Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Masterclass in Luxemburg & how to instill concepts; Spanish National Convention in Valladolid; Burned Card Ruse (Injog Shuffle With Burn)

These are The Magic Memories 135, gone online Sunday, July 30th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

I promised a few tales from my past travels, Luxembourg and Valladolid (Spain). The “Hintertuxer Zaubertage” in Tirol-Austria will have to wait until next week, as I decided to throw in a little magical idea at the end you might enjoy trying.

So, here we go!

Luxemburg

Luxembourg, officially called Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with its ca. 650’000 inhabitants, is one of the micro states, and in spite of being one of the least populated countries in Europe, it is also the one with the highest population growth rate – sounds like a magic trick.

My hosts Christina Nyman and Martin Saunders set up a one-day Masterclass for a dozen plus people coming from three countries, Luxembourg, France and Belgium.

The location was a lovely and very convenient cultural center which cultural institutions, such as a magic club is, get for free! Add to this that public transportation in Luxembourg is free – that’s to me a civilized country 🙂

The Masterclass had four topics: Stand-up Card Magic, self-working card tricks, how to find your own presentations, and Card Controls.

Normally, any one of these topics can fill one or two days, here I managed to perform, talk and train on four subjects! And this also included several hands-on-sessions, as well as a final Q & A.

I find these full-day events for a restricted group the second best way of learning magic.

The best way, in my professional experience of several decades now, is without doubt the one-to-one coaching, ideally taking place live, or online.

What is frustrating to me as a teacher is that although I manage to explain complex concepts in simple words and illustrate them with several examples, and although everyone nods their head, writes down the ideas, when it comes to performing most do it wrong, meaning that they did not get it.

Several years ago I did a two-day Masterclass precisely on the same subject, Stand-up Card Magic, to a group of about twenty people. Everyone seemed to understand and enjoy the sessions. Then, in the evening, most of them performed. And you know what: almost everyone did the exact same mistakes I lectured and trained them on in the morning and afternoon. I was shocked. Why did they not get it? It must have been my mistake in the sense that I did not let them do enough exercises, but talked and performed myself too much. Maybe.

You see, the ultimate challenge for a teacher of magic, or any other subject for that matter, is not the selection and the presentation of the material to be taught – as if that wasn’t difficult enough (!) – no, it is the question: How does the student instill the teaching received.

Here is what I think is arguably the most important chapter from Sharing Secrets, just one page, read it carefully, as there is the whole secret of successful learning:

Please, do yourself a favor: If you don’t have Sharing Secrets get it (from me, Penguin Magic, or any dealer) – I promise you’ll like it. If you don’t, you can write to me, keep the book, and I’ll reimburse you in downloads of at least the same value (you could also send it back and I’ll reimburse you in full, but the shipping is just too costly).

Thank you, Christina and Martin for having me, I had a great time!

PS: Christina and Martin are also historians and collectors, and their beautiful house in the residential area of Luxembourg City is filled to the roof with art and other curiosa related to magic.

Valladolid

Back from Luxembourg I had only one day to unpack and repack, for then I went off to six days Valladolid, where the Spanish National Convention took place. Except for delays in the travel schedule due to a missed airplane connection (I will not travel again with Air Europe), and the heat, all the rest was well worth the journey and stay.

Fernando Arribas and his team did everything right that needs to be done right when you organize a convention. As a novum you could even register for the convention upon arrival at the hotel (it took less than 2 minutes!), a hotel, which was two minutes on foot, right opposite the convention center, both of which air-conditioned – you cannot ask for more.

The convention deserves a full report, and a good one at that, which I won’t be able to give. Well, just a few things 🙂

The city of Valladolid is truly magnificent and worth visiting. Although we had a change to go to the historical center every day, I wish I had stayed an extra day to enjoy the architectural and historical richness of this impressive city.

CLICK HERE for a 12-second video clip of the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid.

The galas, close-up and stage, were all very good, and I don’t say this easily.

One more thing I need to tell you: On our first evening we went to a restaurant that offered a tapas menu. Now, in Spain, tapas is not considered a proper meal, as tourists believe, but it is simply a means to have a glass of wine with friends and meaningfully bridge the time between the end of the work day and dinner, which in Spain starts not before 9:30 pm.

However, this restaurant had received several awards for best and most original tapas, so they sell a tapas menu which even locals regard worthy of being considered a “real meal”. Anyway, the menu was a complete illusion show, in the sense that every dish looked like something else than it actually was (see The Magic Memories 127, “Playing With Food”).

In the photo below you can see one of the starters that looks like a Cuban cigar (Cohiba!), but really was a reconstructed sardine, very much à la façon of molecular cuisine, and the glasses that are supposed to take rum to go with a cigar (what else?), in reality contained an extract of tomato juice. We had seven courses like that, one crazier than the other, but I spare you the rest 🙂 For more see Los Zagales.

As for the magic the program was excellent, but I spent the best moments sessioning with some of Spain’s top talents, and believe me, there is a lot!

In one of the stage galas a non-magic act got possibly the greatest response; it was Cayetano Lledó, a speed painter, as he calls himself, who in about five minutes created a gigantic portrait of Juan Tamariz on a canvas set on stage. The painting was then exhibited in the hall and all participants would sign it on the back for the Maestro to have it as a souvenir – what a great idea.

I should also mention the close-up and stage competition, with a total of about three dozen participants, most of a good level, and a few even world-class. Many complained that there were too many “mentalists”, but I won’t comment on that, because when it comes to mentalism I’m like a vegetarian in a Steak House…

I spent quite a bit of magic and gastronomy time with my buddies José Ángel Suarez, of Magialdia fame, and Paul Wilson, of overall-fame 🙂 Paul tells me that his documentary on Tamariz is nearing completion, and you should hear from him through Kickstarter soon (I’ll let you know through this blog as soon as Paul sends news).

Besides the high magic quality, what really sets apart a Spanish convention from others is that they give you enough time to meet old friends and make new ones. As an example they put the evening galas on at 7 pm, so that when it finishes by 9 pm you have the rest of the evening to meet lots of people at the restaurants and the bars downtown. In practically all other conventions I’ve been to you have to skip one or two events to have time for a decent dinner or lunch.

And it is late at night, in the most beautiful surroundings that camaraderie, magic and inspiring drinks form the height of the day.

So, if you plan on a vacation in Spain, try to organize it around a magic convention, and you’ll leave as a happier person (and maybe a more inspired magician, too).

Burned Card Ruse (Injog Shuffle With Burn)

In order to close today’s The Magic Memories, here is an idea the cardicians among you should like.

It is a ruse to be used at the end of an Injog Shuffle that controls the top or bottom stock.

Start an Overhand Shuffle, chopping off at least the packet to be controlled, run one card on top of the stock, injog the next cad (or block of cards), and then shuffle off. Let the deck slide in Dealing Position, obtain a break under the injogged card, cut half of the cards above the break to the table, cut at the break, and eventually drop the third packet on top. This is an Intelligent Shuffle (Sharing Secrets, “Intelligent Movements”, p. 54). Pick up the deck and bury the top and bottom card in the center of the deck, explaining that this is done in professional card play and is called “burning a card”, just in case someone caught an accidental glimpse of the top or bottom card.

The above can be beautifully combined with “Teschner’s Top-stock Control”, from Secret Agenda, p. 65. I leave it to you to look it up and find the (simple) combination of the two ideas; this should throw off even the seasoned expert…

Start an Overhand Shuffle, shuffling until a little more than the bottom stock to be preserved remains in your right hand. Injog the next card, and then throw the rest on top. Let the deck slide in Dealing Position, obtain a break under the injogged card, cut the cards above the break to the table, cut half of the remaining cards on top, and eventually drop the last packet on top. This is an Intelligent Shuffle. Pick up the deck and bury the top and bottom card in the center of the deck, explaining that this is done in professional card play and is called “burning a card”.

I do not exclude that someone else has thought of this before, as it seems fairly obvious, however, I have never seen anyone using it…

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: a video clip of Juan Tamariz juggling from El mundo magico de Tamariz

These are The Magic Memories 134, gone online Sunday, July 23rd, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

El mundo magico de Tamariz

At the beginning of the Nineties Juan Tamariz was asked by “Ediciones del Prado”, a Madrid based publisher, to create a multi-lesson course of magic that would be sold over a longer period serially to the public.

The complete work, consisting of all sorts of tricks, techniques, theories, anecdotes, history and a large etcetera is certainly one of the greatest and most original contributions to the literary genre of “magic for non-magicians”.

The complete file of the series titled El mundo magico de Tamariz is now a sought-after collectors item, and if you can get one you should consider yourself extremely fortunate – on a recent asking even the Maestro himself doesn’t have a file!

Part of the project was a massive magic box that also contained two (!) VHS videos and a full-sized book of 270 pages.

During the pandemic years I have looked through all of this material again, and it is a gold-mine of ideas of all sorts that even the most seasoned professional can profit from.

On one of the videos Tamariz performs several of the routines, mostly very simple but still effective (if done by him!), and at the end there is a most unusual juggling routine he does and which will surprise and enchant you – I’m sure that even as a connoisseur of Tamariz’s magic you did not expect that.

To enjoy the video clip CLICK HERE.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Another trick problem.

These are The Magic Memories 133, gone online Sunday, July 16th, 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 Luxemburg and Valladolid, but for the past few days have already been in the Austrian Alps, far behind Innsbruck, in the beautiful Zillertal, performing and teaching magic at the Adler Inn in Hintertux at the Hintertuxer Zaubertage – will tell you more upon my return in The Magic Memories 134.

Below is a souvenir photo from a past edition (2017) – you can see me in the action of teaching “Dice and Aces” from Sharing Secrets (p. 91).

Meanwhile, here is something for you to ponder…

Yet Another Trick Problem

When I was in my teens, one of the magical pleasures was to read the ads in the magic magazines, and to then try to find out how it could be done. Anyone from the pre-Internet era knows what I mean 🙂

Here is an ad from an old magazine (can’t remember which one…) which I found in one of my notebooks, with an interesting double-effect.

Can you find a practical method?

1. One using tricks cards, as the advertised version suggests…
2. …  and another with a regulation deck?

To get to the challenge, CLICK HERE.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: A trick problem – The Bookworm (rising card from book)

These are The Magic Memories 132, gone online Sunday, July 9th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

I am right now (9th July, 2023) in Valladolid, Spain, and will report in The Magic Memories 134 about my adventures at the Spanish national convention. Meanwhile, thanks to the magic of IT, I was able to pre-write this blog, which will be a short one, but could keep you busy until next week.

A Trick Problem

I found the following item in a booklet from 1920, so, out of copyright, and would like to share it with those of you who like this sort things 🙂

It is from: Waller, Charles, Original Creations for Magicians Hitherto Kept “Up His Sleeve”, Thayer, USA 1920

I’m convinced a few among you can make a really nice worker out of this, as the effect is excellent, and the method very practical and deceptive. Also, it will work nicely as a stand-up performance piece for parlor and small theatres. Still, you will have to “do a little think”… but that’s the best way of making it “your own”.

To read and/or download the piece CLICK HERE.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Solution to photo riddle; With compliments from Gary Plants (Criss-Cross Force subtlety).

These are The Magic Memories 131, gone online Sunday, July 2nd, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

As you are reading this – provided you do so before, after or instead of going to church, on Sunday, July 2nd – I’m holding a Masterclass in Luxemburg on four subjects, in four 90-minute workshops (Session 1: Stand-up Card Magic; Session 2: The Five Operational Principles of Card Magic: Focus on Controls; Session 3: The Best Self-working Card Tricks; Session 4: How to Find Your Own Presentation; Final Bonus Session: Q & A, photos, diploma).

BTW: If you are a small or large group of interested people, I should be pleased to come wherever you are, and give a one- or two-day  Masterclass, on the subjects listed above or on any other of the 60 plus subjects I have at hand. You can always reach me through “infos/contacts” on my webshop www.robertogiobbi.com.

Solution to Photo Riddle

Several wrote in two ask for the names of those represented in last week’s “celebrity photo” 🙂

OK, below it is, and the gentlemen are: (standing from left to right) Howard Hamburg, David Malek, John Gaughan, Mike Perovich; (seated from left to right) Alfonso Aceituno, unknown, Max Maven.

The photo was taken by Joan Lawton at her home in Los Angeles, June 4th, 2016, after I had given a full-day Masterclass on the subject of “Mental magic with cards for magicians (not mentalists)” to a group of ten people (not the ones depicted on the photo…).

With Compliments From Gary Plants

As announced last week, due to my absence, today’s The Magic Memories were going to pause, BUT thanks to a visit by my dear friend Gary Plants and his wife Debbie the week-end before, I’m pleased to say that Gary gave in to my request and kindly contributed an item from his most recent lecture notes.

For those who do not know Gary Plants (impossible!), here is what came as the result of me asking ChatGPT “to write 200 words on Gary Plants, magician”:

Gary Plants is a highly skilled magician, captivating lecturer, and a master of trick cards. With his expertise in the realm of card magic, he has made a significant impact in the magic community. Plants’ proficiency lies in his ability to create and design trick cards that enable magicians to perform astonishing illusions.

As a magician, Plants has developed a repertoire of mind-boggling tricks using his innovative trick cards. His performances leave audiences in awe as he effortlessly manipulates the deck, producing astonishing effects that defy logic. His skillful execution and flawless presentation have earned him a well-deserved reputation as one of the foremost experts in the field.

In addition to his prowess as a performer, Plants is also a highly sought-after lecturer. He shares his extensive knowledge and experience with fellow magicians through workshops and seminars. With a charismatic and engaging teaching style, he imparts valuable techniques, theories, and insights into the art of card magic. His lectures are known for inspiring and empowering aspiring magicians, providing them with the tools they need to elevate their own performances.

Gary Plants’ dedication to the craft of magic, his inventive approach to trick cards, and his ability to captivate and educate through his lectures have solidified his position as a respected figure in the world of magic. His contributions continue to shape and elevate the art form, leaving a lasting legacy for generations of magicians to come.

Gary’s contribution below is from his most recent Lecture Notes 2023 Pebblepalooza – Gary Plants Presents SOMETHING OLD SOMETHING NEW, and is titled:

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE CRISS CROSS FORCE

Years ago, Michael Skinner showed me a nice subtlety on the criss cross force. He had the force card on the bottom of the deck. He said, “In a minute, I’m going to ask you to cut the cards.” As he said this, he did a slip cut, carrying the bottom half of the deck forwards along with the top card of the deck. Then he took the remaining packet and placed it across the lower portion of the deck, like we all do with the criss cross force.

This action keeps the force card on the bottom of the deck, but it looks as if you’ve cut the deck. Michael then walked away from the table 2-3 feet and then says “OK, go ahead and square up the cards and give them a cut, like I just showed you.”

The spectator squares up the cards and gives them a straight cut, performing the criss cross force.

The walking away and leaving the deck in an unsquared look gives this force a whole different look. This action looks great and seems extremely fair. I love the idea, but I did not care for the slip cut action. I have never seen it done when the slip cut wasn’t detected (by magicians anyway).

I came up with two other ways to use Mike’s finesse without the slip cut action.

Method 1:

The force card starts on the bottom of the deck. You say, “Here in a second I’m going to ask you to cut the cards.” As soon as you say this, you’re going to do the Dai Vernon Cold Deck Cut up to the point where you are ready to do the final cut. You will be left holding a break near the center of the deck. As you are doing this Vernon Cold Deck Cut, you continue saying, “I don’t want you to do a fancy cut like this, just do one straight cut and then set these cards over on top. Do you understand?” After they say yes, you walk away from the table slightly and watch that they do the cut correctly. If they seem to be confused about the unsquared packet, tell them to just “straighten up the cards.”

Method 2

You do one riffle shuffle keeping the force card on the bottom of the deck. You say “In a minute I’m going to ask you to give the deck a cut.”

As you’re saying this, you’re going to undercut the bottom half of the deck with your right hand and you are going to do a simple stripping action, but the first strip is going to come off of the bottom of the cards in your right hand. You’re going to slightly jog this first strip a little to the right. Continue finishing up the stripping action.

As you square up, you’re going to get a break underneath the jogged first packet.

Now you’re in the same position as you were when you did the Vernon Cold deck cut and you finish up the same way.

It’s really just two different actions of getting the force card into the center of the deck. The first method uses a cutting action and the second method uses a stripping action.

Finishing up the demonstration and walking away and asking the spectator to go ahead and straighten up the cards adds a great deal of deception to the criss cross force.

Thank you, Michael Skinner.

Next week-end I will be off to the Spanish national convention, but will have one item that some of you should like 🙂

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: The Goldstein-Maven take on “Pure Mathematics”;  A presentational idea for coincidence tricks; French magic convention 2023; The problem of the 17 camels; CV with ChatGPT; AI recommends Card College; Coming up in The Magic Memories

These are The Magic Memories 130, gone online Sunday, June 25th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

The Goldstein-Maven Take on “Pure Mathematics”

I know that several among my readers like and perform the trick “Pure Mathematics” from Lewis Ganson’s book Dai Vernon’s Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic. Putting order into the hundreds of instruction sheets of a collection I recently acquired, I ran across a trick originally marketed by Hank Lee’s Magic Factory in 1975, and created by the late, great, Max Maven, at that time penned under his real name Phil Goldstein.

As you’ll see Goldstein-Maven has added a meaningful presentation, and made the calculations required much simpler than in the original: The Goldstein-Maven set-up leads to a simplification of the math as you merely have to subtract the named total from 13, i.e., you do not have to worry about adding or subtracting, as it is only one subtraction. Furthermore, the selection is replaced at 13th position from the top, easier to remember, since the mnemonics is: “a suit consists of 13 cards”.

To read the PDF CLICK HERE.

A Presentational Idea for Coincidence Tricks

In their 1989 paper Methods for Studying Coincidences, math professors Persi Diaconis and Frederick Mosteller defined a coincidence as a “surprising concurrence of events, perceived as meaningfully related, with no apparent causal connection”.

Although to most of us the text in the paper will be double Dutch, the definition would make a lovely Prologue. Simply quote it, and then add, “Let me demonstrate what this practically means”.

Now do your best coincidence effect.

If you don’t have one, may I suggest you go back to The Magic Memories 69, and have another look at my handling of Pavel’s “Traveling Queens”. (And may I remind you that “Traveling Queens” is also a “No-Switch Deck Switch”, because the red-backed deck the spectator initially selects and puts in his pocket, can be pre-arranged for your next trick… just thought I’ll mention this 🙂 )

French Magic Convention 2023

This year’s national convention of the French magicians will be held from October 5 to 8 in la Grande Motte, at the famous Côte d’Azur.

I will be there and give an interview-talk about books, and my publisher Ludo and his Marchand de Trucs, France’s most important publisher of magic books, will be there, too, presenting his latest releases. Among others, he will be offering the recently reprinted and completely newly layouted French version of Card College Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4 (5 will follow in December and close the series), as well as Sharing Secrets (capriciously translated-adapted to French by Richard Vollmer).

So, if you want to spend a few days in the South of France – and who wouldn’t! – make your plans now.

More info in all languages HERE… translated from French by Google Translate (understandable and amusing).

The Problem of the 17 Camels

Reading in a book about recreational math, I was reminded of a riddle that is quite old and turns up in different forms in this type of books.

Here is one version of the problem: A father left 17 camels to his three sons and, according to the will, the eldest son should be given a half of all camels, the middle son the one-third part and the youngest son the one-ninth.

If you’re not familiar with this, try to find a solution before reading on (without butchering the camels…).

Here is how the sons solved the problem: They asked a wise man to help them. He added his own camel, bringing the camel herd to 18. Now the oldest son took 18:2=9 camels, the second son took 18:3=6 camels, the third son 18:9=2 camels, totaling 17 camels (!), after which the wise man took his own camel back and went away.

If you don’t understand why and how this works, I won’t tell you, you find the solution on Internet, or if you’re good at math and logical thinking you’ll come up with the solution yourself 🙂

The reason I’m mentioning it, is another one. “The Problem of the 17 Camels” inspired me to create the following little trick that you might like:

Start by openly putting a Joker in the card case – if your deck doesn’t have a Joker, take a Jack, saying this Jack is “wild”, meaning it can take any identity, like a Joker. The implication is that this is the 18th camel, and you may mention that.

Deal 16 cards face down on the table, NOT saying how many there are, but explaining that they will be needed to solve the difficult problem in just a minute.

From the balance of the deck have a card selected and control it to the bottom.

Pick up the 16-cards-packet, thereby secretly adding the selection on top by means of Vernon’s Transfer Move (Card College 3, p. 516; or Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction (download), Lesson 24: “Assorted Techniques & Refinements”).

Reverse count the cards on the table face down as 17 cards.

Add the Joker from the case apparently to the bottom of the packet, really 2nd from bottom (simply hold the packet in Dealing Position, and then buckle the bottom card).

According to the story of the 17 camels, deal 9, 6 and then 2 cards in 3 packets, leaving you with one card, supposedly the Joker, which then changes to the selection.

Replace the selection in the balance, and reproduce the Joker from the card case. (If you initially dealt the three packets from left to right, and now assemble these packets from right to left, the Joker will be on top for easy palming…)

CV With ChatGPT

When visiting a few weeks ago, Yves Carbonnier showed me a few ways to properly use ChatGPT.

For fun I asked the AI-robot (I guess that’s what it is…): “Write something about Roberto Giobbi, professional magician, author and lecturer.”

If you have nothing better to do, read the PDF HERE. All is true, albeit “greatly exaggerated”, as it usually says in the magic books when a break is depicted…

AI Recommends Card College

When asked about the top recommended resources for learning card magic, it includes mention of Card College.  See screenshot below.  So that’s an indication that of the material out there, your book is frequently mentioned, to the point that the AI also echoes this.  Congrats! 🙂

Coming up in the Next The Magic Memories…

The next three Sundays I will be on the road, in Luxembourg for a private Masterclass…

… in Valladolid for the Spanish national convention…

… and in Hintertux, Austria for the “Hintertuxer Zaubertage”.

… normally this would force me to let The Magic Memories pause for that period of time, but because several of you complained and maintained that a Sunday without The Magic Memories is not a magical Sunday, I “obtained some knowledge of the marvelous subtlety, finesse and resources of the world of IT, and I feel confident that I can, with tact and discretion, easily elude its difficulties, and form a more congenial coterie among themselves..”, sorry, too much Erdnase lately… what I mean is that there will be one item, and one item only – oh, Ricky Jay again – in each of the three upcoming The Magic Memories that should please you, I hope 🙂

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Being trapped in an Elevator; Addition to Lift Shuffle Ace Production; Card in cigarette;

These are The Magic Memories 129, gone online Sunday, June 18th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

Gary Plants and his wife Debbie will be visiting this week-end, so today’s The Magic Memories will be short (but hopefully very sweet…). I’ll prepare a succulent dinner with some good wines and Cuban cigars, so hope to convince Gary to part with one or two of his excellent creations to be shared with you in the upcoming The Magic Memories 130.

Meanwhile, here are a few things that you might find worthy of your attention…

Being Trapped in an Elevator

Leo Hevia, from Silver Spring, USA, sent in a video clip in reference to last week’s quote that everyone should be able to do a card trick, tell a joke and recite a poem by heart, just in case you got trapped in an elevator (see “On Terminology” in The Magic Memories 128).

The clip is over ten years old, and I had forgotten about it, so, if you didn’t know it, you’ll be mighty amused, as I was, especially if you knew Ricky Jay personally, as I had the pleasure of doing, or if you know about his eccentric character. To see the clip Leo sent, CLICK HERE.

Speaking of Ricky Jay, who deserves that I dedicate a very long post to him – I promise to do so one day – I recommend you take a break of fifty minutes and watch a piece that the BBC did on this genius of magic. If you didn’t know this, it will make your day, I promise.

I remember that after watching this years ago, when it came out, for a felt eternity I looked for that chair in the library that transforms into a stair – I finally found one at a flea market in Strasburg, Alsatia (France), and it is still in my library now 🙂

To watch the BBC documentary CLICK HERE.

PS: I have an unpublished interview I did with Ricky when he was the curator of the Mulholland Collection, at that time located in downtown Los Angeles. Sometime in the future, remind me…

Addition to Lift Shuffle Ace Production

In one of my virtual publications, Secret Twitter, I had an item I had forgotten about, so, I assume, that even those who have Secret Twitter have forgotten, too. Below it is to refresh your memory, and for those who haven’t even got it, maybe an incentive to get it HERE (it is really very cheap, compared to the work it took me to make this up… and I promise you’ll love it, or I will personally refund your money).

Here is an addition that occurred to me upon rereading this item, a very simple one, but practical and effective, e.g., for a Multiple Revelation Routine, or to put in your list of “Quick Tricks”, very useful if you fail the Classic Force…

Shuffle the selection to the bottom of the deck, or bring it there with a first Overhand Shuffle. Before starting a second Overhand Shuffle, the right thumb gets a break above the bottom card at the deck’s inner end (see “Bringing the Bottom Card to the Top”, Card College Volume 2, p. 253).

Now start the Overhand Shuffle, asking a spectator to call ‘stop’ anytime.

When she does, drop all the cards above the break on top of the cards already shuffled off, which results in the bottom card being withheld by the thumb and middle finger of the right hand still in Overhand Shuffle position; this card will protrude about halfway from the deck’s right side. Stop for a beat, letting it be seen that the card comes from somewhere in the center of the deck, and then pull it completely up, turning it face up lengthwise (Stuart Gordon Double Lift style).

Since we’re talking “Stuart Gordon Double Lift” (explained very well in my video tutorial Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction, Lesson 28, “Double Lift Part 3”): If initially you keep the break above two cards instead of one, you will be able to produce a double card – maybe the wrong one? –  which you can then transform into the correct one. Correcting an error is one of the main reasons one would want to be able to do magic, making the symbolic charge of this simple item very high…

Card in Cigarette

Since I’ve mentioned Secret Twitter, here is another item that could find your favor, as those who have Secret Twitter will have forgotten about it, and those who haven’t got it at all, well…

As you’ll see, it is a very good trick (I came up with it…), but it also shows a way one could approach a subject that in the current tendency to be (over-) careful with what one says and does, has become delicate, cigarettes.

In the piece descried below a cigarette is used, but in a context that is very acceptable for all audiences, I feel. You can, e.g, say that you’ve stopped smoking years ago (so, you could do this even for children with an educational message), but you’ve kept your “last cigarette” out of sentimentality, or others reasons… (don’t make this too “educational”…).

Now do the trick as described.

Alternative ending: If one day you forget the salt shaker, you can directly take the cigarette and wave it over the card like a magic wand. When the card is then revealed to be blank, it makes all surreal sense in the (fairytale) world to find the card inside the cigarette. Certainly, the salt shaker filled with tobacco is a really good idea that adds that “certain something” to the piece.

Additional idea: You are left with the cigarette case, which could be one of those “changing cigarette cases” with a false bottom that hides a playing card, a billet, a banknote etc., and that you could now logically use in your next piece. It has to be said, though, that the following piece needs to be a very strong one, in order to follow “Card in Cigarette”.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: On terminology: Expert on “Expert; Advice on writing; Shuffling the aces; News on orimotos

These are The Magic Memories 128, gone online Sunday, June 11th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

On Terminology

If you follow my publications, you know I’m fond of terminology, and with the Card College series I have contributed to the subject, too. Taxonomy and terminology are the first steps to a scientific study of magic, but are also very helpful for creative processes.

The following glossary might be more for beginners, although I have myself learned a few terms I didn’t know or wasn’t sure about, so, I assume that this could be helpful for those among us who have English as a foreign language (as I do!), and I know that this is the case with quite a few who are reading these The Magic Memories.

My good friend by correspondence EndersGame has created a very useful glossary of technical terms used in conjunction with playing cards (card terms, handling terms, card playing terms etc.). To read and maybe transfer them to your electronic notebook CLICK HERE.

BTW: By the same author, EndersGame, comes a collection of quotes and one-liners on playing cards, here is one:

“Everyone should be able to do one card trick, tell two jokes, and recite three poems, in case they are ever trapped in an elevator.” – Daniel Handler

If you liked that one, you’ll find a few more HERE. (I find it easier to have THREE card tricks, and ONE poem… less to learn… for me…)

And if you have one (or all three!) of my Agendas (if you’re wondering: the third is Secret Twitter), you will find several entries dealing with amusing, instructive, and inspirational quotes.

Practical Advice: Take an Agenda (Secret or Hidden), search “Quote” in the index, or better leaf through the book quickly, as not all quotes are listed in the index… ask my publishers why…), find the pages with the quotes, and using a scan app (e.g., “Scanner Pro” by Readdle) make a PDF of the pages. Attention: Do NOT – I repeat DO NOT – make photos of each individual photos, but using the scan app make ONE SINGLE PDF, which will then contain all the pages; this is much more practical than making photos, the latter being a procedure I see many adopt, and it is useless. A PDF takes less memory space, you have everything in one single PDF-file, AND you can edit it (I use PDF Expert, also by Readdle) by underlining, highlighting and commenting passages.

Last Word: If you are reading this an don’t have any of the Agendas, get one right now, and you’ll find it to be one of your very best investments. Secret Agenda (book and Secret Twitter (PDF) are both available from me, Hidden Agenda is unfortunately out of print, and Vanishing Inc. refuses to reprint, or even to let me have it as an e-book…

Expert on “Expert”

In The Magic Memories 126 I commented on Chris Wasshuber’s new book about Erdnase and who he might be. Shortly afterwards the news reaches me that there is a new candidate for “Who’s Erdnase” in the already long line-up, one Emory Cobb Andrews, of whom I have never heard before.

The research comes from Professor Richard H. Evans (who, I’m deeply ashamed to admit, I’ve never heard of before either), who according to Marco Pusterla (finally one I know, since he’s been a friend for years ) is: “… a noted magic historian with a long list of credits in our field, and whose research – particularly on Isaac Fawkes – have always been at the top level.”

Pusterla is the editor of a possibly little-known magazine titled Ye Olde Magic Mag, a magazine dedicated to. In vol. 9 #3 you can find a lengthy article about the Erdnase matter. The issue in its PDF-form is a mere £ 5 (British Pounds, that is), and you can get it HERE.

Advice on Writing

If anyone reading this is considering writing a book, or a set of lecture notes, or simply an article for a magazine, please first consider the following rules for the proper use of English – I found these in a in my notebook Sudelbuch II (started AUG 2007, ended JUNE 2008):

Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.

It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.

Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re old hat).

Always avoid annoying alliteration.

Be more or less specific.

Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.

Also, too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.

No sentence fragments. No comma splices, run-ons are bad too.

Contractions aren’t helpful and shouldn’t be used.

Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.

Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.

One should never generalize.

Comparisons are as bad as clichés.

Don’t use no double negatives.

Avoid ampersands & abbreviations, etc.

One -word sentences? Eliminate.

Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

The passive voice is to be ignored.

Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.

Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.

Kill all exclamation points!!!!

Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.

Understatement is probably not the best way to propose earth shattering ideas.

Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.

Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.

Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.

Who needs rhetorical questions?

Exaggeration is a million times worse than understatement.

Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

I told you, it’s not easy…

Seriously, if you want to do any writing in magic, there is nothing better than Stephen Minch’s Stylebook. I had put this up with Stephen’s permission in my Advent Calendar, but HERE it is again, for your convenience.

Shuffling the Aces

The title is, of course, an allusion to the classic plot of “Cutting the Aces”.

Although I’m an orderly person and keep my notes as precise as possible, occasionally I miss to do so. Therefore, I can’t remember if I ever published the following simple but effective little Ace Opener. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that someone else has though of it before, after, or at the same time as I have, as it is not very high on the “Monkey Scale” (see Sharing Secrets, p. 78).

Anyway, here it is:

The four Aces are on top of the deck. Start an Overhand Shuffle by running three cards, the first three Aces, lifting them behind the balance (Lift Shuffle), and then continue the shuffle, running the next card – an Ace – as you ask a spectator to call ›stop‹. Explain that you want him to do this four times, so convey to have ›stop‹ called after about a quarter of the cards has been shuffled off.

Place the cards just shuffled off face down on the table – the bottom card will be an Ace. Finish the shuffle, dropping the three lifted Aces back on top.

Repeat the procedure explained twice more, the second time running and lifting two Aces, the third time one Ace. You will be left with about a quarter of the deck, which has the fourth Ace on the bottom; place this face down next to the other three packets on the table.

To reveal the first Ace the right hand seizes the first packet in End Grip, turns it face up à la Stuart Gordon Double Lift, displaying the Ace on the face of the packet for a few seconds. The right thumb then slides the face card to the right, as the remaining fingers flip the balance of the packet face down into left hand Dealing Position. Place the face up Ace diagonally offset on top of the face down packet, and then put everything on the table. Repeat with the other three packets.

Variant

Another way of arriving at exactly the same effect is to start our with the four Aces on the bottom of the deck, and when you start an Overhand Shuffle, the left fingers slip the bottom card along in the first shuffle action. Repeat another three times. This is more efficient, but your technique must be very good.

Note on “Comedy Card Opener”

My friend Guillaume Cerati, who is also my partner in the production of the Card College 3&4 – Personal Instruction videos, visited for two days. In one of our long conversations he commented on “Comedy Card Opener” I published in last week’s The Magic Memories 127.

Guillaume, besides being an excellent close-up performer, also performs for children, and remarked he has started using the item in his children’s shows to excellent effect: He takes out the card case  and holds it in his right hand, then looks away at the children, saying he needs a deck of cards. At this very moment the deck rises out of the card case, and of course the kids start yelling. But when he looks back at the card case, the deck has of course dropped back into the case. This goes back and forth a few times, in the usual form children’s entertainers know very well.

When I started doing magic I did do a few children’s shows, and even as a professional, from 1988, tried my hand at it a few times, with fairly good success, until I realized that doing magic for children is a “profession within the profession”, obviously, as any specialty in magic is (“close-up”, “television”, trade shows”, etc.).

Also, I have to admit, that I enjoy the intellectual recognition I get from performing from adults, something you don’t get from children; and those bright eyes, spontaneous laughs, and open mouths you get from children, all very beautiful things, well, it’s not enough for me… I’m an intellectual, and I need an intellectual response. I’m not saying this is good or bad, but it’s just the way it is, for me, and I won’t change it.

News on Orimotos

To end these The Magic Memories a brief update on Barbara’s Orimotos for those of you who asked about it: In the photo below you can see a selection of non-magical subjects she did, from simple to complex. If you are interested to have a personalized Orimoto (text, illustration, or a combination of both) write to me; the price is between € 200 and € 350, depending on complexity and technique.

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Circolo Amici della Magia Torino; Let’s Keep Sleights And Gimmicks, please; Playing With Food (food illusions); Comedy Card Opener

These are The Magic Memories 127, gone online Sunday, June 4th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

My friend Yves Carbonnier from Paris is about to visit with me for a few days, and in a few minutes I will be picking up our mutual friend Lorenz Schär: We are off to an excellent restaurant for a magical lunch in Alsatia, France, right across the border from where I live 🙂 I will tell you more about these two very talented chaps and our adventures in an upcoming post (they both have a very interesting book!)…

Circolo Amici della Magia

In last week’s report about my travel to Italy (The Magic Memories 216)  I forgot to tell you about my visit to the new premises of the Circolo Amici della Magia (CADM), Italy’s largest magic club with over 300 members. Since its foundation in 1971 it has changed its premises several times, each time to the better, to land now in an incredible place. Below are a few photographic impressions I’ve taken from my visit in May:

So, when in Torino (“Turin” in english), make sure to contact president Marco Aimone through the “Contact” item on their webpage, and I’m sure he’ll cordially invite you to the club, where they have something going almost every night of the week. This is one of the most active magic clubs I know, and they even made me an honorary member, too, and have always been very generous toward me, and I have given as many lectures and masterclasses as for the members of CADM 🙂

More info and much better photos than mine about CADM and their activities HERE (it’s all in Italian, but Google Translate will get this in sufficiently understandable English… I hope).

Let’s Keep Sleights And Gimmicks, Please

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government [rg note: before BREXIT] conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year-plan that would become known as “Euro-English”.

In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of “k”. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent “e” in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w” with “v”.

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

Rereading the amusing text above, reminded me of an utterance attributed to Dr. Jacob Daley that goes something like this: “If you take a card trick with three sleights, and replace the first sleight with a subtlety, you get a better trick. If you eliminate the second sleight, you get a small miracle. But if you eliminate the last sleight, then you usually end up with a mathematical atrocity.” This is my wording from memory, and similar quotes can be found in the foreword to Frank Garcia’s Million Dollar Card Secrets, as well as in the foreword to Marlo’s The Cardician.

So, let’s keep those sleights and gimmicks, with parsimony, and use them skillfully and intelligently, always keeping the effect in mind, knowing that methods are merely a means to and end; this will get us closer to perfection and to a miracle. The result will be Artistic Astonishment.

***Sudelbuch Volume 3 is number three in a series of my personal notebooks devoted to “good thoughts, useful and useless information, remarkable quotes, and all things that one likes to read from time to time…”

Playing With Food

Although we have been told not to play with food, some simply refuse to listen.

At Heston Blumenthal’s stellar “Fat Duck”, a three-star Michelin restaurant, a chocolate dessert is served in form of playing cards, opening up to all sorts of magical shenanigans at the table, provided one of the guests knows how to force a card…

If you’re interested in the subject of “food illusions”, maybe to combine with a “Magic Dinner” you plan to do at a nearby restaurant of yours, CLICK HERE to get an idea of some possibilities.

Comedy Card Opener

This seems like an old idea, but I’ve never seen anyone use it, although it is so simple and effective… and practical at that.

The illustration below says it all.

I use this with a vest that has four pockets (very convenient!), two lower and two upper pockets. (As explained in my video lecture The Close-up Act of Roberto Giobbi, I use the lower left pocket for “trash”, i.e., it receives everything I discard, such as the thread from Gipsy Thread, torn pieces of paper etc.)

If you place the deck in the lower right vest pocket you can then simply take the deck out, hold it in Dealing Position with the flap upward, and by slowly moving backwards make the deck rise out of the card case.

Remember to move the body backwards, not the hand forward – this is an application of the theory of the Space-Information-Continuum (Sharing Secrets, p. 102) and makes big difference – try it.

To prevent the thread to cut into the card case, the hole should be reinforced with a metal eyelet, but that’s obvious, Watson, isn’t it?

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi

Hello everyone!

Today’s topics are: Vernon’s Deja-vu (TTTCBE); Museo della magia Cherasco; Masters of Magic Convention Torino; Letters from Juan 2; Who is Erdnase? (Wasshuber’s book); European Close-up Symposium

These are The Magic Memories 126, gone online Sunday, May 28th, 2023, at 0:07h sharp.

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

In the last post I promised to continue my report on my Swiss-Italian travel. So, here it is:

Vernon’s Deja-vu (TTTCBE)

After a short night following the lecture and evening show reported last time, and before embarking on the travel to Italy, José Ángel and I had to fortify ourselves first, and what better way of doing so than having a Fondue for lunch, one of Switzerland’s gastronomical battle-horses.

For this you need to know that the region we were is la région par excellence of Fondue.

One of the best place to have Fondue, if not the best, is the Café Tivoli in Chatel-Saint Denis. We had “moitié-moitié”, half-half, meaning half Gruyère and half Vacherin cheese, very creamy, not too hot (temperature) and served in a pot over a “réchaud”, a food-warmer, with bread and small boiled potatoes. This, with a Chasselas wine from the region, and you’ll feel happy as a clam on high tide.

If you ever come to Switzerland, I recommend you plan a visit to the Chaplin Museum in Vevey, one of the world’s best museums, and before doing so, for lunch go to the Café Tivoli and have a Fondue (and a Meringue with double-cream for dessert!). It is then only a ten-minute car-drive to the Chaplin museum. Spend three hours there, drive down to Vevey (five minutes), take a stroll along the lake-side promenade in Vevey, and then stay overnight in one of the beautiful hotels overseeing Lake Geneva and the Alp panorama.

You’re welcome 🙂

But here comes the punchline: We were four at table, José Ángel, my friend Jean-François (JF) Tuberosi, and his son Matteo. After the satisfying meal, JF asked me to do a trick for his son.

I had to smile, as at this moment a story told about Ricky Jay flashed across my mind: Ricky had been asked for dinner by a good friend who had a teenage son. Ricky accepted under the explicit condition that he would not be asked to perform a trick for his friend’s son, or else he would immediately leave. You guessed what happened: Upon arrival, his friend asked Ricky to do a trick for his son! Reportedly, Ricky, without missing a beat, turned round and left.

Not having a fraction of Mr. Jay’s talent, but also not his, well, “challenging character”, I had anticipated the situation and in a previously unwatched moment written “7H” on my paper napkin, and placed the napkin aside on the table.

When JF asked the inevitable question, I told Matteo that I would only perform if I could do so with his father’s cards… (the day before I had given him a deck of my Card College Playing Cards, so knew what I would get). I instructed Matteo to take the cards from the case, eliminate the Jokers, and then shuffle the deck. Upon taking it back I glimpsed the top and bottom cards – no 7H.

I, “Did you cut the cards?”

Matteo, “No.”

I, “Even if you shuffle the cards yourself – always cut the cards.” (Sharing Secrets, “Memory Editing”, joke to anchor the shuffle, p. 74)

In placing the deck back on the table I again glimpsed the top and bottom cards. Lo and behold, the top card was the 7H! (The Annotated Sharing Secrets, “The Principle of F***ing Luck”, p. 69)

Were Vernon and Koran watching?

I reminded the company what had just taken place (Sharing Secrets, “Principle of Recap”, p. 86), then asked Matteo to turn the deck’s top card, displaying the 7H. I dropped the paper napkin next to the card, and then slowly unfolded it to reveal the writing “7H”.

Loud silence! Interrupted by a “click” of dropping jaws.

Of course I couldn’t resist looking at Matteo and saying: “So, that’s the kind of magic I do. What does your father do with these cards?” (Cliff Green must have been watching, too…)

It was only thanks to years of friendship with JF that he didn’t physically attack me…

Final comment: Statistics says that if you perform the above actions 52 times, it will happen once. Or, because we glimpsed four cards, maybe only 13 times?

The mathematicians among you might tell me…

Anyway, when I’m back home I’ll do this same procedure 51 times for my wife, so I should hit it again on my next “real” performance 🙂

And one more thing: When doing TTTCBE (Ganson, Dai Vernon’s More Inner Secrets of Card Magic, p. 76), and it works like described above, the only solution the cognoscenti will have, is that you had the card palmed, and then added it to the top of the deck. If you don’t want to deprive them of the exquisite experience of astonishment, make it a point to show your hands empty, rub and clap them several times (Frakson to Tamariz, “Las palmadas, Juanito, las palmadas!”)before the spectator starts the shuffling process; you don’t want to do that later, before taking the deck back, as it would draw attention to the glimpsing action…

Museo della magia Cherasco

Now, for the travel, finally: From the “Anneaux Magiques” in Morges (see The Magic Memories 125), José Ángel and I took it upon us to cross the Alps and get to Italy.

Compared to Hannibal, who in 218 BC, a period when Carthage and Rome were competing for world dominance, traversed the mountains, once thought uncrossable, with a force of more than 30,000 soldiers, 15,000 cavalry and, most famous of all, 37 elephants, our trip was easy.

He did all this in sixteen days, as the annals report. It took us by car about four hours, as these Magic Memories tell. 

Not only did we cross the Alps on civilized roads and through a (expensive!) tunnel, the Great Saint Bernhard Tunnel, but we also managed to drive around Torino, down the “Langhe”, the famous region between Asti and Alba, famous for arguably Italy’s best wines, Barolo and Barbaresco, and in season for white truffle, and then reached Don Silvio Mantelli’s “Museo della magia” in Cherasco, where we would stay for the next few days.

Don Silvio’s Magic Museum is of course worth a lengthy report, sometimes in the future… For now I will content myself with serving a glass of wine to the Mona Lisa (see below):

We used the time between two card tricks and the perusal of several books…

… to visit the countryside around Cherasco. On Tuesday we took a quick side-trip to la banca del vino, the wine bank, an institution that has the task of storing and displaying a case of each wine in Italy: They store well over 100’000 bottles from thousands of producers, a visit to behold. And they have a museum-wine shop, too…

The Banca del vino is located in Pollenzo, in one of the many imperial country castles that characterize Piedmont, which in former times was the residence of the Savoy (history buffs read more HERE).

The photo above shows the entry to the wine bank, with over 100’000 bottles of wine. Below a peek at Don Silvio’s magic library with ca. 22’000 magic books and ca. 3’000 magazines (bound volumes, that is!), total ca. 25’000 magic publications. This proves that in Italy there are at least four times as many wines as there are magic books…

In the afternoon we visited the village that gave its name to Italy’s most famous and oldest wine denomination, Barolo.

On a side-note: Traditionally, in Europe the names of the wines, and the names you find on the labels, reflect the precise location they are produced, and also the location within the location. So, if you read Barbaresco, Rabaja, on the label, you know that it is a wine from a producer in and around the village of Barbaresco, and from the very limited vineyards of Rabaja. This is a very honest way of a declaration, which has been lost on most modern wines, which carry fantasy names, whose only purpose is marketing (take “Opus One”, not really a paramount example of modesty… but I agree that the wine is good!).

After lunch, on our way back to Cherasco, we stopped at yet another Castello, in Novello, the birthplace of Don Silvio – have a brief look HERE, you will be amazed. The castle is now an event location with a hotel and restaurant (open only for special events).

Thanks to Don Silvio’s connections, the owner of the castle gave us a tour – wonderful! And we got free drinks at the bar.

The photo below shows one of the several smaller “private” rooms that can host a group. The table you see could take 13 guests, a perfect setting for a magic dinner titled “The Thirteenth Guest”… Notice the fantastic frescoes on the ceiling, and the carpets on the walls – everything original (ca. 1850), of course, not Las Vegas fakes…

Masters of Magic Convention Torino

On Wednesday we got to Torino, where Thursday the Master of Magic convention started. Due to professional obligations I could only stay that one day, and had to head back home on Friday. Hence, only a short comment.

Still, I could enjoy the location, the Automobile museum in Torino (see HERE), in itself worth traveling to. This museum, along with the film museum, the Egyptian museum and the Royal Palace, make Torino one of the culturally most interesting “smaller” cities in the world  – by all means seek it out when traveling to Italy (and I did not talk about the libraries, shops, cafes, restaurants, arcades, historic buildings etc.).

As for the convention, anything Walter Rolfo touches has highest production value, as this is his forte: Tired seating in the small theatre for the lectures and presentations with good visibility and camera work (Vanishing Inc. take note for “The Session”), excellent reception, interesting dealers, world-class artists (not all with world-class lectures, though…).

The evening shows and stage competition took place at the other end of the city (!), at the Teatro Alfieri, and this, along with the lack of affordable hotels nearby, made it a bitter pill. When we looked for a hotel nearby we only found rooms for € 300 and over, and the one we found at € 120, albeit very nice, was 25 minutes car drive away (plus searching for parking), simply unacceptable.

There is no question that organizing a magic convention, big or small, is a challenge that only few can overcome to the satisfaction of all… and we’ll leave it at that.

That’s the end of the Italo-Swiss adventure, which, like any Asterix & Obelix adventure, ends in a gastronomical feast, this time at “Tre re”, the “Three Kings”, Roberto Marchello’s ristorante in Castellamonte. We talked, sat, discussed, eat, argued, drank, from noon to over 4 pm – hard to understand if you live in the New World.

Both the French gastronomer Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin and the German philosopher Immanuel Kant maintained that “it’s only at a table that already the first hour is amusing.” Brillat-Savarin cared for good food and wines, Kant for inspiring company – I vote for a combination of the two 🙂

Letters from Juan 2

Albert Einstein once said about Niels Bohr: “He expresses his opinion like someone who constantly searches, never like someone, who thinks to hold the complete truth.” Einstein’s utterance fits Juan Tamariz like a glove, and it shows up in all of Tamariz’s  writings, and it is only one of the reasons we should read them.

Granted, several of the routines you will be reading in this and in all upcoming Letters (how many? many!) are 100% Tamariz, idiosyncratic pieces that only he can pull off in the way described. So, the way to learn from it is to read it through carefully, ideally with instruments in hands, mostly a deck of cards, and extract every idea that catches your fancy in an external notebook, paper or electronic.

One of the notes I made is on p. 18, where at the beginning of a trick description he says: “Since it doesn’t have any technical challenge, you can focus on the most important thing of this, and of any other trick: feeling the effect.” Brilliant!

This is such an important thought, and it overshadows that bullshit sentence you can find in so many places in the magic literature: “…so you can focus entirely on the presentation“. What a rubbish, and what’s that supposed to mean anyway?

My favorite practical item in this issue? “Impromptu Double Flying”, on p. 31, no more comments – go, and read it for yourself.

Who is Erdnase?

Chris Wasshuber, of lybrary.com-fame, wrote a hefty book on a subject that has been haunting magic historians in general, and cardicians in particular, namely: Who is Erdnase? On over 400 pages he argues his case, with unprecedented minutiae.

If this topic is your cup of tea (or as Denis Behr in Germany would say: “If this is your beer”) it goes without saying that you want to add this elaborate research to your bookshelf next to Gardner, Busby, Hatch, James, Sawyer etc.

The publication is obtainable as a PDF or as a hardbound book with dustcover: For details and to order CLICK HERE.

European Close-up Symposium

Years ago David Ben invited Stephen Minch and myself as guests of honor to the famous “31 Faces North” convention in Toronto, an invitation-only event sponsored by the late Allan Slaight.

This certainly deserves a report of its own in a future edition of The Magic Memories, but I’m mentioning it here because the meeting, running over several days, was organized such, that each participant would give a short presentation, from ten to twenty minutes, and the two guests of honor would do a lecture-performance-interview type of presentation for an hour or so.

Well, I found this so inspiring, that upon my return I decided to initiate something similar in Italy. I called it “Magic Symposium”. We did that four times in Torino, on the premises of the magic club there, Club Amici Della Magia (CADM), in November (truffle season…), and it was quite successful, even though we lacked the support of a billionaire sponsor 🙂

Giacomo Bertini, of System of Amazement fame, written by no less than Stephen Minch, attended the meetings in Torino, and asked me if he could take the idea and do a “Coin Magic Symposium” in Milan, which later became the “European Close-up Symposium”. So, Toronto begets Torino begets Milan, and now Vienna! As they say: “If you have an idea, you’re adding, if you share an idea, you’re multiplying.”

So, after a three-year hiatus due to Corona, this great idea is back, taking place in Bill Chueng’s new close-up theatre, outside of Vienna. More details HERE.

BTW: Giacomo has a website with lots of free video tutorials you will like if coins are your thing, and you might like them even if they aren’t – CLICK HERE.

Now, I have to run, as tonight we’re celebrating my birthday in a belated dinner with my family (Barbara, Rafael and Miro). I apologize for such a long post, but I didn’t have the time to write a shorter one 🙂

Wish you all an excellent week!

Roberto Giobbi