Pages from precursor no 32 39132

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A MAGAZINE OF INNOVATION WILLIAM P. MIESEL

PUBLISHED BY

tmikorn magik

P R E C U R S O R

X X X I I

This is PRECURSOR XXXII and is published in September 1991. The e d i t o r i a l offices are at 2215 Myrtle Street, Erie, Pennsylvania 16502. PRECURSOR w i l l be published at least three times a year, and it will be sold for $16.00 (U.S.) for three issues. Outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, three issues are sent Air Mail for $19.00 (U.S.).

Michael De Marco's "Boil The Water" is a somewhat simple routine that is based on Ed Mario's premise of "Oil And Water", but i t a c t u a l l y is the d i r e c t oppos i t e of that p l o t . This is the type of r o u t i n e that I am p a r t i a l to - I l i k e "Oil And Water" r o u t i n e s in which no e x t r a cards are used; only the eight blacks and the eight reds are used.

"Run-Upmanship" by Phil Goldstein is not a trick but another Nontransitive Game that uses number cards. Another idea along this line, in case you missed i t , is Nick Trost's "The Penney Paradox" in PRECURSOR XXVI. Every time Nick and I get together, we try to kick some of these ideas around, and if you take an i n t e r est along these l i n e s , do not miss out on Karl Fulves' SWINDLE AND CHEAT, available from him at P.O. Box 433, Teaneck, New Jersey 07666.

At FFFF last Spring, David Neighbors showed me three very v e r s a t i l e "SilverBrass Transpositions". These can be performed i n d i v i d u a l l y as l i t t l e i n t e r ludes between other coin effects, or they can be combined into a nice routine or added to other similar effects to form an even longer routine if desired.

"The Centrifugal Square" by Del Copley s t a r t s out using an old mathematical principle that w i l l c o n t r o l a card to e i t h e r the t e n t h , n i n e t e e n t h , twentyeighth, or thirty-seventh position from the top of the deck. The card is found using Ed Mario's "Miracle Spread" which originally appeared in Ibidem #20 but most recently can be found in "Centricity" in Larry Jennings' CLASSIC SECRETS. Howard P o r t ' s "Spectator Spells A Friend's Name" is a very simple s p e l l i n g effect in which the spectator seems to handle everything himself most of the time.

I t ' s somewhat of a different concept for PRECURSOR in that this effect is designed to play for real people rather than for magicians. Even so, there is enough different about t h i s effect to give you something to think about.

Ben Zottolo met Jim Lewis at the Close-Up Convention l a s t Spring, and they spent some time d i s c u s s i n g t h e i r d i f f e r e n t handlings of "Inversion".

They found out that there weren't really any major differences, but Ben feels that in his handling, the hands are kept a l i t t l e more open with much less cupping of them. Since this effect seems quite popular at this time, I am describing Ben's "A Diversion In Inversion".

I have a couple of thoughts on t h i s t r i c k ,

"Inversion"; e s s e n t i a l l y ,

I feel

it

i s not complete in i t s e l f .

A card i s s e l e c t e d , and the audience is led to believe that i t is going to turn face up; but i t doesn't - the rest of the deck does. This is quite surprising if the audience is properly set up for i t , but if the t r i c k ends r i g h t h e r e , the s p e c t a t o r has a b i t of a let-down because nothing happened to the card t h a t he s e l e c t e d . I t r e a l l y did not play a part in the e f f e c t other than i t is used for comparison purposes so the audience r e a l i z e s t h a t the deck t u r n s over.

I f e e l t h i s e f f e c t now needs a f u r t h e r phase, or even two, where something does e v e n t u a l l y happen to his s e l e c t e d card.

"A Further Thought On Acropacket" is Jack Birnman's ideas on Phil Goldstein's "Acropacket" which appeared in PRECURSOR XXIX. Jack's idea e l i m i n a t e s the double-backed card that is n e c e s s a r y in P h i l ' s h a n d l i n g , making t h i s a w e l l worthwhile thought.

"Choozee" by Paul Swinford is h i s handling of Alex Elmsley's "Choosey" from Ibidem #11. Paul has been performing "Choosey" since the f i f t i e s , so these various changes in handling have developed over a period of time.

Now, since "Choosey" has been reprinted in the COLLECTED WORKS OF ALEX ELMSLEY, it may get a renewal of l i f e from some of the younger magicians who may never have heard of i t before.

"Sweeping The Tele-Pathway" i s , as Jon Racherbaumer would say, a fix of Phil G o l d s t e i n ' s "Tele-Pathway" published in PRECURSOR XXX, and i t is from J e r r y Mentzer.

I l i k e the idea of e l i m i n a t i n g the s l i p s of paper and envelopes.

Each s p e c t a t o r can be given a card cut from p o s t e r board and a f e l t - t i p p e d marker; the size of these cards can vary depending on the size of the audience.

One further thought that I had on the design duplication used for the routine finale - why not rework the presentation of Phil Goldstein's "Exodice" from the same PRECURSOR to make i t f i t t h i s routine.

This is probably a good time to mention that we w i l l be at the NYCAN the end of October and then at Close Encounters the following weekend. If you will be in a t t e n d a n c e at e i t h e r of t h e s e e v e n t s , be sure to look us up at the PRECURSOR Suite.

William P. Miesel

A S T R O L O G Y

I S

T A U R U S

BOIL THE HATER

This is a very d i f f e r e n t handling of Ed Mario's "Oil And Water". In my handling, the reds and the blacks are openly a l t e r n a t e d , and then a variety of open procedures are applied in an attempt to disarrange the order, but s t i l l the colors remain alternated.

1.

Begin the effect by removing a l l of the Sixes, Sevens, Eights, and Nines from the deck, and set the remainder of the cards aside.

2.

Separate these sixteen cards into two packets, one containing the eight red cards and the other the eight black cards. Place these two packets face up on the table next to each other, end for end, with the long sides of the cards parallel to the rear edge of the table.

3.

The cards are now apparently a l t e r n a t e d very openly, but a c t u a l l y , they are brought into an entirely different order. With the left hand, lift the top black card from the left hand packet and, at the same time, pick up the top red card with the right hand. Place the black spot card on the face of the red spot card, turn the pair of cards face down, and place them on the table behind the two face-up packets.

4.

Again pick up the top black card with the left hand and the top red card with the right hand. This time, though, place the red spot card on the face of the black spot card, turn the two cards face down, and drop them on top of the first two cards.

5.

Pick up the next two cards from the two face-up packets. Again, place the black card on the face of the red card, and turn the pair face down, dropping them on the face-down packet.

All the while p a t t e r about a l t e r n a t i n g the colors of the cards.

6.

Continue t h i s procedure throughout the remainder of the face-up cards.

Next, the red card goes on the face, then the black card goes on the face, etc.

At the conclusion of this alternating procedure, the audience should believe that the cards are alternated in black-red order, but the actual order will be: B - R - R - B - B - R - R - B - B - R - R - B - B - R - R - B