Real Magic (37 page)

With a sigh, he gazed at the far wall of the kitchen where he had placed a Door — the very last he had discovered. Nobody ever used it because Pappy had piled boxes in front of it. Nobody had known it was there. But when the cleaning ladies had come, he asked them to clear away the boxes.

He stared at the Door with its strange markings and wondered where it would lead. And when. He knew he should destroy the Door, but how could he? At his age, with nothing to look forward to, nothing to preserve, nothing but his own darkness. Those he loved had died long ago, and now that Duncan had gone back to 1934, there was simply nothing left.

That was the point of the pills. But if he went through the Door, even if it meant ending up in the middle of the ocean or a volcano or being hunted by angry Neanderthals, he would have a few thrilling moments. That would be a better death than suicide.

"Why not finish with a little excitement?"

He walked over to the Door. He opened it and stared at the endless darkness. Like looking into tomorrow.

Tomorrow — he had no idea what would happen. How strange. Tomorrow was an unknown quantity. Not a second, minute, or hour. Nothing about tomorrow could be predicted.

How beautiful,
he thought and stepped through.

 

I suspect I will be crossed off a few Christmas card lists because of this.

One of the major axioms among magicians is "Don't reveal the secret, especially to a layman." And yet here I have helped to write a book in which I explain how to do several strong card tricks. A book geared toward mass consumption, no less. Kind of a no-no in the magic world. Some of my magic friends won't be pleased. Dai Vernon must be rolling over in his grave.

However, I don't believe I have exposed anything to laypeople. My theory is this; in order for a trick to be exposed, the exposee must comprehend what was just explained. In the case of this book, you have to actually read the tricks and go through them, cards in hand, in order to understand the secrets. That takes work. And if you are doing that, then most likely you have an interest in magic. And if you are actively pursuing an interest in magic, then you're not a layperson anymore. In fact, you're probably an aspiring magician. And I have no problem at all explaining certain tricks to aspiring magicians.

If you read the book and didn't following along with the effects, then you probably find magic amusing but aren't really interested in learning it. That's cool, too. No hard feelings. But if you did pull out a deck of cards and messed around with even some of the tricks, then at the end of this afterward, I'll share a few magic books with you to help further your magic education.

First, a warning and short rant. Do not learn magic from free YouTube tutorials. Let me say that again but this time a little louder: DO NOT LEARN MAGIC FROM FREE YOUTUBE TUTORIALS. Most tricks given away for free on YouTube are performed badly and explained worse. Overall, the magic tutorials on YouTube are dire. Yes, you can learn the "secret" to many, many tricks on YouTube, but magic is a lot more than just the secrets. Secrets are usually boring. As you know from reading this book, most of the time, the most powerful effects in magic have the simplest of secrets. Magic is about presentation. It's about you, your personality, and how you perform and sell the effect to your audience.

That's not to say there isn't some good free magic on the Internet. There is. But you have to be kind of "in the know" in order to find it. And in order get "in the know", you have to earn the respect of some good magicians, people who can guide you in the right direction. The best way to garner the respect of more experienced magicians is to study the classics. Know your stuff.

If you are reading this, then you are a reader; someone who actually enjoys reading (quite the observation, eh?). Therefore, I suggest starting your magical journey with books. Learn the fundamentals and then advance from there to instructional DVDs.

Although I am a creator of magic tricks, because the story of
Real Magic
is set in 1934, I knew that the effects performed by most of the magicians in the book would need to be appropriate to the time period. Being from the future, Duncan could get away with performing things that were a little more modern. At the same time, he wanted to fit into the period so he couldn't do anything too outlandish. With all of this in mind, when it came time to collecting material for the book, I went back to the classics. Tricks that have stood the test of time. Below is a list of some of the books from which I culled and adapted the tricks you read in this novel. These collections are excellent magic resources and are available very cheaply in either PDF or hard copy format. Trust me when I say that while they are all very old books, the material is top notch and will still fool most anyone who witnesses them. Even a lot of magicians!

You may have noticed that all of the tricks explained in this book are "self-working." In other words, they do not require any sleight of hand. This was a conscious choice Stuart and I made so that anyone would be able to perform the tricks included in the book regardless of skill level. Well, regardless of manual dexterity. Because, like I said before, the real trick of magic isn't the method, it's the performance. Now, I told you before to stay away from free YouTube tutorials on magic, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch magic performances on YouTube. Look up performances of some famous magicians you might know: David Blaine, David Copperfield, Criss Angel, Cyril, Derren Brown, Dynamo, Penn & Teller and analyze them. Study what makes them so engaging.

I do believe magic is a great art form. Yes, many bad performers have cheapened it and many in the general public think of magic as child's play and completely frivolous. However, when it is performed well, magic can be transcendent. Although some are too cynical to admit it, we all want to be astonished. We all crave to be amazed. No one wishes for mundane experiences. In our heart of hearts, we all want to believe that magic is possible. And even though most rational people realize that when a magician pulls out a deck of cards, he will be doing a "magic trick," they cannot help but to be emotionally overwhelmed when something completely inexplicable happens. Just remember that
you
have to make it magical for them.

As promised here is a list of some great card magic books. This list is by no means comprehensive. There are literally thousands of books published on just card tricks, let alone other types of magic. These five books, though, are some of the best, especially when starting your magical studies. Just pop the titles into your search engine and you'll find many retailers who carry them.

 

Close Up Card Magic
by Harry Lorayne, 1962

Encyclopedia of Card Tricks
 edited by Jean Hugard, 1937

Expert at the Card Table
by S. W. Erdnase, 1902

Royal Road To Card Magic, The
by Jean Hugard & Fredrick Braue

Scarne On Card Tricks
by John Scarne, 1950

 

If you are a more experienced magician looking for some powerful, practical magic to add to your repertoire, feel free to visit my website,
www.cameronfrancismagic.com
, and check out some of my DVDs and downloads.

Enjoy the journey.

 

Cameron Francis

May, 2013

 

 

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

From Stuart:

First off, thanks to Cameron for saying
Yes
. If he hadn't been interested and willing to work on this project, this book simply would not have happened. Thanks also goes out to Julie Henderson of Design Archives for some great help with 1930s clothing and style; Rachel of Littera Design for a wonderful cover; Ed Schubert for sanity support; and always, Glory and Gabe, my closest and dearest. Most importantly, I want to thank you, the reader. Without you, none of this matters.

From Cameron:

There are so many people to thank for their direct and indirect help with this book that it's hard to know where to begin.

First, special thanks to Peter Duffie and Jack Carpenter for their help with some of the magic and gambling research. They are two giants in the world of card magic and I feel fortunate to call them my friends.

Also special thanks to magic's past masters who were huge inspirations on the material included in this book: Dai Vernon, Al Baker, Jean Hugard, John Scarne and too many others to name.

And finally, a big thank you to Stuart Jaffe for calling me up and asking if I would be interested in collaborating on this novel. Stuart and I went to college together and hadn't spoken in close to twenty years, so the call itself was most welcome. And collaborating on a book ... well, the prospect was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. The result was thrilling. I will always be extremely grateful to Stuart for inviting me to share this incredible creative journey with him.

Finally, a big thank you to my wife, Beth, and daughter, Gianna, for all of their love and support.

Paranormal Mysteries delving into the dark secrets of the South.  Read the first adventure in the Max Porter Paranormal Mystery series, 
Southern Bound.

  

"
Southern Bound
 gets it right! A great blend of ghosts and gumshoes. If you like haunting mysteries you'll love 
Southern Bound!
" - Joel Goldman, bestselling author of 
Motion to Kill

"... fun and interesting. Not only was I entertained I learned a few things about Winston-Salem. The story was very engaging and kept me reading." - Marta M. Rawlings, an Amazon reader

It was supposed to be a new beginning - good job, good pay, and a lovely home in North Carolina.

But when Max Porter discovers his office is haunted by the ghost of a 1940s detective, he is thrust neck-deep into a world of old mysteries and dangerous enemies.

One in which ghosts, witches, curses, and spells exist. One in which a simple research job can turn deadly.

"From the beginning I knew I had a good book in my hands. The description and opening told me everything I needed to get into the plot and live the characters life with him. It only took two or three pages to suck me into a feeling of an old white and black Noir movie." - Mordkan, an Amazon reader