circular
the magic
MAGAZINE OF THE MAGIC CIRCLE JANUARY 2007
John Derris
A Good Friend of Magic
THE MAGIC CIRCLE
CLOSE-UP MAGICIAN
OF THE YEAR
12 FEBRUARY 2007
To enquire about entering contact: Scott Penrose
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THE MAGAZINE OF THE MAGIC CIRCLE
Issue 1086 Volume 101 January 2007
circular
the magic
Features
9
12
Simplex Oil and Water – Paul Gordon
John Derris: A Good Friend of Magic –
15
16
The Magic Circle Awards Banquet – Matthew Field
The Future’s Bright, The Future’s YMC –
Matthew Field
Page 13
Mandy Davis
Regulars
2
3
5
6
8
10
19
20
Page 16
President’s View – Alan Shaxon
News
Letters to the Editor
Adopt, Adapt and Improve – Walford Taylor
One Step Beyond – Ali Bongo
The Cecil Lyle Award – Chris Wardle
Clever Devil Corner – Harold Cataquet
A Rich Cabinet of Magical Curiosities –
Dr. Edwin A. Dawes
Page 24
23
24
26
28
30
32
Conjurors Collect – Tim Reed
Club Night Events – Mandy Davis
Circular Mentalism – Ian Rowland
In Review
Council Minutes
Forthcoming Club Events
Page 28
Cover
John Derris
Published by The Magic Circle
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Copyright © 2007 by The Magic Circle. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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of The Magic Circle unless specifically stated. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of all
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responsibility for any errors or omissions.
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following month’s issue and should be sent via email or on computer disk whenever possible.
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accepted for any loss or damage, however so caused.
Circular reasoning
Happy New Year! For
those of you who are
working magicians, I
hope your holiday
season was both
profitable and
enjoyable. For those
of us whose idea of performing is
showing we can properly carve a
turkey or a goose, well, maybe it’s
time to hop on the scale and make
a serious New Year’s resolution.
As we begin Volume 101 of this
journal I am prompted to remind you
that The Magic Circular is a collection
of the magical thoughts of our
members. If you have an article or
trick which you think would be of
interest to other members, I
encourage you to contact me.
Contributors this month include
John Derris, whose writing and photos
have often graced these pages. Ali
Bongo begins an occasional series,
‘One Step Beyond’ which tries to take
Al Baker’s dictum that ‘Magicians stop
thinking too soon’ and go the extra
distance. Chris Wardle has a Cecil Lyle
entry and Paul Gordon shares an easyto-do card trick that has great impact.
There is a report from Mandy Davis on
our Young Magicians Club, I take a
look at The Magic Circle Awards
Banquet, and Eddie Dawes, Ian
Rowland, Harold Cataquet, and Tim
Reed join our President, Alan Shaxon
in sharing their thoughts. Walford
Taylor provides the first part of an
intriguing look at mentalist impression
devices. Reviews, news, letters,
Council minutes and a look at
forthcoming Club events complete
this January bonanza.
Happy reading!
President’sview
s we start another New Year, let me first of all
sincerely thank all of those who gave up their
holiday time to make The Magic Circle Christmas
Show another sell-out success. It is a fine example of
how TMC and the CMA combine to bring our art to the
public, and keep our HQ busy and profitable.
We can look back upon another very enjoyable
Awards Banquet, and to congratulate those whose
achievements were recognised during this highlight of
our social calendar. It has been another busy year for
John Fisher, following the mammoth task involved in
producing our Centenary Celebrations in 2005, and I
was delighted that David and Barbara Baldwin could be
with us from the USA to see John presented with the
Devant Award which they so generously instigated. The
`Maskelyne` to Alan Alan was soon afterwards followed
by celebrations of his 80th birthday, both landmark
occasions in his adventurous and magical life.
It was good to see that Duncan Trillo received the
award for literature, the J.N. Maskelyne Prize for his
popular Magicweek, giving recognition to the new form
of internet magazine that is so much part of our new
technology. I was also delighted to present our Silver
Wands to Peter Lane, our dedicated Librarian, Diane
O’Brien who makes such a success of our “Meet The
Magic Circle” events, and to David Baldwin for his
extraordinary support in all our endeavours. His gift to
the Society of a rare and valuable Robert-Houdin Clock is
yet another example of his extreme generosity, and this
is now proudly on display in our Devant Room.
Few people in the history of our Society have given
more time to our progress than Derrick Speight, who
recently retired after an unprecedented 46 years on the
Council, and the presentation of an engraved pewter
bowl was but a small token of all our appreciation.
David and Joy Ball worked very hard on all the
arrangements, only for David to suffer an unfortunate
accident a few days before and they had to miss it
all. Hopefully he will have recovered in time to have
taken the helm during the Christmas Show. Two
dates after that you should add to your diaries are
Wednesday, 14 March 2007, back at the Imperial
Hotel, Russell Square, for the Annual Supper, and
Saturday 17 November for the next Banquet.
During the past month we have welcomed three new
A
2 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
members to our highest MIMC Degree with Gold Star.
Loki is a past Magic Circle Stage Magician of the Year
and busily working on cruise ships at present, Barrie
Richardson from the USA will be well known to all
who favour mentalism, and Paulo Giua was recently
here at Eastbourne with his superbly polished
manipulative act. Graham Reed has retired after some
years carrying out the arduous task of Examinations
Secretary, and we thank him for his devotion to raising
the standards of our members. At the same time we
welcome Rob Cox who has taken on this important
post. Rob was previously involved with our examinees
as the Associates Liaison Officer, and with David Tomkins
carrying on as the Deputy, our examinations will still
be in good hands.
Like most magicians, I cannot think of a day passing
since my early teens when a pack of playing cards was
not at hand to be fanned, invisibly passed, or otherwise
manipulated in one way or another. There are, however,
countless other people, maybe more normal than the
rest of us, who have a love of the cards for quite
different purposes. They were in bygone days often used
for writing upon, being cheaper than notepaper. Used
for writing messages, shopping lists and other notes,
these are sought after collectables and we recently
attended a lecture on this “Secondary Use of Playing
Cards”, as guests of The Worshipful Company of Makers
of Playing Cards. It was indeed most fascinating, and
now I am looking forward to being installed as a
Freeman of this Company, so I shall ensure that my
Nudist Deck is on board to show the experts how we
print our own cards!
I hope that the festive season has been a happy and
prosperous one for all our members, and that the New
Year will be all we can hope for in the months ahead.
Happy New Year and best wishes to you all.
Sincerely,
[email protected]
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Circular news
Magic Circle Members
Win Top Prizes at
MacMillan Convention
not gospel magic! I try to allow
my magic to ‘speak for itself’
so it can evoke wonder and
Congratulations to the two top mystery and carry people into
an experience of what we
prize winners at the 35th
MacMillan International Magic might call ‘the numinous’. I
Convention competiton. Derren want my magic to challenge
and provoke but also to warm
Brown presented the top
award of £1000 and the Kevin people’s hearts and allow them
to see that the real magic is
Reay Trophy to Marc Oberon.
inside them.’ The book, at
Second place and £500 went
£9.99, will be available from
to James Brown, the current
Magic Circle Close-up Magician most booksellers or from
Amazon.co.uk
of the Year.
Thomas Solomon
Escapes Again
Member
and former
Magic
Circular
columnist
Thomas
Solomon
used his
escape
act as a
promotion
for a
mobile phone service (that’s cell
phone in the US) in Portland,
Oregon in December.
Suspended upside down some
250 feet in the air, Thomas’s
straitjacket escape was
expected [at press time] to be
hampered by the extremely
cold weather experienced in
the Pacific northwest during
the winter months.
Gospel of Falling Down
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Magic has been featured in
movies once again, as The
Prestige opened in the UK.
Directed by Christopher Nolan
(Memento, Batman Begins)
the thriller tells the tale of two
Victorian-era magicians (Hugh
Jackman and Christian Bale)
whose rivalry builds into an
escalating battle of tricks and
an unquenchable thirst to
uncover the other’s trade
secrets. The results
are dangerous, deadly and
deceptive. Also in the cast are
Michael Caine, Scarlett
New Examinations
Secretary Rob Cox
Congratulations to Robert Cox
AIMC who has been appointed
as The Magic Circle’s new
Examinations Secretary
succeeding Graham Reed
MIMC who stood down from
the post in September 2006.
“Graham has done a superb
job”, commented Rob, “and I
will be building on his success
to maintain our high standards
of membership”. Rob can be
contacted on 0208 236 0193
and at
[email protected]
David Tomkins MIMC continues
as Deputy Examinations
Secretary.
stage with him, and their
responses to Henry brought
peels of laughter from the
audience. As for my part, I am
still impressed with the
tremendous response from the
audience, towards the end of
the show, when I threw my
cane to the stage and
performed the De Kolta Chair
with David. Where does the
energy come from when we
are on stage?“
Not So Elementary,
Alan Watson
Member Alan Watson was
honoured by being presented
with two of New Zealand’s
most prestigious entertainment
Henry Lewis with Le
awards in the same week. At
Grand David
the 28th New Zealand
International Magician’s
Cesareo Pelaez, who portrays
the
Magi
in
the
famous
Convention in Palmerston
Marco
Le Grand David show in
North, Alan was presented
Beverly, Massachusetts, writes: with “The Grand Master of
“Henry Lewis made two guest
Magic Award”, the supreme
appearances on the stages of
award for excellence for a New
Le Grand David in November,
Zealand magician. Then, The
including a twenty-minute solo Variety Artists Club of New
as part of the long-running
Zealand presented Alan with
‘Anthology of Stage Magic’ to
the Golden
an audience that included
Benny Award for
many magic collectors who
lifetime
were attending the New
achievement,
England Magic Collectors
New Zealand’s
Association. They gave him
highest award
strong ovations and expressed
for any
their
hearty
appreciation
at
a
entertainer. The
Johansson, and David Bowie as
reception following the show.
Benny is named
the groundbreaking electrical
He also performed at the
after Edgar
genius Nikola Tesla. The
‘Technical Advisers/Magic’ were Cabot Street Cinema Theatre in Benyon, a
leading New
the second half of Le Grand
Ricky Jay and Michael Weber.
Zealand magician
David’s regular Sunday
who toured the world in the
Norm Nielsen
matinee. Phil Willmarth,
Honoured by IBM Ring president-elect of the IBM, who first half of the twentieth
century. Alan’s Magic New
On 4 December the Fantasma
saw both shows, said that
Zealand can be subscribed to
IBM Ring #257 in Las Vegas
Henry performed with
for free at
honoured member Norm Nielsen distinction and humour. His
http:www.watson.co.nz.
as its Magician of the Year. The volunteers had a lot of fun on
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 3
▲
Reverend Mark Townsend, a
Member of this Society, will
have his book The Gospel of
Falling Down published later
this month by John Hunt
Publishing. Rev. Townsend
thought the book would
interest
magicians
because “It
is a spiritual/
self-help
book written
from the
perspective of
a magician
who is also a
priest. This is
The Prestige
show celebrating the event
featured Jeff Hobson, Amazing
Johnathan, Johnny Thompson,
Kevin James, Goldfinger &
Dove, Fielding West, and the
legendary Carl Ballantine, with
music by Michael Close.
Congratulations to Norm!
4 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
news
Roy Baker
Sad to report that well-known
magician, author and dealer
Roy Baker, whose real name
was Geoffrey R. H. Hursell,
died on 10 November. He
performed a stage hypnotism
act and invented the oftenused PATEO (Pick Any Two,
Eliminate One) card force as
well as the Fez Egg Bag,
among many other creations.
His magic was described by
Hugh Miller in Baker’s Bonanza
(1969) and in his own Baker’s
Capers (1983). He sold his
dealership to Supreme in 1976.
BBC Looking for
Magicians
The following was received
from BBC One: ‘Calling All
Talent for a New Prime Time
Saturday Night Show’. Do you
have an unforgettable, jaw
dropping, gob smacking talent?
We are on the look out for the
next big thing to take part in a
brand new BBC One Show.
Whatever your act we want
to meet you, everything
considered: Acrobats,
magicians, speciality acts,
singers, dancers. If you think
you have that extra wow to
entertain an audience. call
08700 100 670 or e-mail
[email protected].
Gilbert, Sullivan, Fortune
& Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore at
the Epsom Playhouse this
month, in Epsom, Surrey. James
says that the production, by
the Leatherhead Operatic
Society, ‘bristles with spectacle,
comedy and – yes – magic!’
The show runs from 23 – 27
January and tickets are
available from the box office,
07787 870012 or
www.los.uk.com.
James Fortune AIMC is directing
his updated version of Gilbert
Letters to the Editor
About the John Fisher
Interview
Our congratulations to John Fisher on
receiving this year’s Devant award. Whilst
we agree with many of John’s comments
in your timely interview with him last
month, he also made some statements
which we feel should be corrected in this
forum for the record.
John said that “just about every night,
apart from Club Nights and the occasional
special event, our building is empty”. This
is not the case. In fact, this month there
are only two available dates when the
building is not being used for a Club
event or commercial business.
We agree that we need to engage
professional companies to assist us. In fact
since January, we have retained the
services of a marketing company and with
them have begun a comprehensive
programme to market the building
including six promotional events at the
Headquarters and attendance at two
exhibitions, all of which have led to press
coverage and, as importantly, new
commercial business. John is of course
aware of this but it is, we feel, important
that all members be informed.
We presume that John’s description of
“sherry evenings” refers to the ‘Meet The
Magic Circle’ shows which last year for
example, entertained a combined
audience exceeding four thousand people
(about four times as many as the
Centenary Celebrations) and raised a
contribution to overheads of £56,300.
The popularity of these evenings is
demonstrated by the wide age range of
those attending and by future bookings
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
which currently extend to November of
next year. These results are due almost
entirely to the efforts of a relatively small
team of dedicated, unpaid volunteers. If
anyone else, including John, would like to
join us we would be delighted to hear
from them.
Michael J. Alderman MIMC,
Director of the Centre
David Ball MIMC, Treasurer CMA Ltd.
Diane O’Brien MMC,
Meet The Magic Circle Business Manager
It All Adds Up
Do we give 100%? From a strictly
mathematical point of view it goes like this:
What makes 100%? What does it mean
to give more than 100%?
Here is an amazing formula that might
answer these questions.
If A, B, C, D etc. is represented as 1, 2, 3,
4 etc. Then:
HARDWORK is
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98% and:
KNOWLEDGE is
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96% but:
ATTITUDE is 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 =
100% again:
MAGIC is 13+1+7+9+3 = only 33% but:
PRESENTATION is
16+18+5+19+5+14+20+1+20+9+15+14
=156%
So one can conclude with mathematical
certainty that while HARDWORK and
KNOWLEDGE will got you close and
ATTITUDE will get you there, it’s
PRESENTATION that will put MAGIC over
the top!
Harry Reeve MIMC, Rainham, Kent
From Leatherhead to Las Vegas
A dozen members of the Surrey Society
of Magicians went on a journey to
Las Vegas.
The days when hotels offered a buffet
breakfast at $2.99 and an evening meal
for six or seven dollars have, sadly, long
since gone – in fact dinner cost us about
ten times that amount some evenings.
Seats for a show can cost as much as
$130, and that price no longer includes
two drinks and a souvenir programme.
However, most shows are very colourful
and spectacular, and put on in lavish
theatres. I saw V, a traditional variety
show, Mac King (who closed the British
Ring Gala show at Eastbourne), the
World’s Greatest Magicians, Dirk Arthur
(with some baffling illusions involving
tigers), the Amazing Johnathon (clever but
crude), Love (a spectacular show in the
round with Beatles music), and David
Copperfield, who only did two or three
illusions and lacked the sparkle we
associate with him.
Highlight of the trip happened on the
final day; four of us took a taxi to visit
Norm Nielsen, and spent three happy
hours looking at his vast poster collection.
His living room has Chung Ling Soo
posters on every wall. A purpose built
building in the garden houses about five
hundred more, all mounted and framed,
making about one third of his enormous
collection. What a wonderful finale to a
great holiday.
Peter D’Arcy MIMC, Cheam, Surrey
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 5
Walford Taylor MIMC
A REVIEW OF MENTALISTS’ IMPRESSION DEVICES, Part 1
ery many years ago, at a university
in India during the British Raj,
native students always managed
to obtain “advance” copies of
examination papers. To stop the leakage
the papers were handed to an
absolutely reliable government printer
on the morning of the examination,
and he set them up on a hand press.
He was assisted by a native clad only in
a loincloth, which he had to remove
every time he left the room. And yet
the leakage persisted. Before reading
further you may care to speculate how
the information was smuggled out.
The title of this contribution gives the
game away, but the answer to this
conundrum might have qualified the
perpetrator for membership of The
Magic Circle. Just before leaving the
printing shop, the native, whilst
unobserved, whipped off his loin cloth
and sat down on the forme which had
been set up with the questions. The
image was thus transferred to his
buttocks and the black ink did not
show on his dark skin. When he sat
down outside on a large sheet of white
paper, the questions appeared on it and
could easily be read in a mirror. (This
story appeared in The Days Before
Yesterday, by Lord Frederick Hamilton).
For well over a hundred years magicians
have been gaining information secretly
by way of some kind of impression or
copy of what a member of the
audience has written. In a future
contribution I shall be describing a new
method of constructing an existing
impression prop that I have devised, but
I thought it might be interesting if we
first reviewed some of the different
ideas that have been conceived over the
years. The wealth of material available
makes it inevitable that this is not an
exhaustive list, nor have I had the time
to research the subject, giving only a
brief outline of what comes to my mind
from knowledge gained over the years.
The references I give are those where I
first came across the devices described
V
6 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
and are not necessarily the original
sources for the principles outlined.
General Principles
Regardless of what type of impression
gimmick is used, the following rules hold
good for all of them:
1 The prop chosen to make the
impression must be natural to use within
the context of the trick being performed.
This rule is paramount.
2 Pencil (not typewriter) carbon paper
should be used (sometimes called
“Handcopy Carbon”) as it is more
sensitive.
3 The pencil should be stubby (not more
than 3”) and be HB or harder so that the
spectator has to use pressure when
writing. In the days when impression
devices were introduced, a dip-in nib pen
or fountain pen would not have given a
reliable impression; hence the advice to
use a hard pencil instead, but these days a
Biro, or ball point pen is also satisfactory.
4 A fresh piece of paper to receive the
impression should be used each time. If it
is left in for any length of time, it will
inevitably become smudged all over with
carbon and it will be difficult to read
quickly the carbon message itself.
Varieties of Impression Devices
1 The Anna Eva Fay Wax Board or Tablet
This is probably the oldest known type of
impression apparatus and was used by
Anna Eva Fay, the renowned American
“psychic” entertainer and first Honorary
Lady Associate of The Magic Circle, in her
Act at the beginning of the last century.
It was supposedly the invention of Samri
Baldwin, known, with his wife, as “The
White Mahatmas” (source: The Doctor
“Q” Book. by C. Alexander, 1921 – now
very archaic but a rattling good ‘read’!).
Basically the ‘tablets’ were made up of
four sheets of paper with a cardboard
backing. The back of the third sheet
was coated with paraffin wax and this
delivered an impression on the fourth
sheet. The Medium’s assistants collected
up the pads and ‘developed’ the
impressions backstage by dusting the
page with a mixture of one part
plumbago and two of powdered charcoal.
This apparatus is the precursor to presentday clip boards.
2 A development of the Anna Eva Fay
Board known as The Club Method
This idea is attributed in The Collected
Mental Secrets of C.A. Newmann
(Daniel’s Den Publication, 1990, at p.132)
to Maurice Raymond. It is a pad in which
the paper is unprepared so the secret is
less likely to be discovered. In this case
the cardboard backing has been treated
as above with paraffin wax and the
impression is transferred to the
underside of the bottom sheet of
paper when, after dusting it as before,
it may be read in a mirror or by holding
it up to the light.
3 The Clip Board
3.1 According to The Collected Mental
Secrets, (see above) at p.130, this also
appears to have been originated by Samri
Baldwin. It consists of a heavy cardboard
pad covered with oak-grained paper
under which are a sheet of carbon paper
and a sheet of white paper to receive the
written message. It is slit open backstage
to retrieve the carbon copy. The method
was revealed as long ago as 1898 in
Albert A. Hopkins Magic: Stage Illusions
and Scientific Diversions, including Trick
Photography (Munn & Co; Dover Reprint
1976).
3.2 Modern “Draw Out” versions, such as
the Ultra Perfect [U.P.] Clip Board
described in Encyclopaedia of Mentalism
(Nelson, 1944 at p.25) which is 6”x10”
and 1/8” thick with a metal bulldog clip,
allow the copy message to be removed by
taking off the bulldog clip at the top of
the board and pulling the sheet of paper
straight out. The papers fastened to these
boards are marked off in perforated
sections so that each question may be
torn off and the board passed from
spectator to spectator.
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
3.3 The Junior Miracle Board (Nelson’s
Encyclopaedia, ante, at p.103) is a pocket
edition of the U.P. Clip Board. In the act
of releasing the remaining piece of paper
from under the clip at the top of the
board, the performer deliberately removes
the clip, placing it on the other end of the
board. The Board is brought in contact
with the cards, pad, or slate being used in
the effect and in placing the board aside
the protruding tab of the paper receiving
the impression adheres to the deck or pad
by means of a dab of wax and is thus
withdrawn for immediate reading.
3.4 Lee Earle’s Micro-Thin Clipboard is the
slimmest model I have used. The board is
made of Formica only 2mm thick and
takes four messages, two on either side
by changing ends, although it could be
more if perforated slips were used. It can
be safely left in the hands of a spectator
without disclosing its secret, the only
disadvantages being that the message has
to be recovered from the board in private
and the peeling off of the wood-grained
plastic veneer does need a great deal of
care. [Fig. 1]
3.5 The “Seership” or Improved Clip Board
(Dr “Q” Book, ante, at p.112) is a
clipboard made of wood and covered in
oak-grained paper under which a sheet of
carbon paper is affixed. The white paper
receiving the impression is on a
rectangular flap that has been cut in the
board and is hinged invisibly at the
back. The hinged locking
panel or
flap is disguised by an overlapping label,
glued only to the flap, which hides the
outline of the panel. The flap can be
released by turning a screw so that it
drops down and the impression may be
glimpsed by the performer when he
places it on his table. It was a precision
made piece of apparatus originally
manufactured by F.G. Thayer.
3.6 The Auto-Magic Clip Board is another
board that allows the performer to
glimpse the carbon impression without
going off stage. The paper on which the
impression is made inside the board is
drawn out over a roller on to the top of
the board through a slot concealed by the
clip. This action means that the message
will be on the underside of the paper slip.
The performer makes a few notes on the
top side without apparently any success,
whereupon he tears off the paper and
turns it over, exposing the message to
view. [Compare The Wylie Impression Pad,
8, post, Fig 2.]
4 The Seer’s Miracle Table
In the days of fraudulent psychics (are
they over?) the Seer and the Seeker of
Truth sat facing each other across an
ordinary-looking table. Under the writing
surface of the table was a sheet of carbon
which delivered an image to the paper on
the panel beneath. During the writing
(which the sitter retained) the Seer left his
chair opposite the sitter and may even
have left the room. When the Seer
opened the table drawer for his scratch
pad, spectacles, or any logical
excuse, the panel would
slide out with it to
enable the writing to
be read from his side
(Nelson’s Encyclopaedia,
at p.121).
5 The Impressionable Tea
Tray
This was an idea devised by
Will Dexter and is used in a
routine to be found in The
Fig 1
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Demon Telegraph No 149 at p.15
(November 1951). It is similar in
principle to the Table (above) and clip
board. The impression is taken on a thin
card underneath the wood-grained
surface of the tray. A thin wire beading
is attached to the edge of the
impression card which forms part of the
finish to the wooden beading round the
bottom of the tray and serves as a
finger hold for extracting the card. The
card itself is flexible and curves down a
ramp to exit at the bottom back edge
of the tray. The tray is used to display
the several writing pads used in the
effect. Realising that he is one pad
short, the performer tears off a sheet
from one of the pads and allows the
spectator to use the tray as a rest. The
pads are collected on the tray and
when the last pad is slid off the tray the
impression card is drawn away with it
and glimpsed.
6 The Impression Note Book
Al Baker marketed a pocket note book
under the name of Al Baker’s
Mindreader. There was a pocket under
the leatherette front cover which
contained a piece of carbon paper and
a thin card which could be withdrawn
with the impression on it. It is described
in Al Baker’s Mental Magic (Carl W
Jones, 1949) at p.66. A more recent
clever faked notebook is described in
Barrie Richardson’s Theater of the Mind,
at p.187 (Hermetic Press, 1999). The
carbon impression is taken on the inner
face of a two inch “plug” or disk in the
back cover and it is not necessary for
the performer to open the notebook to
gain access to the written information.
He can obtain it by pressing firmly on
the front cover of the notebook which
will release the disk into the curled
fingers of his other hand whenever he
needs it.
[Walford Taylor’s Review of Mentalists’
Impression Devices concludes next
month. Ed.]
Fig 2
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 7
Ali Bongo MIMC
he title of this article may confuse
you into thinking it is something to
do with Houdini, since he seemed
very fond of ‘beyond’. Actually it could
have been called ‘One Step Further’ or
‘Afterthoughts’ or even ‘Let’s try to fool
the customers just a little bit more’. The
idea is to take a standard or hackneyed
item and change it so that it may baffle
or at least surprise those who think they
know how it is done.
The first one concerns a block
penetration trick which has been
around quite a long time, and now
finds its way – made in plastic – into
boxes of magic for children and on to
display stands in joke shops. The
original apparatus consisted of a long
T
achieved by staggered holes in one door
as illustrated. When the box was tipped
over, the two chosen blocks ‘escaped’,
leaving the others still imprisoned by the
skewer. The staggered hole idea was very
ingenious but I have always felt that such
an ‘odd’ arrangement might make
viewers think ‘Why?’, and possibly lead
them to work out the method.
My solution is to forget about the
holes, and add a solid wall on the side of
the box that is not shown at the
beginning. On the outside this is
decorated to represent the six blocks in a
vertical position. It would be a good idea
to glue thin strips of wood to this fake
wall before painting in order to get a
more realistic three-dimensional effect of
box with two horizontally hinged doors
and a hole at each end. Six rectangular
blocks painted different colours, and
with a hole though the centre, were
apparently placed into the box in
vertical positions and held in place by a
thin skewer or knitting needle passed
through from end to end. Actually, two
blocks nominated by the audience were
placed HORIZONTALLY as shown, so
that the skewer really went between
the two blocks, and not through the
holes. The ‘proof’ that all the blocks
were in the same upright position was
the ends of the blocks. The inside of the
fake wall is painted exactly the same as
the inside of the real door.
Because the fake blocks must be in a
set order this may seem to be a problem
at first. However, since the open side of
the box is facing away from the audience
when the real blocks are placed in, noone can see exactly where or which way
up they are, especially as the open door
gives you extra cover. It may be a good
idea to replace the blocks in a thoroughly
haphazard order. I suggest that the order
of the colours on the fake panel should
8 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
be Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple,
White, since it is most likely that two of
the central primary colours will be
chosen.
A further change in the procedure
that I would suggest, is to put the two
selected blocks in VERTICALLY, and the
other four HORIZONTALLY, so it is the
selected blocks that are seen
imprisoned at the climax.
The complete routine goes as follows.
The blocks start in the box (all vertically)
with the skewer holding them in place,
and door A facing the audience. The
door is opened, and the skewer pulled
out to allow the blocks to drop on to
the table. The box is turned round so
that the open side is facing
yourself. Two of the blocks
are nominated and these are
placed vertically in the centre
of the box followed by the
other four horizontally on
each side. The skewer is
pushed through, and door A
is closed. Immediately door B
is opened so that the
audience can see the fake
blocks in position. You can
shake the box to show that
the blocks cannot fall out.
Door B is then allowed to
close. Now you open door A
ninety degrees, and tilt the
box towards you so that all
the horizontal blocks fall
out. Keep revolving the box
so that the audience can see the two
selected blocks still held in position by
the skewer in the otherwise empty box.
Make sure Door B stays closed –
perhaps magnetic catches could be
incorporated to facilitate this.
Because the final picture is of you
proudly holding the box with the
selected blocks this should be a
somewhat better applause cue than to
have them fall on the table as in the
original routine.
This is the first of a series – there are
more ‘steps beyond’ to come!
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
by Paul Gordon
AIMC
his could be the most unusual oil and water
trick ever. (If it’s not, I’m sure you’ll tell me!) It’s
self-working (easy-peasy) and doesn’t employ any
of the usual moves associated with most, if not all,
published oil and water effects. That’s the good news.
The not-so-good news is that there isn’t much ‘new’
here except my presentation. The best news is that I
know you will use this routine a lot! I do; all the
time! The basic concept is CATO (Cut and Turn Over).
There have been many handlings of this nature. I have a
bunch of effects in both Peter Duffie’s England Up Close
and my own Card Conjuring. Other inspiration(s) come
from Jon Racherbaumer, Peter Duffie (who likes this
routine of mine) and Harry Lorayne. (See Harry’s effects
in Personal Collection.) I first used the red/black idea
using CATO back in the mid 1990’s; see my 1997
Tannen’s Lecture Notes. Please try this routine. You
can’t visualise as to how good it looks.
All you need is eight red-backed red-spot cards and
eight blue-backed black-spot cards. The contrast of faces
and backs is good! I do this as a ‘packet’ trick;
producing the 16-card packet from an envelope or
wallet. (If you have them, use black-backed Bicycle cards
instead of blue-backed cards.)
To start: The cards are all face up in any order. As you
patter about oil and water (usual patter about oil and
water not mixing – point out that the red-backed cards
have red faces and the blue-backed cards have black
faces) openly separate the red and black cards. Say,
“There are many ways to mix cards. Here we have a
bunch of red-faced red-backed cards and black-faced
blue-backed cards. One way to mix them is to mix faceup cards and face-down cards.” Here you flip the redfaced cards face down and openly shuffle them into the
face-up black-faced cards. If you do it in a ‘studied’
mock-false-shuffle manner, say, “Don’t trust me? Here,
you do it!” Hand the 16-card packet to the spectator
and let him shuffle them (he mustn’t, however, turn
cards over); that’ll really fox him!
Spread the packet between the hands to show a
mixture (this looks really good) of red-faced cards, blackfaced cards and face-up/face-down cards. Say, “Another
way to mix them is like this.” Hold the now squared
packet in dealing grip and deal them to the table (into a
pile) but turn over every alternate card. The illusion of
card-mixing is great. (To aid the deal, say – in your head
– down, over, down, over etc., etc.) It doesn’t matter, by
the way, if the first or second card is the first one
reversed. (The mix looks great. Spread the cards. Really
show the mix. Pick the cards up, show both sides.
Emphasise it. Don’t, however, ‘true’ shuffle them again
at this point.)
Hold the packet in dealing grip and say, “Here’s
another way.” Here you do CATO like this: You push
over the top two cards (don’t reverse their order), flip
them over (back onto the packet) and complete-cut the
packet. Do it again. You can do this as often as you
T
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
want, but I think four times will suffice. Flip the packet
over and do CATO again, but with four cards at a time.
As before, three or four times will suffice. (Don’t bore
them to death! The watch-word is ‘subtlety.’)
Now you do a Steve Freeman idea: The packet is in
dealing grip. Push off the top two cards (don’t reverse
their order) and hold them in your right hand. Say,
“Leave or reverse?” In other words, table them as is, or
flip them over and table them. You do this (eight pairs in
all) ‘leave and reverse’ with all eight pairs until you have
a tabled packet of 16 cards. The ‘leave or reverse’
decision is 100% the spectator’s choice. It looks great.
All the while you see face-up/face-down red and black
cards mixing. You can repeat with four cards at a time. It
really looks strong, so emphasise it vocally. And, as you
table the pairs (or, quartet), leave them unsquared/scattered (not mixed, though) so that faceup/face-down – red-backed/blue-backed cards are
visible. See how good the photo looks! (Fig. 1)
Finally, say, “Another way is like this.” You now
Reverse Faro (this is not a sleight) the packet (simply
spread the packet, quickly, and up and downjog the
cards) Fig 2, strip out the outjogged cards, flip them
over and place atop the inner packet.
Say, “These cards have really been mixed. Face up,
face down, red backs, blue backs, red faces and black
faces. And you decided how to do it! However…[shake
the packet for effect]…oil and water never ever mix!”
Spread the packet to show that the red-faced cards (or
black-faced cards) are the only ones face up (or face
down) in the packet. Things are how they started! The
illusion – the picture – is great! Do try it.
(Of course, you can do this at trade shows using
blank-faced cards with 8 different companies and 8 the
same! You get the gist. Use ESP cards, Harry Potter
cards. The possibilities are endless.)
www.paulgordon.net/acatalog
© Copyright 1997/2006 by Paul Gordon.
All Manufacturing Rights Reserved.
Fig 1
Fig 2
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 9
CLUED – UP! By Chris Wardle, AIMC
EFFECT: The performer displays a set of
six cards each bearing the name of a
spoof character from an apparently new
version of ‘Cluedo’: Tamara Knight,
Eileen Dover, Arthur Litre, Major Look,
Gladys Over and Ivan Idea. A game
board, in 2 parts, displays six rooms:
Study, Ballroom and Lounge (on one
card) and Library, Kitchen and Gallery
(on second card). The performer also
has a list of murder weapons in an
envelope, with the list protruding from
the top of it, and a die. Also on the
table is a large counter for playing the
game, the size of a poker chip. The
performer announces that they are
about to play a new psychic board
game entitled ‘Clued Up’ as the performer
already knows what will unfold!
Two spectators, to the performers left
and right, are invited to help. The six
characters are the potential victims and
are mixed face down by the performer.
The spectators choose one part of the
board game each and are both given
three of the potential victims to mix up
and then place face down on their
respective halves, one on each room.
The two halves are pushed together to
make a line of six rooms and six
potential victims. A die is handed to a
spectator to roll until they are satisfied
and settle on a total. The number rolled
is counted along and the counter is
placed on the appropriate room and
victim. The die is rolled again to
generate a second random number. The
list of weapons is pulled from the
envelope and the weapon at that
number is noted.
By the rolling of a die and the free
mixing of cards the two spectators have
chosen a victim, room and weapon. The
victim card, which is under the counter,
is reversed by the spectator to show the
name and also to reveal the room name
under it. The counter, which has been
in full view throughout is now turned
over and it reveals the same victim,
weapon and room – the performer
really was ‘clued up!’
10 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Arthur Litre,
WORKING: There have
remembered by the
been several very
initials of their first
successful versions of
names TEA) together.
‘Cluedo’ and murder
The spectators have a
mystery-type games and
free choice of either
effects in print and on TV.
parts of the playing
Here is yet another one,
Front of the six game cards
board, but whoever
but this is as closely
gets the three force rooms is given those
matched to an innocent board game as
three cards to mix and place onto those
possible. There are no other props, such
three rooms. So a force victim goes onto
as bags, balls or boxes to make ‘free’
a force room. Each of the three cards has
choices and I have endeavoured to make
been secretly marked on the back so you
everything the performer does seem as
know which is which! You push both
innocent as possible!
pieces of the board together to make a
There are several forces at work here.
line of six. So no matter which number is
Looking at the board reveals that the
rolled you simply count from the
Study, Ballroom and Lounge are the
appropriate end landing on one of the
possible force rooms. On the back of this
card it reads ‘The Murder happened in the three force squares. (If the Study, Ballroom
Lounge’. At the bottom of the Ballroom
and Lounge are on your left and the
square, in a smaller font, it reads ‘Chris
number rolled is 1, 2 or 3 then start from
Wardle believes – The Murder Happened
the left, if 4, 5 or 6 is rolled then start
Here’. (This looks like the message at the
from the right.)
bottom of all of the other squares, which
The weapon list is double sided and
uses synonyms for three of the weapons:
reads ‘© Chris Wardle Limited – The
Murder Games House’. Therefore this is
1 Poison
not spotted unless pointed out!) The backs 1 Dagger
2 Dagger
of the victim cards have a ‘jazzy’ design on 2 Poison
3 Rope
them – if they are put together this actually 3 Sword
4 Sword
makes up the word ‘STUDY’ in large black 4 Rope
5 Knife
5 Mallet
letters. Therefore any one of the 3 rooms
6 Mallet
6 Knife
can be revealed boldly and cleanly.
Mix the cards but keep the three force
victims (Tamara Knight, Eileen Dover,
I first came across the use of synonyms as
part of a bingo prediction used
by Marvin Kaye in The
Handbook of Mental Magic.
Dagger, Knife and Sword are in
either the odd or even positions.
The prediction on the counter
has clip art or a drawing of a
long knife under the heading
‘WEAPON’ so that this could
pass as a Sword, Dagger or
Knife. Depending on which
number is rolled you reveal the
proper side of the weapon card.
As this list has its blank top
sticking out of the envelope,
spectators know it cannot be
Back design for the six victim cards. Cut along black
swapped. Make sure the other
lines and jigsaw to reveal ‘STUDY’ as one prediction
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
side is not revealed when showing this
and make a point of emphasising the
poison, rope and mallet options, which
could have been chosen – apparently!
There are three counters, actually
three large poker chips, one in view and
two in your pocket. They each look like
this:
VICTIM
WEAPON
Tamara Knight picture of
long knife
or Eileen Dover
picture of
long knife
or Arthur Litre
picture of
long knife
ROOM
Look to
the board!
Look to
the board!
Look to
the board!
The picture of a long knife covers the
knife, dagger and sword options and
the ‘Look to the board’ instruction
allows you to show the prediction
printed on the face of the board
(Ballroom), or turn both boards over
and show the prediction on the back of
the chosen one (Lounge), or make up
the word ‘STUDY’ with the back design
on the six character victim cards!
If you have the ‘Tamara Knight’
counter out in view and this is the card
which will be arrived at after the die is
rolled then you are home and dry.
However, if not, then you have the
‘Eileen Dover’ and ‘Arthur Litre’
counters in a convenient pocket (such
as your outside pocket, one in the
‘ticket pocket section’ so you know
which is which). As you patter about
the game and hand the die to a second
spectator to roll, remove the
appropriate counter and use your
favourite coin switch to swap counters
with the ‘Tamara Knight’ one. As far as
the audience is concerned the counter
is unimportant and has been in view
throughout. You have also not yet
chosen a weapon, so as far as they are
concerned the game is far from over.
Gathering up the cards resets
the trick and against incredible odds
you have apparently got the game
all ‘Clued – Up!’
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 11
by Matthew Field
Matthew Field: How long have you been
interested in magic?
John Derris: Since I was fifteen. I met a
kid at school who showed me a trick that
was baffling, and the guy wouldn’t tell
me how it was done. I pestered him and
pestered him and he said, “You can buy it
at a shop off Leicester Square,” and that
was Will Goldston’s shop. I went down
there and bought it, then got The Boy’s
Book of Conjuring which opens up all
sorts of possibilities, but you don’t know
which one to follow. The next major step
was I was very heavily into the Boy
Scouts, in fact I worked for them at their
headquarters when I left school. They had
a concert and they asked if I could help
them, and I said I was interested in magic.
One of the scoutmasters said he had done
a magic act and would teach me his act.
There was no presentation, it was just a
demonstration of tricks, with a table with
12 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
a black-art well top. But I did it, and I
suppose being an extrovert or show-off I
took to it.
M Where was this?
J I lived in Harrow, near where Bob
Read used to live. I went on from there
and got a number of bits together. I
found Davenports, bought a few things
and then I started getting shows. I joined
the Institute of Magicians when I was
sixteen and met Ted Danson and several
other people. I put together some sort of
act, as you do when you’re sixteen. I went
into some talent shows and won a few. I
was in one with Bobby Bernard – and I
beat him! He did vent and I did magic.
When you won these prizes you didn’t
get money, but you got a week’s booking
at a theatre. I started calling myself John
Derris [born John Shire – Ed], a name I
picked up somewhere. I did that until I
AIMC
was eighteen, went into the RAF and got
into an entertainment unit for eighteen
months. It was tremendous. I did an act
called ‘Tragic Magic’.
M And when you left the RAF?
J I was in the advertising department of
the Boy Scouts Association, and when I
came out I didn’t really want to go into
the theatre because the theatre was
dying. It was all strip shows – “Strip Strip
Hooray”, “Soldiers in Skirts”. I started
doing semi-pro work, and that continued
until I was about 26, and then I got more
responsible jobs in advertising agencies
and the magic started thinning out. When
I got to 26 or 28 I just didn’t do magic
anymore. For about 30 years I didn’t wear
a thumbtip and I didn’t read Abra, despite
the fact that I knew Jack [Avis] and had
been mixing up from seventeen or
eighteen until 26 with Jack, Alex Elmsley,
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
good and I did a few things under that,
but I put a lot of tricks out at that time
and I wrote a lot. There are many tricks of
mine in Pentagram that you’ll find if you
go back to those times. I sold a trick
called “Trilogy” years ago, a pencil with a
transparent tip, a little tip-off card that
tipped you off to what the selection was; I
sold hundreds of them. I put several tricks
out at that time, so I suppose I had an
interest, but I wasn’t into mainstream
sleight of hand.
M What were you into?
J Performing! I love standing up on a
John Derris MIMC has had
quite a few interesting
friends in magic, including
Jack Avis, Roy Walton,
Alex Elmsley and Bobby
Bernard to name but four.
He’s been involved with
several books, including
Vis a Vis and the recently
published Rara Avis, both
devoted to his brother-in
law Jack Avis, and Come a
Little Closer devoted to the
magic of John and his
illustrious friends. Now a
member of The Magic
Circle Council, he talked
about the magical life
he has led.
M What brought you back to magic after
a 30-year hiatus? Where does Jack Avis fit
into this?
J I got back into magic when I retired. I
had met Jack on the Saturday morning
get-togethers when I was sixteen. He was
quite good to me and he saw that I had
some reverence for magic, even though it
wasn’t what he was doing. He asked me
to his family Christmas party. His mother
had a café down in Beckenham, and I
spent two or three Christmases with him
and his family. That’s where I met my
wife, Doris, his sister. We’ve been married
for 50 years. I owe a debt of thanks to
the Avis family, because I had no real
family, no sisters or brothers.
M Then you retired.
J Bob Read, who was a very good
friend of mine from way, way back – we
had a similar sort of act, a stand-up patter
act – Bob asked what I was going to do
and I replied that I was going to do a bit
M As you were getting back into magic
were you spending
more time with Jack
Avis on a magical
basis?
J Yes. For the last
ten years of his life
we spent a lot of
time together. I
used to see him
about every ten
days. About
seven years ago
we started the
bigger magic
meetings, but
he used to meet
about once a week with Lewis
Jones. We talked about all sorts of things.
He was a great conversationalist. He was
very knowledgeable, even though he had
a basic education. He never lost his
temper, but he would argue in a patient
way – which can be very irritating! And
Jack was good at simplifying magic.
His knowledge and his recall were
outstanding right up to the day he died.
He followed the style of Vernon and John
Ramsay, whom we both knew, a natural
M You were a confidant and hung out
with some of the best sleight-of-hand
magicians in Britain and in the world,
at a young age.
J They were emerging. Alex [Elmsley]
was in the army but he used to come up
all the time, Ted Danson was on the
periphery of the thing. He was interested
rather than being in it in a practical way.
Jack [Avis] was out of the Army and very
much into it, Roy [Walton] tagged along
with Jack, and I was there – I was sort of
middle management as against top
management, if you like. They were very
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Left to right: Roy Walton, Ted Danson, John Derris, Alex Elmsley, Jack Avis
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 13
▲
Roy Walton and Bobby Bernard. We used
to meet in Davenports every Saturday,
then we’d go to a café in Southampton
Row in a place called Vernon Place, and
we’d sit there and talk all afternoon.
Al Koran and Cy Endfield were there
and we’d talk magic and do magic.
stage in front of a crowd and performing.
of magic again, but he said, “It’s all
changed. There are no theatres anymore,
it’s all close-up”. Bob was one of a team
of six people performing close-up magic
at Grosvenor House, and he said that
while he couldn’t get me on the team he
could get me in as first reserve, so when
one of the performers didn’t show up I
stepped in. The first job I had was a bit of
a sweat. But I did it, and I did it a lot at
Grosvenor House.
style. I pushed him to write a book [Vis A
Vis], which I wrote with him. My ambition
was for him to have, in his lifetime, a
book of his material to hold in his hands.
I will have a new lecture called ‘The Seven
Secrets of Jack Avis’ because he has some
wonderful moves that involve subterfuge
rather than dexterity, and he was very
good at that.
and we played around, and the first thing
I came up with was with a wine glass,
pushing the pen through the side of the
glass. But it’s too perfect. As Vernon said,
if you do a trick that’s too perfect the only
explanation is that you’re using a
gimmick. So I dropped that and I came up
with using a lady’s handbag mirror in a
long envelope with a hole in it, and I did
that a lot. But the paper envelope gets
crumpled in your pocket, so I got into
making a bigger one with a leather folder.
I always do that in close-up at tables and
what I do in close-up is try and find
things, either routines or tricks, that are a
M You mentioned your lectures. How did
those come about?
J I was asked. I’ve been doing lectures
for about four or five years now, and the
lecture I did was called “K.I.S.S.” based
on my success as an owner of
a medium-sized advertising
agency. I knew from that
experience that when I was
making a presentation if
people didn’t like me they
wouldn’t buy what I was
selling. I would do a trick,
often the Magnetised Cards. I
knew that in magic it is exactly
the same – if people don’t like
you they won’t buy what
you’re selling. I’ve seen so
many magicians who are very,
very good technically who I
don’t believe have yet found
the secret of selling
themselves. They think that
technique says everything and Front row: Arthur Holland, Ted Danson, Bobby Bernard,
Tommy Vanderschmidt. Back row: Roy Walton, John Derris,
I don’t personally believe it
Alex Elmsley, Jack Avis
does. I think magic is
entertainment. Paul Daniels said thirty
little bit different from what other people
years ago, “The way magic is going,
are doing. Anthony Owen did a survey
magicians will finish up making a living by once of the popular close-up tricks and
entertaining other magicians”. That’s
everybody does Sponge Balls and
exactly what we’re doing today. I don’t
Ambitious Card. I’ve avoided the
knock it. Michael Ammar will go around
Ambitious Card because everybody does
the world, he’ll do an hour lecture and
it, but it’s such a good trick that you do
sell 200 videos and some goodies, and
have to do it. So now I do Card to Pocket
then go to Japan and do the same there.
Watch using the Kaps bit where the card
That’s how he makes his living. Daryl does in the watch can move around.
the same. And they do it wonderfully
M Let’s talk about your magic meetings.
well. But magic is basically entertainment
and that’s the side that interests me.
At some point you decided that you
wanted to have a small group of
M I first came across your name because magicians meet at your house.
J 25 or more years ago Jack Avis was a
you marketed a trick called Mirrorcle
which used the Pen through Bank Note
member of a little coterie of magicians
with a mirror in an envelope, and the
consisting of Jack, Peter Warlock, Louis
illusion because of the mirror was that
Histed, Francis Haxton, Dr. Harley Nicholls,
you could actually see the pen going
who just died, Bernard Weller, and two or
through the mirror. It was a very clever
three other people. Whenever magicians
idea. Did you just stumble on this?
visited from America, like Clarke Crandall,
J You bought one off me. It uses the
Stewart James, Milt Kort, and people like
Cornelius pen, a wonderful thing, so
that, Francis always used to host them. I
wonderful everyone does it. I wanted
wasn’t in that little group because it
something different. I spoke to Jack Avis
wasn’t really my thing. Every one of those
14 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
people died, one by one, and Jack was
the last one. He missed it terribly. So I
said, why don’t I get a group together,
and there was Alex Elmsley, Jack, Lewis
Jones – Bernard was a little bit later –
there were about six or seven of us. And
all it was is what you see today. It was a
free exchange of ideas, nobody puts
anybody down, anybody can say
anything, do anything, even if it’s
something that’s not complete. It’s a free
pool of ideas, an exchange between
people who all have respect for what
each does. We’ve lost Alex, we’ve lost
Jack, and we’ve lost Bernard. The people
now are Lewis Jones, Tom
Whitestone, Michael Symes,
Lewis’s friend Don, Angelo
Carbone, and you.
M You did this because Jack
missed it. Now is it important
to you?
J I’m not knocking the Circle
or the conventions, but I get
more excitement talking about
magic to a group of people
whom I know, and I know
what they do, and it’s been of
great use to me as well
because of suggestions that
have been made and thoughts
that have been thrown out.
M There’s a new Jack Avis
book which you were
instrumental in, retrieving his notebooks
after his death, working with Anthony
Brahams to put out a major volume of
Jack Avis material in Rara Avis.
J It would have been tragic to throw
those 28 books into a skip because there
was nobody else who might want them.
You wrote, I think, a very fair review when
you said it was a book full of useful ideas.
It is a collection of a man’s thoughts over
the years, and they were important. I had
begged Jack to let us get him filmed, but I
never got him in front of the camera.
M In recent years you have written for
The Magic Circular – you wrote the
Centenary Profiles leading up to the
Celebrations – and you write quite a bit
for Abra.
J I went to Blackpool some years ago
and Jack was there, and Roy Walton came
down [from Scotland], and Jerry Sadowitz
was there – he was in awe of Jack and
Roy. Other than the character Jerry
portrays on the TV screen, Jerry is a very
nice guy, very skillful. While he was there
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
we had a very good time and I wrote a
piece, ‘Will the Real Jerry Sadowitz Please
Stand Up’ and they wouldn’t accept it for
The Magic Circular because, I was told,
Sadowitz wasn’t a member. I got angry
and at a Magic Circle banquet saw that
Donald Bevan [Editor of Abra] was there
and he agreed to publish it. It got some
good comments and Donald asked if I
would write some more, so I wrote about
my contemporaries, about Alex, Jack, Roy
– all the people of my generation whom I
admired. I’ve never written a piece about
somebody I don’t like because I don’t
have the remit to do that. I’ve written
about fifteen of pieces and recently
they’ve asked if I would do something
again and I realised there are a lot of
young people I know and admire – people
like Nicholas Einhorn, Martin Sanderson,
John Archer, Bertie Pierce – who I think
are the stars of tomorrow and will be very,
very big. I did one on Roy Davenport who
works so hard to do something original
and now is doing the Museum of Magic,
which is his big project.
M You have been involved with people
in magic on a very personal basis. I’m
thinking especially of Alex Elmsley whom
you took it upon yourself to watch over
when no one else was around.
J Well ... you don’t know someone for
60 years and [abandon them] if they have
a difficult time – and he did. He suffered
quite badly with depression at the end.
Martin MacMillan was very good; he
always used to give an open invitation to
Alex to attend his International
Convention as his guest, and I made it
easy for him by picking him up, taking
him up there, and I’d try to keep him
clear of drinking too much, although
luckily he was better than he was in the
earlier days. You look after the people you
grew up with, like Ted Danson who was
my best man. He spent a year in hospital
in Deal and another year in a nursing
home and we used to go down every
month and see him. I’m very keen on the
heritage of magic, not on just what’s
happening today.
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
AIMC
he Magic Circle Awards Banquet is always a gala affair, and this
year’s event, held once again at the Holiday Inn in London’s
Bloomsbury, brought out a wide mix of Members and their
friends and families. After cocktails and one of Ali Bongo’s more
difficult visual puzzles there were toasts to The Magic Circle proposed
by Lord John MacGregor OBE MIMC, and then a response by Anita
Harris, whom many will remember for her appearances on The David
Nixon Show both as a singer and as Nixon’s assistant. Dinner was
served, followed by close-up magic presented by Alan Shaxon, Ali
Bongo, Chris Pratt, David Beckley, Mel Harvey, Michael Alderman,
Lionel Russell, Mike O’Brien, Rob Page, Richard Pinner, Jonathan
Shotton, Michael Vincent, Stephen Melzack, Terry Burgess
and Chris Wood. Also performing was Jack Delvin, who
organised the magic, ensuring that every table had two
magicians visiting them.
Secretary Chris Pratt made the introduction for the
awards, which were presented by President Shaxon.
Derrick Speight was thanked for his many year’s of
service to the Society. The Cecil Lyle Award for
best trick of the year in The Magic Circular went to
American Member Tom Gagnon for his ‘Gagnon
Spread Pass’ in the March 2006 issue. The award
was accepted by your Editor. The J.N.
Maskelyne Award for Literature was given to
Duncan Trillo for his innovative MagicWeek website,
www.magicweek.co.uk. That award, a monetary prize, was the first
ever given for literature produced electronically. The Silver Wand,
given for service to the Society and as a gift to visiting dignitaries, was
awarded to three recipients. Peter Lane, our Librarian since 1988,
was responsible for the moving, storage and organisation of The
Magic Circle Library, a task he has taken on with good will and
creativity. Diane O’Brien has been for ten years Business Manager of
‘Meet The Magic Circle’, the evenings for the public at our
Headquarters which have generated almost £300,000 in revenue for
the Society and its charitable arm, CMA Ltd.
T
David Baldwin, the third recipient, was to have received his Silver
Wand during our Centenary Celebrations but was unable to attend at
that time. Mr. Baldwin’s generosity in supporting the building fund
enabled The Magic Circle to attain the dream of having our own
Headquarters Building. He was also responsible for the glass Magic
Circle logo in our entranceway, the life-size bust of David Devant in
the Devant Room, the bookshelves in our Library, and much more.
The Maskelyne Award is given for service to British magic, and the
recipient was Alan Alan, the great escape artiste who for many years
was proprietor of ‘The Magic Spot’ in London. Alan’s generosity in
helping The Magic Circle complete its Headquarters Building and his
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 15
▲
M Would you like to continue doing
shows in the future?
J Oh yes. I’m happiest standing on a
stage doing shows; I love that. I love
working to a crowd like Meet the Magic
Circle, parlour magic, I like doing close-up
magic. I just want to do it as long as I’m
able to. I’m 76 and I’m trying to make up
for the years when I didn’t do magic.
Reported by Matthew Field
guidance to so many young
magicians were especially
noted. Alan, deeply moved,
tearfully accepted the
accolade.
Break, Body Magic, A Funny
Way to be a Hero and the
just-published Tommy
Cooper Biography, Always
Leave Them Laughing. John
wrote the successful West
Devant
Award
given
End show about Tommy
The
is
Cooper, Jus’ Like That. His
to someone who has made
an outstanding contribution
television productions and
to magic internationally.
books have been seen and
read in countries
John Fisher has produced
throughout the world. John
television programmes
Alan Shaxon with
was Executive Producer of
featuring the likes of
John Fisher
the highly acclaimed shows of our
Michael Parkinson, Terry Wogan, Joan
Centenary Celebrations last year. He
Rivers, Ken Dodd, Bob Monkhouse, Des
initiated the process which resulted in the
O’Connor as well as magic presentations
Royal Mail commemorative stamps for the
with Paul Daniels, Tommy Cooper and
Centenary, is the Curator of The Magic
series and specials such as The Best of
Circle Museum, and is a past winner of
Magic, Heroes of Magic and Disney’s
the Maskelyne Award.
Night of Magic His books include The
Following the awards presentation was
John Fisher Magic Book, The Magic of
a
cabaret,
introduced by Michael Bailey,
Lewis Carroll, Never Give a Sucker an Even
Photo: Rob Page
by Mandy Davis
AIMC,
featuring the manipulations and dove
act of Brian Sefton, and the comic
mindreading of Graham P. Jolley. Ali
Bongo ran the raffle with his usual
dispatch. At one point as he ran to
present a ‘Ming’ vase to winner Henry
Lewis, he ‘tripped’ and the vase fell,
shattering into hundreds of pieces.
Ali gathered them all and dropped
them into his carry bag, whereupon
they were restored.
The guests then took to the dance
floor until almost 1.00 AM.
The evening was put together by Alan
Shaxon, Ali Bongo and David Ball. David
Ball was, unfortunately, involved in an
accident at home which prevented him
from attending. Bob Hamilton was
responsible for the video presentation
and many other Members and their
spouses participated in making the
affair a great success.
YMC Chairman
with the right
combination of
attributes, energy
and inner child to
run YMC to the
highest standards.
The steady flow
of enquiries from
our web site
usually converts
into new
members.
Secretary Rob
Page did, in fact,
step down at the
beginning of the
Mandy Davis with YMC Member of the Year Joshua Miller and
year but I was
Stage Winner Megan Knowles-Bacon
delighted when he
was
able
to
return
to
us.
He administers
s our tenth Anniversary ends and
the
new
members,
sending
out their
after almost a year as Chairman of
registration
packs
(containing
badge,
The Young Magicians Club it seems
signed
certificate,
membership
card, latest
time to let you know about what we do
magazine
and
a
free
trick).
He
deals
with
and achieve.
our
database
and
issues
passwords
for
the
I lead a small but dedicated team of
members’
area
of
our
web
site
and
for
volunteers who work to ensure that the
our very busy forum. On-line chat is very
club runs to the highest standards. We
close to modern teenagers’ hearts and we
had a turnover of people last year as the
provide a safe and relevant platform for
various roles were found to be timeconsuming but we now have a solid band this purpose. The web site was overseen
of dedicated members of The Magic Circle by Gordon Drayson and the number of
A
16 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
members accessing this increases daily –
the latest figures show around 11,000
posts covering 650 topics! Sadly Gordon
has resigned from this role but we thank
him for his past efforts. Mark Herrick has
taken his place and we are sure he’ll
continue the good work.
Workshops continue to be highly
successful with around 75 attending each
time. Richard Pinner, as workshop
organiser, introduced a Member of the
Month competition which is very popular.
Sadly Richard realised that the job needed
more time than he could give and we
were sorry to lose him. Our workshops
are a YMC benefit which continues to be
the envy of many similar clubs. Those who
come to teach or help out on
those days are carefully chosen
so that an atmosphere of fun
and learning through fun is
always maintained. The YMC
members who attend are a very
dedicated and enthusiastic
crowd, queuing outside the
building from quite early in the
morning. They can’t wait to sit
down in the club room and
share their latest tricks and
moves with their mates!
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Photos: Matthew Field
Alan Alan; Anita Harris; David Baldwin, Alan Shaxon and Robert-Houdin clock; with Peter Lane; Brian Sefton
No one is left sitting on the sidelines
merely watching. Past YMC member,
Belinda Stewart, is responsible for
integrating newcomers and she does this
very successfully. Kevin Doig, our CPO, is
regularly in attendance as is Ian Rowland.
Both are involved with teaching which can
take the form of formal sessions or sitting
on the floor of the club room at lunch
time surrounded by an eager crowd, a
sandwich in one hand and a deck of cards
in the other, wanting to learn how to ...
Another workshop regular is Ali Bongo,
our Honorary Vice-President. Members
enjoy ‘showing him off’ to newcomers
and his advice is always sought by
them, too.
James Fortune was our treasurer for the
past four years but pressure of other
commitments has led him to take a
sideways step and Stephen Kennard has
taken the job. James will continue as our
A gathering of minds
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Photos: Rob Cox
Alan Shaxon and Derrick Speight; Graham Jolley; with Duncan Trillo; Chris Pratt; with Diane O’Brien
Early in the morning
Council Liaison Officer.
J-Day, our annual convention, was
highly successful – we sold out! I was
delighted that so many were willing to
give their time to us free of charge. David
Berglas gave a wonderful hour’s insight
into his magical life as did TV star Ali
Cook. The finals of our stage and close-up
competitions took place with Patrick
Milne winning The Mark Leveridge trophy
for close up, whilst the stage competition
was won by Megan Knowles-Bacon.
There were two new awards – The Pete
McCahon Trophy for Originality donated
by Roy Marsh and the Kaymar Komedy
Cup, both won by David Loosley. Our gala
show was exciting too – David Allen,
Marc Paul and Richard Pinner wowed the
audience with ex-YMC member Alex
Lodge representing the fact that we were
celebrating our 10th Anniversary.
At the IBM Convention John Calvert,
John Carney, Seth Kramer, Ali Bongo and
Rob Cox all contributed to the YMC
workshop there making it an exciting
event for all.
I constantly receive emails and calls
from people seeking ‘young magicians’ to
perform at their events. Many merely
want to avoid paying the going rate for
an adult performer so I ensure that all
events are carefully vetted before putting
any of our members in touch with
organisers.
And the future?
More of our members are applying to
join The Magic Circle and invariably they
pass their examination at the first
attempt. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every
young magician automatically came
through YMC and then into The Magic
Circle at a high level of excellence?
So there you are – together with YMC
President Alan Shaxon and Vice-President
Richard Stupple, you now have an insight
into the first-class team team that is YMC.
Together we will continue to bring
magical opportunities to young magicians
everywhere.
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 17
18 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Harold Cataquet AIMC
Your Goal in Magic
s I started to write this column,
I was reminded of Jon
Racherbaumer’s column “On
the Slant” in Genii. Every month,
Racherbaumer reminds me how poorly
read I am as he mentions books
tangentially related to the field of magic.
Sometimes these books are more directly
connected, but I can easily imagine
many readers are inspired to read these
books or at least use his summary as
the basis for the presentation of a
magic trick … This month, I’m talking
about the contents of a dozen or so
books that I have been reading – not on
magic, but on psychology. I’m not
talking about the contents of Magic in
Theory by Richard Wiseman and Peter
Lamont; rather the books that I have
been reading are on the psychology of
peak performance (or to put it in less
jingoistic terms, sports psychology).
One of the keys to peak performance
is setting a goal. Having a goal gives
your progression in magic a clear
direction. In the absence of this
direction, you can easily become
distracted by the latest fads (tricks you
see at lectures or buy at conventions),
and never develop the mastery that I’ve
talked about in previous columns.
The goal should be very specific and
ideally contains a time frame.
Something like “I want to be a better
magician” is far too vague, and doesn’t
get you anywhere. Conversely,
something like “I want to be the Magic
Circle Close-Up Magician of 2007” is
perfect. For those who aren’t into
competitions, the goal might be “I
want to make £40,000 from magic in
2007”. Yes, this is a financial goal, and
it doesn’t necessarily motivate you to be
a better magician (just a more active
one). But this example illustrates the
very big overlap between sports
psychology and motivational training
(eg, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich).
Regardless of how you frame it, the
goal has to satisfy three criteria.
The goal must be a Challenge. There’s
A
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
no sense setting a goal that can be
achieved in an hour.
The goal must be an Aspiration. The
goal has to be something that you want
and accomplishing it will please you
immensely.
The goal must be Time constrained. The
constraint is a deadline that allows you to
assess your progress.
Although I have only listed three
conditions, many writers mention the
SMART mnemonic. That is, your chosen
goal should be Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.
If we’re playing the mnemonics game,
then mine is CAT. The extra letters in
SMART emphasize that the goal
should be realistic.
You don’t have to limit yourself to just
one goal. You can have many short and
long-term goals. For example, a short
term goal might be to work through all
the tricks in Roberto Giobbi’s Card College
(let’s say that you estimate that you could
work through the book at a rate of one
volume a month). However, as you start
adding goals, it’s important to prioritise
them. That is, there should be one very
clear ultimate goal… It may be hard for
you to come up with a goal in magic
(although the principles here can be
applied to any facet of your life), which is
why it’s very easy to get lost in the myriad
of new magic tricks. So, ask yourself
where you would like to be in five years.
What’s motivating you? Is it money?
Recognition by your peers? Fame? If you
can identify that, you are on your way to
identifying a goal.
Having established your goal, the next
part is to visualise achieving it. That is,
imagine the moment that you achieve
that goal. What are you wearing? Who
else is in the room? What are the
expressions on their faces? How do you
feel? The more details you can add to
visualisation, the stronger the emotional
resonance… Remember, this goal is your
motivation, so if you aren’t excited by the
idea of achieving it, then you won’t be
motivated to achieve it.
Now you are excited about that goal,
create a training schedule. That is, what
is it that you need to do in order to
achieve your goal? In the case of
working through Card College, you
need to set aside some time every day.
During this time, you have to maintain
the commitment and focus, so make
sure that you turn off the TV and
mobile phone and dedicate that time to
the book.
As the days go by, you may realise
that you haven’t got the discipline to
maintain the schedule. This is where
your goal comes in. If you’re properly
motivated, the images of your success
will drive you to maintain the schedule.
You know you want it so you know you
have to put in the required time … But,
maybe you set your goals too high,
other parts of your life have higher
priority, or you are just not willing to
put in the time required to achieve your
goal. In that case, it’s back to the
drawing board.
Alternatively, you may have set your
goals too low, and you have achieved
them far ahead of schedule. That’s
great because now you have a feeling
of accomplishment. Bask in the joy a
bit, and then start working on a new
goal. Imagine how much stronger that
exhilaration will be when you achieve
that next goal. If you set lots of small,
quickly achieved goals, you are
constantly building upon success. But
you will discover that you progress
faster if you push yourself.
I’ll continue next time … However, if
you want to read more, I highly
recommend The Inner Game of Tennis
by W. Timothy Gallwey. It’s obviously
not about magic, but making the
applications to magic will be good for
your cognitive skills. If you want to read
something that is not sports based, get
Don Greene Performance Success:
Performing Your Best Under Pressure.
He applies the principles of sports
psychology to the performance arts –
singers and musicians.
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 19
Edwin A. Dawes
339. FURTHER GLIMPSES OF GOLDSTON: BROTHER REUBEN, THE MAGICIAN
erendipity can play an
important role in the
unravelling of magic
history and this was never
truer than when Claudine
Harriott-Boyer, better
known to the fraternity as
‘The Magical Claudine’,
was returning from the
Repro Magic Cruise in
2006 and found at
Southampton railway
station her reserved seat
already occupied. The
mistake duly rectified, she
engaged in conversation
with her re-seated fellow
traveller and happened to
mention that she was
returning from a cruise
with magicians on the
Queen Elizabeth 2. This
individual’s interest was
immediately aroused and
asked if Claudine knew of
a magician called Goldston,
as he had a cousin who
Left: R.J. Goldston, The Society Entertainer, in Dublin and right Quartermaster-Sergeant R.J. Goldston in
was related to him and was December 1916
in a montage of magicians in The
there would be some confusion when
researching the family history. Claudine
Magician
Annual for 1909-10 and a note
comparing census returns for the
certainly did know of Goldston, took
in The Magazine of Magic in August 1916 Goldston family as natal and family names
the details and established contact with
recording his Army service. He had joined
were used indiscriminately.
the relevant lady, Mrs Rhona Smith,
as a Private early in the war, had
In my Glimpses of Goldston monograph
who turned out to be the grand-niece
(1999) I pointed to uncertainties in Will
of Will Goldston. In turn, Claudine then progressed through the ranks to
Quartermaster-Sergeant, and sent
Goldston’s precise place and date of birth
contacted me with the exciting news
greetings to his old magical friends in the
(usually quoted as Liverpool on 18
and kindly effected an introduction to
north. This confirms the belief that, unlike September, 1877 or 1878), the absence of
Rhona.
Will who migrated to London to become
any record at the Family Records Centre,
Rhona’s grandfather was Reuben
the manager-buyer of Gamage’s Theatrical and that, according to his secretary and
John ‘Jack’ Goldston, one of Will
and Entertainments Department, he had
later companion Olga Fone, he was born
Goldston’s brothers, and the third
near Warsaw. As also there are no
magician in the family but one who has remained in the north-west of England.
Thanks to Rhona Smith’s researches and recorded births for Solomon, Julius, Meyer
received very little mention in the
contact with family members, we learn
and Reuben, presumably they too came to
literature of magic. Will’s younger
that the Goldston family was an extensive
Britain as immigrants with the family. On
brother, Meyer James Goldston, who
one numbering five sons and four
the basis of his age at death, Reuben was
worked as Mokana and died of malaria
daughters. The sons were Solomon, Julius, born in 1882-3 and, in the absence of
in 1905 at the age of 23 while touring
Will, James and Reuben and the
immigration data, it may be inferred
India with the Coronation Circus,
daughters Henrietta, Miriam, Cissie and
therefore that the family arrived in
received significant attention in The
Magician. Yet the only attention that
Rachel. The family name for Henrietta was Liverpool later in the 1880s.
Will seems to have accorded Reuben is
‘Yetta’ and Cissie’s natal name was
In researching his splendid book on
a medallion head-and-shoulders portrait actually Sarah. Without this knowledge
Chung Ling Soo, The Glorious Deception,
S
20 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
MIMC
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Smith married at Liverpool in 1904 and
had two daughters, Mary (known as
‘Mollie’) and Irene Elfrida (known as
‘Freda’), and a son, Terence. Laura was
a soprano with the Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra and, according
to the family’s belief, Reuben staged a
black art illusion act in
which Laura’s
disembodied ‘singing
head’ floated across the
stage.
When their daughter
Freda’s birth on 21
December 1912 was
recorded in the Register
of the West Derby
Western Sub-District of
Liverpool on 1 February Reuben’s granddaughter
Rhona Smith
1913, Reuben’s
profession was stated to be ‘Music Hall
Manager’. Whether he was still actively
performing at this time is currently
unknown. Indeed, the only other
potential reference to him found to
date occurs in The World’s Fair in 1936
and tantalisingly that is not entirely
positive. It occurs in a letter sent to
Brunel White, editor of the ‘About
Magicians’ page, by the well-known
music hall conjurer Jack LeDair, in which
he refers to Will Goldston’s brother
who, he believed, “worked as Pertab
Singh and Zena”. There is no further
enlightenment and no follow-up
information came from other
correspondents to the paper, which is
unusual as readers of The World’s Fair
magic pages were normally stimulated
to add their own ‘pennyworth’ but
probably indicative of the paucity of
knowledge of this act. So far no other
mention of Pertab Singh and Zena has
been found in the magic literature. But
assuming that LeDair was correct in his
belief, one might speculate that this
would be the black art act of which the
family was aware.
Reuben’s daughter Irene Elfrida
(‘Freda’), the mother of Rhona, was
married in 1936 to George Roberts, a
▲
matinees, commencing Monday, 30
November. The year appears to be 1903.
The bill includes Ali Ramo, The Great
Mysterious Turk in a wonderful magic act;
Mr R.J. Goldston, Society Entertainer; Miss
L. Laurie, Queen of Humorists; Carl Devo,
The Great and Famous Gaol Breaker and
Handcuff Manipulator; Goldston and
Lyndon, Comedians; Mr Chas Lyndon,
Funny Comedian, plus six other acts. This
show occurred during the period when
Will Goldston, supported by family
members, was mounting entertainments
in the north-west.
An interesting circumstance is that
Reuben and his sister Henrietta (who was
born in 1885) married a brother and a
sister, Tom and Laura Smith. Tom and
Henrietta Smith had three children, Leah,
Madge and George, and sadly Henrietta
died in childbirth in 1919. Tragically Tom
died of a chest infection only two weeks
later leaving the children orphaned. At
that stage George was taken in by Will
Goldston and lived with Will and Leah at
their home in St John’s Wood, London.
Will paid for George’s education and gave
him a Bar Mitzvah but would not sign his
papers when he wished to join the Royal
Navy at the age of sixteen; then Will’s
brother, Julius, stepped into the breach
and provided the necessary signature.
Daughters Leah and Madge
were initially sent to a boarding
school where, according to
family lore, Leah was expelled
for being “naughty” and
unfortunately her sister had to
follow despite being innocent
of any misdemeanour. Leah
then went to stay with Uncle
Reuben and Aunt Laura for a
while until she departed for a
Church of England convent in
Truro run by nuns of The Order
of Epiphany, after which she
went into service. Madge’s
immediate fate after the
expulsion currently remains
unknown.
Reuben Goldston’s daughters, Irene Elfrida (left),
mother of Rhona Smith, and Mary at Rhyl, c.1930
Reuben Goldston and Laura
Jim Steinmeyer sought information on the
Goldston family by working back from the
census record of 1901 to those of 1891
and 1881, and kindly shared the results
with me. The 1901 census gives the
father’s name as Maurice (spelt Morris in
the 1891 return) Goldstone, a tailor born
in Poland, and his wife as Betty (Betsey in
1891, a tailoress from Poland), aged 50,
with six children living in Liverpool. The
offspring still in the family home in 1901
were: Julius (25), William (23, listed as
“conjurer”), Meyer (19), Yetta (16),
Miriam (14) and Rachel (12). Meyer is
James (who became Mokana) while the
other children, Solomon, Reuben and
Cissie had either left home or were away
at the time of the census.
However, the 1891 census accords
Cissie her given name of Sarah (11) and a
new name appears, Zella (6), who on the
basis of her age would be yet another
name for Henrietta. Of considerable
interest is the fact that Morris Goldston in
this census return for 1891 recorded all
his children as having been born in
Liverpool!
Currently the only information available
about Reuben Goldston’s performances as
a magician derives from a bill in Peter
Lane’s Collection for the St George’s
Theatre, Kendal, for 7 nights and 2
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 21
Welshman from the Prestatyn area who
became an engineer and surveyor,
finishing his career as the Clerk of Works
for Prestatyn Urban District Council. At
the time of the marriage Reuben
apparently was away from home, possibly
in America, and thus Freda was given
away by her mother.
Family tradition relates that Reuben fell
out with Will, the reason apparently being
that he disapproved of his brother’s
extensive exposure of magical secrets in
the many books that he authored. Of
course, Reuben was not alone in
objecting to Will’s expository literary
activities but this probably explains why
such a prolific writer on magic and
magicians as Will Goldston had so little to
say about his sibling magician.
A curious feature is that at some stage
of his career Reuben Goldston decided to
assume a new surname and henceforth
was known as Jack Edwards. It might well
have been at the time when he became
the owner of the Esplanade Club in the
North Wales seaside resort of Rhyl,
perhaps believing a good Welsh name
would be more acceptable to his patrons.
And it was under the name of Reuben
John Goldstone Edwards he was interred
in Maesyfryd Cemetery, Dyserth Road,
Rhyl on 21 November 1944 following his
death at the age of 61 in the Rhyl Prince
22 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
Goldston without the final e, and likewise
Uncle Terence was always T. Goldston. In
this connection it is possible that the
original family name was Goldstein, which
was anglicised to Goldstone in a literal
translation on or soon after their arrival in
Britain.
By coincidence, in 1970 Reuben’s
granddaughter Rhona Roberts also
married a Smith – John Smith, who at the
time was serving in the Royal Marines .
Reuben Goldston’s wife Laura (right) with
her daughter Elfrida at the latter’s
wedding in 1936
Edward War Memorial Hospital of a heart
attack suffered at the Esplanade Club.
Interesting is the addition of an e to the
Goldston name, as some early records of
the family had this spelling. Reuben’s
widow was also buried in the same plot
(Grave number 258, Section 1) on 2
March 1961 under her own name of
Laura Gertrude Goldstone after her death
at the age of 77 in Lluesty Hospital,
Holywell. Yet curiously, unlike Reuben, the
inscription on the grave omits the final e
from her surname. Rhona recalls that she
always referred to her grandmother as
“nana Goldston” and wrote to her as
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to The Magical Claudine for
introducing me to Rhona Smith, to whom
I am indebted for the detailed information
concerning her grandfather and the family
photographs contained in this article, to
Jim Steinmeyer for sharing his researches
on the Goldston family, and to Peter Lane
for details of his R.J. Goldston playbill.
References
Dawes, E.A. (2000). Glimpses of
Goldston. Ridgewood, NJ: Dane Hill
Publications.
Magazine of Magic 4 (3), 37 (August)
1916.
The Magician Annual 1909-10, p.19.
Steinmeyer, J. (2005). The Glorious
Deception. New York: Carroll & Graf.
White, B. (1936). The World’s Fair,
29 August, p.30.
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
Tim Reed AIMC
AIMC
MAGIC VINYL
or people like myself, born in the
latter part of the twentieth century,
vinyl records represent a fascinating
souvenir of previous generations. I have
quite a collection of magic vinyl and
have not got the facility to listen to
them, which may seem odd. However I
am not primarily interested in their
audible content but rather their sleeve
art graphics. Unlike CDs and DVDs,
which commonly utilise a specially
printed cover which slots into a massproduced plastic outer case, LPs are
self-contained within their tailored
cardboard sleeve. Indeed they are more
ephemeral than their clinical successors.
It is for this reason too that I enjoy
collecting them.
This affordable collection largely falls
into three main categories: 1) Simple
magic tricks to learn; 2) Sound-tracks or
songs from shows or musicals featuring
magic or magicians; and 3) records
endorsed by or starring famous
magicians.
The earliest example I can trace,
on the old wax 78s, is “The Magical
Problems Series” (1929) by Oswald
Williams, produced on three records
with a trick on each side.
A decade later Luis Zingone
produced his boxed set of “Recorded
Card Tricks” (1939). Again
containing three albums with two
effects on each, it was nicely packaged
and is now rare.
Another record which encouraged
the beginner to start on the magical road
is “Blackstone’s Party Magic” (1961).
Who could resist buying it with the subtitle “A personal and baffling visit to
your home by the Great Blackstone”.
A few years later Bruce Elliott issued
“You Can Be A Magician” and Duke
Stern released “Abracadabra”. British
magician Martin Lewis collaborated
with the talent of Bruce Cervon, Karl
Fulves, Martin Gardner, Eric Lewis and
The Professor and in 1976 released
“The Magic Album”. Barry Murray was
twice responsible for producing the
F
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
British contribution to this medium.
“The Magic Circle Record” (1980) was
introduced by Francis White and had a
plethora of contributions from Messrs
Daniels, Seabrooke, Shaxon, Bongo,
Bailey, Wade, Read, Pratt, Fisher, Salisse,
Elmsley, Berglas, Page, Robinson, Kovari,
King, Beckley and Kennaugh. From a
collector’s point of view, this is particularly
interesting because it was pressed three
times – in yellow, blue and black. The
most common being yellow; the rarest
being black. Barry followed a year later
with “The Paul Daniels Magic Show”
(1981). Produced by BBC Enterprises, it
was released to coincide with Paul’s longrunning magic show with the same
broadcaster. It was also released on
cassette.
Next we come to the soundtrack and
music category with “Musical Trip to the
Magic Land of Allakazam” (1962).
Produced by Mark Wilson Enterprises, it
was another TV tie-in from Mark’s popular
show. Fictitious magicians had their own
records too. Firstly in 1973 “Mandrake
the Magician”, of comic book fame, and
in 1974 “Chandu the Magician”. The
radio series told the story of Frank
Chandler known as Chandu and his fight
against the evil scientist Roxor. The series
was phenomenally successful.
Also in 1974 “The Magic Show”, the
original Broadway cast of the Doug
Henning musical, was released. Its
fantastic artwork really captures the
period and to encourage the budding
performer it includes a Hexaflexagon. It is
one of my favourites.
Milt Larsen was Executive Producer
on ”Music for Magicians” produced in
the same year: ”Sealed within the
interior of this anagrammatic album is a
recording created singularly for use by
those practitioners of conjuration …”.
The final celebrity category features
two notable examples which, although
not strictly magic, are worthy of
pursuing. “The Basic Principles of
Kreskin’s ESP” from the 1960s utilises
dramatic artwork. Uri Geller released his
eponymous “Uri Geller” album of songs
in 1974.
Peter Reveen launched a range of
self-help records. “Study &
Concentration”; “Stop Smoking &
Overeating” and “Relax” all featured
hypnotic covers but the “Magik” album
of 1978 has wonderful striking artwork
showing a range of illusions. For the
sake of completion I should mention
Richard Himber who, in his
professional guise as a band leader,
features on the covers of some of his
records.
Tommy Cooper released three
double-sided singles in 7” format,
the nicest being “We’ll Meet Again”
(1978) with its comical picture sleeve.
Not surprisingly Houdini features
heavily in magic vinyl. The group Kon
Kan had an album called “Harry
Houdini” (1989) and the cover
features the escapologist. It was
available in both 12” and 7”. “Houdini
Man of Magic” (1966) is the sound
track to the London theatre production.
Timothy Dill-Russell was the advisor to
this show. “Houdini Séance” was
recorded on Halloween night 1936 on
the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in
Hollywood with the actual voices of
Bess Houdini and Dr. Edward Saint. It
was narrated by George Boston.
Copyright 1959, there are at least two
covers of this LP. Dutch composer Peter
Schat’s opera “Houdini” (1977) was
packaged in a boxed set showing
Handcuff Harry on the front.
.
Happy collecting.
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 23
Mandy Davis AIMC Convenor of Reports
13 November 2006
The Nyman Connection –
Andy Nyman AIMC
Reported by Alan Blythe
Andy Nyman is a real magic enthusiast
– you only have to spend a few minutes
in his presence to know that – and he
was willing to share some of his
secrets! Andy’s success is in his joy
of presenting magic with a relaxed,
continuous line of patter. The
methodology becomes secondary
to the magic.
His opening effect featured card
cutting – several members of the
audience cut a few cards from the top
of a deck and the face card of each
pack was placed next to an object they
had previously been asked to put on
the table. When the cards were turned
over the words on them matched the
items. Andy explained that his
influences in his work ranged from Al
Koran to Derren Brown.
A favourite effect used Andy’s love of
films. He handed an assistant a small
carrier bag saying that he was offering
free enrolment to his film club. A
membership card was dropped into the
bag and the volunteer was asked to
give a number which was written onto
a sticker and fixed to the outside of the
bag. A member of the audience was
asked to name a film. Andy then
reached into the bag to reveal that the
DVD inside it was, in fact, Jaws and the
membership card had the chosen
number on it.
The last trick used weapons such as a
knife, gun and canister of gas. An
assistant was persuaded to hold a
target in front of himself – this gave
Andy a chance to show his preferred
method of bringing a helper from the
audience without embarrassment or
refusal. This time the volunteer’s job
was to secretly place each of the
weapons into separate pockets and
Andy revealed the position of each and
showed that the target card also
24 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
Andy Nyman
Saturday Night at The Magic Circle
contained the locations.
No words can adequately convey the
excellence of Andy’s presentations. If you
want to experience this I strongly
recommend that you purchase one of
Andy’s DVDs.
20 November 2006
An Evening with David Stone
Reported by Paul Roffman MMC
FISM award-winning magician, David
Stone, was at The Magic Circle to share
his ideas. Having seen a snippet of his act
in the film of FISM shown here a few
David Stone
Mel Mellors
weeks earlier I knew, this was going to be
good. I wasn’t the only one to think that
either. The theatre was full and no one
fell asleep. In fact I’m sure I’ve not heard
so much laughter in the theatre before.
The evening started with his award
winning short film, The Real Secrets of
Magic, in which we saw the rules of what
not to do as a table magician. Suffice it
to say that this was very amusing stuff –
an award winning piece that would do
well in any short film competition.
The lecture continued in this vein with a
mixture of simple effects interlaced with
David’s own skilful moves; it was
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
commercial magic at it’s best. He started
with a bottle production using the Splash
Bottle gimmick. He discussed Bob Read’s
handling, which was a production from
his belt, and showed how the gimmick
had advantages.
David then did his Coins to Glass trick –
simple and visual – passing coins from
one hand to an empty glass with a
“clink”. His magic was certainly enhanced
by his performance and theatrical skills.
Another outstanding piece was his
wonderful Quit Smoking routine –
beautifully crafted in its directness and
simplicity. A cigarette that never gets lit
vanishes and reappears, gets broken and
restored and changes places with a
lighter; impromptu, visual and direct
magic that worked for most audiences.
It was certainly a routine that will work
even when the smoking ban comes in
later this year.
David also talked about the
appropriateness of some effects for
certain situations, something he was
adamant about, and demonstrated this in
an amusing way. For example, how to use
the fire wallet to best effect to get
attention but using odourless petrol in
restaurants so people aren’t put off their
food, and other possibly uncivilised
scenarios.
Smooth, suave, debonair, a cracking
good magician and French, he had it all!
He not only engaged his audience but
was quick to deal with any unexpected
moments and promoted banter with our
deaf magician, Victor, through Shula
Gleeson, the signer. By the end, in true
British style, he received a sitting down
standing ovation, with only Victor on his
feet to represent our true feelings.
25 November 2006
Saturday Night @ The
Magic Circle
Reported by Ali Bongo
The last Saturday Show of the year had a
slightly different formula to the usual,
since the theatre was not available for the
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
stage performance. So the proceedings
commenced in the Clubroom, where a
warm and friendly audience enjoyed a
really varied display of close-up magic
from Mandy Davis, Martin Cox, Dean
Maudsley, YMC member Oliver Mealing,
and Ali Bongo.
Then up to the Devant Room for a feast
of parlour magic, compered in his
infectiously hearty style by Andrew Eborn.
Peter Pinner opened with well routined
items from his repertoire including
‘Breaking the Sound Barrier’ with lots of
audience participation. Barry Cooper
followed with intriguing demonstrations
of mass hypnotism, some pendulum
swinging, and Kolossal Killer. Next up was
Steve Price who gave us those puzzling
Selbit Blocks plus a musical version of the
Hydrostatic Tumbler – giant size!
The traditional competition then
transformed the Devant Room into a
forest, with the whole audience tearing
paper trees from rolled-up sheets of
newspaper. Prizes went to the three
fastest and best efforts. Then we were
impressed by young Paul Brown,
resplendent in tails, who manipulated in
classic style with billiard balls, silks, and
thimbles. Finally the zany Max Somerset
burst onto the platform with hilarious
mentally oriented effects, including a
baffling divination with socks and
coloured party blowers, that I can only
describe as ‘Smellyvision’. Then came a
prediction with a stage full of audience
members wielding various musical
noisemakers, with Max seated behind a
huge Yamaha keyboard balanced on the
backs of two coerced spectators, and
trying to play the ‘Minute Waltz’ in less
than one minute. After one failed
attempt, he then succeeded in doing it in
58.88 seconds, duly recorded on a
stopwatch. Max then showed, in a
crescendo of excitement, that he had
predicted this result in a multitude of
different places. A very strong climax to
an enjoyable show.
The next Saturday Night @ TMC will be
on 20 January 2007.
27 November 2006
Commercial Eccentric
Magic – Mel Mellors
Reported by James Fortune
I have to come clean immediately and
say that I’m a massive fan of Mel. His
gently camp but mocking humour
always has me rolling in the aisles.
That’s strange because, on the whole, I
dislike a performer who takes the
Mickey out of the members of his or
her audience. I usually find it offensive
and unfunny. But not with Mel. Why?
Because he never fails to get the
audience to fall in love with him.
Mel’s magic is really very simple – a
nice rope routine similar to Three Ropes
and a Baby, the Invisible Deck, card
stories in the vein of Sam The Bellhop
with giant cards or Flags of the World,
mindreading with a thumb-writer, Ring
Off Rope (which he does with a tennis
racquet), a lovely effect where he
recites the phone number on any
chosen business card, a practical Pseudo
Psychometry, a brilliant and ludicrously
simple “I can memorise the entire deck
in 30 seconds” miracle and a great
routine for the Add-A-Number Pad.
The point that Mel made to us very
strongly was – don’t do the
presentation that comes with the trick.
Learn the effect and then make it yours.
Indeed, Mel was adamant that old
tricks re-dressed are just as good as the
latest new-fangled thing in the dealers’
catalogues which, of course, is almost
guaranteed to be ... an old effect redressed!
Mel’s way of saying this was “reframing”. By this he meant breathe
new life into an effect, approach it from
another angle, think laterally about it,
give it new energy.
Jack Point in ‘Yeoman Of The Guard’
says “He who’d make his fellow
creatures wise, should always guild the
philosophic pill” and tonight Mel did
that in spades. We learned as we
laughed. And did we laugh.
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 25
AIMC
Ian Rowland AIMC
A Seasonal Thought
his edition of the Circular should
reach you sometime near
Christmas. It’s traditionally a time
when we try to be a little more
thoughtful than usual, and to spread a
little light where we can. This being so,
there is one thought above all that I’d
like to share.
Magic is many things to many people.
To some, it is essentially just a pastime,
involving very little actual performance.
Others are fascinated chiefly by aspects
of technique or theory. For busy
professionals, magic can easily become
just a business, the only concern being
to get the gig, get the money and move
on. There is nothing wrong with any of
these views, but they tend to obscure
something that I think is very important.
I refer to the fact that magic is real, and
it is powerful. Magic can touch hearts,
open minds and change lives in a
unique way.
I invited several friends to help me
put this column together. Let me first
hand you over to my valued friend and
favourite bad influence, Simon Lovell:
“Years ago, I did a show for autistic and
very handicapped folks. As you can
imagine, I did the whole show to pretty
much no response at all and felt quite
down about it. That is, until about three
months later, when I received a bundle
of painstakingly written notes (some
only two or three words long) from the
members of the audience, telling me
how much they had loved it. I cried
tears of happiness that day and still
have every single one of the notes to
remind me that we can make a
difference. We aren’t just entertainers.
We can truly take pain away from folks
for a while by showing them that magic
and, indeed, comedy can take us all to
a different world”.
Romany, Diva of Magic, offered a
similar tale from her days as a street
performer. “At the end of my show, I
recited a version of the traditional
Clowns’ Prayer. ‘May I never be too
preoccupied to notice the expression of
T
26 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
wonder in the eyes of a child / Or the
twinkle in the eyes of the aged / And in
my final hour may I hear a voice that
whispers / “When you made my people
smile, you made me smile” / That is my
job, I hope you enjoyed the show’. An
old man about 75 years old, who had
his grandson with him, came over and
asked me to repeat the poem. He
listened carefully and said, ‘That’s really
for me and my grandson, isn’t it?’.
Looking into his eyes, I nodded and
said, ‘Yes, that was for you’. He turned
away but I had to gulp down my tears
as it struck me that we really do make a
difference. Sometimes, we all need a
little reminder that the magic is real”.
Quality of Life
Malin Nilsson from Sweden, where she
enjoys the prestige of being the only
female professional magician, had this
to offer: “I once did a theatre show for
quite a mixed audience, including
young and old. After the show, I was
doing a little meeting and greeting,
and a rather elderly woman came up
to me. I had no idea what she was
going to say. She looked into my eyes
and thanked me for my performance.
Then she said, ‘When I sit there being
me, and I see you up on stage doing
what you do, for me, that is quality
of life”.
Chuck Hicock is the author of
Mentalism Incorporated, and one of the
best lecturers on mentalism I’ve ever
seen. He wrote, “In my corporate
shows, I always include a short, simple
motivational message about our
greatest mental ability – our ability to
believe in our own capacity to improve
our current situation. No other living
being has this wonder-full ability. After
one show, a frail 88 year-old woman
came up. She said, ‘Before your show, I
didn’t think I had anything left to look
forward to in life. But you’re right. I can
make myself happier no matter how old
I am. You got me thinking. I’ve always
wanted to get all my nephews and
nieces together for one big party. You
made me realise that the only one
stopping me was ... me.’ Two weeks later,
I got an invitation to her party”.
Enthralled
This story has a slightly different slant.
Lynne Kelly is an education expert based
in Melbourne. She is a proficient magician
who features magic and mentalism in her
specialised science classes. She wrote, “I
did a gig for 200 teenagers in an inner
city school, offering my usual blend of
science and magic. Beforehand, teachers
at the school expressed their concern
about how some of the kids would
behave, given the prospect of a 90minute lecture show on science.
Afterwards, these same teachers said they
were delighted at the way the magic had
kept every student enthralled. They saw
that the magic helped some of the more
reluctant (and less able) students to gain
an insight into science that would simply
never have happened otherwise. In my
many years of teaching, I have seen many
similar examples of the real power of
magic”.
Drew McAdam found time in his hectic
schedule to offer this: “Following a highprofile after-dinner gig, one individual
who is a seen-it-all, done-it-all, United
Nations Commissioner (among other
things, he negotiated the compensation
conditions between Kuwait and Iraq),
asked me to bend a spoon. As the
spoon drooped, without any obvious
force being applied, his gaze was that
of a little boy. He looked at me and said:
‘Isn’t it marvellous that there is still true
wonder in this often disagreeable
world of ours?’”.
I will say it again: magic can touch
hearts, open minds and change lives in a
unique way. Let us never lose sight of this
truth. For Christmas, I wish you all that
you would wish for yourselves, and I hope
that you all find opportunities to warm
one or two hearts with the real magic of
magic. After all, we are the magicians. If
we don’t do it, who will?
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
QUICK TRICK
This instant stooge item used to be one
of my favourites for informal parties.
Suppose you are attending a party at a
friend’s house. Take a pad of those
removable sticky notes, the ones
roughly 5 x 3 inches. At your friend’s
house, secretly grab any book lying
around. Find a page about two thirds of
the way through, and find a mediumsized noun about a third of the way
down, e.g. ‘hospital’. On the sticky
note, in VERY clear print, write, ‘Please
help me! Think of the word ‘hospital’.
Now remove this note and hide it.
Thank you!’. Add your name. Stick this
on the right page, adding an arrow that
points to the word ‘hospital’ on that
page. To perform, gather a few books
and choose a suitably good-natured
spec to help. Force the gaffed book via
magician’s choice, and tell the spec to
take it into another room, flick through
all the pages, back and forth, then
choose a page, choose a word on that
page, and then come back with that
word in mind. The rest is acting.
1.888.726.9644
© 2005 Society ofAm erican M agician s • A W orldwide O rganization • Founded in 1902
Invitation
Circular Mentalism is edited and
sometimes scrawled by me, Ian
Rowland. If you have a book, DVD
or trick specifically aimed at
mentalists, and you would like it to
be considered for a mention here,
please contact me. I also welcome
reports, stories, gossip, jokes and
idle chit-chat of interest to the
mentalist community.
[email protected]
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 27
Items for review should be sent to the Editor at the address on the first page.
If return is desired enclose sufficient postage and packing.
Tommy Cooper: Always
Leave Them Laughing
John Fisher
470 pages plus 14 pages of photos,
hardcover. Published by
HarperCollinsEntertainment, London.
£18.99 plus p&p from most booksellers.
Reviewed by Matthew Field
If ever there was an icon of British
entertainment, it was Tommy Cooper.
His comedy magic act was
extraordinarily popular and he enjoyed
a long career on theatre
stages, in nightclubs, and
on television. Cooper
was able to carry off the
difficult task of mixing
cod magic with real
magic, so you were
amazed at how the
bottle and glass switched
places under the tubes,
then amused when two
bottles appeared
followed by two glasses, then amazed
again as the trick progressed and an
impossible number of bottles were
produced from those tubes. All this was
accompanied by a stream of jokes,
sometimes awful puns, sometimes sight
gags, delivered in a deadpan manner
and followed by a guffawing laugh.
Cooper was a big man, made taller by
his trademark fez, with a look which
somehow appeared to combine total
bemusement, the appearance of having
just awakened, and childlike naiveté.
Our own John Fisher produced TV
programmes featuring Cooper, and
penned the West End show Jus’ Like
That devoted to his performing life. He
has written a magnificent book which
shows Cooper the man, the real person
beneath the fez. He had access to
members of Cooper’s family and, most
importantly, to the complete files of
Cooper’s manager, Miff Ferrie. These
files were extraordinarily detailed,
showing the financial arrangements
Cooper made during his performing
28 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
career as well as the sometimes difficult
relationship between manager and
performer.
Tommy Cooper was a complex human
being, and John shows him in his full
complexity. The picture is not
whitewashed – the man sometimes did
things that were self-destructive,
sometimes things that were just plain not
nice. Along the way John reports the
views of some Magic Circle Members
including Bobby Bernard, Pat Page and
Alan Alan who knew Tommy through his
great love of magic.
This is a book which shows the full
measure of a great performer. It is also a
book which has the best and most honest
descriptions of the business side of showbusiness I have ever read. If you are
serious about the performing arts, serous
about magic, and serious about how
entertainers earn a living, you must read
this book.
Essential Robert-Houdin
Edited by Todd Karr
664 pages, hardbound, dustjacket.
Published by Miracle Factory, California,
USA. £65 ($100) plus p&p from your
favourite dealer. Dealers contact Murphy’s
Magic Supplies, 11500 Gold Dredge Way,
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742 USA.
www.murphysmagicsupplies.com.
Reviewed by Matthew Field
If you were to ask me what I consider to
be the ten most important books in all of
magic, and some people do ask me that
question, high on the list would be
Secrets of Conjuring and Magic by
Robert-Houdin. I paid quite a few dollars
to acquire the book and its companion,
Secrets of Stage Conjuring. Although the
first book was written in 1868 the
information
contained is as
valuable today
as ever. Todd
Karr, whose
Miracle Factory
has issued
spectacular books on our craft, has done
a magnificent job with a volume
combining the two aforementioned books
with two other volumes, Card Sharping
Exposed and Memoirs of Robert-Houdin,
along with a look at Houdin’s amazing
home, The Priory. There are introductions
by Todd and Jim Steinmeyer.
In Secrets of Conjuring and Magic
Houdin describes tricks, many but not all
devoted to cards, as well as his philosophy
of performing. Stage Conjuring includes a
chapter on optics, a description of the
Davenport Brothers and their Spirit
Cabinet, and lots more. His Memoirs,
while containing the expected amount of
hyperbole, is riveting. The Card Sharping
is of interest, but shows its age.
Todd Karr, who spent several years
studying in Paris, has gone over these
texts and cleared up some of the rough
edges in the Hoffmann translations. He
has augmented the volume with a
selection of beautiful illustrations and the
book is, like all of Todd’s Miracle Factory
volumes, a work of art.
I could spend pages telling you why I
think the writings of Robert-Houdin are
important today, but I can sum it up in a
few words: Robert-Houdin was an
original, a performer whose popularity
was based on amazing audiences in an
intelligent, contemporary fashion. It
would cost you more than the price of
this volume to acquire each of these texts
individually. They contain information
essential to the thinking magician. I hope
the present volume will bring RobertHoudin to the attention of more
magicians.
Phantasmagoria: The Secret
Life of the Magic Lantern
Mervyn Heard
Soft boards, illustrated, col. & b.w., 311
pages. Available from The Projection Box,
12 High Street, Hastings, East Sussex,
TN34 3EY. £30.00 plus (UK) £3.50 p&p.
Reviewed by Dr Edwin A Dawes
It is always a pleasure to read a book by
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
an expert who can expound his subject
with grace and humour. The author, an
internationally acclaimed magic lanternist,
chairman of The Magic Lantern Society
and editor of its Newsletter, a popular
lecturer and member of The Magic Circle,
authoritatively relates how mirrors and
lanterns have been used through the ages
in turn to terrify, entertain and instruct
beholders.
His canvas is a broad
one embracing the
ancient world of Greek
and Egyptian wonders,
necromancy of the Middle
Ages, the enlightenment
of the 18th century,
freemasonry, ghost raising
in the 19th century,
mysteries of the séance
room, the educational use of the magic
lantern, and magic of the early cinema. In
short, it covers many topics that are dear
to the hearts and minds of magicians and
adds some new insights.
The major focus, however, is the
Phantasmagoria phenomenon, which
became the rage of the late 18th and
early 19th centuries, and its exponents:
Schröpfer, Robertson and especially
important, ‘Philidor’, the pseudonym of
Paul De Philipsthal.
The transition from terrifying audiences
with the appearances of ghosts and
monsters to the respectability of offering
scientific explanations of how these
wonders were achieved occurred in the
early 19th century and eventually the
phantasmagoria was superseded by
Pepper’s Ghost, itself eventually to be
eclipsed by the bioscope.
Especially pleasing is the manner in
which the events are set in the context of
the social history of the period and, as an
example of Heard’s humour, I particularly
liked his comment that Cagliostro was a
cross between a magician and a life style
guru who, if he were alive today, would
probably be living in Los Angeles in a pink
mansion.
The book is splendidly produced,
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
lavishly illustrated and has a separate
colour section depicting a selection of
relevant slides. It is unreservedly
recommended not only for those who
have a special interest in the ways in
which optical techniques have been
employed to create magical effects but to
anyone who enjoys a good read.
Divine Time
Jason Palter
All requisite props plus 8 page A5
booklet. £75 ($100) plus p&p from your
favourite dealer. Dealers contact Murphy’s
Magic Supplies, address above,
www.murphysmagicsupplies.com.
Reviewed by Ian Rowland
A clear plastic bag is full of cheap digital
watches. A spectator rummages in the
bag, checks a few watches and confirms
they all show different times. You open
the bag again, this time they select one
watch and hide it from view. You can
now divine the time shown on the watch.
You get the watches, the bag and a small
booklet detailing the complete routine.
The premise is unhelpfully weird:
functioning watches are meant to all
show the same time, aren’t they? And
who keeps 20 watches in a bag, clear or
otherwise? Nonetheless, this is a perfectly
practical routine, and not without strong
entertainment potential in the right
hands. Since it’s just one more way to
employ a standard forcing prop, it seems
to me it would have been better as a trick
in a magazine than a stand-alone
marketed item, but it’s a free country. If
you want to divine the time on an unseen
watch, I suggest you buy David Acer’s
book, 7 By Patrik Kuffs (reviewed here in
February 2006) and refer to ‘Temporal
Anomaly’ on page 12. Two regular,
borrowed watches,
no bags, no props,
and an impromptu
miracle. That and
Banachek’s superb
Psychokinetic Time
are really all you need.
Can-tastic. Anything In A Can
Sam Lake for Illusioncraft
$55 plus p&p from your favourite
dealer. Dealers contact Murphy’s Magic
Supplies, address above,
www.murphysmagicsupplies.com.
Reviewed by Scott Penrose
The plot for this effect is tried and
tested and should be well known to
readers. This gimmicked tin can enables
the magician to perform a borrowed
watch or ring routine and, after the
usual by-play, find the missing item
inside a seemingly sealed tin can. If you
would excuse the pun, the trick does
exactly “what is says on the tin”. The
buyer receives a gimmicked tin can that
looks like it is sealed and a “special” tin
opener which enables the performer to
release an item from a can at
any time during a show. The
plot of the borrowed item to
tin can is something that I
have played with and used in
the past and I have
investigated various versions
that are already published or
sold on the market. This
particular version, Can-tastic,
works and is practical but in
my view is inferior to some of the other
methods, most notably the Collectors
Workshop version.
The Collectors Workshop gimmick
(sold as Can it) allows the spectator to
handle the can and open it. However,
Can-tastic only feigns the opening of
the can and therefore the magician can
only open it himself. The only minor
advantage is that Can-tastic does allow
the tin can to be used over and over
again whereas other versions actually
break open the tin can each time.
Can-tastic is a cheaper version than the
Collectors Workshop system but in my
opinion it would be better to spend a
little more money enabling magicians
to perform a more baffling effect
whereby the spectator handles
.
and opens the tin can.
January 2007 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 29
Council minutes
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF
THE COUNCIL HELD AT
HEADQUARTERS ON
WEDNESDAY 1 NOVEMBER
2006 AT 6.00 PM
PRESENT
Richard STUPPLE (Chairman)
Ali BONGO
Alan SHAXON
Rupert CONNELL
Jack DELVIN
John DERRIS
Chris PRATT
John FISHER
Keith COOPER
James FORTUNE
Michael ALDERMAN
Scott PENROSE
Michael BAILEY
Graham REED
Peter SCARLETT
APOLOGIES
David BALL
Henry LEWIS
Christopher WOODWARD
1. DEATHS
Members noted with regret the
recent death of Val Andrews.
2. MINUTES
On a proposal by Alan Shaxon,
seconded by Peter Scarlett, it
was unanimously agreed that
the minutes of the Meeting
held on 4 October 2006, after
amendment, be confirmed and
signed (JDer,JFor,SP not voting
as not present at previous
meeting).
3. MATTERS ARISING
The Secretary stated that a
representative for the
South/South East area is still
needed. Suggestions for
candidates were put forward
and the Chairman undertook
the task of approaching
suitable members for the post.
Following the retirement of
Graham Reed as Examinations
Secretary, the Appointments
Panel had recently interviewed
applicants for the post and
recommended Rob Cox to the
Council as a suitable candidate
for the vacant position. A
discussion ensued and, on a
proposal by James Fortune,
seconded by Graham Reed, it
was agreed that Rob Cox be
invited to accept the post of
Examinations Secretary.
The Secretary informed the
Council that the web site of
Steve Dacri no longer made
any reference to The Magic
Circle and the Council now
considered the matter closed.
The Secretary reported that
although Jon Allen’s website
has now been amended, links
from other sites still exist and
he still remains in breach of the
Rules adopted by the Council.
On a proposal by Scott
Penrose, seconded by Peter
Scarlett, it was agreed the Mr.
Allen should be told to stop
using the links and not to
renew the 2 domain names
when the time comes for
renewal. It was agreed by 14
votes for with 1 against (JDel)
that failure to comply will lead
to disciplinary action being
taken. It was agreed that Peter
Scarlett, as Chairman of the
Internet Committee, be asked
to convey the Council’s
decision to Mr Allen.
The Registrar of Memorials
and Heritage has prepared an
extensive report which will be
circulated around Council for
members to consider. It was
agreed that funding of £15000p be agreed for repairs to
and the cleaning of the
gravestone of David Devant.
The Secretary reported the
30 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
generous offer by Bob
Hamilton to supply to new
members free of charge
Centenary Celebrations DVDs
(subject to supplies). The
Council accepted Bob’s offer
and asked that thanks be
conveyed to him.
Approval has been sought by
a subsidiary of Universal
Pictures for the proposed draft
artwork containing the words
‘magic circle’ in their advanced
publicity materials for the film
“The Magicians”. It was
pointed out that the film, in
which a number of members
have been involved, was more
suited to a younger audience
with its sense of humour and
use of language. On a proposal
by Michael Alderman,
seconded by Ali Bongo, it was
agreed by 14 votes for with 1
abstention (SP due to his
involvement with the production)
that permission be granted.
4. SECRETARY’S REPORT
It was agreed that the new
members on the attached
Schedule be accepted.
5. PROMOTIONS
It was agreed that the
promotions on the attached
Schedule be approved.
With the unanimous
approval of the Council, the
President was pleased to call
Loki, Barrie Richardson and
Paolo Giua to full Membership
of The Inner Magic Circle with
Gold Star.
every seat sold. It was reported
that the ‘Close-Up’ competition
was of a very high standard
but there were some
reservations as to the quality of
the ‘Stage’ competition. The
Chairman commented on how
well the Young Magicians Club
was run and complimented the
organisation on its magazine.
STAGE MAGICIAN
OF THE YEAR
Michael Bailey reported on the
success of the ‘Stage Magician
of the Year’ competition. The
show was a sell out and the
acts appearing were of a high
standard. The winner was
Romany with Keith Field in
second place and James
Freedman in third. The
President congratulated
Michael Bailey on a great event
and suggested that, in future,
as the winner receives a trophy
that the 2nd and 3rd prize
winners should receive
certificates as a memento
along with their cheques.
Michael Bailey had stated that
the sell out audience was made
up of 20% members 80%
public. Michael Alderman
commented that this
constituted a PUBLIC event and
as such must come under the
CMA Ltd. according to the
agreement. In response to a
suggestion that the winner
could be The Magic Circle
representative to FISM Europe,
the President commented that
if this was the case, then the
competition should be judged
solely by magicians.
6. TREASURER’S REPORT
The number of members
unpaid to 31 October 2006 has ANY OTHER BUSINESS
It was agreed that the need for
fallen to 49.
a Monday Night host/hostess
together with full description
7. CMA LIMITED
Michael Alderman reported
of duties for House Manager
that all scheduled work has
should be dealt with by the
been completed.
Club Night Committee.
An offer by Andrew Eborn of
a
‘free
trial’ of live on line
8.COMMITTEE REPORTS
streaming
of a Monday night
YOUNG MAGICIANS CLUB
event was discussed. The test
J–DAY proved to be the most
would be available to all
successful ever with almost
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
members through The Magic
Circle website. Peter Scarlett
was not in favour but
suggested video clips to be
available. John Derris similarly
thought that edited highlights
could be shown and was
happy to allow an edited
version of his lecture to be
used; however any lecturer or
entertainer would have to give
permission. John Fisher
wondered if attendance on
Monday nights might drop if
events were streamed live on
line but offered his services to
help the ‘live on line’ trial. The
Internet Committee was
instructed to look into the best
way forward.
The Secretary reported that
94% of seats for the Christmas
Show have been sold.
Following an earlier decision
by Council to install an
Honours Board in the Devant
Room to list the recipients of
the Maskelyne and Devant
awards, John Fisher proposed
that the Board be dedicated to
John Salisse CBE and unveiled
at a special commemorative
luncheon to be held in the
Devant Room in John’s honour
on Monday, 4 June 2007, the
day following next year’s
Heritage Weekend. Council was
unanimous in its agreement
and asked Christopher
Woodward to proceed with the
arrangements.
Michael Alderman suggested
looking into ‘brand’ licensing
of the name ‘The Magic Circle’
as a way of generating
revenue. Michael Bailey was of
the opinion that a good
licensing agent should be
found to explore the way
forward with a view to
maximising the use of the
name ‘The Magic Circle’. The
Council gave Michael
Alderman permission to seek
suitable companies.
12.NEXT MEETING
Tuesday, 5 December 2006
at 6.00 pm.
NEW MMCs – ELECTED
1 NOVEMBER 2006
Mark Andrew FISKEN
20, New Star Bank,
Newtongrange, Dalkeith,
Midlothian, EH22 4NT, Scotland. NAME
T 0131-454-9991
Chris BRINSON
Nevin CODY
‘The Haven’, 27, The
Esplanade, Holland-On-Sea,
Mornmore Commons, Callan,
Essex, CO15 5TT
Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
T 01255-813725
T 087-2743865
Timothy BRAN
Janet CLARE
15A, Palermo Road,
London, NW10 5YR
T 020-8961-5526
Flat 6, 2, Frant Road, Tunbridge
Wells, Kent, TN2 5SE
T 01892-538211
Doug BARTELS
Steve DELA
111, Kayaderosseras Drive,
Ballston Spa, NY 12020, USA
T 518-885-1325
52, Sewell Close, Chafford
Hundred, Grays,
Essex, RM16 6BT
T 07890-080798
Siobhan JORDAN
Paul MARTIN
Barrie EDGAR
64, Windsor Road, Ealing,
London, W5 5PH
T 07968-072427
Sunrise of Edgbaston,
No.5 Church Road,
Birmingham, B153SH
Ian SOUCH
Mike ELLIS
36, Homewood, Harleyford
Estate, Henley Road, Marlow,
Medmenham, Bucks., SL7 2SW
1, Speyside Circle, Pittsboro.,
NC 27312, USA
T 919-542-1222
Christopher WILD
Robert FREEMAN
24, Sandy Crescent, Ashmore
Park, Wolverhampton, WV11
2LU
T 01902-732210
Jolly Jesters, 169, Creek Road,
March, Cambs., PE15 8RY
T 01354-656569
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
41, The Park, Yeovil,
Somerset, BA20 1DG
T 01935-475352
Gary HUGHES
NEW HONORARY MMC
ELECTED 1 NOVEMBER 2006
4203, Williams Blvd., Kenner,
LA 70065, USA
T 504-468-6170
Jerome FLYNN
Craig KIDD
330, Upland Road,
London, SE22 0DP
T 020-8693-8633
The Rowans, Bird Lane,
Kellington, N. Yorks., DN14 0NR
T 01977-782116
Darren KING
ROMANY
7, Heydon Court, Bradville,
Milton Keynes,
Bucks., MK13 3UQ
T 01908-869510
Brighton
Matthew PEARSON
Stephen MINCH
Seattle, WA
Flat 5, 19, Clifton Road,
Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1ED
T 07949-208960
TO MIMC WITH GOLD STAR
Bernard REID
LOKI
Westgate-on-Sea
2621, Mall Drive, Sarasota, FL
34231, USA
Barrie RICHARDSON
Darryl ROSE
Shreveport, LA USA
12, Woodfield Rise, Bushey
Heath, Herts., WD23 4QS
T 020-8950-5666
Paolo GIUA
Lionel SNELL
31, Jan Smuts Drive,
Ken STANNER
Wentwood, St. Brides Road,
Magor, Caldicot,
Monmouthshire, NP26 3HX
T 01633-881044
Kevin TASKER
48, Credon Road, Rotherhithe,
London, SE16 3AB
T 07883-027077
Alan WATSON
14, Van deleur Avenue,
Birkdale, North Shore City
0626, Auckland, New Zealand
MagicCom Inc, 925, Boone
Avenue N, Golden Valley, MN
55427, USA
T 763-529-2208
James DUDLEY-SMITH
PROMOTIONS
1 NOVEMBER 2006
TO AIMC WITH SILVER STAR
Simonstown, Cape Town 7975,
South Africa
T 27-(0)217861086
Dan WITKOWSKI
Hillside Farm, 2, Old Lane,
Scapegoat Hill,
Huddersfield, HD7 4NG
T 01484-644738
Rome, Italy
Meeting closed at 8.25 pm
CHAIRMAN
THE MAGIC CIRCLE
ALTERATION TO RECORDS
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2006
NO. 390
SUSPENDED MEMBERS
Apperson, John AIMC
Bersus, Karl MMC
Bloom, John MMC
Bunting, Colin MMC
Burton, Stephen MMC
Cary, Robert MMC
Christopher, Brian MMC
Clive, Donald
Drayton, Jeffrey MMC
Dubes, Mark MMC
Elman, Charles MMC
Finley, John AIMC
Fry, Christopher MMC
Gardner, John AIMC
Gordon, John MIMC
Hannah, Simon MMC
Hindman, Dale MIMC
James, Ardan AIMC
Jayne, Su MMC
Karma, Noora MMC
Kaye, David AIMC
Kingscote, Paul MMC
Latimer, Jason MIMC
Lee, Stacey MMC
Lees, Walt AIMC
Levy, Ken MMC
Mantelli, Silvio AIMC
Marino, Vittorio MMC
Maxam, Blake MMC
Maxwell, Greg MMC
Miller, John MMC
Moreno, Bassoni MMC
Munari, Geno MMC
Nixon, Steve MMC
Pannain, Remo MMC
Paulley, George
Pearson, Michael MMC
Rasheed, Jawwad MMC
Ray, Ian MMC
Reid, Owen MMC
Rios, Alfonso AIMC
Romero, Darren MIMC
Saiet, Tim AIMC
Sinclair, Barry AIMC
Sinclair, Belinda AIMC
Steiner, Robert AIMC
Tang, Keith MMC
Vallance, Ian MMC
Wild, Rachel AIMC
September 2005 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR 31
Our Headquarter
Conventions
Dress Code
Smart attire is required at all events in the
Headquarters and, for gentlemen, jackets and
ties are preferred. Trainers, jeans, T-shirts and
caps are NOT permitted.
Mobile Phones
Please ensure that you switch off your mobile
phone before entering the Headquarters. If you
must make a phone call, please do so outside
the building.
Photography
and Sound Recording
The use of any form of recording equipment,
audio or visual, including cameras and mobile
phones, is not permitted in any part of the
Headquarters except by special arrangement.
Gum
Please refrain from chewing gum of any sort in
the Headquarters.
Smoking
Smoking is not allowed anywhere in the
Headquarters.
We all benefit from these conventions, so
please respect and abide by them to avoid
being turned away. Thank you for your
understanding.
THE 2ND CORPORATE ZONE MAGIC DAY
Sunday 28 January 2007
This very special event is dedicated to the
world of close-up magic.
FEATURING:
SETH KRAMER
Top USA trade show performer, Seth is coming over from
New York especially for my event. He is one of the
busiest trade show performers in the world.
HIS PRESENTATION IS NOT TO BE MISSED.
PAUL STONE
I am honoured to have Paul giving an exclusive presentation at
my event. Paul knows the magic business inside out. He has
been a trade show performer, and for the last 25 years
has been a major corporate event producer.
Forthcomingclub events
James Fortune AIMC
Club Night Committee Secretary
The Headquarters are open on Club Nights from 3:00 pm until
10:30 pm. Unless otherwise stated, events start promptly at
7.30pm and are scheduled to finish between 8.45pm and 9pm.
Club nights are principally for members only, so entry to all
events is by Membership Card. A magician guest may attend any
evening that is not marked ‘Members and Associates only’ on
condition that he or she is able show membership of a magical
society. A non-magician guest may only attend evenings that are
marked as ‘Show’. No guest may attend unless the CMA is told
in advance, so if you wish to bring a guest, please phone (020)
7387 2222. There is a limit of ten guests per night. All guests
must pay a £10 entry fee at the door and respect our
Conventions, indeed it is your duty as their sponsor to ensure
that they do. Information in this column will always supersede
your Fixture Card. See our website or subscribe to Big Reminder
(free weekly emails) for any last-minute changes to this schedule.
[email protected]
JANUARY
Monday 1
PUBLIC HOLIDAY – CLUBROOM CLOSED
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Tuesday 2
ZANE’S MAGIC SHOP – DEALER DEM
Always interesting general dealer of all types and categories of
items. Zane is a wonderful performer and adds lots of value to
his demonstrations. Come and spend that money you got for
Christmas.
Monday 8
A TRICK FROM TARBELL – Jack Delvin MIMC
One of Jack’s many new ideas. Some members will create and
perform tricks from books from the Tarbell Course and then
explain them. Some undiscovered gems are guaranteed to turn up.
Monday 15
FLEA MARKET – Ali Bongo MIMC
Bring all the stuff you don’t want and sell it so you can buy stuff
you do want. (Did I get that right?) Contact Ali to reserve a table.
Always a fun evening.
PLUS MUCH MORE!
VENUE: The Bonnington Hotel, Bloomsbury, London
PRICE: £70 including morning tea/danishes/lunch
RESERVED SEATS ONLY, NO TICKETS ON THE DAY.
PLEASE MAKE CHQ/P.O. PAYABLE TO GARY YOUNG.
SEND TO: GARY YOUNG MMC, THE MAGIC ZONE,
SUITE 201 MARITIME HOUSE, SOUTHWELL BUSINESS PARK,
PORTLAND, DORSET, DT5 2NB
FULL DETAILS AT www.corporatezonemagicday.co.uk
Email [email protected]
LAST YEAR’S EVENT RECEIVED RAVE REVIEWS!
DON’T MISS IT… DON’T DELAY, SEND TODAY!
32 THE MAGIC CIRCULAR January 2007
Monday 22
CONJURING ANTHOLOGY – Scott Penrose MIMC
This is a tribute to one of the greatest assets of the modern
magical world, Jim Steinmeyer. Scott’s keeping his powder dry
but you just know it’s going to be fabulous!
Monday 29
THE PAUL STONE EXPERIENCE – Paul Stone MIMC
I’ve known Paul for more years than either of us care to remember
and he has always been a great dealer and entrepreneur. His
products have grown since he bought up Ken Brooke and his
booking skills were seen at this year’s IBM. I’m really looking
forward to this evening.
www.TheMagicCircle.co.uk
The Maskelyne Endowment Fund
The income of The Maskelyne Endowment Fund provides monies for grants
and bursaries to and for the benefit of Members of the Society in connection
with projects or activities which advance the art of magic.
The Irving Schneider Youth Award 2007
The Maskelyne Endowment Fund is offering The Irving Schneider Youth Award
to assist a younger member to progress in the art of magic. The selected candidate
will receive a bursary of at least £1,000 to attend a Master Class at Jeff McBride’s
Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas.
Applicants aged between 18 and 25 on 1 January 2007 should send a resumé of their
magical career if possible supported by a recent video demonstrating their current
magical skills, together with reasons why they should be selected for the Award.
Applications to The Secretary, The Maskelyne Endowment Fund, 12 Stephenson Way,
London NW1 2HD, UK must be received by 31 March 2007. The selected candidate
will be advised by 30 April 2007.
Michael Bailey, Keith Cooper, Derrick Speight
Trustees: The Magic Circle Endowment Fund
The Trustees thank members who have added donations to their subscriptions.
Please remember The Maskelyne Endowment Fund when drawing up your will.
THE MAGIC CIRCLE
Annual Supper
Wednesday 14 March 2007
7.00pm for 7.30pm
Elizabethan Restaurant,
Imperial Hotel
Russell Square,
London WC1
Dress Informal
Tickets only £40.00 book early to reserve your seats
Contact: David Ball MIMC, 40 Sandy Lodge Way,
Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2AS
T 01923 822589
Cheques payable to `The Magic Circle` or pay by Credit Card