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Latig0 New user 63 Posts |
Thanks for all your tricks, sleights and stories MAESTRO, wherever you are!
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Magiguy Inner circle Seattle, WA 5467 Posts |
I'll drink to that!
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Ben Train Inner circle Erdnase never had 4639 Posts |
We celebrated in style up here in Toronto- magic, fine Scotch, and cigars. We discussed Triumph, out of sigh out of mind, and structuring various "think a card" ideas.
I think Vernon would have been proud. Thanks to Jeff Hinchliffe, Asi Wind, and James Alan for the great night, and to the Professor for showing us that it's possible to elevate magic to an art. Ben
If you're reading this you're my favourite magician.
Check out www.TorontoMagicCompany.com for upcoming shows, and instagram.com/train.ben for god knows what! |
Rainboguy Inner circle 1915 Posts |
One of the greatest moments in magic was meeting the Professor and talking magic with him lieterally all night long at the Faucett Ross Magic Fest in 1983.
When he did a pull-through shuffle for me, I quite literally cried, he did it so beautifully. Now I have in my magic library a personally autographed copy of Stars of Magic....and it's one of my magic treasures. Vernon changed magic....period. |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
I hate to attempt to wax eloquent about the Professor, but I shall try. Houston, Texas was fairly well removed from the center magical activities, because we didn't have the underlying "nightclub infrastructure" that places like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles had. We had the Shamrock and the Balinese Room in Galveston, but we didn't have anything like Schulien's or the Magic Castle. Occasionally someone like Harry Riser would come through town, but it was nothing like the places where the real magicians, such as the Professor, lived.
I had been out of magic for about a decade (do to college studies, etc.), and was busy returning to it when I learned that the TAOM convention in Abilene, Texas (1972) was going to have Vernon, Lou Derman and a number of other people I'd only heard of as headliners. So I went. It changed my life. I went to the registration desk, signed up, and spotted a fellow who was in his seventies sitting on a sofa in that general area. He was smiling, not saying anything. I had my copy of the Dai Vernon Book of Magic with me, so I went up to him, thanked him for contributing to the delinquency of an adult, which made him grin, and asked him to autograph it. He did so, graciously. Then the life-changing moment arrived. I decided to perform for the Professor. I took out a business card, pretended to write something on the back and asked, "Sir, would you give me the first three digit number that pops into your mind?" (In my best parrotting of the patter in the Corinda book). He replied, without hesitation, "Four, Five, Eight." Continuing with my Corinda style work, I asked, "Does that number have any special significance?" as I scrawled it on the business card with my Swami Gimmick. "Yes. It's the three most difficult numbers to write with a nail writer." I laughed, shook his hand, and thanked him for the magic lesson. Later during that convention -- for reasons completely unrelated to that incident -- the Professor and Lou Derman told me I should "get into the business, because I was a natural." It took me about 3 years to phase out of the music business, where I'd been for some time, and to get into magic full-time. But I did, and I'm glad of it. I got to see the Professor on three more occasions after that. Each time, he did something that helped me deal with a performance problem. He was always kind to me and told me what I needed to know to improve what I was doing.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
noble1 Special user 651 Posts |
Bill what can you tel us about Lou Derman?
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Latig0 New user 63 Posts |
Bill, that was funny and so vernon-esque!!!
I feel so unlucky to not have been able to at least share a talk with The Professor. It´s always such a pleasure to hear stories about him. |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-12 13:39, noble1 wrote: Lou was a comedy writer for All in the Family and Mr. Ed. He was a member of the Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences, and wrote for the Linking Ring. He hated mentalists, because the ones he had seen were very boring. He also hated count down card tricks and prententious magicians. He was a very funny guy in his own particular way. His brother, Bill, invented the 6-9-15 paddle.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
noble1 Special user 651 Posts |
Did Derman perform at the converntion? Close-up? Stage? If so do you remember any tricks or routines. I heard he wrote a book but I've never seen it.
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Lou performed what was then termed a close-up act. It was actually a stand-up act with cards and cigarettes that was performed for three volunteers (I was one) at a card table, with Lou standing behind the table. Most of the magic happened on the table.
It was a comedy close-up act. I couldn't begin to give you all the details of what he did, because it was stuff he wrote. To state that he had a card selected, revealed the wrong card and corrected it with a rubber stamp would be like saying "Rudolf Nureyev came out on stage in tights, a dance belt and half a Florentine costume and leaped around the stage to symphonic music." He started with the one handed shuffle, followed by the Notis cascade, and said, "I do this at the start of each show to show you finger-flingers I can do it." Then he had us laughing for 30 minutes. For the card routine I sketchily described, he forced a five of clubs, revealed ao four of clubs, and then when the volunteers complained that he missed, he said, "I'm not going to let one spot throw me off." He brought out a "Polynesian Idol" (a large, mechanical, self-inking rubber stamp) that had a hula skirt around its waist. The handle had been painted with eyes and a mouth. He had one of the volunteers "kiss the idol on its tushy," and he stamped the extra pip in the center of the card. Even that description doesn't do it justice, though. His book was called [i]Add Comedy to Your Act." Editorial comment: Although the Magic Castle and other similar clubs did a great service to magic by keeping magicians employed, there was a secondary problem that they fostered. This was having close-up magicians performing for relatively large audiences. In some ways, it improved performing styles. In other ways, it created false expectations in some performers. For example, I have NEVER been in a venue other than a "magic club" such as Magic Island, where there were close-up rooms with draped tables.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
noble1 Special user 651 Posts |
Thanks Bill. Where can I get a copy of Add Comedy to Your Act?
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
I would check with the various used magic book dealers. Lou died about 35 years ago.
Much of the material is a tad outdated. For example, at the time that Lou wrote the book, the norm for comedy shows on televisions was one laugh every 20 seconds. Now that has changed. A better choice, and still available, is How to Be Funny by Steve Allen. Do not settle for any of the other books with a similar name.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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