Dai Vernon

Jun 22, 2009
31
0
sarnia Ont. Canada
Although this thread will not be a massive contribution to the advancement of the art or anything of the sort, some responses would be greatly appreciated. I have recently been assigned a history project in which I am focussing on Dai Vernon as my topic. I would like to perform a trick for my class as an aid to the project. If I had time to brush up on my cups and balls routine for instance I would perform that since Dai vernon also did it. I am considering an ambitous card routine however it may be a bit out of scale for a whole class. So my request is that some one would suggest a trick that takes no more than a minute and a half to two minutes to perform, and it be something with a big impact on the audience. This may be a bit much to ask or the wrong place to ask it however I'm in a bit of a pinch and any help would be appreciated!
 
Mar 6, 2008
1,483
3
A Land Down Under
Triumph, is quite possibly the greatest trick in all of card magic.

You would need to do a stand up friendly versions like Dani DaOrtiz's open triumph.

At the end of the day, the class is not going to know if Dai Vernon created the trick or even the handling which you use. If you choose to use something else that the professor did not create I would suggest something like, Las Vegas Leaper by Paul Harris.
 

Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
1,101
Utah
I would do a version of triumph after all Dai Vernon is often credited with creating the plot. Chris Kenner teaches 2 versions here on theory11 it's like 5 bucks for the downloads. I could see a slop triumph working well for a large group, it is super simple to perform, it hits hard and it's all in the hands so it is easy to display that the cards are mixed up. Although that method was not Dai Vernon's the plot can be attributed to him.

http://www.theory11.com/tricks/sloppy-shuffle-triumph-chris-kenner.php
 
Sep 2, 2007
1,186
16
42
London
If you've got time to master it, I would go with cards up the sleeve. This seemed to be Vernon's go-to effect for stand-up situations when he was a performer.

Or, if you want something less taxing sleight-wise, and if the performing space suits it, I'd go for his three card monte routine.
 
Jun 22, 2009
31
0
sarnia Ont. Canada
Thankyou for your suggestions everybody1 I'm not to concerned about it being a Dai Vernon original effect. I realize I gave that impession. Thankyou for your suggestions all the same!
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
Thankyou for your suggestions everybody1 I'm not to concerned about it being a Dai Vernon original effect. I realize I gave that impession. Thankyou for your suggestions all the same!

I find that view to be strange; why wouldn't you do a piece on someone without doing a demonstration of something they created or were known for?

Some of Dai's lesser known moves like the Vernon Reach Around or an enactment of him getting all red-faced when Larry Jennings would show up. . . or better yet, after he'd spent a day with a very young Greg Wilson, teaching him the French Drop only to have daddy-dearest show up and "correct" the lad for not pointing to the hand before making things vanish. . . (I have a ton of Vernon "inside" tales. . . )

Seriously though, the Cups & Balls or Linking Rings would both be appropriate SO LONG AS YOU'RE DOING HIS HANDLING for the sake of delivering an authentic report that host historic validity. Triumph is certainly one of the more awesome bits the professor put out there but one that's a hint under-used is the "One Handed Gambler" routine; it's super strong but leaves them with a twist . . . a dark thought (which is probably why I liked it so much).

Understand, Vernon wasn't some kind of graceful gent such as the establishment wants him to be remembered as; he was a crusty old busker from Coney Island -- a Carney! He was a hard drinking, womanizing old coot so paint him as being human, he'd probably appreciate such a realistic tribute more than all the hot air people love blowing up his skirt.

For research I'd suggest to contact John Carney directly, he took care of Dai for well over half a decade I believe, and was one of Dai's last students. . . he took care of Dai and I took care of Johnny Platt.
 

Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
1,101
Utah
Understand, Vernon wasn't some kind of graceful gent such as the establishment wants him to be remembered as; he was a crusty old busker from Coney Island -- a Carney! He was a hard drinking, womanizing old coot so paint him as being human, he'd probably appreciate such a realistic tribute more than all the hot air people love blowing up his skirt.

I worry that this could be misinterpreted, no Vernon was not the saint many paint him as but he was human. He was a very eccentric person who did what he pleased when he pleased. He was a magician for the "hoity toity" and he got the jobs because he could be polite and likable (Harry Riser, Indianapolis 2006). Vernon was bothered by Al Goshman's sloppiness and crude language at some points.

Yes, Vernon was human but he was a likable character. He knew he was liked and he would use his charisma to his benefit sometimes.

Harry Riser talks about Vernon in these two links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esheXrXcJKg&list=HL1331046026&fe:ature=mh_lolz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuwJvRWOrtI&feature=related
 
Twisting the Aces, but with jumbo cards. This is John Bannon's idea (at least that's where I read it) and not only does this make the trick more visible for a larger group, but it also makes it seem more impossible as there seems to be no way to manipulate something that big.


Rev
 
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