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It was invented by Vernon, and named by his son (whose name I can't recall at this moment). Its first appearance in print was as part of the Stars of Magic series.

If it's the kind of resource that might be the first port-of-call for a novice magician, I think a brief article/video/podcast/[insert relevant medium] discussing the ethics around exposure, including accidental exposure caused by lack of practice, would be useful. As attested to by many posts...

To my mind, an "effect" is a single magical occurrence, e.g. "The thought of card was in my front jacket pocket." I think of it like this. At the "moment of magic", whether it's indicated by a snap a gesture or a word, what happens at that moment is the effect. Two or more effects can be linked...

Jason, that teaching idea sounds fascinating. As someone who's interested in the psychology and methodology of learning, as well as an Erdnase obsessive, I'll definitely be getting my hands on this download. Even though I'm quite happy with my understanding of Erdnase's text, if I can add some...

In general, yes he does tell us when, but there are a couple of instances (Longitudinal Shift for example), where he performs the move differently from the way it's described in the text without mentioning that he's varied it. It's still a great DVD set though, and definitely worth picking up...

Apparently the thing that fooled Houdini was Vernon's use of a double-backer, which weren't commonly used at the time.

I think Allan Ackerman's interpretation is OK, infinitely better than Wesley James' anyway. However, I would disagree with him on his execution of the various shifts, and I think there are a couple of points on the false deals that he misses. The most interesting thing on that DVD set, to my...

Without wanting to be presumptuous, I'd like to offer a word of warning. Wesley James, while having made some valuable contributions to magic, is by no means qualified to teach Erdnase. His understanding and execution of many of the techniques is sadly lacking. If you want to master the work in...

Hi Skeleto. I'm doing my best to grapple with Erdnase too! Out of interest, which DVD set do you have?

This is a really hard question because people's learning styles vary wildly. This is additionally complicated with Erdnase because sometimes you get an extra little tip on a move from something later in the book, so it's not as simple as learning one technique thoroughly and then moving on. It...

LOL. Yeah, I see what you mean! Although, the sense of "it takes two to tango" is usually, "before you blame someone, take a look at yourself", which doesn't really contradict my main point. Also, while I'm on the subject, I'd like to defend "a failure to teach is a failure of the teacher"...

Mr Draven, with forum threads, as in all communication, "it takes two to tango" as the cliche goes. Your complaint is, essentially, that your input deserves a wider audience because it has intrinsic worth. Well, sorry, but that's not true. While it would be very nice if a mass audience could...

Maybe look at effects where the cards end up in new deck order, or turn into a solid block, or some other condition which "proves" it must have all been an illusion.

I think a good finale depends on what's gone before. I think the strongest finales are like a twist at the end of a film, smashing your preconceptions of what's gone before, and leaving the audience questioning everything they've witnessed. So, for example, if you've done a mentalism set using...

I would recommend not showing off straight away, unless you want to be entirely defined as "the kid who does card tricks". It won't necessarily make you look cool, it may backfire and make you look like an attention-seeker with a geek hobby. And, just from a dramatic point of view, it'll be so...

I wrote a thing about this a few weeks ago for the Magic Review Blog, and I concur almost completely with Mr Brushwood's thoughts on the subject. I think there are many advantages to exposure, and we just have to stop our Canute-like resistance to the inevitable tide of freely available...

You could always do the research yourself (contact knowledgeable magicians, visit libraries, search Ask Alexander, etc.) before submitting the effect. In fact, that's probably a useful thing to do anyway, as you may find ideas from other magicians that help you take your effects in different...

To honest, I don't think having a more famous magician's surname would have much impact on your career, unless you chose to really push it and make a point of it. It would probably be a talking point for about twenty seconds: "What did you say your name was?" "Barry...Barry Blackstone." "Oh...

An interesting thing about misdirection is that you don't have to misdirect the eyes, just the mind. In other words, providing your audience are thinking about something else, they can be looking straight at your hands and still not spot anything provided your movements are smooth and relaxed...

Yes, it is possible to do a bottom deal with a straddle grip. In fact, Dr Elliott, who Dai Vernon (among others) described as the best bottom dealer he'd ever seen, dealt from a straddle grip. However, don't give up so quickly on the techniques Mr England taught. Erdnase, who knew a thing or two...