This is Cardopolis 37 going out to all subscribers. Cardopolis is a magic newsletter exploring the history and craft of card magic. It focuses on vintage items and the people who created them. The handlings have been updated, but the core ideas go way back and are as effective now as they were when originally devised.
This issue we look at a little-known item from Henry Hardin, The Continental Color Change. Hardin was proud of the fact that it used a regular deck of cards and could be repeated. If he had a Tik-Tok account, he’d be featuring this change. But They Didn’t Stop There is a bluff Progressive Jacks routine. Altered States and Subtle States are packet-trick versions of The Universal Card Plot. Boxed & Buried uses a clever idea that makes possible a convincing card transposition.
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HARDIN’S CONTINENTAL COLOR CHANGE
Hardin described this colour change in his Memorandum of Magic (1907) as a continuous change requiring no palming, no moving cards from one part of the deck to another and can be done with any deck.
The explanation he gave was brief and without illustrations, as was often the custom of the day. The Conjuror’s Magazine (October 1945) explained the change in a series about Hardin’s effects, but it was a different interpretation to the one detailed here, which seems to work.
BUT THEY DIDN’T STOP THERE
Ken Krenzel created the Progressive Aces plot. I like the idea more than the actuality. The notion of aces moving from one packet to another has the makings of a story. The reality of repeatedly showing packets of cards can, however, make the effect seem a little mechanical and the plot drags on more than it should. Any progression of cards here, from one packet to another, is purely imaginary, part of the story rather than anything that affects the mechanics of the trick.
It was published in the Cardopolis column in Genii magazine (July 2023) and is based on Acembley published in Stephen Tucker's Spell-Binder (March 1983). One blessing is that it is not difficult to do.
BOXED & BURIED
Dave Strong published Evolution of a Sandwich in Cardiste 13 (1969). Sandwich tricks by Vernon and Marlo inspired Strong, who used what he learned to create a transposition. The key element is the idea of accomplishing a true transposition without resorting to a duplicate. Strong’s method has other applications, and I’ll detail one in a future issue. Meanwhile, here is my handling of Dave Strong’s routine.
ALTERED STATES
The plot in which one card assumes the identities of others is referred to as The Universal Card. The title comes from Karl Fulves’ trick By Any Other Name (Pallbearer Review, Winter 1967). Fulves referred to a ‘universal card’ in his presentation.
The General Card is an older effect in which a card changes into various selections. But I think of The General Card as a bigger platform trick and The Universal Card as a close-up effect, often involving false counts rather than, say, top changes.
However, I recently discovered that the term ‘universal card’ in the context of this type of effect goes back to at least the 1930s. Wilfred Johnson used the term in a review of a performance by James Wakefield (also known as James Carl) at The Magic Circle (The Sphinx, September 1933).
James Wakefield, of Derby, gave a wonderful turn. A beautiful series of knots on a heavy cord, the aerial treasury, a novel padlock effect, the Universal Card, and a splendid routine with a borrowed coin providing a real lesson in first class conjuring.
A more detailed review of James Wakefield‘s performance can be found in The Magic Circular (Aug/Sept 1933):
The popular Derby magician, Mr. James Wakefield, M.I.M.C., next made a welcome re-appearance on the CIRCLE stage, opening with a series of interesting knot effects with a length of curtain cord. The Miser's Dream with real half-crowns was then presented in masterly fashion, after which the performer transformed three indifferent cards successively into the replica of one chosen by a member of the audience, and back again. An amusing variant of the "Cap and Half-pence" with half-crowns, half a match-box and a ball of silver paper, led up to a series of coin moves, culminating with a lesson in conjuring, in which the "pupil"—a boy from the audience—received a demonstration of the elusiveness of a half-crown in his mentor's nimble lingers. An effective experiment with a padlock which, after being demonstrably locked, fell open at the moment the key-hole on a pictured replica was rubbed out, concluded the contribution of Mr. Wakefield, whose work is always interesting to watch, not only for his technical finish, but for his strong sense of showmanship.
As Johnson used the title ‘Universal Card’ in his review, I wonder if Wakefield made use of the term in his presentation.
Wakefield was a remarkably deft and entertaining performer, praised for his work by the likes of Billy O’Connor. He was also the godfather of David Bamberg. Okito was working and living in Wakefield’s hometown of Derby when David Bamberg was born in February of 1904. Last year, August 3rd, 2024, a blue plaque dedicated to James Wakefield, was unveiled at his former home, 100 Chester Green, Derby.
My interest in The Universal Card was stimulated by Jon Racherbaumer’s 1972 book The Universal Card and watching Max Maven perform a packet version of the trick at the IBM convention in Hastings (1978). See Masque in Philip T Goldstein’s Focus (1990). The version here is another handling of Alien, which I published in Talon 6 (1980) and revised in Genii (December 2018).
SUBTLE STATES
To EC or not to EC, that is the question. Altered States and Alien make liberal use of Elmsley Counts but some of those counts can be dispensed with. The reason I use Elmsley Counts is they make for smoother handling than genuine counts. This smoothness helps when performing packet tricks, where you are likely going from one count to another in rapid succession. They help if there’s a certain rhythm to the trick.
Here is a version of Altered States that, mostly, uses regular counts. The video is best watched after you’ve seen the explanation for Altered States.
DRINKING SPELL
Talon issue 6 featured another trick I was fond of, called Drinking Spell. It was a take on Ralph Hull’s Joker Spelling Trick, which I’d read in Hugard’s Encyclopedia of Card Tricks (1937). Hull had marketed the trick in 1924.
Though I didn’t know it at the time, my version was closer to Val Evans’ Invitation to Lunch with Beer (Jinx August 1937). I’d originally made it using cards from Sid Lorraine’s Liquor Cards trick (1938). International Magic produced a very colourful version of them.
In the 80s, I showed the trick to Terri Rogers, and she showed it John Fisher, the producer of The Paul Daniels Magic Show. John called me and bought the trick for the show. The fee was more than a week’s wage I earned in my regular job at an insurance claims office. And came with a 70% repeat fee if the show aired again, which it did. At that time, the BBC also paid royalties on overseas sales of their shows. I remember getting a cheque for £1 because the show had aired in Hungary. Given that Talon magazine sold for 60 pence the whole deal worked out very well for me.
I went to the recording of the show with my pal Marc Russell. Paul Daniels performed the routine brilliantly. He was a teetotaller but did his best Freddie Frinton when acting inebriated. At the end of the piece, he told the studio audience that the trick was the work of ‘a young man’ who was in the audience tonight. He called my name. I sheepishly raised my hand, and the audience applauded. Those are moments you remember for a very long time.
Another moment was meeting Billy McComb. Terri Rogers was once again the facilitator because McComb was joining us for dinner at The Kingsley Hotel in Bloomsbury. We’d barely shaken hands when he said, ‘I have a trick of yours.’ He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out Drinking Spell. He’d made up a set of so he could perform it at The Magic Castle bars.
Drinking Spell was featured in a 1983 Bunco Booth segment of The Paul Daniels Magic Show. Here it is:
One thing worth noting about Drinking Spell is that the bill is also the cue for the stack.
That’s all for now. If you’re new to Cardopolis, check out the issues in the archive. There are dozens of tutorial videos. If you’re a paid subscriber, do use the Comment section for questions and feedback. Until next time.
David
Wish I'd seen that!
Thanks Ian, glad you found it a good bit of bluff.