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Ron Bauer Private Studies Series

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Ron Bauer Private Studies Series
Bauer-Private-Studies.jpg
AuthorRon Bauer
PublisherE-GADS
IllustratorSandra Kort
Publication Date1998
LanguageEnglish
 

The Ron Bauer Private Studies Series is a series of 24 "annotated performance scripts" written by Ron Bauer and illustrated by Sandra Kort. The first 12 were originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998-99. In late 1999, the series was rebooted by E-GADS (Electronic Graphic Art Design Studio). They released expanded and revised second editions of the first 12, and have since released 9 of the 12 remaining scripts. There have also been several Ron Bauer Private Studies Special Editions.

Introduction

An early advertisement for the series in the September 1998 issue of MAGIC Magazine contained this "Message from John Luka":

If you're like me, and the other NINETY PLUS PERCENT OF THE MAGICIANS IN THE WORLD, magic is a HOBBY. Performing magic is an AVOCATION. We don't do many shows, and when we do, we're often groping for the "right words." When we realize we're not directing our audiences, let alone misdirecting them, we feel the "flop sweat."

The answer to these problems, though, isn't MORE TRICKS! There are plenty of tricks and videos and books available. To triumph as magicians, we need, in a word, PRESENTATION!

PRESENTATION makes DIRECTION work to get and hold their ATTENTION. PRESENTATION makes MISDIRECTION work to FOOL 'EM. And, most important, PRESENTATION brings out our PERSONALITIES so we can ENTERTAIN 'EM.

After years of pushing and prodding, I persuaded Ron Bauer, THE Underground Legend (because his magical and theatrical knowledge and skills are renowned), into writing a series of monographs that teaches PRESENTATION from a theatrical point of view. Each contains a TESTED EXAMPLE "magical exercise" to help you learn and understand the PRINCIPLES of: DIRECTION, the NARRATIVE thread of UNITY that holds the PRESENTATION together. MISDIRECTION, the tactics for HIDING SECRETS OUT IN THE OPEN. And, the TAG LINE, the key to knowing WHAT TO SAY AND WHEN TO SAY IT.

Each monograph includes insights you can apply to your magic whether you're a pro or just enjoy entertaining friends and associates.

Annotated Performance Script

In 2005, Bauer added:

...each of the items in my series is an "annotated performance script." They're intended to help out those with aspirations to perform in front of the public and (now get this part) have something to say that is at least somewhat as clever and amusing as the trick. Sometimes, performing a trick for friends or doing a little show is a person's only chance to be clever in public. Having the words and some help on the technical details can (almost assuredly) make the difference between having some fun and volunteering for humiliation.[1]

Video Annotations

Each of the scripts in the series is accompanied by several short video clips, available at the Private Studies Series website, Think Like a Conjurer. The clips are designed to help interpret certain handling and provide clarity, not teach moves. According to Bauer, "The idea is to have a reference more dynamic that just words and line art to supplement the books. These clips are short, and can be looped so the student can see the actions repeated whatever number of times needed."[2]

As of February 2017, videos for the first 12 books are available. According to Bauer, his plan is to release the remaining videos upon completion of the final three books in the series.

24-part Series

As of February 2017, 21 of the 24 scripts in the series have been published. Still upcoming are #20 Ron Bauer's "That's the Spirit!", #23 Bob Longe's "Worn Out Deck", and #24 Don Alan's Sneaky Nudist Rides Again.

#1 "Gadabout Coins Revisited"

Bauer-Gadabout-Coins.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2000, 16 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, 8 pages.

Description: This is a simple trick with three "lucky coins" that becomes gradually more puzzling until the surprise, stunning finish.

Contents include:

  • "Anti-Talking Technique"
  • "In the Well Vanish"
  • "Repetition (as Preparation and Misdirection)"

Category:Close Up Magic, Category:Stand Up Magic. Category:Coins. Two in the Hand, One in the Pocket.

#2 "Sudden Death Gypsy Curse"

Bauer-Gypsy-Curse.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2000, 16 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, 12 pages.

Description: This is a packet trick that makes sense. It uses Tarot cards and offers a prize to any winner. You show how one of your relatives' game of Seven Card Monte backfired because he tried to cheat a Gypsy!

Contents include:

  • "Segue with #8 'The Cursed Ring'"
  • "Repairing and Aging Gypsy Curse Cards"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Gypsy Curse.

#3 Tony Chaudhuri's "Feminine Side"

Bauer-Feminine-Side.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2000, 20 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, as #3 Tony Chaudhuri's Cross to the Feminine Side. 8 pages.

Description: From a regular deck of cards, you help a male spectator show everyone that he is VERY SENSITIVE because he can somehow(?) separate eight red from eight black cards.

Contents include:

  • "Tag Lines and Punch Lines"
  • "The Sham Psychology Theme"
  • "A Real Man's Trick"
  • "Some Relevant Background"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Out of This World.

#4 "Butch, Ringo, & the Sheep"

Bauer-Butch-Ringo-Sheep.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2002, 32 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, 12 pages.

Description: You act out your favorite Urban Legend with seven quarters and a ring that never stay where you put them, especially the third time.

Contents include:

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Coins. Thieves and Sheep.

#5 "Hornswoggled Again!"

Bauer-Hornswoggled-Again.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2001, 20 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, 12 pages.

Description: You SHORT CHANGE a spectator out of a dollar, but when you show him your "sure-fire" defense, he has his revenge!

Contents include:

  • "Casual Handling"
  • "Fanning Powder Notes"
  • "From the Left"

Category:Close Up Magic, Category:Platform Magic. Category:Paper Money. Shortchange Trick.

#6 "Owed to Poker Dan"

Bauer-Poker-Dan.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2001, 16 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, as #6 Ron Bauer's Ode to Poker Dan. 12 pages.

Description: This is a packet trick that makes hilarious and mystifying sense. With the actual hand of cards played by an unfortunate gambler named Poker Dan, you illustrate how he used uncanny skill to win his last Poker game.

Contents include:

  • "Story Telling"
  • "Packet Trick Discrepancy"
  • "Rhyming Patter"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Packet Trick, All Backs.

#7 "Dixie"

Bauer-Dixie.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2002, 24 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, 20 pages.

Description: Using faux antique keepsakes of the Confederacy, three Dixie Cups, and a completely worthless $1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000+ bill, you perform a streamlined, fast and funny version of the "Cups and Balls."

Contents include:

  • "Show and Tell"
  • "Simplifying a Complicated Narrative"
  • "Double Entendre Humor"
  • "Rehearsing Procedures to Build Up the Presentation"
  • "Fake Put Sequence"
  • "The En Route Principle Explained"
  • "Some Background on Dixie"

Category:Close Up Magic. Cups and Balls.

#8 "The Cursed Ring"

Bauer-Cursed-Ring.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2000, 16 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, 12 pages.

Description: You demonstrate how you can't give away your ring that carries a family curse.

Contents include:

  • "Plot Construction"
  • "The Fake Put On"
  • "Some Relevant Background" ("The Vernon Revelation" and "The Schneider Fabrication")

Category:Close Up Magic. Ring off Wand.

#9 "Fair & Sloppy"

Bauer-Fair-Sloppy.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2002, 32 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1998, 16 pages.

Description: This is a whimsically convincing "Triumph-type" effect without resorting to Riffle Shuffles or excessive cutting.

Contents include:

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Triumph.

#10 Charlie Miller's "Left-Handed Hank"

Bauer-Left-Handed-Hank.jpg

PLUS: Charlie Miller's "Left-Handed Hank Has Seven Corners"

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2001, 28 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1999.

Description: This is a great, visual quickie! You're right-handed, but you bought a scarf that's LEFT-handed (or visa versa). How do you know? You can't tie a knot with your left hand, only your right!

Contents include:

  • "The Interlude"
  • "Subtext"
  • "For Show, Not Blow"
  • "The Right-Handed Knot"
  • "The Left-Handed Knot"
  • "The One-Step Slip Knot"

Category:Close Up Magic, Category:Platform Magic, Category:Stage Magic. Category:Silks.

#11 "The Mechanical Deck"

Bauer-Mechanical-Deck.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2001, 32 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1999.

Description: Make any deck of cards do your work for you. Shuffle a selection among the other cards, and the deck finds the card. Let the audience see how it works in slow motion! Astonishing visual magic.

Contents include:

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Haunted Deck.

#12 Paul Chosse's "Bar Bill Stunt"

Bauer-Bar-Bill-Stunt.jpg

PLUS: "Powers' Payoff" and "Bauer's Befuddler"

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Second edition, revised and expanded, published by E-GADS in 2001, 36 pages.

Originally published by John Luka's Magic by Mail in 1999.

Description: You try to teach a trick. It's almost magic; advanced Origami, but the audience is unimpressed until too much oversell results in the bill turning inside out!

Contents include:

  • "Presentation One: The Chosse Favorite"
  • "Presentation Two: Drawn Instead of Quartered"
  • "Presentation Three: The Powers' Payoff"
  • "Presentation Four: The Bauer Befuddler"
  • "Borrowed Bills"
  • "The Master Fold"
  • "The Unfolding Switch"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Money. Bill Switch, Mis-made Bill.

#13 Senator Crandall's "Cut-Up Card Trick"

Bauer-Crandall-Cut-Up.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2003, 16 pages.

Description: This is an amusing and mystifying card revelation founded on interactive behavioral pseudo-psychobabble (that's the best kind).

Contents include:

  • "The Senator"
  • "Beat or Pause?"
  • "What is Time Misdirection?"
  • "Why use the Cross Cut Force?"
  • "Some History..."
  • "WIRTH-while Information"
  • "Furthering Your Career in Psychoanalysis"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Card Revelation.

#14 "Four Squares & a Knot"

Bauer-Four-Squares-Knot.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2003, 16 pages.

Description: This is a test with two pairs of hanks that you give to audiences to see how sympathetic they will be during your performance. It's another sterling example of interactive behavioral pseudo-psychobabble (still the best kind).

Contents include:

  • "Let's Pretend!"
  • "Polarize!"
  • "The Sixty-Second Rule"
  • "Being Funny"
  • "Some History..."
  • "A Sympathetic Count"
  • "A Sympathetic Knot"

Category:Close Up Magic, Category:Stand Up Magic, Category:Stage Magic. Category:Silks. Sympathetic Silks.

#15 "The Siamese Goose Egg Bag"

Bauer-Goose-Egg-Bag.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2003, 26 pages.

Description: After years of searching, you have finally obtained an authentic Siamese Goose Egg bag from which you can produce a real Goose Egg! You get a Goose Egg, all right. But, not the way you intended.

Contents include:

  • "High Production Values"
  • "Unity and Presentation"
  • "What Kind of Egg Bag to Use?"
  • "What Kind of Egg to Use?"

Category:Close Up Magic, Category:Stand Up Magic. Egg Bag.

#16 Ed Marlo's "Time Machine"

Bauer-Marlo-Time-Machine.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2004, 24 pages.

Description: This time, you demonstrate that there's no physical sensation when one goes back in time other than astonishment. Somehow, you arrange 3 piles of cards in 3 unique ways, and one minute later(?)they haven't been arranged.

Contents include:

  • "Three Secret Switches"
  • "One Minute Time Travel Cards"
  • "Time Travel Theme"
  • "Some Miscellany on Time Travel"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Oil and Water, Triumph, Ambitious Card.

#17 "Second Finger Top Deal"

Bauer-Second-Finger.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2004, 32 pages.

Description: By replacing the Second, Bottom, and Middle Deals with something brand new, you can deal yourself a winning Poker hand (or just rely on your old standby).

Contents include:

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Poker Deal.

#18 "Xerox Money"

Bauer-Xerox-Money.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2000, 24 pages.

Description: Somehow you've come into possession of a supply of high-tech Xerox paper, and you're going into the business of making your own money. Until a new inspiration jolts you and your audience into a state of unavoidable uprightness!

Contents include:

  • "Premise-Driven"
  • "Magicians as Actors"
  • "How to Make 'High-Tech Xerox Paper' and Double-Sided Bills"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Paper Money. Himber Wallet.

#19 Milt Kort's "All-Outs Think-of-a-Card"

Bauer-Kort-Think-Card.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2005, 24 pages.

Description: In addition to being a delightfully direct discovery of a thought of card, this is the ideal way to learn to understand and master the basic principles of “outs” without the usual hazards.

Contents include:

  • "Sham Mind Reading"
  • "The Principle of Limited Choices"
  • "The Principle of the Equivoque"
  • "The Principle of Outs"
  • "Putting in the Work"
  • "The Simple Fan"
  • "The Thumb Fan"
  • "The Pressure Fan"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Outs, Think of a Card.

#20 "That's the Spirit!"

Bauer-Thats-the-Spirit.jpg

To be released.

Description: Somehow you have captured a spirit in a bottle in a bag, and you prove it by provoking the little creature into manifesting his powers by poking him with a pencil.






Category:Platform Magic, Category:Stage Magic.

#21 Brother Hamman's "Final(ly) Aces"

Bauer-Finally-Aces.jpg

BONUS: Ron Bauer's "Win at Gin"

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2006, 40 pages.

Description: Finally, a Four Ace Trick becomes an absolutely entertaining and intriguing Poker Deal Trick. How? By using it to show how a cunning magician will always overcome a cheating card hustler. And, guess who gets to play BOTH ROLES?

Contents include:

  • "Gambling Demonstration"
  • "Further Up the Ladder"
  • "The 545 Switching Count"
  • "Audible Count"

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Poker Deal, Ace Assembly. Cards Across, Cards up Sleeve.

#22 Jim Bergstrom's "Hat Trick"

Bauer-Hat-Trick.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2007, 32 pages.

Description: This sophisticated and colorful version of tearing tissues, and magically transforming them into a lady's hat is a tested sensation for adult audiences.

Contents include:

  • "Double Entendre"
  • "How to Make a Hat Tear Package"
  • "Tips on Bergstrom's Bountiful Blossom"

Category:Close Up Magic, Category:Platform Magic, Category:Stage Magic. Hat Tear.

#23 Bob Longe's "Worn Out Deck"

Bauer-Longe-Worn-Out.jpg

To be released.

Description: Egads! You want to do a card trick, but your deck is worn out. All card tricks have been used up. As a temporary measure, you UNcut and UNshuffle some of the cards so you can do at least one more card trick before you discard the deck forever.







Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards.

#24 Don Alan's "Sneaky Nudist Rides Again"

Bauer-Alan-Sneaky-Nudist.jpg

To be released.

Description: In an attempt to save a few bucks, you have purchased such a cheap deck of cards, and almost all the ink has been shuffled off of the faces and the backs. However, you're perfectly willing to TELL them about a trick, which is almost as boring as having to watch one!






Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Nudist Deck.

Special Editions

Ron Bauer has also supplemented his Private Studies Series with several Special Editions.

One is a three-phase card act featuring the performer's "chick." Another, Basic Cups & Balls Technique, is an easy-to-learn version of the classic. And two of the Special Editions are signature pieces by Bauer's longtime friend, Don Alan, revealing many "inside details" that didn't make it into Alan's big book. These two scripts are not written in the same style as the rest of Bauer's Private Studies Series; they are "Don's way of doing it."

The Chick Trick

Bauer-Chick-Trick.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2002, 20 pages.

Contents include:

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Pecking Bird.

Basic Cups & Balls Technique

Bauer-Basic-Cups-Balls.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2004, 16 pages.

Contents include:

  • "Secretly Substituting a Duplicate"
  • "Keeping a Ball Hidden in a Cup"
  • "Applying a Rhythmic Pattern for Style"
  • "Occupying the Holdout Hand to Avoid Suspicion"
  • "Surreptitiously Making the Final Load"

Category:Close Up Magic. Cups and Balls.

Don Alan's Devano Card Rise

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 1999, 16 pages.

Category:Close Up Magic. Category:Cards. Devano Deck.

Don Alan's Chop Cup

Bauer-Don-Alan-Chop-Cup.jpg

Written by Ron Bauer. Illustrated by Sandra Kort. Published by E-GADS in 2005, 28 pages.

  • "History of the Chop Cup"
  • "Notes on Props"
  • "Don Alan Chop Cup Loading Technique"
  • "The Big Bang"

Category:Close Up Magic. Chop Cup.

The Ron Bauer 2008 Lecture

See The Ron Bauer 2008 Lecture.

Future Special Editions

Ron Bauer has hinted at the possibility of future Special Edition publications from his Private Studies files, including:[3]

References

  1. ↑ Ron Bauer, "Special Guest Randy Wakeman: Scripting", The Magic Café, March 6, 2003
  2. ↑ http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=24126&forum=90
  3. ↑ http://thinklikeaconjurer.com/insideinfo/biblio.htm


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