"execute a shuttle pass"

Say what?

Lawyers speak of attachments, trials, demurrers, defenses, torts, forum, encumbrance,
        and estoppels.
Chefs speak of brunoise, julienne, patissier, sautee', chine, fluting, and curdle.
Tailors speak of  Bemberg, gimp, gorge, pleat, pucker, weft, vent, baste, and block.

We magicians in the sleight-of-hand world have our own language as well.  A few of those terms are:

       Down's palm, shift, undercut, french drop, equivoque, one-ahead, go south, biddle              count, double lift, elmsley, paddle move,

                                    and....oh, yes.....shuttle pass.


After witnessing a rare TV performance of magician Dai Vernon in the early 70's, I was determined to find out how such deception by sleight-of-hand could possibly be accomplished.  This 3 minute routine completely baffled my senses.  I was in college at the time and knew nothing of the magical world.

I had no idea that a casual walk into a magic store a year later caused my eye to catch the title of a partially hidden manuscript titled "Vernon Cups & Balls".  My mind immediately flashed back to that TV segment that I had watched in reruns many times.  I couldn't wait to get it home so that all could be revealed.

Little did I know at the time that my much awaited anticipation would soon turn to major disappointment. As I mentioned, the manuscript was meant for the "professional".  How well I remember one of those opening lines....
   "...  showing 3 balls in each hand by executing a shuttle pass from right to left, retaining        the extra ball in the right pinky palm position"
           
Say what?

That was my first glimpse into this lifelong quest and passion of mine to study seriously those sleights and secrets known only to the underbelly of this wonderful secret society.  And still very much a secret society today.  But being well-versed in it's "jargon" and being the serious student I am, doors have opened to me that would have otherwise been closed.

We magicians are still a very close-knit group of fellows with most secrets only revealed to those in the know on the "inside".  Mind you, these are not the secrets you buy in a magic store. The "real" secrets are those that manipulate the sight, sound & mind.  Those you cannot buy.  Those are skills only attained by practice and repetition.

Oh, by the way, I still perform the "Vernon Cups & Balls" and have for the past 25 years.
     

Misunderstood "Art"

Magic as an "art" is very misunderstood.   Why?

Magic (or more precise, the art of deception) is one in which the measure of skill is equivalent to how invisible his talent is to all others.

Huh?

A skill of a concert pianist can be recognized by his playing ability that we can hear and see, and ultimately, measure against other virtuosos.  The same can be said for the theater "arts",  as well as those in dance, etc.
Our senses are excited by sight & sound at the skill poured forth by such talent.

On the other hand, the magician skills go unnoticed.  And even though miracles occur, oftentimes this perceived ability is attributed to "trick" or "fake" means.  Most times, this is just not true.  I pride myself as many others in this field of performing with little, if any, fake or trick apparatus.  There is a group of us (magicians, that is) that try to perform entirely using ungimmicked ordinary objects whenever possible.  It's called performing "clean"....meaning there is nothing to hide or that cannot be examined afterwards.

It is extremely frustrating.  A few months ago, I performed an effect with a deck of cards in which the outcome is the appearance of all the backs of the cards changing color, i.e. a blue deck becomes a red deck.
  This can be accomplished by sleight-of-hand as long as one card is of a different color.  It sounds improbable, but true.  In this case, right before the eyes of my willing (perhaps unwilling) spectator, I openly showed a blue deck and with a few moves showed the deck now completely red.  I fanned out the "newly colored" deck and set them on the table for examination.  He looked at them quizingly, then remarked:
           "My brother used to have a deck like that."
            "Exam them. You will find nothing unusual about the cards",  I remarked.
            "I don't have to.  They're fake"
And so the story ends.
Oh, well.

Healing of Magic

 Magic = Medicine ?

The adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" can in some cases be replaced by this:
   "A magic trick practiced a day keeps the doctor away"

Healing of Magic  is an outreach program headed by friend and professional magician Kevin Spencer. It involves the teaching & instruction of specific manipulative skills in magic to accomplish certain patient goals.  It has proven effective in occupational therapy in hospital settings by improving gross motor skills such as strengthening of muscles and fine motor skills such as eye-hand coordination.   It has also been proven successful in behavioral disorders as well by helping develop social skills and self-confidence.

Testimonials of it's success are well documented by Occupational Therapists from major hospitals.  Local magicians provide the instruction along with manuals for therapists to be able to teach & use specific magic tricks to the benefit of their patients.

Healing of Magic is an expanded program first started in 1982 by David Copperfield.  He titled the program "Project Magic" and I became a willing member of this in the late '80s.  (I must admit I haven't had the pleasure of using my skills in this manner due to my rural location).  My "hats off" to Kevin & Cindy Spencer who took it upon themselves to develop and expand this program to what it is today.  And my thanks to all the magicians out in the field who have helped so many patients recover.

Please visit the site and be amazed at this work:   www.magictherapy.com

...in the blink of an eye!

There is an old saying applied to magic:  "The hand is quicker than the eye"

Is it really?.....
An "old" saying for sure, because it applies to the art of magic over 75 years ago.  The magicians of yesteryear performed in social situations...most notably, drawing rooms of higher society.  The act of astonishment was a broad theatrical performance complete with exaggerated hand gestures and body movements. A magic show of it's day took on an air of "catch me if you can" or "see what I can do that you can't".  Performers had a certain arrogance....not unlike that portrayed by Houdini.

But there was a pioneer of modern day magic by the name.....

Inversions

The above is an example of an "inversion":  a phrase or name that reads the same upside down.  I "doodled" it myself late one night or early morning a year ago. I consider it my "logo" and try to use it in my materials whenever I can.

It was inspired by the artistic designs of Scott Kim on his website called "Inversions".  Click the link to this site and have a look around.   I find the artwork fascinating.  The site even shows an inversion of David Blaine (when displayed upside down it reads "mysterious").  

I was first made aware of this type of printing when I viewed a business card of a well-known magician, Dan Garrett.  He had Scott Kim design his inversion.

This also reminds me of the simpler "upside-down calculator" answers;  a familiar example being the number 07734.  When upside down the number resembles "hello".

Many letters or numbers can be read as other letters, upside down. There is an effect that I sometimes perform as a mental piece and attempt to reveal a message on a chalkboard by writing it upside down, appearing as meaningless hieroglyphics to the audience.  After an apparent failure, the board is turned over and the correct message is then read.