Vernon Lecture Magic Castle April 1, 1977 L&L
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Dai Vernon Lecture at the Magic Castle, April 1 st , 1977 (DVD from L&L Publishing as part of the 2012 commemorative set) Transcription and Notes by Roberto Giobbi, June 2011/February 2012 G = general remarks TH = theory T = technique S = subtlety E = effect A = anecdote P = presentation Category Content Comment G Tape starts without introduction. DV sits at the table in the “Parlour of Prestidigitation” “Be natural” is one of Dai Vernon’s most of the Magic Castle. misunderstood credos. By watching this and He says that in order to fool people you have to be natural and not use fancy moves, other lectures carefully it is easier to understand which are just exhibition of dexterity, not magic. than if reading the books, one of the few advantages of video. E/T Does vanish of a large ball (used as loads) by apparently transferring it from the right This double vanish is wonderful. I’ve never seen hand to his left hand and using the wand as protection. Repeats, but really places ball anybody except DV do this. The timing on the in left hand, then uses Silent Mora wand spin to vanish. This looks impossible, wand spin is incredible – it looks like real magic. absolutely beautiful. This is explained only briefly. E/T Shows a ball vanish used by Nate Leipzig , were a ball is pushed down into the left fist using the right thumb, and when the right hand moves away, it surreptitiously catches the ball falling from the hand – similar dynamics to the wand spin vanish just shown. Gives more details of handling of the ball vanish, quoting Slydini, “You must believe you’re holding the ball in your hand. When you then open the hand, you’ve got an effect. If you don’t believe it yourself, you can’t expect the audience to believe it.” E/T Does a retention of vision vanish , were the coin is held clipped between forefinger Very clear details of handling. and middle finger of the right hand and apparently placed into the left hand. Gives details of handling. Goes on to explain that you apply the same principle to the “standard” retention of vision vanish. G/A Asks for questions, but doesn’t even wait for them, saying, “OK, no questions, then we Very unfortunately the Professor doesn’t explain 1 pass to the poetry of magic. You know a very strange thing. A couple of days ago I was what he means by this, or what he thinks sitting upstairs in the lobby seat there, and a young fellow came up to me, and he said Hofzinser means by it. DV was an intuitive and you wrote an article about the poetry of magic, cards being the poetry of magic. So he very keen genius, but wasn’t an “intellectual”. I said what do you mean by that? And I said, well, those are not my words, those are the never heard him talk about such questions in words of the famous Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser. This young boy said to me, ‘What is depth. poetry about cards? I don’t see any poetry there.’ Poor boy, he was about 24 years old, In Genii for July 2011 I wrote an essay on the I said cards are the poetry of magic, don’t you know what poetry means? Poetry (and subject and have tried to answer the question I/unclear) can be poetic, there is a difference between prose and poetry. But he didn’t why card magic should be the poetry of magic. get the idea at all, he didn’t understand what I meant about cards being the poetry of magic. But anyway, I don’t want to discourse on this, I’ll take the two Jokers out of the deck…” T/S Says that he has no notes for the lecture, but that a little later he wants to answer That was the way he did most lectures, although questions to the best of his knowledge. he always had his great classics prepared. To watch him handle a double lift is a lesson in “I want to say something about one of the most terrible sins in our card magic.” Shows itself, but unfortunately he doesn’t comment on clumsy double lift , saying that if you turn over a card you don’t do it as if you were it. turning over a plank of wood. A card is a flimsy, light thing, you turn it over with a light Watch this several times… flip. Most are afraid of letting go of the double card and accompany the turnover with the hand – that looks terrible. “It gives me goose-pimples when I watch a person do that.” I wish I could have seen Daley! Dr. Daley said that you have to treat a card like a delicate flower. As far as I know, DV took piano lessons from Mentions Ray Grismer doing the double lift badly and saying to him, “Ray, do me a Grismer and in return taught him magic. favor, don’t tell anybody that I taught you how to do a double lift!” On the video this certainly looks very good, but if you hold a double just at its corner between Shows that a double card should be held with three fingers, but like a light, flimsy thing forefinger and thumb, the card has a tendency to at its inner right corner. split. So this handling is OK for parlor and stage, but not for close-up. Doesn’t do his DL from Stars of Magic . Check that out, it is very good. I didn’t understand how good that was until recently, shame on me… watch Jay Ose do it here (at 1:50 on timeline): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KQiuvX1xKI T Pull through shuffle . DV says he knows about 7 or 8 ways of doing the pull through He means “push through shuffle”, as opposed to shuffle. Mentions that in Stars of Magic he gave a simple push through shuffle (calls it “pull-out shuffle”, not a very good terminology “pull through”), but says he wants to mention a few important point on the regular push anyway… through: 2 • The visible “twisting” of the packets being pushes through each other has to be This is very well explained and filmed. avoided. In order to do this, the left packet is kept still , i.e. it doesn’t angle, it is the right packet that goes through the other. If you watch the top card of the pack, it never moves, and that’s what makes the illusion good. • Another point is to slightly lift the pushed through packet with the right hand and lightly slap it on the table, forward of the other packet, as if this packet came from the top, not from the center of the deck, you don’t just slide them out. Now demonstrates and explains his push through shuffle published in Ganson’s More Inner Secrets of Card Magic , p. 47, first paragraph. G When people applaud, he says, “No, this is very embarrassing, I don’t want to be He is referring to the fact that in the audience embarrassed.” there are some of the best in the business. Occasionally, when getting applause, he uses another favorite line of his: “Don’t Anyhow, you always learn from listening to a applaud. If you just nod your head that’s OK.” genius… T The best palm ever devised is the Erdnase top palm , because you can palm any number of cards as you put the pack down. The same action allows you to palm one card or several, even half the pack. Details the original version were the cards are picked up by the two little fingers, the right little finger leading. T Discusses the Erdnase bottom palm, 1 st method , in great detail, admonishing that the left fingers must not be moved. T Shows how to transfer cards palmed in the left hand and holding the deck, to the Will have to find the original description… right hand – attributes the technique to Hofzinser. The palmed cards are clipped by This looks amazing! bending the left middle finger and then straightening the fingers. You could do the same thing with the transfer Demonstrates a fantastic application, were you add the transferred cards to a table move, but doing it with the Hofzinser transfer will packet which is picked up. fool any expert. T Starts to talk about changes and mentions several variations from top and bottom. The A possible reason for going for the glass could Elliott top change is done by holding the card in end grip. be to remove something inside the glass in order Shows very convincingly how to manage the change, by first putting the card face to be able to put the card in the glass, back down on a glass, picking it up again in end grip, showing its face, doing the change, as towards the audience. the left hand moves forward to adjust the glass and the right hand freezes. The right hand then places its card back on the glass. This is shown in great detail. Emphasizes that the hands cross (actually they don’t cross , they meet) and that the card on top of the deck has to be pushed well off, so that it is ready for the change and the distance between the cards is minimized. TH “These are principles. I’m not trying to teach you tricks, I’m trying to teach you to apply That’s the way of the teacher, don’t give them these principles.” just a fish, teach them how to fish.