living in Basel where Switzerland, Germany and France meet, I have access to the gastronomy of three regions!
The front of the card depicts the five courses we had in a restaurant- all except the dessert with lobster from Brittany (homard bleu de Bretagne, arguably the best) – and on the back it has a personalized stamp (Jimmy, the cat, taking a rest after practicing the Takagi Rope Routine I have been doing now for over 30 Years to open my professional performance), and there is plenty of space for a personal message (the photo only shows the upper right corner of the back of the card with the stamp).
Five photos on a postcardPersonalized Stamp (Jimmy on card table)
How about taking five or so photos from you performing for a client, maybe at the table or else, arranging them as per above, and then sending it to your client after the show, or on his or her birthday as a memento/reminder?
In Switzerland the post office offers to print and send one such postcard per day for free. You can simply upload your photos into their predefined form, and they do the rest. If you want to send more than one, you’ll have to pay a fee.
Isn’t that a lovely idea, and so simple? I remember that when our son Miro went to a trip to Australia, he had the post office send us a photo-postcard almost every day with a photo documenting his travel. This probably works only to an address in Switzerland, but very probably every country has a similar service for its own country.
To see how this works in Switzerland (text in English), CLICK HERE.
If you like, using that service, you should be able to send me a postcard of you doing something, since my address is in Switzerland (send to: Roberto Giobbi, Schlossbergstr. 5, 4132 Muttenz, Switzerland).
Secret Language and Inside Story by Helder Guimaraes
You’re probably aware of this, but just to make sure: My good friend Helder Guimareaes has a very well made new project up called “Inside Story”. It deals with how to come up with your own presentations, and he illustrates this in much detail with some of his own creations, which are all quite wonderful, as you’ve come to expect from this over-talented young man.
As you know from my own writings and several blogs I’ve devoted to the subject, how to come up with one’s own presentations is a topic I’m very fond of, and I not only have a lecture on this, but also a full-day workshop. (No, there is neither a set of lecture notes nor a video documenting that…).
Occasionally I receive an email from customers who can no longer find the download-link to a video they bought. I apologize, but this is due to a technicality that is of no interest to anyone, so I’ll save you the explanation.
However, as I clearly write in the description of each download on my webshop, IF YOU BUY A DOWNLOAD, please, do not just stream-view it, do download it on your computer, and if you think you are going to watch it again (I hope you do, as almost all my videos are made just for that!), then you should make a backup on an external hard disk, or on a USB-stick, and to a cloud service. I use Dropbox.
This is recommendable not just for my videos, of course, but for all you want to keep. You never know how long a particular site remains online.
I’m flattered that many out there seem to think that I’m at the head of a huge operation, possibly because my Card College books are so famous and widely translated, and that I’m a wealthy man with lots of employees. Actually, it’s only me, a small (but oh my…) one-man and one-woman (Barbara) micro-business. So, if I die, or a cyber-attack sets lose, or, or , or… your download-links will be gone, too, very fast, I assume…
THEREFORE: Do not rely on your links staying in your account, download the videos and SAVE them on your own devices.
Today’s topics are: Magic in Rome March 2023 (and lots of sub-subjects…)
These are The Magic Memories 117, gone online Sunday, March 26th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020 can be found HERE.
Magic in Rome
Rome, the “Eternal City”, is one of the mythical cities on this planet. I had the good fortune of having been there several times in the past, almost always performing and teaching magic in some way. Before going into the details of my most recent visit, I have to tell you two little anecdotes related to Rome.
My First Time in Rome (ca. 1980)
My very first visit to Rome with my wife-to-be Barbara, was purely as a tourist when we both were in our early twenties, and I was still a student of linguistics and literature. Two curious things happened that I remember to this very day.
One evening we were strolling through the historical center of Rome, and came to Piazza Navona, the famous square (which in reality is neither square nor round, but oval, as it was formerly used for horse races). At the time there were lots of artists offering to paint your portrait sitting in various spots on the plaza. One of them was an older man offering to read your future, can’t remember what “technique” (palmistry, tarot cards etc.).
Anyway, believe it or not, in a mix of curiosity, ignorance, naïveté, after-dinner-mood (wine?), or what-have-you, I decided to pay whatever it cost (certainly not much, since still students we didn’t have much money) and get his “advice” on my future.
From what he said I only remember this: “You have a great career as a writer in front of you, it will take a little time, and if you were gay the success would come earlier.” That’s what I remember – funny, eh?
Of course I didn’t believe what he said, but still, it somehow happened.
Which reminds me of Nils Bohr who used to keep a horseshoe on the door of his house, which is believed to be an object that guards the house against the evil spirits. A friend, upon seeing the horseshoe on the door of Bohr’s house, asked Bohr as to whether he subscribed to the relevant superstitions. Bohr replied that he didn’t believe in them but he was told that the horseshoe works whether or not one believes in their power.
RG on Piazza Navona 2023 (photo Norbert Fazio)
The other event I remember from that time is that for dinner we went into a Trattoria located on a small street behind the famous Spanish Steps. Barbara and I had a very simple but succulent dinner with Roman specialties. It turned out that this place was a favorite of local artists and intellectuals. As we were the only tourists, we somehow got into a conversation with a few journalists at the next table, and inevitably the conversation turned to what we were doing, which then led to telling them about my passion for magic, especially card magic (I was still an amateur then).
They were immediately full of enthusiasm and asked me to do something for them. As incredible as it sounds, having been quite hot during the day, I did not have anything with me, let alone a deck of cards.
Not to be deterred from this, one of the journalists got up and offered to buy a deck from a shop nearby. However, it was already about 10 pm or so, and most shops were closed. In spite of this, the journalist rushed out, and we waited at least half an hour before he came back with a used deck he had found somewhere. This in itself I will never forget!
And then I started an hour-long session, doing magic with the borrowed deck. Can’t remember what I did, of course, probably all the “classics” I knew, and I also did “Cannibal Cards” (see Card College Volume 3, and for an updated version Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction).
But the punchline to the story is yet to come! One of the journalists liked us so much, that he offered us to use his flat in Rome while he was abroad on a professional assignment for his newspaper. So, the next day we checked out of the B&B we had, to the dismay of the Italian landlady to whom we offered to pay an extra night, and spend the rest of the week in the beautifully chaotic flat of a Roman journalist, located in downtown Rome.
That’s something you can’t buy with money, only with magic 🙂
How “Il giardino dei giochi segreti” happened
And another one related to Rome:
Most among my readership will be aware of the documentary Il giardino dei giochi segreti, sub-titled in English as The Secret World of Magic (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can see it HERE).
It is the year 2003: Matteo Bellinelli, who then was a director with Swiss-Italian Television, had just finished a documentary on a heavy subject, and was looking for a new topic on a “lighter” vein. As he was walking through Rome he came to Eclectica, a lovely magic shop in the historical center of Rome.
He entered, started to chat with the owner and manifested his interest in the subject, saying he might want to do a documentary on magic and an interesting magician. Whereupon the owner pointed out my Card College books in Italian, saying that I live in Switzerland. Well, Matteo bought the books, came back to Switzerland, called me over the phone, and then one thing led to the other, and in 2004 the 50-minute documentary was produced and aired. Talk about the butterfly effect.
Masterclass on Deck Switches
The main reason for my trip to Rome was a full-day Masterclass on the subject of deck switches. From 10 am to 7 pm, with a few coffee breaks (Italian coffee, of course, which doesn’t compare to anything else in the world, least of all to Starbucks…), and a three-course lunch with local wine… anything below this is considered a sin in Italy, and so close to the Vatican you have to respect religion, and Gastronomy in Italy is a Religion!
Flyer & photos by Fazio & Turchi
A full-day session, such as a Masterclass provides, is by far my favorite teaching format: I only get interested people, because they have to invest money (very little, compared to other disciplines, and somehow you can get that back) and time (much more precious, as you never get that back).
The eleven students and I performed, practiced, discussed techniques, tricks, presentations and theories, all turning around the deck switch and what you can do with it. But obviously a lot of the material taught and many of the ideas were polyvalent, applicably to all of magic, and therefore went far beyond the mere topic of “deck switches”.
Everyone was more than happy, including myself, and I’m the most difficult to satisfy. But there is no doubt that besides private coaching this is the format one learns most. I wish I could do such an event once or twice a month…
For all who couldn’t attend, the next best thing is my book The Art of Switching Decks, that also includes the video lecture I gave at the Genii Convention in Orlando in 2012. The book has seen an unusual success and is now in its fourth printing (instead of the DVD you now receive a download link for the video, making it practical for modern requirements).
Impressions of the day (photos Andrea Turchi)
Lecture for IBM Ring
On Monday night I gave a lecture for members only of the IBM Ring 204 in Rome.
The lecture’s title was “Excursus magicus” (in Latin to honor Rome, of course…), sub-title, “A roundtrip in the world of magic”. I assembled three topics for which I have three other lectures: One, how to find your own presentation for magic tricks; two, how to study a technique taking Controls as an example; three, criteria and staging of professional magic. I had planned two hours, I did three and a half. Everyone stayed awake and survived 🙂
In my personal opinion lectures should not be misused to sell things (although I perfectly understand the necessity of doing so for my colleagues who do lecture tours and accept to do so at dishonorable fees), but to share knowledge and insights gained by someone who has studied the matter, very much like professors impart lectures and workshops at universities. As a result of this, a lecture needs a specific focus that should be communicated so as to have only interested people in the audience. I have a lecture on “How to Give a Magic Lecture” (what else did you expect?), and the more I think about it, the more I’m led to believe that it could interest more than just a few. We’ll have to leave it for another time, though…
To my great surprise, and as an unforgettable moment of the evening, Silvan attended, yes, the one and only… When entered the room to greet me, he whispered into my ear, “I came only to see you…” And in the break I overheard him saying to President Andrea Turchi, “Giobbi é un grande.” Made my day.
Silvan with best seat for Giobbi lecture
It should not be necessary for me to do so, but if there are newcomers to the magic world who are reading these memories, I should add that Silvan is arguably Italy’s most famous conjuror, I mean of all times, including Giuseppe Pinetti and Bartolomeo Bosco.
In Italy, if you do magic well, people will say to you, “Sei proprio un Silvan – you are really a Silvan.” The name “Silvan” has entered the urban vocabulary, and that’s a feat to behold. This man justifies a big book, and as a matter of fact he has written several, all for the public, most out of print, unfortunately, including an autobiography that is still available (Silvan – La magia della vita. La mia storia.) If you read Italian or want to practice it, you can get it HERE.
from left to right: Unknown, Silvan (Rome 2023)
In the photo-montage below you can see the two organizers Prof. Dr. Andrea Turchi (bottom left) and Norbert Fazio (center right) who were responsible for bringing me to Rome for these two wonderful events.
Impressions of the Lecture for IBM Ring 204
Luca d’Agostini on Marked Cards
A participant to both the masterclass and the lecture was Luca d’Agostini, a man of many talents. Among other things he’s quite an expert with playing cards and also a collector. See more HERE.
He gave me his latest offering, a set of lecture notes, which is about to be turned into a book, on the subject of marked cards, “readers” to be more precise. Readers, as opposed to other marking systems, are marked with letters and numbers, e.g., 7D (Seven of Diamonds), so that upon seeing the mark, you instantly know the card’s identity without having to learn an obscure symbolic system.
The notes have only some 30 pages, but are packed with historical, technical and other information, plus feature some really good tricks using readers. The notes come with several transfer sheets that will allow you to make up your own reader deck, an excellent idea.
We hope that Luca will make this publication available in English soon for all of us to enjoy and learn from it.
Luca d’Agostini’s publication on readers
Alea Jacta Est
Since we’re talking marked cards and Rome, an obvious association are dice, as well as one of the most popular Latin sayings, “alea jacta est – the die has been cast”. Which brings me to my friend Gianfranco Preverino from Varese, Italy.
Gianfranco is not only an accomplished magician, but also quite an expert in gambling matters. He’s currently writing a large book about dice and magic which will hopefully be available also in English soon.
I met Gianfranco for the first time when he came to an event sponsored by the “Silvan Magic Academy” and where I taught for three consecutive days, a total of 16 different lectures, workshops, sessions – never have done anything similar before or after, and it deserves an entire blog (might do sometime in the future…).
Anyway, I fine friendship developed since, and Gianfranco, who had then started magic quite recently, made an exponential career and is today a household name of Italian magic. In May he will be performing for the second time in the Close-up Gallery of the Magic Castle, and if you have a chance you should try to see and meet him.
You can see him do some interesting dice moves HERE – enjoy!
Gianfranco and Roberto: First meeting, Tuscany 1999.
Roman Curiosities
As much as I would like to, neither space nor time allow me to tell you about my touristic and gastronomical adventures around the magic events. With one exception: There is a tourist attraction that is off the beaten path and reminds me of a trick I used to do years ago.
On one of the seven hills of Rome, the Aventine Hill, resides the Villa del Priorato di Malta, and looking through its key-hole from outside you can see the dome of St. Peters’ Basilica, through three states, namely, Malta, Italy and the Vatican. Find all info HERE.
view through a key-hole
Many years ago I used a Two of Hearts with a blank back, into which I had cut a key-hole that fits nicely between the two pips of the 2H.
Using the Carlyle Business Card Move you can show it on both sides blank. Force the 2H from the deck in use, and have all see the card, except one person whom you ask to stand beside you.
Now show the “Key-hole Card” with its blank side to the audience and ask what they see through the key-hole. They will say nothing, or simply what they see (you, someone else, etc.). Now you could tell the story of the key-hole on the Roman hill, and maintain that similarly some people have the ability to see further than others. Hold the gimmicked card in front of the spectator standing beside you, with the 2H facing him, and ask what he sees through the key-hole. If he’s at all a good sport, he’ll name “The Two of Hearts”!
You could later switch the card for a double-blank card with a key-hole, or the commercially oriented among my readership might even want to make it up as a business card…
I’m also reminded of the following stunt I’ve read about, but have only done once, if memory serves me well: Force three known cards on three spectators (I would force the 4C, 2H and 7D, the first three of Mnemonica, because I can’t remember three cards… but I can remember 52, which some might find is a paradox… but it isn’t, it’s just practical).
Ask the spectators to put their respective cards face up on a chair and to sit on it. Then ask them to open their mouth. Yes, you can see it come, can’t you? You look into each person’s mouth and announce the name of the cards!
Freud would have called this “free association”.
To be done after midnight, and in male company only.
These are The Magic Memories 116, gone online Sunday, March 19th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020 can be found HERE.
Visiting Paris
For earlier information on Paris, check The Magic Memories 94 of OCT 16th 2022.
Following are a few impressions from my most recent visit two weeks ago, which was a short-term decision: My friend Robert Jägerhorn from Finland called and stayed with us for a few days.
Robert is a magic pro, and you might have seen him at a magic convention years ago with his act performing as an airline pilot. However, like many successful professionals, you don’t see him a lot at magic functions… You can learn more about him HERE.
Since Robert had booked his flight back to Finland from Paris, I decided to join him for a few days in my favorite city, Paris, which is a mere 3-hour fast-train-ride from Basel: Leave Basel at 08:34, have lunch in Paris! An artists’s life…
Session With Bebel
We arrived on time on March 1st, at Gare de Lyon, and left our luggage at the hotel. I always take a hotel near the train station, so at arrival and return I can just walk over without having to take the Metro (the subway in Paris) or a taxi, as traffic problems are omnipresent in Paris, let alone when they go on strike, a favorite occupation in France… (they had announced a General Strike on Tuesday, fortunately I left on Sunday).
With beautiful weather we took an almost one-hour walk to Bebel’s favorite restaurant in the 18th arrondissement – Paris is organized in 20 districts, called “arrondissements”. The 18th, “the Montmartre quarter”, is famous for its Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Sacré-Coeur). It is quite touristy, but the Parisians have made a real effort in the past years to upgrade it for the locals, and it is now quite attractive.
When we arrived at the restaurant – “Café Bruant” in rue des Abbesses 59, an unassuming little bistro – I told the waitress we were friends of Bebel waiting for him, and immediately were assigned a larger table for five in a cosy corner, rather than a tiny table of two for tourists 🙂
And there I had a “tartare coupé au couteau”, invariably my first dish when I arrive in Paris; “coupé au couteau” means the meat is cut with a knife rather than letting it through a grinder, a world of difference, like a card trick done by a beginner and an expert.
RG, Robert Jägerhorn, Bebel – Paris MAR 2023
When Bebel arrived, we immediately started a session that for me lasted until late afternoon, when I had to leave to see my publisher Georges Proust at the “Musé de la magie et curiosité” (see below).
If you are reading this blog, you’ll probably be familiar with Bebel’s work.
He’s a real model for many of us, not just for his talent in magic, which is over-abundant, but also for his modesty, humbleness and kindness.
When I first met him on my first visit to Paris, over thirty years ago, he was a poor and sick kid. But through sheer perseverance and love for magic, he made it, a French version of the American Dream you might say, now being world-famous among magicians, and being able to lead a life with great dignity.
Although he got work on TV and also had his theatre shows, he still goes back to his roots, and on any night with good weather, you can find him performing sitting at a table, under a lamp post near the Metro Mabillon on the sidewalk, next to Boulevard Saint-Germain, from about 9 pm to late into the night.
If you want to see a video of Bebel in his element, early in his career, CLICK HERE.
Bebel and his magic deserve a book, but suffice it here to say that his magic is original, inspired and immaculately performed, without braggadocio, just kind and humble – and his audiences, magicians and laymen alike, love him for that.
If you study his work you’ll find it very visual, organized in short sequences, often redundant in the sense that the same effect is reapeated with variations. I’m not much of a musician, but I can see analogies in the composition of certain musical pieces. (My musician friend Roland Heuer could express this in learned terms.)
This is due to the fact that performing in the street entails an audience which comes and goes, and at any moment should be able to grasp the plot of a trick and its effect. Bebel’s style of performance and the construction of his pieces are designed to satisfy the requirements of this situation at a high artistic level.
All who perform in similar situations, or who do bar or table magic, would greatly benefit from studying his work.
Bebel is working on a book, and we discussed the ins and outs of it, too. He was especially interested to hear how I organize my material and information using Evernote, and I gave him a quick lecture on it – I made a note to come back and offer my know-how and experience for a larger group who seems to be interested in the matter.
The rest of the session was spent with Bebel showing us his latest findings, which are all truly remarkable, and we did a few things for him, too.
To see Bebel perform more, simply go to YouTube and enter “bebel magie”, and you’ll be able to spend the rest of the day (or night) watching him 🙂
Musé de la magie et curiosité
The “Marais”, in the 3rd arrondissement, also called the “Jewish Quarter”, is one of the most attractive for tourists. There you find George Proust’s museum of magic in the rue St. Paul 11, and Dominique Duvivier’s “Double Fond” cafe and magic cabaret (see below).
While Robert and Bebel continued playing the cards, I made my way to George Proust’s museum, a great walk through the boulevards and small streets of Paris, still full of small privately owned shops, although many have been replaced by run-of-the-mill and absolutely uninteresting shops that offer fashion, shoes and other unnecessary things, shops that you find in any big city…
Proust is another who deserves a HUGE book, being one of the important collectors, owner of the “Academie de magie”, a big and innovative magic shop, a publisher of some of the most important books in French, and, and , and…
Together with the late Christian Fechner, he was also responsible for the exhibits on Robert-Houdin in the Robert-Houdin Museum in Blois, always worth a visit (ca. 90 minutes by train from Paris).
Proust is also the publisher of hundreds of books in French, and even two of my books in French (I collected my yearly royalties, which paid for a meal in Paris… no comment).
His latest publication is a 500-plus-pages book, magnificently illustrated with many colored photos on the history of French magic dealers called MARCHANDS DE RÊVES, written by Proust and Philippe Saint-Laurent. This is only volume 1, and several more are in the works.
If you come to Paris, this place is a must-see.
For more information on the opening hours of the museum, the many publications etc. CLICK HERE.
Show at the Double Fond
I had been at Duvivier’s Double Fond before, many years ago, shortly after its opening. I still remember it because I was the only spectator!
Still, they put on the full 75-minute show, and being the only spectator I had to pick cards, shuffle, and eventually work almost as much as the performer, who on that particular night was “Le Nain”.
As you will see, if you go to their webpage, they have several performers, and different shows going on, and it’s not easy to find out who does what and when, and if you do, it might change… so the best thing is to call or write in and ask if you want to see a particular performer or show.
If you are lucky you get to see Gaetan Bloom, David Stone, or the Master himself, the Great Duvivier, possibly together with his daughter Alexandra, who keeps reminding everyone that she fooled P & T, as have hundreds of others.
As for Duvivier, he’s quite a controversial person, and among the Parisian magicians it is not easy to find one who likes him. Nonetheless, it has to be said, that he’s quite a character, does what he does in a unique way, and is certainly what you’d call a “mover and shaker”: He owns Mayette magie, one of France’s first magic shops, has been the editor and publisher of its magic magazine LE MAGICIEN from N°127 to 158, together with Gaetan Bloom and Jean-Jacques Sanvert (the webshop says you can still buy them for € 360,19), owns and runs the Double Fond, and recently has put up a video channel on Internet, as well as a magic school that receives a grant from the state- as the French say: “Il faut le faire – you’ve got to do it.”
Since Robert had never been at the Double Fond, and we only had one evening off, we simply got there before 9 pm, had an acceptable quick dinner at the bistro next door, and easily got in without reservation.
To our surprise the evening’s performer was our friend Boris Wild, who did a double-take when he saw me in the audience – surprise, surprise 🙂
Boris had done this hundreds of times before, so walked through the performance with the consummate ease of a professional, and the 27 spectators in the audience went along splendidly. As part of the show he did his “Kiss Act”, as well as his “Butterfly Act”, both of which you can see if you enter “boris wild kiss act” in YouTube.
It amused me that Boris was using a headset-microphone to speak to the 27 people of whom the one farthest away was less than three meters, but it seems to be one of the theatre’s “policies”. Another such strange “policy” is to have a monitor behind and above the head of the performer, which shows the latter, only smaller than you can see him anyway live.
This said, if you are in Paris, I recommend visiting the Double Fond and see the show, BUT make sure to check their homepage to see if the show is on, and who is performing – if you want to play it safe, call (all info online).
RG, Boris Wild, Robert Jägerhorn – Paris 3-2023
Playing Card Museum
Whatever you do in Paris, make sure to visit the French Playing Card Museum in Issy-les-Moulineaux. Simply take the Metro line 12 to the end station “Marie d’Issy”; try to arrive around noon, so you can have lunch at “Les Colonnes”, a French type Brasserie serving excellent traditional dishes. Robert and I had “Ragout de Joue de boeuf”, similar to “Boeuf Bourguignon”, but with beef cheek, and “Quenelles de chocolat noir aves crème anglaise de pistache”, the latter being worthy of a Michelin-star restaurant. A “café serré” (Espresso) and a “petit Calva” (Calvados, Tamariz’s favorite when he lived in Paris), and we were ready for the museum visit.
I said this before, and will repeat it here: This museum will be interesting to any intelligent person, i.e., a magician’s wife, partner etc. (you’ve got to be very smart to live with a magician…). The place is absolutely enthralling, from the architecture, from the exhibits, and from the didactical manner the exhibits are presented – this is the ultimate challenge for any museum. You’ll need ca. 90 minutes to visit the museum, for me the ideal time, plus 10 minutes for the shop… (never forget the museum shop, as there is ALWAYS something of interest).
BTW: The poster you see in the photo below was designed for the inauguration of the museum by world-famous actor, clown-magician-director Pierre Etaix, a phenomenal talent. Check him out HERE. Speaking of cards: Etaix designed and produced a very attractive deck of cards, not so easy to get – glad I have one 🙂 His biographical work C’EST CA PIERRE ETAIX will be interesting even for those who do not read French, as it is full of photographs and reproductions of his work.
In 2004, when we taped part of the documentary “Il Giardino dei giochi segreti” he came to see my show at the “Musée de la curiosité”, and we had a short conversation afterwards, where he graciously gave me a few ideas for my performance.
At that time I was not aware of what an important person he was, and I wish I had spent more time with him, a truly great artist.
Robert & Roberto entering the museum
The museum has a small museum shop that used to have a larger offering, but is now quite reduced – what a pity! – nonetheless, I made a find in form of a book about the history of the Joker. Some of the essays contained are truly interesting for us magicians, as they give a deeper insight into the history and symbolism of the Joker. However, it is in French…eh, oui!
Serna, Pierre (ed.) – Le Joker (2021)
Session With Bernard Bilis
A visit to Paris wouldn’t be complete without seeing my good friend Bernard Bilis, who always surprises me with his enthusiasm, his novel findings and his out-worldly skill.
His book is still in the works, as I have already mentioned, and nobody knows better than me what it means to go through all the work before a book hits the market. Bilis’ magic is quite astonishing, original, complex, and full of technical finesse. However, it is not for the faint-hearted…
Bilis & Gobbi between Cards and Cigars
I sessioned with Bernard after Robert had left for the airport to take his flight back to Finland, but before we fortunately had a copious lunch at one of the Parisian classics, “Le pied de cochon”, literally the pig’s foot, near Les Halles, and after the oysters, which are de rigueur if you eat in Paris, I had a pig’s foot stuffed with foie gras, black truffles and some other mysterious ingredients… I maintain that gastronomy is the perfect analogy for magic… I keep promising to write about it… I will… sometime 🙂
Among the many things, Bernard showed me a wonderful move that has great potential, as it can solve many technical problems of card magic, and when it will be published, it should take the magic world by storm – until then, shhh, it’s a secret 🙂
Yves Carbonnier
Another unavoidable appointment when in Paris is having dinner at Yves’, a friend of many years, sharing magic, bread, wine and cigars. I spent the last evening at his home with his charming wife Véronique, we had a fine dinner (Yves is a great chef!), and talked lots of magic.
If you read French, or want to learn it, Yves’ book called Grand livre de cartomagie published a few years ago by Marchand de Trucs and obtainable HERE, will enthrall you.
“I told you a million times that you must not exaggerate!”
There would be a few more things to tell, but I have taxed your patience already to the limit, so will stop here.
In the next The Magic Memories 117, I will tell you about my adventures in Rome, the “Eternal City”, the magic I saw there, the unique meeting with the legendary Silvan, and of course give some hints at how to get around Rome as the Romans do 🙂
These are The Magic Memories 115, gone online Sunday, March 12th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020 can be found HERE.
When in Rome Do as the Romans Do
As announced earlier, this week’s The Magic Memories will pause, for I’m in Rome right now, with a Masterclass about deck switches on SUN, 12th and a lecture on MON, 13th, both for the IBM Ring 204 “Il Circolo degli Illusionisti”, ably organized by my good friend Norbert Fazio, the club’s president.
Below is a great souvenir photo, taken in front of the world-famous “Fontana di Trevi”, the one of which it is said that if you throw a coin into, you will return to Rome.
I did in 2006, which made me return in 2015, and now again in 2023, proving, of course, that the “magic” works!
Nobody will be able to prove the contrary, because you cannot prove a negative, and that’s how superstition and other beliefs are formed and maintained – but that’s another conversation :-).
Rome 2006 (Wolf Neubauer, Juan Tamariz, Franco Silvi, RG)
Will report next week about my adventures in Paris and Rome 🙂
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