Pages from precursor no 82 39197

ftSOR n mnGnzine OF innovnTion LXXXII

PRECURSOR

LXXXII

This is PRECURSOR LXXXII and is published in May 2002. 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 (phone 1-814-454-8802). PRECURSOR will be published more than three times a year, and it will be sold for $21.00 (U.S.) for three issues.

Outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, three issues are sent Air Mail for ($25.00 U.S.).

Hideo Kato has provided some very interesting routines in the past several issues of PRECURSOR, and now Max Maven introduces Hideo Kato to our readers, and then Phil Goldstein contributes "Spud," which is an impromptu spelling routine with a shuffled deck, a premise that I've been working on for years. This is followed with another eleven routines from Hideo Kato, all of which are quite different.

Now from Hideo Kato here is "The Partner," an interesting card routine with a gambling theme.

Technically, it is very simple, but it does require the use of some single-digit numbers and firstgrade arithmetic.

In "Cross Locators," Hideo Kato finds a selected card with the aid of the Ace to Four of Diamonds. This effect is accomplished without the use of any sleights, unless you want to use your favorite Pass or Side Steal to control the selected card.

Longtime readers will remember that about a dozen years ago we ran a number of different versions of the "Red Card." "Circular Red Prediction" is Hideo Kato's solution that uses his "Circle Force" in combination with the original principles of the "Red Card."

Hideo Kato's "Psychic Queen" is an effect that combines Simon Aronson's "UnDo Influence" and the "Twenty-Six Card Key Card" under the guise of the "Whispering Queen."

"Static Stick" is just an interlude between regular tricks and routines - almost a throwaway.

Even though it is quite simple, it is going to require some practice and playing to make it look natural and normal.

Hideo Kato's "Two Card Prediction," a very simple prediction of two cards, is an interesting variation of a Nick Trost double prediction.

In "Spinning Cut" a card is glimpsed by a spectator and the deck is now tossed on the table.

Then the selection is immediately produced. '"Do As I Do' A La Gergonne'" is Hideo Kato's version of the "27/21 Card Trick" developed

by Joseph Diez Gergonne in 1813. This routine is a two-deck handling and is presented as a "Do As I Do" challenge between the spectator and the performer. This routine reads like it is quite complex, but if you actually run through it a couple of times, you will find it quite simple, and it will surely fool any cardman who hasn't see it here.

"All the Thirteens" is Hideo Kato's impromptu version of Peter Duffie's "All the Fives" and is a prediction, apparently gone wrong, but all comes out well in the end.

Hideo Kato's "Sticky interesting in any trick packet held in the left appeared in Apocalypse

Thumb" is a bit of jugglery that requires a knack and should prove where a number of cards are going be picked up, one-at-a-time, into a hand. This pick-up is similar to Marv Long's "Sticky Cards," which Vol. 3 #2.

In "Mini-Triumph," Hideo Kato offers a small packet version of "Triumph" where all of the action apparently takes place in the spectator's hands.

William P. Miesel

Bill, In Precursor #11 ... Feb. 2001, page 21 ... Ed Eckl wrote ...

Yet Another l/41y At the end ... he said he wished he could have used Washington instead of Minnesota because of Washington's face on the quarter.

Here's a way to do that!

Same as in Ed's effect, the selection is controlled to the top!

Say, "Washington is on the quarter, let's spell Washington."

As this is being said, get a break under the top 2 cards.

Deal the double to the table on W, then deal singles .. A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N. Turn over the last card dealt asking if it's the selection.

Upon hearing a negative answer, discard that card onto the deck.

Pick up the pile of spelled cards and drop them back onto the deck.

Turn over the selected quarter showing Virginia, and say, "There's the problem, we have to spell Virginia."

Let the spectator spell V-I-R-G-I-N-I-A, then look at the next card. It will be the selection.

The time lapse between the first card and the actual selection being found will cover the discrepancy of looking at the last card dealt the first time, and the next card at the end!

Can we call this: Eckl/Craven/Washington l/41y?

Or simply: Washington l/41y torn craven

INTRODUCING HIDEO KATO I am pleased to write an introduction to this special issue of Precursor, composed of ideas from the fertile mind of my friend Hideo Kato.

The western magic world first became aware of his name back in 1969, when "Kato's Card Happening" was published in Genii magazine. This caused quite a stir. Imagine the instantaneous appearance of a playing card under normal close-up conditions. Ordinary cards.

No hidden equipment, no magnets, no threads, no gimmicks. Just a delicate blend of sleight of hand, timing, and audacious psychology. Upon first reading, I think most cardmen had much the same reaction as I did: "It's a fascinating idea, but can it really look good?" It could - and it still does.

Hideo Kato's start in magic occurred at the age of thirteen, when he came upon a magic counter in a Tokyo department store. Although he explored the possibility of a career in computers, working in data processing during his twenties, in 1978 things came full circle when he joined the creative team at Tenyo, the very company whose department store display had kindled his interest in the first place.

The company was started in 1930, by stage magician Tenyo Shoukyokusai. During the 1960's, the corporate presidency was taken over by the founder's son, Akira Yamada, under whose guidance a significant presence in the international game and puzzle market was established.

But the company's first love was magic, and during the latter part of the 1970's, Kato, along with such imaginative colleagues as Hiroshi Kondo and Shigeru Sugawara, began devising those extraordinarily clever plastic contraptions that have become best-sellers worldwide. Some of the most successful items have been Kato's, including "The Wandering Hole" (1980), a startling approach to the movable hole plot; and "Mindscanner" (1991), a delightfully devious messagereading device. My personal favorite is probably "Ultraslice" (1982), a baffling penetration of a card through a box of cigarettes using an ancient topological quirk, well known to all magicians, but in a completely new way.

His magical expertise is not limited to plastic gimcracks; he was the primary force behind the translation of the entire Tarbell Course into Japanese. But clearly, his passion is card magic, and his productivity in this field is bountiful. Given this, plus his background in data processing, it was entirely appropriate that when Dai Vernon met him in 1981, the Professor dubbed Hideo Kato "Mr. Computer."

In the mid-1990's, when I was helping with the editing of Genii, I was contacted by Kato with an unusual problem: He had been creating too many card tricks, and needed a place to publish them! That, of course, is a magic magazine editor's dream, and we began running a Kato trick almost every month. But his output greatly exceeded the publishing schedule, and he asked me to recommend other periodicals where he might find additional homes for his creations. It was my pleasure to connect him with Bill Miesel, which in turn has benefited the readers of Precursor.

Well, of course I am also a Precursor reader. So, for that reason, I'm going to stop writing now so that, like you, I can turn the page and enjoy more novel ideas from Hideo Kato.

Max Maven