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P R E C U R S O R
LXII
This is PRECURSOR LXII and is published in January 1998. PRECURSOR is edited by William P. Miesel and is published by unikorn magik. 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 $18.00 (U.S.) for three issues. Outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, three issues are sent Air Mail for $20.00 (U.S.). This is another One-Man Issue of PRECURSOR, and all of the tricks and routines are from that young and very talented Conjuror, Michael DeMarco. In "Adverse Adventure" the four Aces are apparently lost in the deck singly and they then regroup at the climax. This routine is based on Ed Mario's "Adverse Aces" in Ibidem #27. "DeMarco's Universal" is a very convincing version of the Universal Card plot which has become a classic since it was introduced by Karl Fulves under the title "By Any Other Name" in the Pallbearer's Review - first folio in the Winter 1967-1968. Michael's "The Four Red Cards" is a nice quickie version of Fred Braue's "Homing Card" with a presentation that is very reminiscent of Edward Victor's "Eleven Card Trick." "Four The Hard Way" is a great trick to do in a session because it is not going to be reconstructed. "Head-To-Head Poker" is a very entertaining story type of poker deal. Even though it requires a rather elaborate set-up, it would be well worthwhile routining this into your set close-up act. "Double Hofzinser" is Michael's handling of the "Hofzinser Ace Problem." The basic effect is very briefly described in the Karl Fulves edition of J. N. HOFZINSER'S CARD CONJURING. Many variations on this effect can be found in the various manuscripts and periodicals. "Cards And Cubes" is a routine that uses both playing cards and dice. Even though it is based on the very old principle of the opposite sides of a die adding up to seven, this principle is very well disguised in this routine. Actually, the first time I saw Michael perform this routine on the video tape he sent, I could not fathom the exact method. "Top Floor - Please" is a very surprising handling of the Elevator Cards plot which began in June 1948 with Ed Mario's "Penetration" which appeared in the Sphinx and five years later in THE CARDICIAN and from there the plot just exploded. William P. Miesel January 1, 1998
ADVERSE ADVENTURE This routine came about after reading Edward Mario's "Adverse Aces" in Ibidem #27. The four Aces are lost in the deck and then reassemble in a surprising manner. 1. Lay out the four Aces in a face-up row on the table and then shuffle the rest of the deck. Now, deal three face-up cards in a backward spread on each Ace.
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2. Turn each of the Ace packets face down, end for end, squaring each while still holding the deck face down in the left hand. 3. Pick up the first packet on the left from above between the fingers at the outer end and the thumb at the inner end. Bring the packet over to the right side of the deck. 4. Using the Kardyro-Biddle style count, peel the four cards, one at a time, onto the top of the deck. Spread over the top three cards and retake the fan in the right hand and say, "Three random cards, and -" 5. Using the left side edge of the fan, flip the Ace face up on top of the deck and continue, "- The Ace." Flip the Ace back face down. 6. Extend the three card fan towards the spectator and invite him to touch the back of any one of the cards. Slide the touched card out of the fan onto the table in the same position where the Ace had previously lain. 7. Return the other two cards face down on top of the deck, getting a break under them. Triple Undercut the deck to the break losing the two uppermost cards on the bottom and bringing the Ace back to the top. 8. Pick up the second packet from the table and repeat steps #4 through #7. Then repeat steps #4 through #7 once more with the third packet. 9. The first three Aces are now face down on top of the deck. Get a break between them and the rest of the deck. I use the Tony Kardyro technique bringing the right hand over the top of the deck and with the forefinger, buckle the top three cards at the outer left corner. A little finger break can now be caught
as the uppermost three cards will buckle up at the inner right corner. 10. Pick up the fourth packet from above and apparently repeat the same procedure, but instead of performing the Kardyro-Biddle style count, actually perform the following Hamman-style count. 11. Bring the right hand over the deck and take all four cards as one on top of the deck; as the right hand moves away, it takes the three cards from above the break, the Aces, from under the top four cards. These three cards from the right hand are immediately Biddle counted onto the top of the deck. 12. Spread over the top three cards of the deck with the left thumb and take them in a fan in the right hand. Thumb over one more card, slip the left side of the fan under it, and flip it face up showing the fourth Ace. 13. Again, extend the right-hand fan and have the spectator point out one more card which is placed at the right end of the row. The first three cards in this row are random but the fourth one is an Ace. 14. Return the other two cards in the right hand back to the top of the deck and square up. The right hand comes over the top of the deck in readiness for another triple undercut. At this point, there are no breaks being held, but as the first third of the deck is undercut to the top, the right thumb retains a break between it and the original top of the deck. 15. A second third of the deck is now undercut to the top and finally, all of the cards below the right thumb break are undercut to the top. This retains the entire deck in order with the three Aces on top. 16. Obtain a left little finger break under the three Aces on top of the deck using the same Kardyro technique described in step #9. 17. The right hand gathers up the four tabled cards from above, picking them up one on top of the next from right to left. Once they are gathered up, the packet is held from above by the right hand in Biddle grip with the Ace on top. 18. Say, "You selected these four cards of your own free will - did I influence you in any way?" Repeat the Hamman Count from step #11 to get the four Aces to the top of the deck. 19. Spread over the top three cards and take them in a face-down fan in the right hand. Use the fan to flip the fourth card face up on top of the deck and say, "That's an Ace -" Thumb it off onto the table. 20 Do not return the three card fan to the deck but simply lower it to the table and with the right fingers, flip the bottom card of the fan face up on the table. Repeat with the other two Aces while saying, "- And that's an Ace, another Ace, and the last Ace!" Michael DeMarco