This week’s blog post features one more John Thompson item that we wrote for The Magic of Johnny Thompson but ultimately elected not to include. While it would have benefitted from illustrations, John did review the details of this text and I think careful reading will reveal all that is necessary to understand how to fabricate the special gaff. I’ve always been fond of the plot of the classic hat load trick, and I’ve provided some references that may be helpful to magicians looking to explore this classic further, along with a brief description of my own take on this classic plot.

Howard Schwarzman died, at the age of 92, on July 21, 2020. News of his death first came to be known in the magic community about a month later, at which time I wrote this tribute, which was posted at the Vanishing Inc. website. You can find it there accompanied by some excellent photographs, and a rare video of Howie performing John Ramsay’s “Three Coins in the Hat.” However, now that my blog is active I wanted to add my tribute here as well, and to draw attention, and tribute, for some who may have missed it at the time.

My lengthy essay, “In Search of Street Magic,” originally appeared in the journal, Antimony, in 2007. Due to its timeliness and the controversies it was wading into, I convinced the publisher to post it online. The piece engendered much public discussion and debate amid various online forums at the time, with many readers overlooking a key point: that despite my criticism of much of the then new “street magic” marketing push, I also clearly defended elements of the trend as a mere update and relabeling of the same kind of magic marketing that my own generation, and generations before me, had grown up with. The essay eventually vanished along with the Antinomy website, so here it is again, my 2007 snapshot of the state, and meaning, of “Street Magic.”

When David Roth was asked to perform in impromptu circumstances, he would typically perform the following sequence of five routines. A close examination of this selection of material can serve to reveal a number of significant lessons. I came to understand the theory behind all this in the course of my study of magic in general, coin magic in particular, and David Roth’s magic as an exemplar. Roth’s choices can readily be seen as theory in action, and an answer to the question: Why study theory?

Johnny Thompson’s version of Roy Benson’s neo-classic bowl routine is described in detail in The Magic of Johnny Thompson. We mentioned there that John’s favorite final load for the routine was a genuine ham sandwich, and that he sometimes would also use that as a transition effect into card magic. This routine—John’s version of Walton’s “Collector” plot—is the trick that John would utilize to make that transition, however we chose not to include it in the book. Here now is the complete description, as it was written for the book.

In the 1960s, Simon Aronson – well-known Chicago amateur card man, mentalist, and influential memorized deck creator – gave John an idea for a telephone book test. John tackled the project with his typical energy and determination, and not only created the necessary props, but developed a routine that he would go on to use for more than a decade in trade shows, on stage, and on television (where he performed it on The Merv Griffin Show).

Al Cohen, the legendary and beloved Washington D.C. magic dealer, passed away on December 13th. To mark his passing, I am posting here the cover feature article I wrote for Genii magazine that appeared in the March 2002 issue.