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TeddyBoy Special user New York, NY 595 Posts |
I have been impressed at the number of folks that think McDonald Aces is the best ace assembly. For example, Darwin Ortiz in Strong Magic opines that it is "the most powerful of all ace assemblies..." However I try to avoid using gaffed decks/cards. At the risk of appearing quite naive, is there an non-gaffed version of McDonald Aces? If so, where would I find it?
So many sleights...so little time.
"Slow...deliberate...natural." Bill Tarr Cheers, Teddy |
CardGuyMike Special user 787 Posts |
McDonald's Aces is really just an ace assembly, so a non-gaffed version of McDonald's Aces is really just a non-gaffed ace assembly. There are countless ways to do ace assemblies -- John Bannon alone has a bunch of them. L&L Publishing has 3 volumes of Ace Assemblies (World's Greatest Magic) pulling together routines from a bunch of great magicians.
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TeddyBoy Special user New York, NY 595 Posts |
Thanks Mike. I have several candidates for ace assemblies, probably settling on Jazz Aces. However I was specifically interested in McDonald because several members here think it is the best one. I think three volumes of ace assemblies would be overkill. Thanks again.
So many sleights...so little time.
"Slow...deliberate...natural." Bill Tarr Cheers, Teddy |
foolsnobody Special user Buffalo, NY 843 Posts |
Most one at a time ace assemblies show each ace in the leader packet after it "travels." McDonalds does not. It shows the leader packet at the end as all aces, even though the aces are vanished from the other packets one at a time. Which is better, presentationally? ***ed if I know. How about the old fashioned effects where the aces are made to vanish all at once as well? Which effect is better, and which is more fooling?
In a torn and restored effect, is a piece by piece restoration better or worse than a flash restoration? I guess it at least partially depends upon the arc of the entire show. Should I have posted this in Food for Thought? |
kentfgunn Inner circle Merritt Island FL 1639 Posts |
McDonald's Aces uses gaffed cards. If you don't use those gaffs you're NOT doing McDonald's Aces. The original question makes no sense to me.
I don't think you're being naive. You're certainly confusing me. If you don't want to use gaffed cards pick a different Ace assembly. You will not be doing McDonald's Aces. Could you exactly replicate the effect with sleight of hand? If you don't know that the routine is defined by those gaffs, no you don't know enough to construct such a routine. Learn the routine using the gaffs. |
Poof-Daddy Inner circle Considering Stopping At Exactly 5313 Posts |
Quote:
On Nov 10, 2019, kentfgunn wrote: Totally agree with this statement. If the 3 volumes of Ace Assembly DVDs are too much. You might consider John Bannon’s “Dear Mr Fantasy” book as it has a chapter on a few really good ones without the overkill.
Cancer Sux - It is time to find a Cure
Don't spend so much time trying not to die that you forget how to live - H's wife to H on CSI Miami (paraphrased). |
Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
You could change the gaff, but since there's a packet under a volunteer's hand, you'd have to compromise the effect to use only a borrowed pack of cards.
Here's an example (H. Sawa's routine) of what can be done if you change the effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca2VtaPTHqc
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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JoeHohman Special user Erie 706 Posts |
One of the cool things that McD's Aces achieves is that the aces magically disappear from each packet, only to reappear in the last packet that has been in plain sight the entire time.
If that vanishing aspect is what you want to more or less replicate without gaffed cards, then you might want to learn a version of Collins Aces. (However, the reassembly will not be in one of the remaining face-down piles.) Martin Nash has one of the more popular versions where the four aces are recovered by spelling to them; another version with a different reassembly is in a really cool and under-the-radar book by Bruce Elliot, "Classic Secrets of Magic." But who am I to argue with Kent Gunn? Learn the routine using the gaffs! |
JoeHohman Special user Erie 706 Posts |
Oops, it might be Bruce Elliott. Two t's. Sorry about that!
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
It helps to pick an objective, be it the effect itself or a condition on performing, say with a borrowed pack (uno, bridge sized...).
If you are using your own pack of cards - learning how to introduce and then remove "helper" cards is worth your time. How about that Sawa routine?
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Jerskin Inner circle 2497 Posts |
I've never seen a non gaffed version that looks as good as MacDonald's. I see people spelling it McDonald. Invented by One Arm MacDonald.
Since there are only 3 gaffs you could do a lot of other effects with the deck first.
GrEg oTtO
MUNDUS VULT DECIPI |
CardGuyMike Special user 787 Posts |
Quote:
On Nov 8, 2019, CardGuyMike wrote: AlakazamUSA has these 3 DVDs on sale now for $2.90 each. https://www.alakazamusa.com/product/ace-......lishing/ https://www.alakazamusa.com/product/ace-......lishing/ https://www.alakazamusa.com/product/ace-......lishing/ |
jimgerrish Inner circle East Orange, NJ 3209 Posts |
In 2012, then Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki came up with a new way to perform the Ace Assembly trick that he called "McFiki's JUMBO Aces" and published in The Wizards' Journal #23-08. He wanted to perform it with jumbo cards and have spectators able to hold the cards in their own hands as the aces mysteriously vanished and then reappeared together.
As he grew older, by 2017 going under his real name of Al-Quadir Marsh, he revised his Ace Assembly using my new principle of "Attractive Cards" and published the results as "McD's JUMBO Aces" in The Wizards' Journal #33-10. Once again Jumbo Cards are used, but the folders are gone and the vanishes and ultimate reappearance happens rapidly and visibly, right up until the ending with the entire deck of cards vanishing. For the purists and pedants, Jon W. McDonald (1907-c.1982) went by the nickname of "One-Arm Mac" which is where the spelling of his name got confused. His routine was first published under the name "MacDonald's Aces", but no harm is done if you respell it "McDonald's Aces". Just perform it with the gaffs "Mac" used himself, or the new gaffs provided by "Qua-Fiki" and Al-Quadir Marsh.
Jim Gerrish
magicnook@yahoo.com https://www.magicnook.com Home of The Wizards' Journals: https://magicnook.com/wizardsTOC.htm |
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