I came across some home movie footage of Silent Mora on YouTube, and at the 0:55 second mark there's some excellent footage of him vanishing an egg using a wand spin. The footage is undated, but from footage of the women's clothing immediately prior to the spin, I'd have to guess late 1920's or early 1930's, so the Wand Spin Vanish was already in use at that time. Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIu90nby5xY

Does anyone have more information on the origin of this sleight or when it was created? SETH

I have to say I intensely dislike the insta reveal in the other hand . It sort of tips exactly what happens. It happens with almost every vanish he does.

I agree there could have been better time management for misdirection here.

On the other hand, this is not a public performance; it's a home movie obviously made just for private enjoyment. So I can't blame Mora for displaying only the technical aspects of the vanish for his magician buddies, as opposed to providing a more polished version of the vanish.

But aside from critiques about Mora's presentation, does anyone have more information about the origin of the wand vanish? That was my original reason for posting the clip. SETH

I believe that Vernon always credited the move to Silent Mora (the move now usually called the "Vernon wand spin"). One place it is mentioned is in The Dai Vernon Book of Magic (1957) by Lewis Ganson: "Dai Vernon performs it to vanish the third ball (in his Cups and Balls routine) instead of repeating the fake transfer. He adapted it from a favourite move of SILENT MORA, who used a closed fan and a small billiard ball."

Thanks very much for the reference!

It's a beautiful and impressive sleight, not to mention also being quite difficult to master, with all of the moving parts and quick timing involved. SETH

In the July 1958 issue of Linking Ring, John Booth's column "Of legierdemaine and diverse juggling knacks" features a firsthand account from Silent Mora (Louis McCord) himself. Booth does not clarify whether this was a letter sent directly to him or drawn from another publication or personal correspondence. Below is an excerpt of Silent Mora's account as it appears in the column:

"I have wanted to write about John Van Camp, a very original magician who, in 1902, gave a magical
performance at Carnegie Hall, Allegheny, Pa. Allegheny is now called North Side, Pittsburgh.

Van Camp was so original in his magic and style that he had a great influence in my later life, though
I didn't meet him until 1905 when he came backstage at Tony Pastor's Theatre in New York City to see me.

He asked me where I got the Twirling Wand I was using at that time (1905). I told him, 'I got it from you,
Van, when I saw you in 1902 at Carnegie Hall, Allegheny. You did the Wand Twirl and then put a dove on each
end of the wand, and an assistant carried the doves off stage.'

Van Camp then replied, 'I had forgotten about the Twirl. But you've really made a trick of it, vanishing
the ball. It looks impossible.' That conversation took place in 1905.

Some of the New York magicians called on me back stage at Pastor's and watched my 12-minute act from the wings.
Several of them, including Frank Ducrot, asked about the Twirling Wand and Ball, for even from the wings they
couldn't be certain where the ball went.

One magician had seen this NEW move from the front several times, and then came backstage and gave me $10.
He said, 'I've seen that move several times and I don't know it. I like it. I want a LESSON on that sleight alone.'
That man was Adrian Plate, New York's Society Magician, and he gave me the $10 at once.

In a few minutes he had mastered the Twirl, but had difficulty in letting the ball drop from the left hand into
the right at JUST THE RIGHT SECOND. The TIMING is so exact that Mr. Plate could not do it without long hours of practice!

Danny Dew, of Phoenix, Arizona, was the first person to show me he could do it. He never took a lesson. Only a person
who has great patience can master it.

If any other person puts in a claim for having invented this ORIGINAL SLEIGHT, he must have whispered the secret of it
to me while he was still unborn! And that is the complete story of the TWIRLING WAND AND VANISHING BALL."

(Plough, Alvin Richard, editor. Linking Ring, vol. 38, no. 5, July 1958, p. 18)




In the Winter 2018 issue of Gibeciere, Stephen Minch sheds light on an anonymous 17th-century manuscript titled La magie du Pont Neuf. Following a brief introduction and contextual background, Minch presents the manuscript's table of contents as translated by Maxwell Pritchard. It offers a wonderful glimpse into the world of conjurors and street performers in mid-1600s Paris. Below is from Mr. Minch's introduction:

"While the majority of the contents consists of material typical of the period during which the manuscript was written, there are surprises; items that represent the earliest records of certain tricks, increasing their age beyond what was previously believed. [...] The description and drawing of a gibeciere are unusually detailed; and in conjunction with the list of conjurers' accouterments we find this handling detail of the wand: 'they spin [it] around their fingers, and that makes their actions especially pleasing to look at, as well as hiding their method.' This statement takes the wand spin, as popularized by Silent Mora and Dai Vernon in the last half of the twentieth century, back more than three hundred years."

(Minch, Stephen, editor. Gibeciere, vol. 13, no. 1, Winter 2018, p. 92)




Silent Mora published the move as "Billiard Ball and Wand Twirl" in the July 1945 issue of The Sphinx.

Here is a link to a digital version of the aforementioned manuscript - https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:48176798$16i


-T.J.

We'll probably never have enough detail about that 17th century wand spin, but it's not clear from that manuscript whether that "wand spin" also involves a vanish. It simply says the spin "hides their method," but it doesn't explain what "method" is involved. As we all know, a wand in a dirty hand does a great job of helping to conceal a FP, CP or TP, but it's not a vanish. I'm wondering if that's what the 17th century author is referring to.

Additionally, drummers have been using a version of a "wand spin" for many years, but only as a flourish of their drumsticks. And the mechanics of that "stick spin" are much different than those of the wand vanish. Maybe the "twirl vanish" is a distant cousin of that maneuver? We'll probably never know, but it's interesting to think about. SETH

I agree. I suspect that the wand spins that the street conjurors used were likely more for misdirection or concealment rather than a vanish. I went down the rabbit hole after seeing your post, so I figured the reference was an interesting piece of history worth sharing.

Thomas, thanks very much for digging up the additional interesting information about the wand spin, and especially for locating Silent Mora's own account of his creation of the move. The wand spin is a beautiful and diabolical thing!

I'll never master the wand spin, but at least now I'll know more about it. SETH P.S. However, I can do a "drummer's spin," which only involves holding the wand loosely between the first and second fingers. Once you get the knack of the hand/wrist movement, the "spin" is pretty much self-working and is more of an optical illusion (unlike the wand spin, which I believe uses primarily the thumb and is an actual spin). Although it's not a vanish, it's still a lovely flourish and can be very strong misdirection.

The Mora Wand Spin Vanish does not use the thumb, the wand is held between the first and second fingers. Sounds like you may have learned it incorrectly. As mentioned, the original write up is in The Dai Vernon Book of Magic but Michael Ammar has an explanation written up in The Magic of Michael Ammar.

Sorry for any confusion, but I didn't want to describe it in any great detail in my post.

However, from what I know of the Mora Spin Vanish, the wand revolves around the thumb. Is that accurate? SETH

Watch the video that you linked in your original post at quarter speed. The wand is held between the first and second fingers.

Here is Michael Ammar teaching the wand spin on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV-VsiX-Rq4

Hmmmm, you're right and I'm wrong, thanks for the correction! SETH