Pages from precursor no 20 39124

A MAGAZINE OF INNOVATION EDITED BY

WILLIAM P. MIESEL

PUBLISHED BY

unikorn magik

PRECURSOR

XX

This is PRECURSOR XX and is published in June 1988. The editorial offices are at 2215 Myrtle Street, Erie, Pennsylvania 16502. PRECURSOR will be published at least three times a year, and i t w i l l be sold for $13.00 (U.S.) for three i s s u e s . Outside the United States and Canada, three issues are sent Airmail for $16.00 (U.S.).

This is the special issue that I b r i e f l y mentioned in PRECURSOR XVIII. One morning last September, at about 5 A.M., I crawled s l e e p i l y out of bed to answer the telephone. I t was Michael Skinner. We then talked for about an hour or longer. During that conversation he mentioned that he had four or five effects and would like them to appear as an issue of PRECURSOR. I did not think that t h i s would f i l l a complete issue, and I did not want to pad i t .

Michael's old friend from his Rochester days, Bob King, had been sending me considerable material for p u b l i c a t i o n .

I suggested a combined "Michael Skinner - Bob King Issue"; Michael and Bob both thought that this was a great idea.

I s t a r t e d working on Bob's material immediately, and Michael, who is always busy, finally managed a few spare hours on Easter Sunday to make an audio tape of his five excellent tricks. So here is The Rochester Connection PRECURSOR. If I were a working magician, I would surely include the "Mona Lisa Card Trick" in my act. Both the effect and the method are so clean and straightforward that it would have to r e g i s t e r p o s i t i v e l y on any audience. I t should be mentioned here that Karrell Fox described an effect using his Matchbook Easel in Apocalypse, Vol. 11, #2; but the only similarity is the way that the book of matches is used.

"Aces Out Of Another Dimension" is an effect that is going to find favor with many of the highly s k i l l e d as it requires some proficiency in performing a "Bottom Deal". Michael comments that he does not always use the same bottom deal and sometimes even varies and uses different deals during the course of the trick; but he generally uses the "Erdnase Bottom Deal" since it is the one that he is most proficient with. It should be mentioned that Michael has been doing this for several years now, but John Carney recently released his "Aust r a l i a n Aces" in CONJURING CON CARNE which is a s i m i l a r type effect for l o cating four Aces. Of course, there are other s i m i l a r effects such as Ed Mario's "Spectator Cuts And Counts To ", including Bill Kalush's method in PRECURSOR, but this is s t i l l a different matter.

Torn and Restored Paper Tricks have always been popular with both magicians and audiences.

Michael's "Torn And Restored Straw Wrapper" is absolutely perfect for bar and restaurant workers, because this type of straw is readliy available

at all times. The steal of the duplicate wrapper is very natural and clean ... it is just incredible!

Under the heading of "Skinning The Fat Off The Bone", you w i l l find two real c l a s s i c s that Michael has been performing for quite a long time, and he has honed them down to the real meat. The f i r s t of these is "Nate Leipzig's Slap Aces", which can be found in DAI VERNON'S TRIBUTE TO NATE LEIPSIZ and also in EXPERT CARD TECHNIQUE. Complete details should be learned from these sources and then Michael's ideas applied to them. Also, a good description of the "Stanyon Top Card Cover Pass" can be found in Mario Magazine, Volume 2.

The other classic that Michael has reworked under the above t i t l e is the "Conus Aces". The best description of t h i s effect can be found in Professor Hoffmann's TRICKS WITH CARDS, although there is an adequate description in MODERN MAGIC. Under no circumstances rely upon the description in ROYAL ROAD TO CARD MAGIC, because Hugard and Braue saw f i t to eliminate the beautiful "Brush Change" of the Aces which is what Michael b u i l t his routine on and instead, kept a l l of the sucker material which is what Michael eliminated from his routine. The "Mechanical Reverse" can be found in Ken Krenzel's special issue of Epilogue and also in THE CARD CLASSICS OF KEN KRENZEL. Of course, Michael's patter is only appropriate for a resident of Las Vegas, but a slight change can be made in the story by t e l l i n g of your vacation and how you entertained the bartenders and waitresses at the Four Queens Hotel and this was the trick that they liked the best.

Bob King's section of this PRECURSOR s t a r t s out with "Mind Mirror Memory".

There have been many different routines in print through the years in which a deck of cards has been apparently memorized, but I feel that "Mind Mirror Memory" is one of the best of these pseudo memory tricks that I have ever seen.

The two riffle shuffles make it very convincing.

Bob King's "Triple Deck" is a great repeat sandwich t r i c k that I am r e a l l y taken with. It uses a double-faced card, but i t is not in the deck at the beginning of the routine, and i t is out of the deck, again, at the climax. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of a "Repeat Card To Pocket" that I contributed to the Pallbearer's Review, Vol. 7, # 10. A super routine!!

Bob King's "Holdout" is a very interesting effect. The premise of a packet of four Aces and a packet of four cards of some other value changing places has always excited me. I t seems that the most popular version of this effect is Peter Kane's "Jazz Aces", probably because i t is so easy to do. Basically, this is what "Holdout" is, but because of the different patter line, the effect seems quite different.

I find the handling very interesting; my only problem with it seems to be to remember the exact sequence of the different spreads and counts.

Gosh, i t ' s been a long time since I f i r s t met Michael and Bob. I t was in October 1965. I attended the NYCAN Convention in Rochester, NY, and both Eddie

Fechter and Bill Okal told me to make it a point to meet them.

At that time, Mike Rogers was serving with the Navy at Guantanamo, and I wrote him a very lengthy l e t t e r describing that convention. The Night-Before Party was q u i t e unbearable, and Obie suggested t h a t we go over to the Royal Palm, which was the bar where Bob King worked. Bob did magic behind the bar, supposedly unbeknown to the owner, who hated magic. There was a small group of us, and Michael was already there. This was my introduction to both Michael and Bob. The highlight of that mediocre convention was the Close-Up Show. Three of the four performers were Michael Skinner, Bob King, and Ron Zollweg. So this was also my i n i t i a l introduction to Ron, who has become a very close friend.

Michael's close-up act consisted of the Cups and Balls, Jardine Ellis Ring on a String, a series of coin vanishes and reproductions, Chink-A-Chink with dollar b i l l s with paper clips, Gypsy Thread, and Magician Vs. Gambler. These are a l l classics, and I am sure that Michael is s t i l l performing them today; although I am sure that he has made refinements over the years.

The thing that amazes me about Michael is that once he has mastered a t r i c k , he does not forget i t . Most magicians learn a trick, perform i t for awhile, and then tend to forget i t . Michael never forgets a t r i c k - his r e p e r t o i r e cons i s t s of l i t e r a l l y thousands of t r i c k s .

On the final night, Michael had a small party out at his home that turned into a heavy session. Michael Skinner, Bob King, Ron Zollweg, Bill Okal, Bill Dunn, Lou Gallo, Obie, and Roy Cottee were a l l in attendance, and the magic went on all night.

Over the next couple of years, Michael and I corresponded quite regularly, and we also got together frequently at the Forks Hotel. Then in 1967, Michael moved west. On his way, he stopped on the Thruway and called. My father told me this when I got home from work. I often wonder if that had been my day off, would I have dropped everything like he did and gone with him?

Through the years we have always t r i e d to keep in touch and s t i l l are good friends today.

William P. Miesel May 16, 1988

William has put together a really super issue of PRECURSOR in this "Rochester Connection" number. This exceptional magic of two old friends brought together by a mutual friend is sure to s t i r the c r e a t i v e j u i c e s of our r e a d e r s . And what a t h r i l l it is for me to be a part of PRECURSOR ... even though I'm always fighting deadlines and time shock. Well, that's my fault ....

Ed Eckl