Pages from precursor no 52 39159

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P R E C U R S O R

LII

This is PRECURSOR LII and is published in January 1996. The editorial offices are at 2215 Myrtle Street, Erie, Pennsylvania, 16502-2643. PRECURSOR will be published more than 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.).

This is another "One-Man Issue;" all of the effects are from Joe Rindfleisch who is a good friend of Gene Maze. The influence of Gene Maze on the Magic of Joe Rindfleisch can be seen in these fine effects.

"The Rindfleisch Wild Card" is an excellent routine that uses a standard Wild Card set. In this routine, every card appears to be shown face and back more than once through the use of a couple of false deals along with some very subtle and deceptive handling.

"The Cooked Deck" is a very novel card discovery that requires some advance preparation, but the fun is well worth the little effort required.

Joe Rindfleisch's "Repeat Copper - Silver Transposition" is a smooth transposition effect that is repeated very rapidly four times. The moves that are used are not that difficult and only the one copper and one silver coins are used with no gimmicks.

"Four Is Twelve" is a variation of an effect that Joe Rindfleisch saw Dan Fischman perform. Joe added a very logical climax and changed the handling all around to accomodate the climax.

"Ten Mate" is a very simple routine that is a combination of a prediction and coincidental matching effect. This idea should have been thought of before this, but I cannot recall any effects using this principle in just this way.

"Sense of Touch" works from the premise of the "Magician Makes Good." The four Aces are discovered even though the spectators are under the impression that you missed. For the climax, the Aces change to the four Kings. The main ingredient of this routine is a single card switch that can be used in any number of other routines. This switch has many applications if you just think about it; for example, the card touch by a spectator can be switched for another card and thus can be utilized as a force.

One of my all time favorite routines is the "Homing Card." Joe Rindfleisch has an excellent version of this routine he calls the "Homing Ace" which has a surprising climax.

Joe Rindf leisch's "Ultra Clean Triumph" is a very easy version of that Dai Vernon classic that very cleanly shows face-up and face-down cards throughout the deck after the "Triumph" shuffle.

The "Ace Cutting Assembly" is a trick with a very pretty display at the climax

that makes use of the "Center Pass." In this trick, Joe uses a "Double Undercut from the Bottom to the Top;" I prefer a "Triple Undercut" - it has a more pleasing rhythm to it. Briefly, the right hand holds the deck from above and the thumb holds a break above the bottom card. Swing Cut about a third of the deck from the top to the bottom. Swing Cut another third of the deck from the top to the bottom - don't lose the break. Straight Cut the cards above the break to the bottom. I think this Triple Cut has a nice flow to it.

The "Mutilated Cigarette" uses most of the standard "Torn and Restored Cigarette" moves but it is totally impromptu and absolutely clean at the climax with no little piece to get rid of, and the cigarette appears to be full length.

"I Saw Your Card" takes the principle of the "Card Tunnel" and results in a combination of "Sawing A Card In Half" and a "Zig Zag Card." This is actually easier to perform than the "Card Tunnel."

William P. Miesel

Prometheus Books originally published Randi's FLIM FLAM in book form. Now they have available most of the book on cassette, read by Randi who brings life to the text. Of course, this is because of Randi's excellent speaking voice.

Published in December is VISIONARY CARD EFFECTS by William P. Miesel. Reviews should be great; I'm too close to the material to review it myself. Must say, however, that the format is very nice, being a superb companion volume to William's CREATIVE CARD MAGIC. Jerry Mentzer's "Magic Methods" is the publisher.

A new video, "Magic of the Sideshow", has just been released by Stevens' Magic Emporium. Todd Robbins from Coney Island is the performer-lecturer. The format is pretty much a lecture interspersed by demonstrations of the routines which are some of the "standard" acts of sideshow performers. The first part of the tape is performance-only, which is great with me. The second part is the teach-in.

I was impressed with the tape; it's a good watch.

The ads for Dale Salwak's new book, THE WONDERS OF SOLITUDE, show the cover of the book, but it appears to have been altered to indicate it was written by Salwak. Actually, he edited the book, selecting the quotes, as noted on the title page, and supplying the introduction.

I should mention that William Hjortsberg's book, NEVERMORE, is now available as a dramatization on audio cassettes. I mentioned a couple of issues ago that the book was a good read. Now, it's also a good listen.

It's the end of another year as I write this, and I'm still awaiting the second volume of IBIDEM. The first volume was published in 1993, and I understood that there would be three volumes published at yearly intervals. Well, ....

Ed Eckl

THE RINDFLEISCH WILD CARD This is a "Wild Card" routine in which faces and backs are fairly shown throughout the routine, yet a standard nine card set of Wild Cards is used.

For the sake of description, let's say the packet of cards consists of five regular cards, all Eights of Hearts, with regular backs. Place these five Eights of Hearts in a face-up packet on the table. The other four cards are doublefaced, Eight of Hearts/King of Spades. Place the four double-faced cards on top of the five face-up Eights of Hearts with the King of Spades sides up. The packet is now set for the performance and can be carried in an envelope or wallet until it is required.

1. In removing the packet of cards from the envelope, give a casual flash of the back of the packet and then place it face up into the left hand in dealing position. The packet is now counted from one hand to the other using the "Hamman Count," with a slight variation in the middle, to show eight Kings of Spades and one Eight of Hearts, the Wild Card.

2. Basically, the right hand comes over the packet and takes it from above between the thumb at the inner right corner and the forefinger at the outer right corner. One at a time, the left thumb peels the first four cards, the Kings, back face up into the left palm.

3. At this point, the Eight of Hearts is on the face of the right hand packet.

The switch is now made. The right hand takes the four Kings already counted between the thumb and the middle finger as the five card packet with the Eight of Hearts on top is left behind in the left hand.

4. The right hand comes back over the cards in the left hand, but before the left thumb peels the next King of Spades onto the top of the left hand packet, the tips of the right middle and ring fingers push the Eight of Hearts on the face of the left hand packet forward and out-jogging it about an inch.

5. As soon as this Eight of Hearts is out-jogged, the left thumb peels the King of Spades from the face of the right hand packet square on top of the left hand packet. Finally, the last three Kings of Spades are peeled, one at a time, from the right hand back onto the cards in the left hand.

6. The packet has been shown to consist of eight Kings of Spades and one Wild Card, the Eight of Hearts, which is out-jogged from the center of the King packet.

7. The right forefinger hits the left side of the out-jogged Eight of Hearts and moves to the right swinging it out of the packet and into the right hand between the thumb on the face and the forefinger on the back. The right hand drops the face-up Eight onto the close-up pad and then takes the King packet out of the left hand and drops it face up on top of the Eight.

8. Pick up the packet and replace it still face up in the left hand in dealing position. The first four cards, Kings of Spades, are now apparently dealt into