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Stars of Magic
The Stars of Magic series was originally released by Stars of Magic, Inc. in the 1940s and 1950s as separate manuscripts from some of the top close-up magicians at the time. They were later bound in a hardcover edition by Louis Tannen, Inc. The rights were later purchased by D. Robbins & Co. and in September 2003 Meir Yedid Magic acquired the rights to the original and current editions.
The series was written and edited by amateur magician and judge George Starke with photographs by George Karger (a professional photographer who regularly contributed to Life magazine and was good friends with Dai Vernon and John Scarne) and periodically released over a seven year period.
The prices originally ranged from $1 to $8 for individual pieces and up to $12 for a complete series. Series Nos. 10 and 11, the last two, sold for $10 each. They were available directly from Stars of Magic, Inc. in New York and through most magic dealers at the time.
Dai Vernon(in Revelations Video Volume 1, The Story Behind the Stars of Magic Series) mentions that his series, not Scarne's, was to be the first, but that he had to leave for a job on a cruise ship to South America which delayed work on his series. Starke and Karger did not want to wait. When they informed Dai that they wanted to start the series with Scarne, he told told them John was a great friend and that would be just fine.
By the mid or late 1950s, Max Holden's shop in New York was advertising the complete set with a customized pressure binder; bright red with gold print. At the same time, two other items appeared in the Holden catalog using the same "Stars of Magic" design and layout: "New Master Lessons" by Vernon and Slydini: Vernon's "Royal Monte" and Slydini's "The Art of Using the Lap as a Servante."
The circumstances were behind the acquisition of Stars of Magic is not known, but in 1961 the hardbound edition of "Stars of Magic" was published by Louis Tannen. Included were all eleven of the original series plus the "two extra lessons" which were originally sold under the New Master Lessons banner.
The photographs in many of the later printings of the book by Tannens (and later D. Robbins) were of poor quality, compared to the original series, as a result of the photographs not being properly rescreened when new negatives were made for printing.
In Cliff Green's book "Professional Card Magic", he introduces Henry Christ's four ace routine by saying it was to have been one of the Stars of Magic routines.
Tannen's Magic later published a similar series from the 1970's and early 1980's called "New Stars of Magic".
Contents
- 1 Contents
- 1.1 Series 1 - John Scarne (1945)
- 1.2 Series 2 - Dai Vernon
- 1.3 Series 3 - Bert Allerton
- 1.4 Series 3 - S. Leo Horowitz and Jarrow
- 1.5 Series 4 - Francis Carlyle
- 1.6 Series 5 - Dai Vernon
- 1.7 Series 6 - Dai Vernon
- 1.8 Series 7 - Dr. Jacob Daley
- 1.9 Series 8 - Slydini
- 1.10 Series 9 - Ross Bertram
- 1.11 Series 10 - Vernon On Leipzig
- 1.12 Series 11 - Vernon On Malini
- 1.13 Lesson 1--Dai Vernon: Royal Monte
- 1.14 Lesson 1--Tony Slydini: The Art of Using the Lap as a Servante
- 2 References
Contents
Series 1 - John Scarne (1945)
Series 1, No. 1: Scarne's Classic Ball Routine
A series of magical appearances and disappearances of small balls. Starting out by taking a pinch of ashes from an ash tray, you cause ball after ball mysteriously to materialize, multiply and vanish. At the end of the routine, the balls become ashes once again.
Series 1, No. 2: Triple Coincidence
Using two ordinary decks with backs of different design, the spectator shuffles one deck while performer shuffles the other. At no time does performer tough spectator's deck. Spectator cuts his deck three times, each time exchanging a card with the performer. When both ribbon-spread their decks, each time spectator and performer turn up one of the three stranger cards in their decks, the cards turn out to be alike -- a knock-out triple coincidence. Both decks are left on table for examination.
A nice advantage of this trick is that you can do several effects with one of the decks BEFORE you bring out the second.
Taught by Michael Ammar on his "Easy To Master Card Miracles" series Volume Six.
Series 1, No. 2:Silver & Copper Trick
A silver coin in the spectator's hand changes place magically with a copper coin in the hand of the performer. This is followed by a penetration effect of the coin passing through the trousers pocket.
It has been suggested that this is essentially Dai Vernon's.
Series 2 - Dai Vernon
Series 2, No. 1: Dai Vernon's Triumph
This may be the first time Triumph was published.
In actual performance, Vernon did not use the now well-known “Triumph Shuffle” when he did the routine. He used a pull-through shuffle. The “Triumph Shuffle” was included in the description of the trick because of it’s extreme ease of execution, a significant selling point for the trick.
Series 2, No. 2: Dai Vernon's Cutting The Aces
This was simplified from Vernon's original handling because George Starke felt the handling was beyond the skill level of most magicians.
Series 2, No. 3: Dai Vernon's Spellbound
Inspired by a routine of Edward Victor’s which appeared in his book, Further Magic Of The Hands, called "A Further Changing Coin Effect," which itself is a version of an older changing coin routine which appeared in The Sphinx.
Vernon usually ended Spellbound by doing a coin change the was not included here because he did not want to tip it at the time. It appeared in The Gen magazine some years later.
Series 2, No. 4: Dai Vernon's Kangaroo Coins
Series 3 - Bert Allerton
Series 3, No. 1: Bert Allerton's Pump Room Phantasy
Series 3, No. 2: Bert Allerton's Bamboozle
Series 3 - S. Leo Horowitz and Jarrow
Series 3, No. 3: S. Leo Horowitz's Malini-Bey Chink a Chink
Series 3, No. 4: S. Leo Horowitz's The Egyptian Ball Mystery
Series 3, No. 5: Jarrow's Hanky-Panky
Series 4 - Francis Carlyle
Series 4, No. 1: Francis Carlyle's Decapitation
Series 4, No. 2: Francis Carlyle's Homing Card
Series 4, No. 3: Francis Carlyle's Wrist Watch Steal
Series 5 - Dai Vernon
Series 5, No. 1: Dai Vernon's Impromptu Cups And Balls
Series 5, No. 2: Dai Vernon's Ambitious Card
Series 5, No. 3: Dai Vernon's Mental Card Miracle
Series 6 - Dai Vernon
This series was edited by Dr. Jacob Daley and George Starke
Series 6, No. 1: Dai Vernon's The Ring On The Wand
Series 6, No. 2: Dai Vernon's Slow-Motion Four Aces
Series 6, No. 3: Dai Vernon's The Travelers
Series 7 - Dr. Jacob Daley
Series 7, No. 1: Dr. Jacob Daley's Cards Up The Sleeve
Series 7, No. 2: Dr. Jacob Daley's The Itinerant Pasteboards
Series 7, No. 3: Dr. Jacob Daley's The Cavorting Aces
Series 8 - Slydini
Series 8, No. 1: Slydini's Cigarette Miracle
Series 8, No. 2: Slydini's Flight Of The Paper Balls
Series 8, No. 3: Slydini's Flyaway Coin Routine
Series 9 - Ross Bertram
Series 9, No. 1: Ross Bertram On Coins
Series 10 - Vernon On Leipzig
(edited by Bruce Elliott and George Starke)
Leipzig's Opener
Leipzig's Acrobats
Leipzig's Tear-Up With A Twist
Series 11 - Vernon On Malini
(edited by Bruce Elliott and George Starke)
Malini's Card Stabbing
Malini's Own Color Change
Malini's Favorite
Lesson 1--Dai Vernon: Royal Monte
(Photographs by Dr. Jacob Daily)