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Card Duck
The Card Duck is a comedy magic prop that finds a selected card.
The effect: The magician asks a audience member to select a card. The card is placed back into the deck. Next, the magician introduces his pet "duck". The deck is placed into a card holder that sits in front of the duck. The duck lunges forward and selects a single playing card. This card is shown to be the selection.
History
Origins traced back to Professor W. Norris, who performed at The Crystal Palace in London from 1868 to 1885. He used a model of a swan to find a chosen card. This was the predecessor of the Card Duck.[1]
Around 1932, Laurie Ireland began working on the idea, and Ireland's released "Otto the Automaton Duck" in mid-1936.[2]
The Card Duck was largely popularized by Clarke "The Senator" Crandall. His Senator Crandall's Duck Deck Routine was released around 1962.[3] Contents:
- Page 1 Introduction
- Page 3 The Routine
- Page 5 Patter and Presentation
- Page 8 The Deck
- Page 9 The Mini-Duck
- Page 10 "Anatomy of a Trick" by Frances E. Marshall
The trick was also published as "Crandall's Routine for the Card Duck" in the Magic, Inc. instructions for "Herbie, the Mod Duck."
References
- ↑ Eric Lewis, "Background to British Magic History: The Crystal Palace," The Linking Ring, Vol. 69 No. 8, August 1989, pp. 43-44
- ↑ Advertisement, "Otto the Automaton Duck," The Sphinx, Vol. 35 No. 7, Sep. 10, 1936, p. 179
- ↑ Advertisement, "Senator Crandall's Card Duck Deck & Routine," The New Tops, Vol. 2 No. 11, November 1962, p. 37