Comunicación del hecho imponible

New Tops, April 1963

ummer's Mathematical Three Card Monte (1951) was the thought-starter, but in a rather indirect way. I acquired the Hummer trick, filed it and thought no more about it. Then Al Koran began getting publicity with it, and had Harry Stanley market his presentation. I took another look and decided I wanted to eliminate two things and add a third. I wanted to work without a marker, I wanted to work without ever seeing the objects, and I wanted to increase the number of objects. There is no limit to the number of objects that may be used but five, or seven at the most, seem sufficient.

"Ted Annemann wrote in Jinx #49 (October 1938): 'Stewart James gave a sweet reply to my request about 'what is a rehash?' when it comes to inventing tricks. 'A trick is not a rehash if its entertainment value is improved, the method of working simplified, or the mystery deepened.' I hope you agree the following is not a rehash of Hummer's effect.''

''Allan Slaight tells me he became entranced with Strangers From Two Worlds and used it frequently. His version, Perfected Strangers, appeared in the September 1988 New Pentagram magazine. All contributions were by Canadians. Allan said in Ne»

Pentagram:

'While regularly employing Strangers From Two Worlds in a routine I developed recently, I discovered a peculiarity which strengthens the brilliant original.' Slaight's wrinkle allows you to precisely identify each item or card as you instruct that it be discarded. He suggest you experiment a few times and his method will become apparent.''

-0-You explain that 'First Impression' is the name of a popular show on television involving five panelists. Contestants attempt to identify a well-known personality from the world of entertainment or sports by eliminating the ringers. Five pictures are displayed.

One is of the hidden star. Questions are asked. Each answer is to be the first impression of the concealed subject. After watching the show several times, you are convinced you could eliminate all but the guest of the day and do it without asking one question.

For more formal occasions it would be nice to have pictures of celebrities. When it is

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148 THE ESSENTIAL STEWART JAMES committee escort you to another room before the names are written. The actual location of the selected name is unknown to you as you give the instructions that will isolate it. number of moves is always determined by the numerical position the guest slip originally occupies in the row. When the spectator has finished, you concentrate and ask him to make another move, and another. You may stop here or ask him to make more moves.

The important point to remember is that you always suggest an even number of moves.

When these new moves are completed, have the spectator discard one slip from each end of the row. Ask the spectator to make another move with the three remaining slips.

You may end with this switch or have him make several more. This time you must suggest any odd number of moves.

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149

and has them change positions for the moves. Instead of removing slips, the two people at the ends of the row sit down. It would create something of a sensation if 'it' was the only one of the five wearing a bullet-proof vest concealed beneath his coat and you fired a revolver at him to prove how confident you were you were right.

Other variations:

(a) A queen and four spot cards. You Find The Lady.

(b) Five pictures of horses. You pick the winner.

(c) Four pieces of paper and a piece of folding mazuma. You can work Just Chance without a tray or envelopes.

(d) Find the only key out of five that opens a padlock a la Seven Keys To Baldpate.

(The principlewill work with a row of seven but is hardly worth the extra time required to reach a climax.)

(e) Living And Dead Test without handling the slips.

(f) Spectator writes the names of five towns. One is where he was born. You pick it out.

(g) Work it over the telephone. The party at the other end of the line may use any five objects. You locate the article of which he is thinking.

Double Boomerang New Tops, December 1964

n the April 1962 Hugard'sMagic Month/y, Fred Braue wrote: 'The term 'Boomerang'

· seems to have been conferred on the feats by John Wyman Junior, author of The

Magician'sOwn Book, 1857, perhaps because both the trick and the weapon native to New South Wales perform 'sundry peculiar gyrations.'

"Wyman wrote: 'The term is applied to those arithmetical processes by which you can divine a number thought of by another. You throw forward the number by means of addition and multiplication and then, by means of subtraction and division, you bring it back to the original starting point, making it proceed in a track so circuitous as to evade the superficial notice of the tyro.' You will see what I worked up employing the principle in the item which follows, Double Boomerang.

"The principle is old. One method was recorded by Nicomachus who died about the year 120.

"Double Boomerang is not difficult to present successfully, provided it is shown to only one or two people at one time. The surface complexity is not there from the viewpoint of the spectator. All the calculating he has to do is add two numbers together five times, and multiply by 5. Memory is not involved for the spectator, as the procedure is explained step by step.

''I thought the development of the boomerang principle to the point where any card can be thought of and divined, meanwhile predicting another card, deserved a place in the sun.''

-0-A sealed envelope is placed where it will be in constant view. A spectator does not touch the deck but decides in his own mind on two cards. You name one mentally selected card. The second one is missing from the deck and is found in the sealed envelope.

Prior to presentation, the eight of clubs is removed from the deck and sealed in the envelope. The top six cards, arranged in order from the top down, are: X 2 9 7 5 2. Have 150

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a pad and pencil handy.

Hold the deck face up. Hindu shuffle without disturbing the top stock. Turn the deck face down. Double undercut one card from the top to the bottom. Deal the top five cards in a face-down row from left to right. These five cards have apparently been chosen at random after shuffling and cutting the deck.

A spectator is asked to secretly think of anyone of the fifty-two cards. For example, we will say his card is the five of hearts. Have him secretly write the value only of his card on the pad. He will put down 5. Turn over the first card from the left in the row. It will be a two. Tell him to multiply the value of his card by 2. Turn over the next card, a nine.

Ask him to add 9. The next card turned over is a seven, again he adds this to his total. He now multiplies by 5, the value of the fourth card. Next, he adds the suit value of his card:

1 for a diamond, 2 for a club, 3 for a heart and 4 for a spade. In our example, he will add 3. The last card is a two. He adds 2.

At this stage the spectator's calculation will be like this:

The spectator writes 135 only on a page from the pad and hands it to you. This is all that you see of his entire operation. Mentally subtract 82 and place your answer, 53, beneath it as illustrated.

0

135

Say that you have received a strange urge to write this particular number. The last digit is a 3, which is the value of the heart suit. The first digit is a 5, so the number 53 would represent the five of hearts. You are sure this must be the card of which he is thinking.

When this is acknowledged, stress it would have been quite impossible for you to have

152 THE ESSENTIAL STEWART JAMES

known in advance the card of which he would think or the number which he would hand to you. Which makes what you are about to show all the more peculiar. Subtract the freely thought-of card value from his number.

135"

-53

82

The last digit is a 2, the value of the club suit. The first digit is 8 and the number 82 represents the eight of clubs. Ribbon spread the deck face up for the spectator to check the cards if he desires, and remove the eight of clubs from the sealed envelope.

Double Boomerang permits the spectator to think of any card. Some methods will work up to and including nines only. You need only give the jack, queen and king the values of 11, 12 and 13 respectively. For the queen of spades, the calculation would look like this:

Secretly subtracting 82 from 206 leaves 124. The last digit reveals the card is a spade.

The digits ahead of it stand for the queen. You know the thought-of card must be the queen of spades.

You can change the result, using a different card in the envelope every time you perform. For example, arrange the top six cards: X 2 A 5 5 3. The card to be placed in the sealed envelope would be the three of hearts. You would secretly subtract 33 from the number he hands you to discover his thought-of card.

Incantations

Handwritten notes, circa 1964

n ad for Marconick's Inca Ring in the November 1964 issue of The Gen intrigued Francis Haxton. Stewart reported to him that it married an ancient mathematical force, most often used today in versions of the Clock Effect, to Dr. Jaks's

For readers not familiar with this force, which Stephen Minch has been able to trace back about a hundred years, Max Maven explains it: "The force card is positioned 21st from the top of the pack. The spectator cuts off a small packet (less than 21), which is counted in private. The performer deals 20 cards from the top of the talon into a face-down, overlapping row. The spectator is asked to name the random number just counted; this done, the performer counts to that position in the tabled row, counting from the top card of the spread (i.e., the

20th card dealt). The card thus arrived at will be the desired force card."

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