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Paper balls over the head
I heard that the "paper balls over-thhe-head" trick was not actually
Slydini's invention. I now forget to whom it IS credited.
Does anyone know ? (I need to watch terry Seabrooke's video again.)
Also, the substitution trunk illusion was a common trick done by lots of other magicians in Harry Houdini's day. He's just the one who made it famous.
Of course he called his interpretation "Metamorphosis".
Biting a piece out of a folding coin was in Bobo's Modern Coin Magic in 1910 .
Yes, 1910 ! - 2 years before the Titanic sank ! - 16 years before Houdini died !
But most magicians (and all non magicians) call it David Blaine's .
Although that's not Mr. Blaine's fault, he was guilty of taking credit for
"''The Raven" .... when he did it on his special , he laid the coin on the guy's hand
and says, "...here's my idea" (I think that was his entire patter), and then he did
the vanish. So alot of newcomer's refer to the material David used as "David Blaine's illusions". I'm quite sure that he did NOTHING original on his specials.
Very few magicians (myself included) perform original material. But the point is...
We need to give credit to whom credit is due. Which is not to say that every time you do a performance you tell each tricks author's name before or after doing it.
( No one does that ) But we shouldn't claim things that aren't ours.
And if we hear a upcoming future magician make a mistake in giving or claiming credit, then we should make a correction.
Does anyone disagree ?
Nick Roberts
Slydini's invention. I now forget to whom it IS credited.
Does anyone know ? (I need to watch terry Seabrooke's video again.)
Also, the substitution trunk illusion was a common trick done by lots of other magicians in Harry Houdini's day. He's just the one who made it famous.
Of course he called his interpretation "Metamorphosis".
Biting a piece out of a folding coin was in Bobo's Modern Coin Magic in 1910 .
Yes, 1910 ! - 2 years before the Titanic sank ! - 16 years before Houdini died !
But most magicians (and all non magicians) call it David Blaine's .
Although that's not Mr. Blaine's fault, he was guilty of taking credit for
"''The Raven" .... when he did it on his special , he laid the coin on the guy's hand
and says, "...here's my idea" (I think that was his entire patter), and then he did
the vanish. So alot of newcomer's refer to the material David used as "David Blaine's illusions". I'm quite sure that he did NOTHING original on his specials.
Very few magicians (myself included) perform original material. But the point is...
We need to give credit to whom credit is due. Which is not to say that every time you do a performance you tell each tricks author's name before or after doing it.
( No one does that ) But we shouldn't claim things that aren't ours.
And if we hear a upcoming future magician make a mistake in giving or claiming credit, then we should make a correction.
Does anyone disagree ?
Nick Roberts
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Phil Tawa on -
Thanks,Mandarin. That's what I mean. It is so old and so many people involved, I have thought that I "Made up" stuff and than later found it was done by x.
I also recall in the 60's watching Slydini do this on the black and white screen. I think it was the Ed Sullivan show but it had such an impact on me I remember it to this day.
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Permalink Reply by Magic Ian on -
I always heard it referred to as Johnson's Paper balls over the head. That was over 35 years ago.
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Permalink Reply by Nick Roberts on -
Ian, You are correct sir ! Sorry I've been out of the "loop" for a while, but Johnson IS the name I was looking for. - If I had a prize to give, you would be the winner ! Thank you.
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Permalink Reply by Magic Ian on
-
Here's the late great Earl "Preat Presto" Johnson doing
sponge balls over the head.
http://magicians.podbean.com/earl-presto-johnson/earl-johnson-sponges/
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Permalink Reply by Curtis on -
Dai vernon is the earliest reference I have of the ambitious card from "stars of magic" which d blaine performs....the rising card has existed for a good hundred years.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Durante on -
Slydini did not create this effect, he took it from a sight gag done by clowns over the years and also used by vaudevillians and made it a feature in his show.
Mr. Slydini used a great concept: starting as a vision test and a way to explain to an audience how they could be fooled. If you google Dick Cavet you can find a lot of quality Slydini performances on Mr. Cavet's
web site. Mr. Cavet was a student of Mr. Slydini's for many years.
Very few people do this bit of magic correctly and it is explained in detail in the Slydini books written by Karl Fulves.
Bob Durante
Zap
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Permalink Reply by Michael Yost on -
I dont know who invented it but I saw blackstone do it when I was a kid....that was over 20 years ago
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Permalink Reply by Pop Haydn on -
I believe it was Blackstone's bit, a one-off bit he used with the child who ended up with the bunny rabbit. Blackstone gave it to George Boston who showed it to Slydini. Could have been George Johnson instead of Boston, though.
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