Vita Beaten Patk A
By WILBUR KATTNER
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OFF THE BEATEN PAW BY
WILBUR KATTNER
Published by MAGIC LIMITED - - LLOYD E. JONES 4064 39th Avenue OAKLAND 2, CALIFORNIA
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4064 39t6 /tvc., OaMeutd 2,
Copyright 1947 by Lloyd E. Jones
PREFACE Here are a few card tricks that I have to get out of my system. A few of them have been shown around to the magic crowd that allows me to perform for it from time to time with the result that some well informed magicians have been baffled initially and upon repetition. Also included is "Climax," the effect that won the Caryl Fleming Gold Medal Award from the Linking Ring in 1945. The effects presented here represent the entire range from closeup effects to those suitable for club and small stage presentations. If you'll give those that strike your fancy a whirl, I believe you'll find them worthy of addition to your repertoire. Fraternally, WILBUR KATTNER
Me Seate* STOOL PIGEONS This effect steins from one by Victor Farelli, called "Controlled Coincidence," which was popular for a brief period around 1933. The main drawback of Farelli's effect was that it required a specially stacked deck, making it unsuitable for impromptu and extemporaneous work. My friend Orville Meyer worked out a method using either an Eight Kings or a Si Stebbins stack. This remains buried in the Jinx, a gold mine of material that will be worked for years to come without any considerable depletion of its resources. So much for history. The effect remains much the same as Farelli's original idea. A card is selected by a spectator by thrusting the joker into the deck and removing either the card above or below it, according to the spectator's whim. Again the spectator inserts the joker in the deck, and this time, the cards on both sides of it are removed. When the three cards are turned over, the two stool pigeon cards prove to be of the same suit as the selected card, and in addition, they are directly above and below it in sequence. With a used deck, the only preparation is to arrange four cards of the same suit in sequence while seeking the joker prior to its removal for the selection. Cut the pack in the middle of the group of four, so that two cards go to the bottom and two to the top. Give the deck one or two false shuffles without disturbing the four set-up cards. Hand the joker to a spectator and ask him to push it into the deck, part way. Cleanly break the deck at that point and reassemble it, but lay the two halves crosswise, "to mark the selected spot," taking care that the lower half goes on top the original top half. The spectator may elect to use either the lower card of the upper half or the upper card of the lower portion. This card is laid aside face down. Pick up the two halves of the deck and give them a riffle shuffle, returning the remaining three cards of the sequence to the top and bottom where they were before the selection. Once again the spectator inserts the joker in the deck. Remove it and repeat the same maneuver as before. Remove the two cards, one on either side of the break. Patter about the long arm of coincidence,