Hello everyone!
Today’s topics are: Magialdia Preview; Solution to “A Problem With Daley”
These are The Magic Memories 195, gone online Sunday, September 22, 2024, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, and 2023, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.
Magialdia Preview
As you are reading this I am back from visiting Juan Tamariz, and am now still at the Magialdia convention in the company of Carney, Wilson, Proust, Cachadiña, Carbonnier, and many more old and new friends.
In the upcoming The Magic Memories 196 I will recount my impressions from Magialdia, in particular:
- John Carney (his lecture and close-up show)
- Georges Proust (release of the “Slydini Set”)
- Paul R. Wilson (status of the Juan Tamariz documentary)
- new book releases, especially the book about Gabi Pareras
- lectures, shows, dealer novelties, and a large etcetera, of course
Solution to “A Problem With Daley”
As promised in the past two The Magic Memories, here is my solution to “A Problem With Daley”, an item from the cryptic Dr. Daley’s Notebooks, note 224.
Effect: The Aces are lost in the deck and magically gather on top.
Method: Deal four Aces face up onto the table in a row, then put three face-up cards on each. Turn each Ace packet face down. Have a spectator choose an Ace pile and place this pile aside. Take each one of the Ace piles and place them onto the deck, contriving to bring the Aces secretly to the bottom.
To do this Daley suggests what he calls the “Horowitz Mix Move.”
I was at first not able to find out what this is, but speculated that the sleight might consist in mixing the four cards around on top of the balance of the deck and in the process the Ace is slipped to the bottom, sort of a “Reverse Bottom Deal.” You may want to experiment with this.
Alternatively, simply use a Transfer Cut (I recommend “The Double Cut” from Card College Volume 1), apparently losing the packet in the deck, in reality bringing the Ace from the top to the bottom. This is simple and straightforward, and still looks good and convincing.
Do this with all three Ace packets and you will end up with the three Aces on the bottom of the deck, but the audience should assume that they are lost somewhere in the deck. A final Intelligent Injog Shuffle retaining the bottom stock will consolidate this false reality.
As yet another possibility for getting the Aces to the bottom, gather the three non-selected piles on top of each other and insert them in the deck by means of the Diagonal Push-in. This allows you to obtain a break above the inserted cards. Now use either the Erdnase Cull or Marlo’s Lessinout Shuffle to bring the Aces to the bottom.
According to Daley’s note, you would now bottom palm the three Aces into your right hand, place the previously chosen packet on top of deck, adding the palmed Aces in the process, riffle the deck, and then show that all four Aces have gathered.
It seems reasonable to replace the Bottom Palm with Vernon’s Transfer Move.
Dr. Daley and I leave you to find a presentation that makes this little trick meaningful…
Meanwhile my dear friend and editor-proof-reader of Unexpected Agenda, Maxwell Pritchard (of Volkmann-History-of-Magic fame), sent in this comment in reference to the “Horowitz Mix Move” mentioned above:
The mix is described in n. 606, which is on the same page as n. 224 in the original text. See also n. 228.
Here’s my quick interpretation of the mix in the context of the item described in n. 224. We begin after the selected pile has been set aside:
Pick up one of the three unchosen piles and place it face down on top of the face-down talon.
Obtain a break beneath the second card from the top (this is the Double Lift referred to in n. 606. In this case, the Double Lift is not used in a display, and there is no Turnover; the move is merely a means by which to obtain a two-card break).
Perform a Double Undercut to leave the Ace second from bottom. Remove the top and bottom card of the deck to show that neither is an Ace, and return each to the center of the pack.
Repeat for the remaining two unchosen piles.
You are left with three Aces on the bottom of the face-down deck, having repeatedly shown that your cuts have not apparently brought them there.
In short, precisely your Transfer Cuts suggestion, but each time with an extra card added to allay suspicion.
Be sure to check in for The Magic Memories 196, going online on Sunday, September 29, 2024, at 00:07 sharp, to read about my experiences at Juan Tamariz’s home and at the Magialdia convention.
Wish you all a successful and happy week,
Roberto Giobbi
