Little by little I’m picking up ideas and angles to make The Jinx the biggest quarter’s worth ever put before a magician. So far the response has been above my expectations to say the least. Two issues have been produced and in both the circulation passed the 600 mark.
I promised I’d make no fanfare about it all and that I wouldn’t make rash promises either. One person who always seems to follow a month behind with ideas that seem similar to those that have gone before is advertising a monthly concoction that upsets me no whit and causes great lack of sleep solely because of the creator’s opinion that all magic lovers are at or have yet to reach the age of twelve.
No ten people could put together and continually produce what this individual says in a most masterful and convincing way ‘will contain hundreds of tricks.’ To my way of thinking one hundred would be a lot without aiding the ‘s’ .
At the rate I’m going it will take me better than a year to give you a hundred tricks, but you can at least be sure of the fact that they will be new and practical. I won’t rehash or retitle any of the tricks I’ve sold during the past few years and if I’ve placed a trick on the open market where it can still be purchased in one book or another, you won’t find it here.
The Jinx was fifteen days behind time for the first issue and then behind for the second. This, the third, will hit the line much better. I am getting into the stride a little better and things go together much easier. I can’t give you the impossible and will never promise it. I can only fill up the pages with what I think will be of interest and use and then sit back with a long cool drink and hope like the devil that it is worth the quarter.
At this writing, Fred Keating is much the gambler in Columbia’s picture The Captain Hates The Sea. It just opened here in town and I marveled at the latent ability which Freddie seems to have aroused.
We played a number of private parties together in the old days when he was very instrumental in getting me started towards decent money and his talks then would always veer to the legitimate stage : Not that Freddie will ever lose his desire to do tricks, but I think he’s damned smart to take advantage of what ability he may have and not let his love for magic keep him in a rut.
I’m as crazy about magic as anyone could be but I let it completely cover my eyes for a long time. It’s the greatest hobby a person could want, as is partly proven by the membership of any magical organization which practically covers every line of endeavor. As a profession however, it becomes a canine of a decidedly different hue. There will always be professionals who make good livings and save money but on the other hand there will be a great many more who will just struggle along, getting nowhere fast whereas they could be very comfortable in a line to which they might be more adapted and getting fun from magic instead of heartbreaks.
The magical pendulum of today seems to be definitely swung towards night club, cabaret and cocktail hour entertaining. The magician who can step into a table of guests and in an impromptu manner entertain and hold interest (those last two words should have been in caps) doesn’t have to beg for work. Being able to find ducks in a hat and rabbits in a tub is notable accomplishments but the trend is towards the person who can work under any conditions, surrounded by watchful skeptics and still get by. I know too many excellent stage magis who can’t do a thing off stage but the simplest of elementary magic and the press possibilities alone of a few really good stunts cannot be denied. That’s one angle that Harry Blackstone has on the game and I have yet to see or hear of his being in a spot where he couldn’t entertain impromptu for hours.
In New York, the Manhattan Music Hall has two magicians working at present; Cardini and Count Orloff. The former working from the stage needs no introduction. The latter, working close up table stunts, has been there for several months and is building a nice reputation with the tricks that he does.
Regardless of any difference in local opinion as to his cleverness, my view is that he is clever enough to get away with it and make the patrons like it. What more can anyone ask for ?
At the Casino de Paree, Dai Vernon holds forth with the close contact stuff and as he has been there steadily for nearly a year, use your own judgment.
On the stage now is the latest importation in magis, De Rose, who has also been doubling in the Continental Variety Show for which he originally was brought over. De Rose works in front of a prop bar and pours any drink called for, and the wise cabaret rounders can certainly think of some rare vintages with which to try and stump him.
I haven’t heard of anyone in years using the chemical changes which De Rose puts to good use and when you stop and think that Ellis Stanyon completely covered this subject in his serials as far back as 1905 and 1906 you can get some food for thought. Today it is being featured in one of the fastest and smartest Broadway cafes.
Nate Leipsig closed a short time ago at the St. Moritz where he had held forth in the floor show for the summer and again proved the worth of the kind of trick or routine that can be done under what magicians consider impossible conditions.
Gali Gali arrived in town last winter, opened at Moriarty’s, built himself a tremendous reputation around town, then to the Chapeau Rouge, from there to the Casino de Paree, Chicago, Texas and is back in New York again as good as ever, and with what ? The cups and balls with baby chicks for a finish was his piece de resistance and he does it on the floor, at your table, or what have you.
So what? The Jinx is primarily for those who can and do use tricks that require no great set up and need no conditions that are out of reach of the average person. I’ll never sell you a trick that requires a pale pink backdrop or an elevator trap. I won’t fill pages with mechanical drawings that would require the genius of Joseffy to understand let alone build.
And as a last reminder, and take it from one who has covered every spot in New York where a magician is working, build up a routine of close up table tricks outside of your club or stage program and you’ll find it paying dividends in enhanced reputation if not actual cash.
P.S. This issue does not carry the usual dedication line because I’m beginning to learn that I don’t know what it is all about.