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Difference between revisions of "Soldier's Prayer Book"

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* ''The Soldier Almanak'' in [[Old and Curious Playing Cards]] written by H.T. Morley (1790)
 
* ''The Soldier Almanak'' in [[Old and Curious Playing Cards]] written by H.T. Morley (1790)
  
* ''The Adventures of Diamond Jack'' - Herman L. Weber (ad April 1926 in The Sphinx)  
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* ''The Adventures of Diamond Jack'' - Herman L. Weber (known as Namreh) (ad April 1926 in The Sphinx)  
  
 
* ''The Shooting of Dan McGrew'' in [[25 Tricks and Ideas]] Part One (item 25) by [[U.F. Grant]] (1931) (partial deck and giant cards).  
 
* ''The Shooting of Dan McGrew'' in [[25 Tricks and Ideas]] Part One (item 25) by [[U.F. Grant]] (1931) (partial deck and giant cards).  

Revision as of 16:32, 5 August 2010

Soldier's Prayer Book is a classic plot on card magic in which the cards are used to tell a story.

The original patter story related the various characteristics of a deck of playing cards to both God and the calendar by a soldier in the field to justify carrying a deck of cards with him.

It was published in London hundreds of years ago but was revived in 1937 by Hugard as "The Perpetual Almanac or Gentleman Soldier's Prayer Book".

It has evolved into telling other stories from a pre-arranged sequence of cards with one of the most popular being "Sam the Bellhop" by Bill Malone.

Some story effects use the complete deck, while others use just part.

The famous British comedy magician Bob Read made a specialty of this, using different newspaper hats while reciting the patter and showing the cards.

Versions

  • The Adventures of Diamond Jack - Herman L. Weber (known as Namreh) (ad April 1926 in The Sphinx)
  • The Adventures of Diamond Jack (original version) - Namreh (Herman Weber) - Reprint in Encyclopedia of Card Tricks (1937) (Hugard)
  • A Story and A Deck of Cards in Genii 1937 April, Vol. 1, No. 8, p. 6, by Robert Nellar (1937)
  • Jack Hart in the Army in Tops Vol. 5, No. 4, p. 32, by Monte Harris (1940)
  • Sermon with a Deck of Cards by Roy Wallace in Linking Ring, Vol. 28, No. 10, p. 72, 1948.
  • Diamond Jack in Tops, Vol. 20, no. 10, October 1955, page 7.
  • A Fish Story in New Tops Vol. 4, No. 12, December 1964, p. 48, by Herb Runge.
  • Treasure Trail, and is a tale of adventurers hunting for diamonds.It doesn't quite use the entire deck (just 32 cards). John Fisher's Magic Book (1968)
  • The Fleeting Queen - Murry A. Sumner - Linking Ring, Sept. 1988
  • A Night at the Improv by Eric Mead in Magical Arts Journal, vol. 2, no. 9-10-11-12, 1989. Also in DVD Easy To Master Card Miracles, Vol. 1, 1994
  • Dental Surgery in IBM convention note Little Rock from 1999 by Doc Dixon.
  • After Hours in Constant Fooling, Vol. 2 by David Regal (2002)
  • Apologies to Dickens by Ron Giesecke (2002).
  • After Hours by David Regal in DVD: Power, Premise, Participation Vol. 4, (2003)
  • Juan Tamariz has two story-tricks in his Mnemonica (p.189) (2004) titled as "First story" and "Second story". Both use only half of the deck.
  • Hopping Henry - Tim Sutton, The Magic Circular, January 2009, p. 8-9.


  • Monty The Spiv by Harry Stanley's Unique Magic Studios in the 1950's
  • Chip and a Chair from the Underground Collective by Scott Grossberg a story effect based around texas hold 'em. http://www.underground-collective.com
  • Risen - Michael Paul - Web: http://www.michaelpaulmagic.com
  • The Adventures of Diamond Jack - Eugene Burger - Book: Secrets of Magic
  • Elliot "The Hawk" - Vid: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oyV7n4WstMY&feature=related (based on Night at the Improv?)
  • Why Dan McGrew Was Shot by Frank Lane.
  • Joe the Bartender by Ed Watkins.
  • Sam the Call Girl by Whiskey Fletcher.
  • Shawn Farquhar performs an ambitious card routine to Sting's song Shape of my Heart, displaying cards to the appropriate words in the song.
  • Diamonds on the Islands - unknown - Doesn't use full deck
  • Mark Phillips does one with giant cards based on visiting the department of motor vehicles

References