créme de la créme Volume 2

"Crème de la crème translates into English as "cream of the cream", in cooking terms meaning cream undergoing a deluxe treatment."

"The phrase also has a figurative meaning that it is most commonly known by, this being: the top, the best of the best or somewhat elite, also expressed as "the cream of the crop". Analogues can be drawn to the cooking term, meaning in some terms the same thing"

On a rather brief note I am pleased to be able to share with you something that I've been seeking out for quite some time. Imagine being right there when Jason England first met Gary Plants, the man who would inspire him to become the gambling expert he is today... Wouldn't that be nice?

Luckly, someone actually taped the whole thing and Mr. Plants has been kind enough to let me share an extract he posted on Youtube.

Click Here for the performance!

Have a good night my lovely readers, Professor Moriarty's left the building

"I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road"

Stephen Hawking

Crème de la crème

"Crème de la crème translates into English as "cream of the cream", in cooking terms meaning cream undergoing a deluxe treatment."

"The phrase also has a figurative meaning that it is most commonly known by, this being: the top, the best of the best or somewhat elite, also expressed as "the cream of the crop". Analogues can be drawn to the cooking term, meaning in some terms the same thing"

Oh what a treat you are in for today, lovely readers of this rather pretentious yet fantastic card artifice blog...

The name Tony Cabral came to my atention in 2013 when I was first begining a study on what is now my favorite routine to perform at the table. Those who know me will be aware that I am of course speaking about "Estimation Aces" by Edward Marlo. Furthermore, those of you who know Tony's work, probably a lot more than those who are familiar with mine, know that when researching the many versions of this fantastic principle, Tony is the man one must go to.

Notice my choice of wording earlier when I decided to call the Marlo item a principle rather than an effect, This was one of my first conclusions when I first set out to investigate the many variations lost within the magical literature. I noticed that those who "Thought outside of the box" method wise achieved a better effect than those who limited the performance of this miracle to doing the same thing four times in a row.

The individuals that really took the present principle from crayons to perfume are Andrew Wimhurst, Michael Vincent, Ricky Jay and Antonio Cabral. Let me briefly describe what I like about each of the three.

Andrew added the notion of a spectator cutting to the aces rather than the conjurer. This means that the effect stops being a demostration of skill in a way, which can be an excelent thing if that is what you are looking for. At first I was rather skeptical about letting the spectators steal the show but it was Tony who convinced me that after having performed it countless times behind the bar He found out that at the end of it all, the spectators still atribute the success of the routine to the performer.

On a rather personal piece of advice I may have to add the example of another one or two performers that have experimented with cutting the aces, the first of those being Jason England and the last being The Charming Cheat, Martin Nash.

Although Mr. England's rendition does not use the principle that we are discussing, his use of the Zarrow Shuffle allows him to let the spectators decide which ace is to be cut out each time. This is a powerful tool but one that I don't personally recommend you use for all four aces, use it wisely and in such a way that the spectators appriciate the fact that the ace is named. Funny enough, doing it only on the third ace may even convey that you can do it whenever you want, but that's something I rather keep to myself for now...

Mr. Nash also achieves the same thing through the use of equivoque. Before cutting to the third ace he allows the spectator to choose one of the two aces that remain and then he assings another spectator with the ace that the first spectator did not name. Once again, I do not want to expose much of the verbal ploy on a public forum but I guess those who read me know what I am talking about already

Michael's version is the one that really did it for me. It makes use of advanced card ruse and subterfuge in order to maximize the effect in a way that only the Vincent touch can. Without exposing too much, check the way he gets into the routine and what he uses to expand the effect on the final two aces. By the way, this is the routine I perform nowadays when the setting allows for the appreciation of such a wonderful miracle.

Ricky Jay's rendition is wonderful as well as artisticly stunning, you can find it on the 52 assistants videotape, if you can find it in the first place. This routine totally fooled me and I am still not sure about its inner workings.

Finally readers, thank you for making it this far! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Then how much is a motion picture worth? Here's the Cabral version of "Estimation Aces" for you enjoyment and edification

Click here and prepare to have your minds destroyed my friends!

'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.'

Sherlock Holmes

Teaser: The Ouroboros By Ignacio Lopez

This time for a rather different approach to the craft that we all know and love, I present to you my friend Ignacio Lopez and his wonderful and smooth card handling.

Click Here for the performance!

"The Journals of Professor Moriarty: Thanks to Barry"

August 3rd, 2014

Thanks to Barry

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it”

Alfred Hitchcock

Introduction

The following is a rather peculiar experiment of mine regarding Dai Vernon’s lovely plot “Matching the cards”

And I write peculiar due to the fact that I do not usually come up with magic that is visual and quick for I do not personally like it that much. Suspense has always been better than surprise when it comes to the way I like to present magical curiosities.



I first came across this plot when I saw Michael Vincent, who I modestly consider a mentor of mine; perform his awesome rendition of it. Mike has got many ways of presenting the routine and is to my knowledge the individual most responsible for the constant revitalization of this and many other classical items of conjuring.


However, I also owe thanks to Joseph Barry since it was after I saw him perform a fantastic three card production, which I think is original with him, that I got to thinking along the lines of what now is the effect I am writing.

The present routine represents a personal milestone in my magical journey  for it surged from one of those wonderful moments in which one connects methodological dots in one’s head rather automatically and one can almost feel it all click into place. It is truly a wonderful feeling.

Effect

A spectator touches a card and leaves it on the table sight unseen. The magician then proceeds to rapidly and visually produce three queens from the pack. He then states that if his instincts worked correctly the card on the table should be the missing queen.  To everyone’s surprise, the card on the table is an ace. The magician now shows that the three queens have now changed into three aces.

Note: Should you desire to access the full manuscript, please do not hesitate to contact me directly

Cheers

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe"

Carl Sagan

"The Journals of Professor Moriarty: The Perfect Act Project"

I think this post speaks for itself readers... If You may be interested in knowing a little bit more about this project of mine feel free to contact me privately and I shall forward you the Private documment on account that You keep it that way.

January 27, 2014:

I’ve decided to embark on a research journey with one objective, finding the most powerful versions of the most powerful effects of the past 2 centuries. Originally, I had limited my research to only the past century, but a friend pointed out to me that “Everywhere and nowhere” by Dr Nepomuk Hofsinzer was worthy of inclusion, so I extended it to the last 200 years.

It all started out of a common belief that magicians should only perform the strongest tricks that they know, so I thought to myself, if that’s true then why shouldn’t I  try to find the most powerful magic there is and ultimately compose a show that would constitute the magicians’ dream act.

Now that I think about it, I fancy that name quite a bit, so that shall be the title given to this present project.

Last but by no means least; I should clarify that I will limit my research to the field of card magic, since this is my preferred practice.

I present to whoever’s reading my journals, “The Magicians’ Dream Act”

            

The list of effects with which I start is the following:

            

            Emotional Reaction by Dai Vernon

            Triumph By Dai Vernon

            Out of This World by Paul Curry

            Be Honest, What is it? By Eddie Fetcher

            Any Card at Any Number

            The Travelers by Dai Vernon

            The Ambitious Card by Dai Vernon

            Cutting the Aces by Dai Vernon

I shall limit myself to the few items mentioned above just for the sake of practicality, If one were to list every great effect of the 20^th century, one would probably have to stay awake for more than it’s humanly tolerable. It’s my intention to compose one or several acts using the effects listed within these pages, in fact, as I am typing this one act has already come to mind and I shall describe it immediately

           

Act #1:

“Subliminally Yours”

The following is a 10-15 minute act composed of 3 of the items above mentioned, those effects are: Emotional Reaction, Be Honest, What is It? And Out of This World

The first of the three items has been brought to my attention by the amazing Jared Kopf in the sense that He was that convinced me to track the original source and try it out on people, well performed, it’s one of the strongest items one can do with a pack of cards.

The second effect is one that I perform almost daily and it was taught to me by the man who I consider to be my mentor, Mr. Michael Vincent from London.

The third effect is not one I perform but I think it’s one of the strongest effects ever created. Besides, the fact that it takes place entirely in the spectator’s hands makes it the perfect closer for this set...

Be Well My Friends, Professor Moriarty Checks Out.

On some kind of apologetic remark and On the many new things to come

"If I could climax as many times as a Dingle routine, I'd be a happy man"

Dai Vernon

I have two very brief pieces of news for all of you, once again, however few You may be. First of all, I should apologize for the rather prolonged absence, Shouldn't I? Fuck It, It's my Blog and I favor quality over quantity.

The Blog has suffered a major makeover as far as web designing is concerned. The Drawing above is a restoration of the one that M.D.Smith made for Mr. Erdnase in the early 1900's.and I can't help but wonder what would They think about my odd choice of colors and all, I guess We will never know for sure.

I've recently found an effect of mine which is one of my very few experiences with multi kicker endings. Very briefly shall I talk about it for I do not wish to share the workings of it in such a public forum. I think I may even want to publish it but who knows what the future holds for us mortals? The shadow knows (as my friend Kopf shall say)

When Darwin Ortiz analysed the stellar routine of dingle by the name of "Roll Over Aces", it got me thinking that I should at least experiment with multi kicker effects.

                

What follows is a combination of two of my favourite routines by The Professor, "Matching the cards" And "Triumph". The effect was inspired by an informal performance of The London Card Expert, Mike Vincent that my friend Antonio Zuccaro Shot and very kindly shared on YouTube.

On a rather different note, I shall also let you all know that you’ll see a new section of Guest bloggers who will attempt to share their views on technique and other aspects of magic. I do not really want to tease but You may want to Google Nicolas Pierri, Who's by the way the sickest coin man I've ever had the displeasure of calling a friend and Nicolas Gentile, One of the most talented guys I know when it comes to adapting a technique to one's natural and personal mannerisms, so I mind as well get those two talking about what they know and love.

Last but not least I should also recommend the lovely series of interviews that take place at the Magic Castle and are conducted by Steve Kiesel. My favorite of them all is the one that features Derek Delgaudio, Overall superhero and monster at the card table. You May find them on Vimeo and I shall link you to it right about now:

Delgaudio on Who's Hoo With Steve Kiesel

As a Closing remark I shall quote the stellar Bill Malone Hoping that his wits will mask my quick exit for I have to hurry up if I want to catch lunch properly

"If I put it on the bottom and squeeze, the whole deck will go and with that, I go too"

Bill Malone

Confessions of a sleight of hand artist

“Acquiring the art is in itself a most fascinating pastime, and the student will need no further incentive the moment the least progress is made”

S.W. Erdnase, The Expert At The Card Table, 1902

Alright, this is officially the most pretentious series of essays in the history of card magic or probably any other discipline for that matter. Spoiler alert, it will be full of contradictions, aggressive remarks about card magic and the many horrors one witnesses when scanning the actual card magic landscape. No apologies are considered necessary by yours truly since this is a personal platform and it is meant to express my personal thoughts and opinions.

Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Want to Know?” is the tune that now accompanies me as I start with a little bit of an anecdote about my very first magic convention and how it presented a fundamental epiphany about card technique.

I was 15 years old and about six months into magic when I attended my very first magic convention in Buenos Aires. The all mighty “Buenos Aires Tiene Magia” magic convention happens every 2 years and it’s one of the biggest and therefor most important events for the Latin-American magic community.

The year was 2012, or what I like to remember as “The Daortiz year” due to the fact that it was back then when I went on a family vacation packing only a few decks of cards and Dani Daortiz’s brand new Utopia DVD Set. After a month, I was practically a pre puberty version of the Spanish master and cards were falling from my hand forming a waterfall that converged in a not so ideal mixture of messy card handling, little sleight of hand skills and amazing psychological management skills. I was in heaven.

The day came when I attended my first convention thinking I was the greatest magician in history and that my twisting the aces rendition will amaze every single attendee…

It was only about 60 minutes into the convention that reality hit me in the face causing an impact higher than that caused by the collision of an unstoppable force and an immovable object (I am not which one of the two represents myself in that particular scenario)

I remember walking out that day feeling immensely depressed and equally motivated to become the smoothest card technician I could become. That has been my quest ever since and it will continue to be as long as I stand on this earth.

“I do not have dreams, I have goals”

Harvey Specter