mflGfizme OF innovnTion XCI
PRECURSOR
XCI
This is PRECURSOR XCI and is published in June 2004. 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). unikorn magik can be reached through Ed Eckl, "'Clutter Cottage." 3 Gregg Street. Beverly. Massachusetts, 01915-2913 (phone 1-978-927-9388). 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.). Al Thatcher has been a very good friend for almost forty years, and he has contributed some fine effects and routines to Precursor over the years. Now, here is a complete issue of his intriguing routines, which I am sure that you are going to enjoy. Let's start out this issue with some "Tips on the Breather Crimp." one of Al Thatcher's favorite stratagems. Al uses the Breather Crimp in "To Each His Own." Two spectators are able to find their own selected cards with its aid along with a variation of Karl Fulves' "Gemini Twins" from More Self- Working Card Tricks. I am sure that all of you are familiar with Herb Zarrow's "Revolving Aces" in Harry Lorayne's Close-Up Card Magic. One of the first uses that Al Thatcher developed with a breathercrimped card was a "Get Ready" for the "Revolving Aces." Only the "Get Ready" is described here since everyone reading this must have Close-Up Card Magic and has read "Revolving Aces." In his "Miracle Quad-Prediction," Al pulls off an amazing multiple prediction that is near impossible for any magicians in the audience to reconstruct. "Predict-A-Pair" is an Al Thatcher prediction utilizing playing cards based on Martin Gardner's "Paradox Papers" in The Pallbearer's Review, Vol. 6 #9. Karl Fulves called Martin's trick, "a rare commodity, a new magical principle." "Elimination Location - With Ace Separation" eliminates the Set-up of the Aces on top of the deck and three of the four running Overhand Shuffles in Lin Searles' "Moracle" from The Pallbearers Review, Vol. 6 #9. With "Two Card Transpo," the classic transposition can be performed impromptu without the need of any duplicates. This is one of the first tricks to which Al added his own touches many years ago, and he still likes to perform it. In the event that you like the "Spelling Bee" as much as Al Thatcher does and have as much trouble remembering the set-up as he does, then "To Set Up the Spelling Bee" is just the ticket. Al used principles derived from the "Five Card Mental Test" in order to spell to four mentally thought-of cards in his "Four-Way Mental Speller." Al Thatcher patters about Black Jack Card Counters in a pseudo lightning calculator effect entitled "The Card Counter." The "Gilbreath Principle" is the modus operandi.
"Much Further Than That" is Al Thatcher's handling and presentation of Stewart James1 classic "Further Than That" from Jinx #134. "The Ambitious Sevens & Eights" is Al Thatcher's answer to the many "Mini-Ambitious Card" routines that became very popular in the 1970's and are still popular today. This one started me to thinking. Forty or fifty years ago, Tally-Ho Playing Cards were very popular with magicians. About that time, Henry Christ came up with a different sort of spelling trick that had to be performed with Tally-Ho cards. Naturally, it was called "Tally-Ho" and was published by Harry Lorayne in Reputation Makers. At this point in time. Bicycle Playing Cards are the universally accepted cards among magicians, and Al Thatcher has routined the trick to be performed with Bicycle cards; hence, the title "Bicycle." Al Thatcher's "Triple Miracle Divination" is what appears to be an impossible discovery of three cards that are being thought of by three spectators. William P. Miesel
ED cetera I hope you tried Jay Marshall's "Two Part Test"' which we printed in Precursor XC. If you did, I'm sure you enjoyed performing it and got a good response. If you haven't tried it. please do so. It's a fun bit to intersperse into a series of magician tricks. Cesareo Pelaez has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by the Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, Mass. According to The Salem News, college President Stan Trecker said, "His art form is a different one than we specialize in at Montserrat, (But) it is indeed an art form." It was in 1976 that Pelaez organized his Company which purchased The Cabot Street Cinema Theatre in Beverly. His show, "Le Grand David and His Own Spectacular Magic Company" was bom in 1977, and now. if my reckoning is correct, it is performing in its twenty-eighth year. Quite a run! Oh, yes, the Company purchased a second theatre, and there they perform an entirely different show, "An Anthology of Stage Magic". Congratulations, Cesareo. Whilst still working, I made up some note paper with the expression "EXCEED THE EXPECTATION" printed at the top. I guess I tried to do that throughout my later years as a chemist. I hadn't learned it yet in my early stages. I think this could be a great motto for magicians, too. Perhaps one could slightly play down the advertising and promotional material, and then give an extra gift of a really good performance. I used this philosophy during my later years of performing, but early o n . . . . oh . . . how good I thought I was! A "Reflection for the day" from The Boston Globe: "I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way." ... Franklin P. Adams Ed Eckl