Mark Leveridge Magic

A Wrinkle On - The Lecture Collection Download

BRUCE HETZLER

Bruce writes regularly about his purchases and the following is his handling for the Private Eye routine from the Lecture Experience book. The handling is simple and well worth a try. I will leave Bruce to describe in his own words....

"The Mark Leveridge Lecture Experience was well worth the price, even for someone like me who had the previous lecture notes. Private Eye is a nice effect, the only problem being that it requires a set-up with a reversed card. This means that it can only be used as a beginning trick, or as a sole effect using that deck.

I like the effect very much, but would not always want to perform it first in a series of card effects. Despite the comments in the Foreword by Bob Ostin about you not providing yet another way to reverse a card, it seems to me that this routine provides an ideal means of executing a simple card reversal. The basic format of this card reversal was described in 'Doubly Marked' by Al Leech (Super Card Man Stuff). This is the procedure:-

The card to be found (e.g.6D) must be forced. It is returned to the deck and controlled to the top. The bottom 4/5 of the deck is then removed and placed on top, but a left little finger break is maintained in between the two sections.

The deck is then fanned, with the performer keeping track of the location of the chosen card. The private eye is passed under the deck as per your instructions, and then the private eye is held up to the ear. At this point, the magician announces that the eye has found the card. Simultaneously, the right hand removes the upper 4/5 of the deck (all the cards above the selected card), squares them on the table and places them face up with their long edges parallel to the edge of the table.

The selected card and those below it remain slightly fanned in the left hand. The right hand squares them in the left hand, during which the left little finger obtains a break below the second card from the top. At this point you announce that the eye has told you that 'this card, the....is the selected card'.

As you are saying this, the right hand performs the first half of a double lift, turning both cards face up on top of the pile in the left hand. If appropriately timed, you will see the face of the second card from the top of the packet at the appropriate time to complete the sentence.

The spectator will no doubt comment that this is not the selected card. At this point you turn the left hand palm down, thereby turning the entire packet of cards in the left hand over. Use the left thumb to thumb off the card just announced. This card will fall face down on the table. The left hand immediately takes its packet and places it on top of the cards already on the table, thereby secretly reversing the selected card at a location 4/5 from the top of the deck.

Pick up the face down card, casually show its face, and return it face down to the upper 4/5 of the deck. You announce that the eye needs glasses and proceed as per the original routine."

Those who have either studied or who use Private Eye will appreciate how well this handling fits in with the 'work' required in the rest of the effect, and my thanks go to Bruce for passing his idea on.

HOWARD SCHWARZMAN

The final stage of the effect where the three Aces disappear to reappear beneath the paper Howard executes as follows. Have the two postcards in your right hand, fake one on top with the pocket opening to the left and the postcard itself stepped over to the left.

The last Ace, you tell the spectators, will join the others the hard way. Slip the AD under the paper with the others. Then pick up the other three Aces and apparently slide them BETWEEN the two postcards. In reality, you slide them straight back into the secret pocket, squaring the two postcards and placing them top left on the paper.

The idea is that the AD will penetrate up through the paper AND the postcard thus joining the other three. However, the Aces disappear from between the postcards and all four are found beneath the paper!

COIN VANISHER

Mr. Whiting kindly wrote in with a simple but practical imnprovement to the Coin Vanisher fake described in THE MARK LEVERIDGE LECTURE EXPERIENCE. Instead of attaching the vanisher fake to the jacket with a safety pin, he has permanently fixed one half of a velcro strip to his jacket lining at the correct spot and glued the other half to the back of the coin vanisher. This enables him to easily remove the gimmick when not required, yet replace it in exactly the right position when he wishes to use it. Nice one!