Volume 2, Number 9
June 1997
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Congratulations, but it wasn't much of a challenge, was it? All three answers were correct. So why are we here? Technically, we are still on vacation here at Little Egypt central. I had intended to write only a few words about the recent David Blaine and Melinda specials, as they are fresh in the mind, when the thing suddenly took on, to paraphrase Vladimir Nabokov, the fangs and claws of a full-blown issue. So be it. Summer beckons, with its conventions and bounty of new books and videos, but first, the news of late spring . . .  IT'S MAGIC 1997 -- Milt Larsen has announced the staggering lineup for the 1997 edition of It's Magic, his 41st, to be held at the Alex Theater in Glendale. Southern Californians will be treated this year to Ronn Lucas, Mark Kornhauser (who will also emcee), Tina Lenert, Kevin James, The Pendragons, and, from Portugal, Luis DeMatos. Am I dropping names or what? CONTEST: WHAT IS THIS OBJECT? -- The internet abounds with information, including the
full drawing of which the enclosed is a brief part.  The drawing is either (a) the lane lines for the Year 2000 Australian Olympics, (b) Top Secret drawings of the Roswell spacecraft, or (c) the patent drawing for David Copperfield's "Flying" illusion. Hint: the subject of the message pointing this out to me read, "John Gaughan will be pissed." Second hint: don't ask me for the URL. HOUSTON NEWS -- List 16 from H & R Magic Books arrived last month and is, as usual, chock full of temptations, including all the new books, books that are out of print but still in stock, and 832 used titles. Richard and Charlie also stock most of the available lecture notes and the latest items from Karl Fulves. $3 from H & R Magic Books, 3702 Cyril Drive, Humble TX 77396-4032.
DC NEWS -- We'll be reviewing Swami/Mantra elsewhere in this issue, but note that Richard Kaufman has already followed last month's publication of Swami/Mantra and Charles Bertram The Court Conjurer with the latest from Peter Duffie, Effortless Card Magic ($35). I had the pleasure of reviewing Duffie's previous book, Duffie's Card Compulsions, in the first issue of this journal, and look forward to his new book. (Card Compulsions is now available at a reduced price of $35, and you can receive both books for $60 if you contact Richard quickly.) The Bertram book is also on hand here and is gorgeous ($60). From Richard Kaufman, 4200 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 106-292, Washington, DC 20016.
THE DOLPHIN AND THE SWAN -- Disney World regulars will recognize this title as the name of a pair of luxury hotels on Orlando's Walt Disney World grounds, catering, even in Disney's words, to the "suit-and-tie crowd." According to Disney Magazine, the Swan now features nightly, in its Garden Grove Cafe, "Gulliver's Grill, where the bag of tricks includes a floor show by Gulliver, a magician." Is anyone familiar with this act? WEERD WEEKEND VI -- Most feel it would be impossible to duplicate Tony Andruzzi's Invocationals, the bizarre and inventive gatherings he hosted each year in Chicago. Docc Hilford has nevertheless provided the opportunity for weerdists to continue to gather each year, to their delight, and is moving the event back to Albuquerque this year on November 13-16. The guest of honor will be Johnny Thompson. If interested, send your $150 registration to Docc Co., P.O. Box 2293, Stuart, FL 34995. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORLD (OF MAGIC) -- In case you missed it in the April issue of Genii, Max Maven has churned out another landmark piece of journalism, an encyclopedic 36-page article called "A History of FISM." Reading it, you will discover that it is not merely the history of a contest, but a history of the emergence of virtually all of the major names in magic for the last 60 years of the 20th century. Fascinating reading. THE FAMOUS TORN AND RESTORED LIT CIGARETTE TRICK -- George Plimpton's literary journal, The Paris Review, features a short story in its Winter 1996 issue called "The Famous Torn and Restored Lit Cigarette Trick," by Elizabeth Gilbert. Although it has little to do with cigarette tricks, the story is a delightful mix of magic, murder, and a purloined bunny. Although Ms. Gilbert wins The Paris Review Discovery Prize for her story, she isn't as well known as Woody Allen, so you plagiarists out there might want to change a name or two and submit it to Stan Allen's next fiction contest. ASCENSIONS -- Karl Fulves's new book, New Card Rises, contains 20 titled items in 62 pages, all involving cards that rise or otherwise move mysteriously from the confines of a deck. There are some nifty impromptu and near-impromptu methods -- I particularly liked Gene Maze's "Illusionary Card Rise" -- but the trick that is going to garner all the deserved attention is "Walter Brusa's Card Rise." This is a method that allows any card named to immediately rise from a deck, while the deck is held in your hand. The deck looks normal enough but is heavily gaffed. Although you can plunge in and construct a deck that will indeed allow any card to rise, I found it easier to verbally limit the spectator's choice to 10 or 20 possibilities. The book contains suggestions for this that should cause no concern on the spectator's part. Also, although you can do the effect simply with the deck, I found that everything works smoother for me -- looks quite beautiful, in fact -- if I first place the deck in a lucite houlette. It isn't quite the Hooker rising cards, but it's a step in the right direction. A steal at $15 plus $3 postage from Karl at Box 433, Teaneck NJ 07666. |
As always, the secret
comes at a price, and the price this month is awareness of one of the most famous practitioners
of Eastern magic, known as the Man with the X-ray Eyes. A card-playing crony of Dai Vernon
in the Magic Castle's upstairs library, this celebrated Pakistani created an international
reputation for his ability to see through a seemingly impenetrable blindfold and for walking
barefoot on hot coals. He even turns up in fiction, in Roald Dahl's short story, "The Wonderful
Story of Henry Sugar," which originally ran in Argosy as "The Amazing Eyes of Kuda ___."
Your job is to supply Kuda's last name. When prompted for a Userid, enter the word blindfold.
When prompted for a Password, enter Kuda's surname. Hint: it ain't Imhrat Khan, but you get
extra points if you get that reference. As always, both names must be entered completely in
lower case. The unenlightened can either send me big bucks (heh heh) or turn to What If I
Don't Know the Password? Jetting in from Paris in time to help paste up this magazine were not one but both of the
"Women of The Little Egypt Gazette," Miss Farnsworth and Columbine. Check "Stirring the
Tana Leaves" to catch up on their shopping exploits, an explanation of the password snafu that
plagued some of you this month, and further flotsam and jetsam. You say it's June and you're trying to
decide what to buy for your summer reading on the beach? You've
landed in the right paragraph, because not only do we have our usual sensational book and
lecture notes available, but also Virtual Foolery, the new booklet published by Amy
Stevens to
introduce the world to the columnists who write for GeMiNi, the Greater Magic
Network. Edited by Jon Racherbaumer and T.A. Waters, this nicely produced 32-page
monograph contains "The Sound of Music" by Ian Adair, "Billion-Dollar Bill Switch" by Pete
Biro, "Everywhere and Nowhere Goes Hollywood" by Steve Bryant, "Sand-Which" by Aldo
Colombini, "Pieces of Eight" by Karrell Fox, "Persistence of Thought" by Mark Garetz, "Dai's
Wager" by Pat Hennessy, "Two Teasers" by Roger Klause, "The Supra-Selling of the Lemming
Man" by Simon Lovell, "At Homb With McComb" by Billy McComb, "Mullica's Four-Ace
Ending" by Tom Mullica, "Magic for the Rest of the Week" by Anthony Owen, "Marlo's
Favorite Devilish Miracle" by Jon Racherbaumer, "On Line, Who Is, and Who Cares" by Mike
Rogers, "Gypsy Cursive" by T.A. Waters, and "Double Restoration Rope" by Ron Wilson.
Stevens Magic Emporium sells it for $15, and we have a few copies here for that price,
postpaid in North America.
For a look at our own favorite material, consider
Little Egypt Card
Tricks or The Little Egypt Gazette: The Lecture 96, which contains the best of
the
personal card tricks from Volume 1 of this periodical. Included are "Let George Do It" (a
presentation for Paul Harris's "Night Shades"), "Everywhere and Nowhere Goes Hollywood,"
"From the Casebook of Sherlock Holmes," "Ranch Hand," "Red and Blue Cannibals," "The Great
Al Baker Three-Card Mental Test," "Satan's Monte," and "Celebrities." The notes are $15 and
the book is $22, postage free in the U.S.
Forward remuneration to Steve Bryant, 1639 Sycamore Court, Bloomington, IN 47401. No
passwords, no hassles. Add $6 for overseas addresses for the lecture notes, $9 for the
book.
The big events in magic for May were the ABC and CBS magic specials, David Blaine:Street
Magic and Disney's Melinda, First Lady of Magic. David and Melinda emerge from different
show business backgrounds, not only from those of each other but from those of most other
magicians. David hales from the street (the real street, populated by real street people), while
Melinda comes from the Las Vegas dancer/showgirl scene. As expected, the specials were a
study in contrasts, presenting lay audiences a diverse range of magic and presenting magicians
plenty to gab about on the internet. Click either The Street or The Stage for a complete Little
Egypt Gazette look at each. 
Where the hell was I from 1972-1977? Geographically, the answer is San Diego, but magically
I've no idea how I happened to miss out on two excellent magazines from India, published over
that span by Sam Dalal, and known to more astute magicians as Swami and Mantra.
Fortunately, if you missed out on these issues as I did, Richard Kaufman has published a limited
edition volume of both journals, running to 280 oversize pages. In addition to excellent magic
of the type featured in Western magazines of that era, these also contain astonishing secrets of
Eastern magic that no one with a lick of sense would ever attempt. (Sense is in short supply in
magic circles, and some of these items have crept into "geek magic" performances in recent
years, in the programs of several famous magicians.) To accurately quote from the ads, "No
other magazine in the history of magic contains as eclectic a mixture of magical styles and
effects as Sam Dalal's hard-to-find classics from the Mysterious East." Click Yikes! for a closer
look at this new book from Richard Kaufman and Sam Dalal.
As always, our Favorite Links page contains links to
some of the best magic sites on the web. Check the cool (what else?) new entry for
Rudy Coby.
Copyright© 1997 by Steve Bryant
Send your cards and letters to
sbryant@kiva.net.
TAHOMA NEWS -- Louis Falanga's latest mailer is a 28-page full-color magazine with all the
newest offerings from L & L Publishing. The emphasis in this issue is on Alex Elmsley, the
legendary subject of L & L's new four-volume video series, The Magic of Alex Elmsley ($110
for the set). If you missed the 1975 lecture tour, this is your chance to see the master at work.
Also new and of interest is a reprint of Dai Vernon's Symphony of the Rings, the Professor's
classic six-ring Chinese ring routine ($10). I studied this years ago, but it wasn't until I saw
Johnny Carson do it on The Tonight Show that I realized how beautiful it was. It's the essential
text if you want to learn the rings. These and other goodies are available from L & L's web site
in our "Favorite Links" page. 
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN NEWS -- Scheduled to perform at the University of Illinois in
September is Thomas Kubinek, billed as a "Certified Lunatic and Master of the Impossible."
Kubinek "combines comedy, magic, theatre, and clowning in his wildly nutty and inventive solo
performance. Kubinek has traveled the globe with his exuberant madness, performing mind-boggling miracles and surreal feats of the most virtuosic variety. His outrageous theatrics reduce
people of all ages to giggles, howls, and screams of delight."