When this Jinx is being read the conventions will be under way and thousands of cards will have been selected and not found again. The seventh annual conference of the S.A.M. will be in Washington, D.C., May 30,31, and June 1, 1935 at the Wardman Park Hotel. The I.B.M. will concede nothing to no one at Lima, Ohio on June 4,5,6. Then on July 22,23,24 the Pacific Coast mob sees red in Hollywood. It will make that talked about Japanese invasion small town stuff. Labor day weekend sees the Piff-Paff-Poofers in a melee at Fort Erie, Canada and all of these stand quite a chance of being overshadowed by the free-for-all to be held by the New York State Conclave at Utica.
Here and there ye editor shall make an appearance in that age old effort to find something new. So all good tricks had better take to cover while The Jinx is snooping for the best that magic can give to the world’s most critical magi, i.e. 859 Jinx readers as of May 2, 1935.
Books come and books go but It’s in the Bag by H. Adrian Smith is a brochure worthy of much applause. It is what such things should be – a routine. The idea of working a short program without actually being able to see is cute. The effects are good and to the point in each case. It is more than worth the dollar and half hour necessary to learn. I’m sorry to say it but I know Mr. Smith will not garner the dollars due him for his labor. It just seems to happen that way. I pause to comment, not because I might have had a free copy, but because I heard it was good, bought it, and found out for myself that it was of tremendous value.
From the May 1935 Sphinx – Editor’s Page – “(…) and hope to be also able to go to Kenton. Will you be there ?” … No, John, I won’t be there, but I’ll see you at Lima.
On the same page is also a note that Miss Dorothy Wolf, of The Sphinx, would be away from the office for a few weeks. After reading the paragraph mentioned above we are of the opinion that mention of Miss Wolf’s absence is superfluous.
We read that Charlie Leedy of the Youngstown Telegram has written 100,000 jokes in thirty years. That’s about 9 1/8th jokes per day. Even so he’d have a tough time writing patter for all the tricks Burling says he has invented.
Humdrum The Mystic warns, “Don’t never elect a mayor who does magic. He sure is going to hold up the parade whenever a new bridge is opened – trying to restore the ribbon or tape he has just cut.”
I certainly got my wish and started something with the Five Foot Shelf last month. Since then never a day has passed without a letter showing up to ridicule my distorted (that is what one called it) opinion. Each one has told me of a book or two I forgot to include. Now I know there are many good books and many good tricks hidden here and there. If you find a trick or two you like in a certain book, that book immediately becomes an important possession. However, it is no secret that one person will like a trick that another thinks of little value and as a result this second person will attach no importance to the book itself. Not once did I say the shelf contained the only good books. It wasn’t meant to be the starting and stopping points in the building of a library. Perhaps the former but not the latter. As a foundation – a nucleus – and as a unit which embodies every principle, basic sleight and mechanical principle known to Magic – there it is. The closely allied subjects are covered, perhaps not in the detail a dozen books on each subject would give, but by the best (my opinion) one to give the reader a sound working knowledge of the subject. If it then be his desire to delve further into a particular phase, let him cover the same with a more complete survey.
Answering my question as to whether or not there should be a semi-monthly Jinx, I say “No.” Instead of instituting a policy that could result only in a maelstrom for me and uncertainty for the subscribers, I have decided upon an alternative. In Summer and in Winter there shall be an EXTRA. Magical papers as yet have never had an EXTRA although Goldston put out an Annual in addition to his monthly magazine. In the Summer (after June 1st) and in the Winter (after January 1st) an EXTRA equivalent to five issues of the monthly Jinx shall appear a semi-annual stimulant for jaded minds of magic. Uniform in size and makeup its 16 pages will carry the biggest dollar’s worth of information assembled in many a magic moon. Twenty tricks will be the rule with quality as certain as that the paper will be white. This EXTRA is not connected with monthly issues which will continue as blithely as ever. It is a separate publication of twenty tricks for one dollar in cash, money-order, check, stamps or what have you. When this is read the SUMMER 1935 EXTRA will be in the hands of all dealers. Secure your copy from them or from The Jinx, Waverly, New York.
Thus is solved the case of the semi-monthly.
No word has been received from Martin Sunshine regarding the streamlined Mental Knockout with which I found so much fault last month. Perhaps he’s mad at me. However, now that I have bought one and thus officially know the secret perhaps I have a better right to comment.
It’s a good trick but not, in my opinion, a saleable one. It needs nerve, a bit of audacity, and a lot of showmanship to present it effectively. Tricks to sell however, must be the kind of an average man can use without ability that comes only through long professional training and experience if it isn’t an inherent trait. I know of a number of excellent effects worth money to performers who could use them professionally. Advertisements to stretch the imagination of a Hull are possible about them. The buyers however, would not be satisfied for two reasons. In order to work them they might need a large audience or theater conditions. Comparatively few amateurs and buyers of magical secrets are touched by this. On the other hand, those who constantly perform only for a few intimates lack the nerve or showmanship to use this spectacular type of procedure. To a great many this secret is worth the money as it is and in modified form. But sold at large it becomes a boomerang glancing from the many more who find it to be something they cannot use. As far as I am concerned the matter is now ended and out of mind.
Cards and letters have been received regarding the wider margins last month. It makes binding much more practical. Frank Ducrot was the first to suggest this and he was followed by several more who wrote. I can always use a good suggestion so I am telling you now they will be appreciated and always acted upon if possible.
Frank N. Dodd of New York epistles regarding my May statement that 84 had written to support a semi-monthly Jinx. He tells me that by that token it appears to be a good omen. From Royal V. Heath, the eminent mathemagician he had it that ‘Eighty-four’ is the ONLY number between Zero and Four Billion, Eight Hundred Million (a number recently popularized), that is spelled with ten all different alphabetic letters, all of which makes it unique.
It is not news to us that The Jinx and contents is unique, but we like to know that the readers think so too.