This is the coins to glass routine that I have

been using in my act now for a number of

years. Although it is not easy to do it does
play very well so in request to all who have
asked, here it is.

You will need four l 0 p pieces and a glass.

The type of glass I use is made by Duralex
and is triple strength glass.
To begin have the four 10s in your right
hand the one nearest the palm in classic
palm position. Drop the coins into your left
hand retaining the palmed coin-in the right
hand. As the left hand takes the three coins
it must thumb palm two and leave the third
at the base of the hand so that it can be
dropped out. (Figs.1,2&3)
Now pick up the glass with the right hand
using the first finger and thumb as in
figure 4. This is a grip that I worked out to
get away from the usual method of holding
the glass, in this position the coins can still
be dropped into the glass by holding it at
the correct angle and also by rolling the
glass between the finger and thumb.
Bring both hands level and let the palmed
coin drop into the glass. At this point toss
the coin out of the glass between the glass
and your left hand then place the glass
below the left hand (Figs.5,6&7) this action
is setting up the movement for the rest of
the routine. The right hand now picks up
the coin stating that the first one has
jumped across, as the coin is displayed it is I
STEVEN HAMILTON
 2
manoeuvered back into the classic palm
position. The right hand now pretends to
drop the coin into the glass but in fact
retains the coin in the palm as the left hand
drops its loose coin (Han Pin Ching in mid-
air) the right hand continues down its path
and picks up the glass again. (Figs 8,9&10).
You are now all set to make the second coin
travel across, repeat the exact same actions
again up to the point that the glass is again
placed empty below the left hand. The right
hand now picks up both coins from the table
and displays them on the right palm, it then
turns palm down and appears to drop the
coins into the glass, in actual fact only one coin
is dropped the other is retained in a classic palm
position, the right hand again continues down
so as to pick up the glass and as it does so it
shakes the glass (the sound is like two coins)
(Figs 11,12&13). As all this is taking place the
left hand releases one of its coins from the
thumb palm and lets it fall into a relaxed finger
palm. (Fig.14). Once again go through the
motions of the third coin going over to the glass
letting the palmed coin in the right hand fall

into the glass (this is really the second coin
again) at this point the spectator believes
that the third coin has arrived in the glass.
To show three coins in the glass you
perform the standard Han Pin Ching move
as the right hand tips the coins out of the
glass the finger palmed coin is added to
them, the glass is again placed casually
below the left hand. (Figs.15,16)
The right hand now picks up one of the
coins and displays it on its palm then drops
it into the glass,this is repeated with the
second of the tabled coins, on the third coin
you once again perform the mid-air Han Pin
Ching so that the coin just displayed remains
classic palmed in the right hand and the left
hand coin drops to the glass. (Fig17 ,18,19.)
Build up the last coin as go through the
motions of rubbing it away in your
hand,show that the coin clearly has vanished
the follow the invisible path of the coin with
your head and when it reaches the glass let the
right hand palmed coin drop into it.
Tip out the coins onto the table to show all
four, then scoop them all back into the glass.
As an after thought pretend to tip the coins into
your left hand but retain them in a finger palm
in the right hand, the left hand closes as though .
it contains the coins and moves away,
meanwhile the glass has been revolved back
into the basic grip, the left hand tosses its
coins? upwards, again the head follows the path
of the coins to the glass as the right hand
releases all four coins at once. (This last move I
believe is credited to Lewis Ganson)
I hope you like this routine I do use it a lot.
Practise the new grip as I feel that it is far
superior than the old method (Hand cupped
over the mouth of the glass) and gives a much
more open look.
Final thanks to Chris Power of Opus for
letting me use his excellent illustrations.
 EDITORIAL
Hello, and welcome to PRO-FILE, I will
refrain from going through all the usual
reasons as to why you should be subjected to
yet another magazine
In this issue you will find my own handling of
the Coins to Glass, I have been asked many
times when is it going to be in print, well now it
is. You will also find part 1 of a series on
professional close up.
In an effort to bring to your attention many
great books there is BOOKSHELF, in which
reviewers will pick their favourite title and take
you through its contents. The first review is by
Douglas Cameron who has chosen Carney
Knowledge
IN PROFILE is an interview section and will
feature interviews with many top magicians.
The plan is to publish an issue every two
months and should coincide with the lectures
being put on by Douglas Cameron.
On the subject of lectures we are very lucky to
be able to see many good magicians, this is
due to the efforts of many people, the S.C.A.
who have brought u s Paul Hams, Mike
Ammar, Dan Garret, and Daryl. Gordon Bruce
with Ray Grismer, Peter Kane, Bob Read and
Fred Robinson. Recently Douglas Cameron
has brought up Darwin Ortiz, J.J, Chris Power,
Carlos Vaquera and Ken Hawes. All of these
organizers deserve our full support so they can
continue to bring these lectures to us.
At the time you get this you should be
attending the DAVE CAMPBELL lecture, Dave
is one of the most entertaining magicians I
have ever seen and is a master of presentation,
all his routines have a wonderful story filled
with humor and mystery. He has been one of
the leading lights of Scottish magic for more
years than Im sure he will admit to. You will
learn much by listening to Dave as he thinks
very carefully about the effect, rather than on
the method.
One other topic I will cover is the video
market, I do not own many videos but of the
ones I know about I will let you know what I
think. Videos are a good medium but I still
prefer a book.
Also I hope to have a feature called
FEEDBACK this will (I hope) involve you, let
me know anything that is going on, ideas, or
thoughts and they will appear in this column.
I look forward to the issues ahead. Having
never done this type of thing before I hope you
will put up with all the mistakes I am going to
make and I look to you to tell me what you
like and what you don't.
At the time of publishing many of the items
you read will be exclusive to you, if you
photocopy the magazine you are sending it to
an early grave
I will not try to keep up with all the latest
news as magazines like ABRACADABRA do
that already and as this will be a two monthly
journal most of the news will be out of date
If you are not aware, the next lecture from
Douglas will be GARY KURTZ, from Canada.
He has been making a name for himself with
his comedy and offbeat magic. Richard
Kaufman published a book of his routines in
1990, if you have not read it yet get a copy
and look up a trick called "CIGAR" I have
been using this for a few months now and it
plays great. See Douglas Cameron for details
of the date
GARY KURTZ
JUNE
LECTURE
Gary's book is called
UNEXPLAINABLE ACTS.
Finally if you have any comments,
presentations or tricks you would like to
contribute, write them up and send them to
me (Steve Hamilton) at the address on the
back cover.
C A R N E Y KNOWLEDGE
by
John Carney
Although this book is a mere f i f t y seven pages long, I
feel that there is more important information contained
within these pages than almost any other book on the
subject o f magic. Allow me to justify this statement by
saying that Carney frequently makes reference to the
classic books in magic (Erdnase, Our Magic and Magic
and Showmanship) and strongly advises that these texts
be studied. This recommended reading along with the
theories Carney gives us on presentation, conviction,
routining, naturalness and entertainment is without
doubt the basis upon which all magicians should study
and perform their magic. Carney has views on other
subjects besides the ones mentioned above and all
should be read, time and time again. Despite the
lessons to be learned from these writings he urges us
not to ”blindly agree with thesc ideas. Useyour
commonsense and compare opposing approaches,
and decide
which is bcst.”
The effects contained within the book mirror his
thoughtson magic in that they are all powerful magic,
simple in effect and entertaining to watch. The very
first effect is titled Simple Coins Across however the
’simple” part is the effect, not the method. He believes
hat the effect should be simple to follow and that the
moves should be kept to a minimumin order to create
he desired effect. The level o f difficulty o f those
moves is not a consideration, just that they are the
right moves to get the results. A gaffed version o f this
effect follows and it is left to the reader to weigh up the
prosand cons o f both these methods.
Coins continue to be the subject o f the next two
effects. 1/2and 1/4is a routine whereby a coin is seen
o split into two smaller coins and back again, finally
ending with the two small coins again. TheLogical
Bill Trickis an excellent effect and although the
instructions are a little bit difficult to follow due to the
act that it is described using a dollar bill, the effect is
wel1 worth the effort as will be confirmed by anyone
whohas seen John Carney perform it.
Cards are the next to be given the Carney treatment
and the next two effects are fairly straight forward
versionso f Card in Matchbox and Card in Balloon.
aIthough these items are both very simple it must be
emembered that it has taken a lot o f time and effort
to reach this final stage. I myself did not fully
appreciate how good the card in balloon was until I
saw it performed by Carney In theHands is a
Monte
lever routine but I feel it is the weakest item in the
book as I am sure there are other versions o f this trick
which are more effective. This is more than made up
for by the next effect, Full DeckVanish, which is a
version o f The Card and the Handkerchief from The
Expert at the Card Table by S.W.Erdnase culminating
with the entire pack vanishing from under the
handkerchief This is an excellent piece o f routining
which can be used by any working professional to great
effect.
Kitty‘s Treat, Crystal Sugar and Crystal Flash are
the last three items in the book and use a variety o f
props with which to create some unusual and off-beat
effects. These I feel would have to be worked on and
tried out on a lay audience before judging the effects as
they don’t read particularly well, but I have enough
faith in John Carney’s creative abilities to say that, in
his hands, I am sure they will be winners.
I would like to finish o f f by saying that although
most o f this article is taken up by talking about the
tricks, the most important aspect o f this book for me
is the theory. I found it very difficult to discuss this
without quoting directly from the book so in closing I
am going to indulge by quoting two paragraphs from
the first chapter, The Logic of Deception, to illustrate a
basic philosophy on magic which is pertinent to many
magicians(?) today.
“Many neophytess of magic have discovered
that
magic is based on very simple principles. some of
which arc easy to execute. Convinced that they arc
able to perform. they seck employment to
demonstrate. Theygreatly damag the art to which
they aspire.
Theart of magic consists of much morc than
struggling through the allotted time without a
mechanical mistake. There exist many undercurrents
that carry a deception to a successful end. Certain
attitudes must prevail. and your presentation should
be thought out and executed with conviction. It is
your duty to take theohserver out of his everyday
world and into your world of mystery.”
I f you don’t have this book, get it. I f you do have this
, it.
b o o kread
DOUGLAS CAMERON.
NEXT ISSUE: PETER DUFFIE
THE DEVILS PLAYTHINGS
by
RoyWalton.

PROFESSIONAL
CLOSE-UP
PART1.
MAKING IT HAPPEN
Within this regular feature I hope to go over what I
feel is the basics o f restaurant magic, what to do and
what not to do. I myself have been performing close
up magic for around 8 years.
The most frequent question I get asked is how do you
get work. The simple answer to this is you ask, now
that may seem very easy but you have to go about it
the correct way. I was very lucky because at the time I
started I was working for a major brewers and came
in contact all the time with publicans and restaurant
owners so this opened up many opportunities to
suggest the idea o f close up magic. This worked fine
until l left the brewers, I then had to find other
outlets, m y good friend Douglas Cameron and myself
went on the lookout for good sites to work, most of
these pilgrimages ended up at a west end bistro where
we became regular customers and well known to the
owner: One evening we got an invitation to a party
within the bistro and went ready to perform close up
for the guests. A few days later word got back to the
owner- about close up magic and we were hired for
regular work. This is a good ploy as it gets you in the
door but you must know the owner well, after that our
confidence was boosted if we went to discuss magic
with another publican we had a place where they could
come to see us perform.
OK, so what if you do not know anybody in the
restaurant business, what is the first approach. If
possible find out the name o f the owner before you
approach the site so that when you call you know who
to ask for, there is no point in going through your
whole sales pitch if your talking to the wrong person.
I f you cannot get to the owner make an appointment
to see him, and leave a business card (A word on these
later. Having arranged a meeting make sure you turn
up publicans are very busy people and you could
damage any chance o f work by being discourteous. At
the point o f the meeting you are no more than a sales
rep. and as such you must know what you are going to
say also be prepared for questions like "The place is
busy just now why do I need you" you must have an
answer for this, if they sell food talk about the time
delay between the customer ordering and the meal
arriving, what better and memorable way to fill the
gap, if there isa problem in the kitchen you can cover
by entertaining at that table. There are many other
examples which Imsure you can think of,just make
sure you put over your ideas in a polite manner: If
you feel that the sell is not going well you could
offer to come in for around half an hour one
evening and perform free o f charge, on the condition
o f a second booking at full rate.
I f you have no luck at all leave a card with him,
come Christmas you may well get a phone call. So to
recap:
Find out the owners name.
Arrange a meeting with him.
Explain to him your ideas.
Tell him what you charge and how long you
work for
Make him an offer (One night free, use this
asa last resort).
What I have not covered yet is what you should
charge, the current local rate is between E60 and
E70 per hour: I f you have to travel then an extra £15
per hour is added on to cover time and expenses. I f
a client offers you work on a regular basis (weekly)
then he must get a better deal, this comes back to
you and what you feel is fair:
One final point, if you are aware that another
magician is working a site steer well clear; he may
have worked long and hard to get that site. There is
enough work for all o f us. While on the subject do
not undercut other magicians fees, this only reduces
your own worth and will do no good in the long run.
Finally a word on the type o f business card you
pick, at the risk o f offending somebody rabbits and
hats are fine if you are promoting yourself as a
childrens magician, if not spend a bit o f money and
have a modern card designed and printed at a good
quality printer; also pick the words for your card
very carefully, MAGICAL ENTERTAINER is
overused and is not very good anyway so put some
tbought into it. All this is quite expensive but is
worth every penny.
In the second part o f this series I will cover agents
a n d the first night at your new restaurant,including
what to wear and finding your own style.
Let me finish by saying this,
IF YOU HAVE BEEN STUDYING
MAGIC LESS THAN TWO YEARS,
YOU ARE NOT READY TO PERFORM
MAGIC FOR T H E PUBLIC.
 Many years ago I marketed this item, and it was
available from me at lectures, in order to make issue
one have two tricks (as yet you lot have not sent
anything to me, so get writing.) I give you this.
Although it my read complicated, the effect is very
direct, and as for the method it is all but self
working.
This is a variation of a trick that Paul Harris had in
his book Supermagic.
For this effect you will need a pack of double backed
cards (don’t be put off),four aces and a double faced
card with the Ace of Clubs on one side and the Ace
of Hearts on the other.
To start place the double facer on the bottom of the
pack (Hearts side up) also place the four Aces face
down in the middle of the pack and hold a little
finger break above them This can be easily got if
you mark the top Ace, then as you spread the pack
between your hands just get the break above the
marked card and square the pack.
You are now going to force the four Aces on the
spectator using a psychological stop force Now let
me say a few words on this, if you time this correctly
you will never miss, I have explained this at many
lectures and performed it hundreds of times and it
has not failed m e
To begin tell the spectator to callstop as you cut
small packets of cards from the top of the pack onto
the table, when you have tabled three packets (on
top of each other) they will call stop, if you don’t
believe me try it, on a rare Occurrence they will stop
you as you place the forth packet down, it does not
matter in this trick, after three the Aces are on top of
the packet you hold, after four they are on the top of
the tabled half, either way they have stopped you on
the Aces. For the sake of explanation I will assume
they lie on top of the half you hold.
Turn over the top four cards to reveal the four Aces
and as you show them get the Ace of heart into the
position third from the top. With the Aces still face
up transfer the pack into a right hand Biddle grip
(from above). The left hand thumb now draws off
the top Ace into the left hand and as it comes off,
the right hand uses the pack to flip it face down.
This is repeated with the second ace Repeat the
action with the Ace of Hearts but as it falls face
down obtain a break below it with the left little
finger. As you pull off and repeat the action with the
last Ace, steal the Ace of Hearts below the pack in
your right hand. Now casually place the right hand -
half pack onto the already tabled half.
Elmsley count the three cards in your hand as four,
then give them a twist and spread them out to
show that only three remain. Place this packet back
into your left hand as the right hand spreads the
pack across the table to show the Ace of Hearts
face up in the middle Look at the spectator and ask
them if they know what suits that leaves in you
hand, as you say this the left hand cards are
transferred back to the right hand, the left hand
scoops up the spread pack and places it to your
left, turning it over in the process.
Show the three cards you hold face up, spreading
them between your hands and place the Ace of
clubs between the other two. Again hold the packet
from above in the right hand, draw off the top Ace
and as you draw off the second one (Clubs), steal
the first on square below the remaining Ace in your
right hand. Now place this double on top of the Ace
of Clubs but injogged for half its length. Draw
attention to the Ace of Clubs, then push the double
card square and pull back again but only on the top
single Ace, the Ace of Clubs seems to have
vanished. Use the injogged card to flip over the
double then flip the single aces face down on top of
it. Take the packet back into a right hand, holding
them face down in the Biddle grip, now as you do
this get a thumb break under the top card at the
inner end. The left hand now spreads the pack
across the table to reveal both Hearts and clubs
face up in the middle The left hand reaches to
remove them and as it does so the right hand
positions itself over the top of the pack and drops
the two cards below the break onto the right hand
side of the spread, the left hand drops the two face
up Aces on top of the pack, the right hand casually
moving back out of the way. The left hand now
returns to the point in the pack where the Aces
were before and scoops up this half (including the
Aces), then the left hand already holding half the
pack scoops up the remaining half on top of it so
buying the aces again. After this it again places the
pack to the side, again turning it over. The action to
cover this is to flash the face of the right hand card
(supposedly two) and ask the spectator if they would
prefer Spades or Diamonds, this should provide ample
cover or the turnover.
Whatever they name squeeze the card between your
palms, then turn them over and reveal the the suit they
named is gone (or the only one left, depending on what
you are holding). Leave this card face up on the table
The right hand now spreads the pack to show three
Aces now face up in the middle, break the pack above
the Aces leaving the lower half with the Aces on top,
squared on the table, and take the upper half into your
left hand. Show the last Ace as you flip it face down
on top of the left hand cards, now perform the Rub-A-
Dub-Dub vanish from page 301 of Expert Card
Technique (Hardback edition) and before you show the
LECTURES
DAN
GARRET
MIXED
ROUTINES
Well the Blackpool convention has come and gone, This was followed by the Richard Kaufman lecture,
it really is a great day if you are not in the habit Richard is well known for his excellent illustrations
o f going do yourself a favour and register for next and the numerous books he has produced over the
year: The 1992 Blackpool convention should be
something special as it is also the 40th one they
have held, anyway this years was very good, with
performers like John Kennedy, Dan Garret and
Richard Kaufman. Im sorry to say that I did not
get to many of the organized events onthe Sunday
mainly because I was meeting with old friends. On
the night before I ventured into the lecture rooms
to watch the Dan Garret lecture, very enjoyable it
was too much the same material he performed
when he visited Glasgow Here is a list of what he
did:
Four Ring routine (using 2 key rings),
a balloon trick (removing a portion which was
inflated) this also included some sound effects
using a bird walberer,
his routine and handling of the finger mouse,
the banana trick (continuous production o f
bananas),
the professors nightmare,
sponge balls
linking pins (looks amazing).
Ace having vanished the left hand casually turns over
and drops its half on top of the tabled half, all attention
should be focused on your right hand which supposedly
hides the last Ace below it. Go through the motions of
rubbing the card into the table then show it has
vanished After a beat spread the pack across the table
to reveal all four aces face up in the middle
This is a very clean sequence of events and although it
has taken. some space to describe the routine moves
along very quickly.
At this point I wanted to d o a further trick in order to
clean up, in issue two I will give a method of Twisting the
Aces, that uses the Aces you are left with at the end of
this trick.
years, it would be fair to say that his company has
changed the way magic books are produced. On the
lecture he gave I would have to say it was very
poor, and on a technical level his handling also left
a lot to be desired.
It is possible that the size of the venue took
Richard by suprise (it was a very large room), but
still the general content o f the lecture was poor, all
cards (all very fine if thats what your into) but
from what I saw the mainframe o f the audience
were not, and after a short time began to leave. For
the record here is a list o f what he performed:
Ace cutting (two at a time),
Phoenix Aces (see Cliff Greens book Professional
card Magic),
Card and bangle routine (Cardmagic by
R.Kaufman),
Human slot machine with cards (don't ask),
Card catching over head,
and the Laughing card trick (without the laughing).
I
KEN HAWES'S
SOMETHINGS
AFOOT

I f you were at the Ken Hawes lecture you will

remember Ken doing his sponge ball routine,
now within that routine he uses two small hands,
one which is open and the other which is closed
into a fist.
Later in the night Ken showed me a gag he
sometimes uses instead o f the hand closing.
For this you need a small hand and a small
foot The small foot is finger palmed in the right
hand and the small hand is on the table. Pick up
the hand on the table with your right hand and
as you pretend to place it into your left hand,
thumb palm the small hand in your right hand The sad news of two of magics legends
and let the foot that is finger palmed fall into has just reached these shores, both
the left hand as the left fingers close over it. SLYDINI and ALBERT GOSHMAN
Look at the spectator and say to him “Oh, you havepassed away.
think somethings afoot, well it might be” as you
say this open the left hand to show the small
foot. This is a good gag which must be included
within another routine, on its own it is not
strong enough.

GAG FILE
Ask spectator to ”Raise their hand a little lower”
???

“Pay as you go, unless you’re not coming back.

"I’ve got one o f those new microwave-fires, you

can lie in front of it all night in 20 minutes.

”I need to learn to spell, last night it cost me £50

to spend the night in a warehouse*

“My credit rating is so bad, my cash is’nt even

excepted.”

”Lean against the wall, its plastered as

well.”(Heckler Stopper)
 KEN HAWES in profile
has found himself in and stresses that you must be
prepared for anything> for example he was told that
one of the guests at a function wanted to propose
to his girlfriend and could he bring them together
and produce the ring in a magical way, the first thing
h e did was to perform some general close up so he
could get to know what they were lie and decide if
it would work, as it turned out they were fine and
when the time came he got the two of them
together and arranged all there friends around, he
then performed a copper silver transposition but at
the end the silver coin changed into the engagement
ring "This is for you" he said to the girl,"frorn him,
may I be the first to congratulate you both" and
with this he left them, but the impact this had
created was unforgettable especially for the girl. He
has also had to pretend to be members of the
company, at one he was pretending to be the
designer of a turtle, which he had never seen in his
life before, so he is standing, praying that no one
would ask about it, when the man next to him said
"It must have taken you days to do that" Ken
retorted "Yes,I don't care if I never see a bloody
turtle again in all my life"
Ken has many storys like this but what he points
out is that he made sure that he met the people
first, so that by the time the big moment came he
knew how they would react.
Ken Hawes was up in Glasgow recently to give a 1 asked Ken for his thoughts on card tricks, "The
lecture, and on the Saturday before he spent some trouble with card tricks is that everybody knows
time talking to me I first met Ken more that 10 one and they want to show you it, and for that
years ago, at that time he had already made some reason I tend not to use them" this can be true,
reputation for being an expert at coin magic at that many times having asked for a card to be selected
first meeting he floored me by taking a copper coin the spectator has said "Oh, I know this one" before
and throwing it into the air, in mid air the coin you do anything, as he points out, once they have
changed from copper to silver, I had never see coin selected a card they know you are going to find it.
magic that was so visual, this has stuck in my head Ken sums it up in one word "UNEXPECTED" if a
ever since Over the years Ken has moved into the card is selected and you find it that is what they
commercial world of magic and is kept busy expected you to do, but if at the end of a sponge
entertaining all over the south of England. He has ball routine he produces a jumbo sponge then there
performed for personalities such as Sting and Joan is a big surprise as it was unexpected.
Armatrading. On talking to him the first thing you His first paid performance was the annual dance .
notice is that he is very quite spoken, but even with for the local Co-op, nervously he approached a
this he takes full control of the situation and has large table and began to perform some flawless coin
definite views on magic and the performace of our work, he admits himself that at the time he kept
art. looking down watching his own performance, half
As you will have seen at the lecture he picks his way through he heard a voice say "Hey, thats our
tricks carefully so they carry the maximum impact. dance" whereby the whole table left and headed for
We got to talking about the various situations he the dance floor. Make contact with your audience,
 don't just let them see the top of your head, Ken attention and reaches for a spoon on the table
feels this was the mistake he made early on, "I The last section of his lecture concerned the Cups
learned all the clever coin stuff, but most of it was and Balls which he uses regularly in his table work,
not commercial enough for the lay public". he tells the story of when he got a booking to cover
Ken continuously names two books that are his three tables at a gourmet evening in a local
bibles, The DaiVernon Book of Magic and Bobosrestaurant "The first and third table were great but
Coin Magic, and along with these his main the second was a real problem, one girl was
influences are Dai Vernon, Ken Brooke, Albert determined to ruin the act, he caught them with the
Goshman and Bobby Bemard. When he was just Cups and Balls and when I reached the third table,
starting magic his father took him to visit Harry tables 1 and 2 had both followed me too watch
Stanleys magic shop where he first met Ken Brooke again, when performing the routine at the last table
and it was he who recommended the Vernon book, this girl was giving a running commentary from
and even today Ken still uses many of the routines behind, I solved that problem by bringing her round
within its pages. front, but the loads were EXPECTED, for most of
Ken admits that the influence of Ken Brooke was the audience when I asked if they knew what was
so strong that at that point his own personality under the cups someone said, Golden Delicious'
changed and he started to perform in the same style Ken realised that he should have had an extra set of
as him. Years later he realised what Ken Brooke had loads so that on the last performance he could have
written on a photograph to the young Ken was retained the surprise element because of the change,
some great advise "Always be yourself", from this they were expecting apples they got oranges, this
point on Ken started to work on his ownpersonality goes back to what Ken says about the unexpected.
"Not changing my own personality, just being Ken has produced a set of lecture notes which
myself but inflating it so as to become larger that although contain no tricks are full of good advice to
life" the working performer.
Having seen Albert Goshman, Ken immediately
went through the Bobo book and learned everything Kens humour was in evidence during the lecture,
that Goshman had put in it, again to this day Ken "This is an Okito box, named after its inventor
uses the Goshman Pinch to great advantage, (how Theo Bamberg.
else could the copper coin change to silver). In
Goshman,Ken saw for the first time a completely "This is a chinese coin given to me by an old
structured act and this had a very big impact on chinese magician One Long Pong, who lives in a
him
junk, if you don't know what junk is take a look at
Dave's (Dave Robertson)car.
"Dai Vemon, has written so much of value" says
Ken "But my favourite is the Dai Vemon Book of
Magic, the first two chapters tells you everything NEXT ISSUE:
about being yourself and performing magic in a
natural manner, if you are at all interested in magic
you must read these chapters". PROFESSIONAL CLOSE UP PART 2
"What about humour ?" I asked "Yes it has it's (THE FIRST NIGHT)
place" said Ken "But I again comes dawn to your BOOKSHELF PETER DUFFIE ON
personality, I don't go for big belly laughs, just a light THE DEVILS PLAYTHINGS BY ROY
giggle, the magic is strong enough and really dosn't
need big laughs, just enough lies to cover the dead
WALTON.
points"
PLUS MUCH MORE.
If you attended the lecture you will realise that Ken
also makes use of a Topit, and uses it to perform a
variety of effect from a pack vanish to ending a
paddle routine, Douglas raised a very good point Steven Hamilton
about using the Topit close up, the problem being
that the jacket opening sits at eye level as you stand 20 Southern Ave,
at a table, Ken agrees that it could be a problem, but
he only vanishes a black paddle at the tables and
this is covered by ample misdirection as he draws
Glasgow G73 4JN.