When Dai visits Ireland he is hosted by Hubert Lambert of
who consequently has been able to have first hand exchanges of ideas with the Professor.
In the "Linking Ring" Hubert Lambert "David Frederick Wingfield Vernon is a scion of the Verners of County whose family motto is et During his first visit to Dai made pilgrimage to the family seat, where by arrangement, he met Mr. P. J. Patterson Curator of Armagh Museum, and friend of the present
who resides in England. Later, at a reception in Dublin, this writer was privileged, on behalf of the Magicians of Ireland, to present to Dai Vernon a replica of the Verner Coat of Arms. This was created by Mr. Gibson Price, having been verified by the Genealogical Office in Dublin Castle.
"While in Dai Vernon visited Powerscourt Demesne, the seat of Viscount Powerscourt, whose family name is Wingfield, the Verners and Wingfields being
From the illustration supplied by Hubert Lambert we were able to have Dennis Patten re-produce the Verner Coat of Arms for inclusion in the front of this book.
It was Hubert Lambert who suggested a "Friends of Dai Vernon" section for this book and offered three Vernon inspired items for inclusion. We are also to of "Genii" for permission to re-publish
Variant" and "Emerald Isle Aces", which originally appeared in that excel- lent magazine.
We let Hubert describe the effects in his own words. VARIANT - DAI VERNON.
You will see the magic name, Vernon, in the title, so you will know that it is true when you are told that in this you shall have a real gem of card magic for given to me by Dai himself.
The gift was made several years ago, when Card Expert", which is the legend on his visiting card, spent a week with me in Ireland. At the time
I was not sworn to secrecy. It was just one of the many I learned, and he did not put any great value on it.
Inasmuch as from two to thirteen persons may take active part in the intriguing proceedings (using one pack of cards), this is an ideal party piece. Four cards are given to "everybody", while you retain four for yourself. You go through a few simple moves with your four reversing some face-up, etc., and each spectator is invited to follow, with his cards, what you do with yours. They all follow yet when the cards are shown, yours are face down while each of them has one card face-up! They are always wrong.
This is repeated time and again, yet they always are wrong and have one card face-up, they begin getting more befuddled each time. Get out four cards while you try the sequence of "moves".
1. Hold the cards face-down.
2. Take off top card, turn it face-up, and place it on the bottom. 3. Take off new top card and place it, still face-down on bottom. 4. Turn entire packet over.
5. Turn top card face-down and replace on top.
6. Slide out bottom card, turn it face-down, and replace it on bottom. If you do this the card second from bottom will be face-up. In perfor- mance, everybody does this, and each, including yourself, will have one card face up.
Now you show your four cards to be all by counting them one at a time, using the Four-as-Four-move. This move is an ingenious adaption by Alex Elmsley of a move first given to us by Edward in his effect. The move was described in Dai's "More Inner Secrets of Card Magic", but to be complete I will give it again.
I'll not go into great detail here, so briefly: First hold the four cards evened up in the dealing position in the left hand. Slide the top card off to the right less than a quarter of an inch. Take packet as is into the right hand for a
holding the thumb at inner fingers at front side, not disturbing top card. Transfer cards back to left
holding the packet with the thumb at the middle of the left long second fin- ger directly under the thumb. Figure 1. Half of thumb-ball is in contact with the second finger under the cards. (Impor- tant that bit!)
For the count, right hand, assuming a similar position, slides out the top card with the thumb. Keeping this card in the same plane as the rest (Figure 2) the right hand comes back to apparently take the second card. As soon as the card in the right hand goes under the packet and contacts the left they take pur- chase ready to steal the card back.
The left thumb pushes the top two as to the right hand as the left steals the bottom card back. Third and fourth cards are counted with exactly, the same movements, without of
any secret transfer.
This leaves you in position that you have shown the four cards as being all face-down, yet there is now a face-up card on the bottom. The spectators check and find each has a face-up card, so you suggest that they right this card, and you will repeat the business, but "Do watch more closely!"
Second time all repeat exactly the first set of moves. They all watch you like hawks, yet now, without a single sleight, your cards will all actually be face-down, while the spectators are still The temptation here would be to fan your cards to show all face-down. But it is better to show them as before, but without any secret manoeuvre.
As you will see, the whole sequence may be repeated as often as the occasion calls for, each time more and more spectators going up the wall! Tell you the years I've had great enjoyment with this item, and most from the reaction of magicians. Do, please, master the one move be- fore essaying this conceit, and botch up such a beautiful piece of de- ception by badly executed technique. If I thought you'd do the latter, I would not write this for you.
EMERALD ISLE ACES - DAI FAUCETT ROSS and HUBERT LAMBERT.
In the we make claim to and Dai being and there- fore justly to be bracketed with us in "Emerald Aces".
Heaven forbid that the "Aces" of the title are the mere mortals mentioned above. they are the Aces from a pack of playing cards. It comes to you by way of being created by the transmitted briefly by letter of Faucett Ross to Hubert Lambert, and now, several years later, the last named typing it fully and clearly for publication.
Here it is: Openly remove the four Aces from a and announce that you are going to distribute them in various places in the pack, but their exact location will be dictated by the mental impulse of a nearby spectator. Look said spectator steadily in the place pack behind back and ar- range cards as follows: Two Aces face-up on top; any two indifferent cards face-to-face atop these; second pair of Aces face down atop all.
Bring out pack, give it a false shuffle if you like commencing about slowly asking spectator to stop you any time.
When he calls "Stop", lift off all the cards above the ensuing break, turn them face-up and drop them squarely on top of remainder of the pack.
Now fan through pack till you come to end of face-up section and place all these cards (still face-up) on table. Then the next (face-down) card atop the tabled packet.
Repeat this operation three times more as above, so that you will have packets of cards one card on top of each. When the face down cards are turned over, each is an Ace.
This is a fine preface to a more elaborate Four Aces routine. Just the thing to at your next magic meeting.
- HUBERT LAMBERT.
When Dai Vernon came to Europe in 1956, he visited Ireland, the land of his forebears. At one of the sessions we had, we talked of the "swivel cut" and Leipzig's dainty handling of this flourish was duplicated.
1
Whilst toying we got an idea and finished up with the oddest look- ing triple cut ever. When done casu-
an eye popper.
If the reader will take a pack of cards and study the illustrations and instruc- tions he will have little difficulty in fol- lowing the moves.
The pack is held in the right hand from the pad of the right thumb at the right inner corner and the pad of the second finger at the right outer cor- ner. The first finger is out of the way above the pack. To aid the next movement pack can be slightly bev- elled to the left.
Bring the left hand (palm upwards) under the pack and to the the first finger curled up so that the nail is vis- ible. This finger contacts the pack at the left inner corner (Figure 1) and swivels the top third of the pack to the left (Fig- ure 2) then completes the full half circle forward (Figure 3). The packet swiv- elled out will be found to pivot round the right second finger and can be al- lowed to settle into the palm of the left hand (Figure 3).
The cards in the right hand are brought a little nearer to the and the left outer corner of the packet brought into contact with the base of the left thumb, where it joins the wrist. (Fig- ure 4)
The bottom half of this packet is held momentarily between the left thumb- base and the right thumb pad. At once the right hand moves in an arc to the
right and forward (Figure 5). This will cause the packet of cards secured be- tween the thumbs to swivel a full half circle to the right and come to rest on top of the cards in the hand (Figure 6).
The packet remaining in the right hand is now in front of the other
the right thumb separating the packets at their short edges (Figure 6). This front packet is now moved backwards (Figure 7) and finally comes to rest on top of the left hand cards to complete the pack.