Hi....

I was just looking at an Ammar tape and saw Bannons Play it Straight Triumph, although this was quite an impressive version of triumph (description at the end) it dawned on me how many versions of this I know!

Theres Vernons original, Harris' Unshuffling Rebecca, the Magician Vs. plots, Colour Triumphs, Darryls Double Dazzler and the list goes on!

I was wondering what you opinion is on the best version of triumph. What makes it so good? What is your favourite way to present triumph?

Thanks!


(Bannons Play it Straight Triumph: Card is selected and the deck is cut into four piles. These four piles are shuffled into each other one at a time, face up face down until you have one chaotic deck. The magician claims he will use only magic to fix all these face up cards and face dwon cards, leaving only one face up. Whoops! He forgot to have the selection returned! Ah well, he spreads the cards to show now only ace through king of one suit is face up in order! but one card is missing, and that is the selected card)

My personal favorite is the Vernon version from Stars of Magic. If the shuffles are convincing, it is an absolute miracle, plus it is a very clear and easy effect to follow if presented correctly.

I think Bannon's version is great. It is probably my second favorite version of this effect and it is my favorite of all of John Bannon's effects.

Two other versions that have a foot in the camp of "Triumph" are "Topsy Turvy Aces" (Ed Marlo effect - by the way, there is a stellar handling of this effect by Andrew Wimhurst on video) and "Greek Poker" by Darwin Ortiz.

hi ..steel..
ive seen on video of course ,
frank garcia perform triumph and ken krenzell on one of his vids do this effect . but dominique duviver a wonderful french magacian does a triump usining his own zarrow shuffle and different handling . in his hands the trick becomes a stunner,. vol, 2 the magic of d duviver . check it out
hope this helps vinny

Larry Jennings' in the hands Triumph effect, from The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings, ranks high among my favorites.

I prefer Vernon's from Stars of Magic as well. I performed it in a practice session for Dave Malek one day and he was floored! The key: don't look at the deck whilst shuffling; it's more natural that way.

Play it straignt is excellent, and has an interesting advantage: it can immediately follow Vernon's Triumph as the stack is unaltered. Here's the procedure in a nutshell: Have one card selected for Triumph, another for Play it Straight. Have the Triumph card returned, and perform the Triumph shuffle(s), cuts, and revelation. (Tip: use Daryl's six stack display.) Perform the Play it Straight shuffles and announce that you'll reveal the second card; simple: the second spectator still has it. spread the cards to show the rest of the cards in that suit face-up and in order, and name the selected card. I love this combination, and perform it with patter that I was doing it for my kids. My daughter did the Vernon shuffle, then my son--to make it more complicated--did the Play it Straight shuffle. (Another tip: when you separate the deck into four stacks, study the cards as you riffle them, and stick your tongue out to the side. The audience will never realize that you're really studying the faces of the cards; it'll look like a big joke.) A killer combination.

"Greek Poker" by Darwin Ortiz."

Oy!

I don't know if I've found my favorite yet.
Outstanding Triumph by Larry Jennings is great,so is Vernons. I love Play It Straight Triumph by Bannon,but sometimes the spectator doesn't take the spread of 13 cards in front of them. I've had,on a few different occasions,the person take the card from the very end or beginning of the deck. From there I just go into Vernons or Jennings version. I like Bannons version cause the cards are actually shuffled together,I'll have to try s2000magicians idea!

Also,I've heard Sankeys Back In Time triumph is a good one but I've yet to try it out for myself. Anyone else give his a try?

As far as Triumphs itself goes, I am somewhat partial to JC Wagners in hands Triumph from his Commercial Magic book. I also like to follow it up with Harry Loraynes version of Daryls 6 packet cut display to show all the cards mixed condition.

Kraft

As an opener I love daryl's "Double Dazzler Triumph" and impromtu I like using Paul Harris' "Gambler vrs. mentalist vrs. magician". Martin nash's Color Seperation is also great, an effect that isn't an effect that gets ready for Out of this world.
PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat
http://www.stores.ebay.ca/abstagecraft

Jay Sankey's "Back In Time."

My favorite is Jennings' "Outstanding," followed by his "Kings Triumph" (also from Classic Magic). "Kings" uses four of a kind rather than a single selection, and has the advantage that once the cards are mixed, the work is done -- no more cuts or moves. This makes it a nice follow-up Triumph routine when you're asked to "do that again."

Where is Daryl's version published?

Quinn

Back in Time is an excellent version, but my favourite is Guy Hollingworth's in the hands version from Drawing Room Deceptions. The beaty of it is you can cull the three mates of the selection as you reveal the deck has turned face up, you can go straight into producing the mates.

an overlooked version of triumph can be found in the aoa series, traveling triumph. Though it is a hard version of triumph to preform, it is very good.

I love Sadowitz's name a card triumph, I saw it on TV and it just blew me away. It seems impossible even if you know the ordinary triumph.

Johnny Thompson has a great version of the Stars of Magic Triumph on his great videos, worthy of looking at.

I agree with with the nominations of Jerry Sadowitz's version. But it depends what you mean by "best version". I think John Bannon's has a high degree of bafflement for the minimal necessary sleight of hand.

Daryl's version is published in a booklet and can be found on his website http://www.daryl.net
It is also on his London video.

I have not seen too many of these myself. But I have a version of triumph that I think is very deceptive and good. I intend on putting a video of it on the internet soon. Although i do not think it is anywhere near the best, I do think it is very good.(of course i am somewhat biased about it....)

Thanks bumbleface. I never realized it was sold individually, and I thought I'd have to track down his out-of-print Puerto Rican Gambler book to learn it. You've saved me some bucks.

Quinn