Spanning a whopping forty years of camaraderie and a shared obsession with magic, this eBook invites you on a nostalgic journey. Picture eight young magicians in London, haunting magic shops, variety theatres, and street cafés every Saturday—those were the days, eh?
This youthful gang of Cagliostros pioneered a brand of magic known as "pocket tricks," which laid the foundation for some of the finest contemporary classics we still rave about today.
Some members became household names in the magic world, while others retired from the limelight, only to pop back up later, still buzzing with enthusiasm.
It’s hard to imagine the likes of Jack Avis, Alex Elmsley, Roy Walton, Bobby Bernard, Ted Danson, and John Derris sitting in cafés, making two cups of coffee stretch over four hours as they debated, demonstrated, and theorised about close-up magic—just after devouring the latest American magic magazines and mingling with an international parade of magicians visiting London.
Yet, from this youthful fervour sprang a style of magic that has stood the test of time, propelling some of these blokes to stardom.
Who in the magic world hasn’t mastered the Elmsley Count? Is there anyone left who hasn’t dabbled with one of Jack Avis’s five hundred published creations? And let’s be honest, any self-respecting card magician worth their salt knows Roy Walton’s “The Collectors” or “Card Warp” should be in their repertoire.
This book features all the effects first showcased back in 193, in a tiny publication called Come a Little Closer—effects that have endured the passage of time and are still wowing audiences today. Plus, the contributors have added a treasure trove of routines developed over the last four decades, with many making their debut, alongside some still being performed by their original creators, like John Derris’s “Staggering” and Ted Danson’s “Diary Trick.”
If close-up magic is your jam, you’ll find a wealth of material here that’s ready to roll—some requiring the basic skills any close-up worker should have, but all demanding presentation—the very essence of good magic (you can’t just wave your hands around and hope for the best, mate).
This book is a heartfelt nod to the deep bonds that often form through the practice of magic, a fellowship that has endured since the ‘50s. It’s in this shared passion that exceptional magic is often born, and I’m sure you’ll feel the creativity, ingenuity, and reflections of a group of magicians who discovered their own kind of magic early on.
Table of Contents ForewordIntroduction Session One . . . Jack Avis
Cards of Pegasus
The Siva Fold
The Siva Folded Card to Wallet
True Grit
Session Two . . . Bobby Bernard
Jet Transportation
BB Drops Them Again
H-E-A-V-Y
Session Three . . . Ted Danson
The Seance Card Trick
Give Me a Ring
It's a Date
Session Four . . . John Derris
Monte Cristo Ring
One in Three
Hockleys' Coin Vanish
Staggering
The Big Squeeze
Session Five . . . Alex Elmsley
Point of Departure
Colour Filter
Card Counting Rhyme
No-Calc
Oyster Shells
Session Six . . . Arthur Holland
Cut and Restored Cigarette
Session Seven . . . Hugh Scott
Biography
Fern Court Glide Bluff
Session Eight . . . Tommy Vanderschmidt
Repeat Card in Hat
Session Nine . . . Roy Walton
Knifed
All Hands on Deck
The Alternate Shift
The Invisible Plan
Session Ten What's Wrong With Magic
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