Dusting #83
/Got a couple of credits to give in this post.
First, the trick I talked about in the March 21st post that summarized ideas from influence month likely comes from Clayton Rawson. He had a trick called, “The Time Forumla,” in Professional Magic Made Easy by Bruce Elliott. In that trick, a “formula” is written down, and then at the end, it’s shown that the reflection of the forumua says 8 of Spades.
His idea was to write “Jo 8” in script, over 23b692.
It’s probably easier to slip the version I suggested into something (that is, this string: 23b692708). Rather than try and include a division sign and the word “Jo” written in cursive. But it’s the same basic idea.
Thanks to Werner M. for the crediting note.
Just a quick note, if you ever do a trick like this (I’m thinking of Cryptext as an example of a similar trick) don’t write the letters/numbers so that things look perfect at the end. Write it so things look normal at the beginning. In other words, in the illustration above, the 3 is written like a backward E and the 6 has a little tail so it will look more like an “a” when it’s reversed. Writing it in some weird way takes away from the surprise at the end. Instead, write the letters and numbers so they look normal from the start, and then if you have to squint a little to “see” the reveal at the end, that’s fine.
You can see another example of the exact wrong way to do this type of reveal in this post.
In the last issue of the newsletter, I wrote about an idea that I attributed to Joshua Quinn (via a post he made on facebook, and then via a friend who told it to me).
It turns out this idea was published by Michael Weber in a Journal of Psience bonus publication in 2020, called Hold the Phone.
If you have that sitting somewhere in your digital library, you may want to check it out. It’s a very clean scripting (of Tequila Hustler) to prevent the spectator from screwing up the effect and it also includes a nice Paul Vigil idea to frame the questions that lead into the effect.
Great Moments In Magic Copywriting
From the trick Equalizer by Joao Miranda:
“Hearing is one of our most important senses.”
Indeed. Top 5 at the very least.
RIP to Harry Lorayne
Harry was one-of-a-kind. And by that I mean he was a grade-A lunatic (which I mean as only a compliment). In his 90s and trolling the Magic Cafe for mentions of his name and chewing out any idiot who had the audacity to suggest a book or trick that wasn’t his. I loved him. I hope I’m as passionate about myself and my work at that age as he was.