Hi All
This is my handling of Roy Walton’s classic ‘Oil and Queens” effect. The original is a classic for a reason and is a beautifully constructed piece of magic.
I’ve seen a lot of alternative handlings over the years but none have ever been quite as good as the original. The only one, for me, that came close was Walt Maddison/Harry Lorayne’s ‘The Sting’ from Apocalypse. The couple of things it had over Mr Walton’s was that you mixed they colours in front of the audience and that it ended completely clean. However, the repeated use of the Olram Subtlety as the main ‘display’ always looked kind of fishy to me.
Now, I’m not that really bothered with justifying a ‘why’ magic effect happens. Card tricks are inherently pointless anyway, so as long as something looks impossible, I don’t really care whether it ‘makes sense’ or not. There is no ‘reason' for the Queens to suddenly appear at the end of an oil and water effect, as they do in Mr Walton’s trick. But that doesn’t matter to me. It’s surprising and impossible and that’s all I want from a card trick.
That being said, when I was working through this handling, I inadvertently stumbled upon a way to present this as a mock card cheating display. I also ended up getting another minor effect from it (the full house) which in turn meant the final kicker suddenly made much more sense. It also meant I could end completely clean, with everything on the table being freely displayed.
Hope you enjoy it. Sorry for the long ramble but I always feel like I should justify why I have mucked around with a classic, as often variations can feel like they exist for no reason. At least now you may understand my logic, even if you don’t agree with a word I have said and still hate the trick…
Rev
PS: Yes, I know this is discrepant due to the (apparent) number of cards changing. I have thoughts on this also, but I won’t go into them now. If you want me to, just ask!
This is my handling of Roy Walton’s classic ‘Oil and Queens” effect. The original is a classic for a reason and is a beautifully constructed piece of magic.
I’ve seen a lot of alternative handlings over the years but none have ever been quite as good as the original. The only one, for me, that came close was Walt Maddison/Harry Lorayne’s ‘The Sting’ from Apocalypse. The couple of things it had over Mr Walton’s was that you mixed they colours in front of the audience and that it ended completely clean. However, the repeated use of the Olram Subtlety as the main ‘display’ always looked kind of fishy to me.
Now, I’m not that really bothered with justifying a ‘why’ magic effect happens. Card tricks are inherently pointless anyway, so as long as something looks impossible, I don’t really care whether it ‘makes sense’ or not. There is no ‘reason' for the Queens to suddenly appear at the end of an oil and water effect, as they do in Mr Walton’s trick. But that doesn’t matter to me. It’s surprising and impossible and that’s all I want from a card trick.
That being said, when I was working through this handling, I inadvertently stumbled upon a way to present this as a mock card cheating display. I also ended up getting another minor effect from it (the full house) which in turn meant the final kicker suddenly made much more sense. It also meant I could end completely clean, with everything on the table being freely displayed.
Hope you enjoy it. Sorry for the long ramble but I always feel like I should justify why I have mucked around with a classic, as often variations can feel like they exist for no reason. At least now you may understand my logic, even if you don’t agree with a word I have said and still hate the trick…
Rev
PS: Yes, I know this is discrepant due to the (apparent) number of cards changing. I have thoughts on this also, but I won’t go into them now. If you want me to, just ask!