As we kicked off the newmillennium, readers of

this magazine cast their ballotsto elect the ten most influentialmagicians of the 20th century.Although there were some sur-prises, few could argue withthe top two — Harry Houdiniand Dai Vernon. While scoresof books have been writtenabout Houdini, David Ben hasspent the past five years prepar-ing the first detailed biographyof Dai Vernon. What follows isa thumbnail sketch of Vernon’sremarkable life, legacy, and con-tribution to the art of magic.

BY DAVID BEN

Scene: Ottawa Year: 1899

David Frederick Wingfield Verner, bornon June 11, 1894, was raised in the rough-and-tumble capital of a fledgling country,Canada, during the adolescence of magic’sGolden Age. It was his father, James Verner,who ignited his interest in secrets. James, acareer civil servant, performed a few simpletricks, tricks learned from his father. YoungDavid — Dai Vernon — was swept away.How was it possible, for example, for hisfather to knock a chalk mark through thesurface of an oak table? Discovering thesecret, Vernon yearned for more. Althoughprofessional magicians of the Victorian eragroused and groaned over the continual pub-lic exposure of their trade secrets in newspa-pers, magazines, and books, Vernon wasappreciative. He scoured libraries for thesecrets sequestered there, discovering worksby Professor Hoffmann and others.

At the age of seven, already enthralled bythe clandestine world of conjuring, Vernonmet Howard Thurston, a self-described“master” manipulator of playing cards.Invited to the home of a friend whose fatherwas entertaining Thurston, Vernon fooledthe master with a simple card trick drawnfrom Thurston’s own publication, HowardThurston’s Card Tricks. Vernon was bothshocked and reassured by the realizationthat there was no correlation between publicprofile and professional prowess.

The following few years brought count-less other showmen of every description toOttawa. Vernon gravitated towards themagicians, and although he enjoyed the mys-tique associated with grand illusion, particu-larly when performed by Harry Kellar, he

admired performers such as T. NelsonDowns, Nate Leipzig, and J. Warren Keanemore. He marveled at their ability to enter-tain audiences with simple props and virtu-oso sleight of hand. Coins flitted and flick-ered through Downs’ fingers, while Leipzigand Keane, ever the gentlemen, entertainedwith packs of cards and other small, simpleprops. Bigger, Vernon determined, was notnecessarily better.

The next epiphany came at the age of 11.Vernon discovered a book — Artifice, Ruseand Subterfuge at the Card Table — by S.W.Erdnase. Popularly known as The Expertat the Card Table, the work taught how tocheat at cards — masterfully. By the timehe was 12, an age at which most had yet tolearn the values and suits in a deck, Vernonhad absorbed its contents. The book becamehis life map.

As a teenager, Vernon’s skill with thepasteboards attracted his first patron, awealthy industrialist with an interest in con-juring named Warren Soper. Soper gaveVernon access to information, wealth, privi-lege, and an Edwardian education at Canada’spre-eminent preparatory school for boys,Ashbury College. Though a mediocre stu-dent, Vernon proved himself as a gifted ath-lete. When not on the playing field or inthe hockey rink, Vernon spent time studyingthe nuances of sleight of hand.

As The Expert became a larger part ofVernon’s being he began to seek out the menwho practiced its principles and worked theunique blend of sleights and subtleties it laidbare. Vernon met gamblers and cheats whopreyed upon the itinerant labor attracted toOttawa’s burgeoning lumber industry. Helearned from them finesse points for the shift,the second deal, and the crimp and, moreimportantly, he was encouraged to refine hisever-growing arsenal of techniques. Vernonwas intrigued by their exotic world, ridingthe rails from town to town in search ofgames and the taking down of big “fish.” Itsparked his interest in traveling the worldand exploring the subculture of gambling,in all its down-and-dirty glory.

Scene: New York City Year: 1915

Vernon arrived in Manhattan, a hustling,bustling metropolis that was quickly becom-ing the center of the modern world. Therehe set his sights on another educationalinstitution: the Art Students League. He waswarned, however, by disillusioned artists,not to turn his avocation into a vocation.While gifted in a number of visual mediums,Vernon heeded the advice and terminatedhis tenure at the school. He entered anotherclassroom — the magic emporium — hopingto learn great marvels. He was disappointed

to learn, however, that he might as well havebeen the teacher.

In 1915, New York could lay claim toseveral private magic emporiums, the placeswhere magic secrets were bought, built, andsold. Much to Vernon’s chagrin, the propri-etor and staff at Clyde Powers’ shop on42nd Street mistook him for a rank amateur.Vernon was soon invited into the innersanctum, however, having flabbergasted theshop’s best-posted demonstrators and theprofessional clientele, including Dr. JamesWilliam Elliott. Elliott, a Harvard trainedphysician, was recognized by his peers asthe greatest exponent of sleight of handwith playing cards in the world. Vernonfooled Elliott and the others with his amal-gamation of gambling sleights, estimation,and improvisation.

Artistic successes aside, harsh realitiescrashed into his world on more than oneoccasion. Without steady work — Vernonquickly learned that fooling magicians didn’tpay the rent — he found himself adrift inManhattan. Eventually, Sam Margulesescorted him to Coney Island. While there,Vernon recalled seeing a silhouette artistyears before and thought that he, too, mightbe able to cut exquisite profiles from matte-black paper. Vernon set up a stall that adver-tised one silhouette for 50 cents, two for 75.Before long, Vernon came to regard silhou-ettes as currency, black pieces of paper thatcould be transformed into gold. Althoughhis deft touch and artistic sensibility wouldeventually earn him the title as one of thegreat silhouette artists of the 20th century,for Vernon, cutting silhouettes was simply ameans to an end, a way of supporting hisexploration, his study of magic and cardtable artifice.

Coney Island generated seasonal income.In the off-season, Vernon toured the coun-try, seeking out the moves and the magicthat fueled his fire. Cutting silhouettesfinanced his peregrinations. In 1919, whilein Chicago, he caught wind of an elderlygambler who never lost. Dad Stevens wasthe gambler’s name, and Vernon, aftersome effort, tracked him down. Though theirencounter in Chicago was brief, Vernonwould forever regard Stevens the most skill-ful and innovative advantage player of the20th century. The technique Stevens dis-played literally brought tears to Vernon’seyes; he never imagined that someone couldbe so skillful with a pack of cards. Stevenscould deal seconds, thirds and fourths —flawlessly. His piece-de-resistance, however,was the Riffle Cull, a technique for covertlyassembling cards at will under the guise ofa series of table shuffles. Gaining Stevens’confidence, Vernon was ushered into theinnermost circle of them all.

Scene: Ballroom of the GreatNorthern Hotel, Chicago Year: 1922

On February 6, 1922, Vernon and hisconfidant, Sam Margules, attended a ban-quet in honor of Harry Houdini in theCrystal Ballroom of the Great NorthernHotel. That night, Vernon met Houdini, thegreat self-liberator and self-professed “Kingof Cards.” Vernon fooled him with a cardtrick, not just once but eight times. (Houdinihad thrown down the gauntlet that he couldnot be fooled by a trick if he had the oppor-tunity of seeing it performed three times ina row.) Thereafter, Vernon was known asthe man who fooled Houdini. He returnedto New York swimming with ideas andwith a slight swagger in his step. The trick:a mini-Ambitious Card routine employinga little known gaff — a double-backedplaying card.

In 1922, vaudeville was in full force andmagicians were featured as specialty acts inan era with an insatiable appetite for liveentertainment. Horace Goldin’s Sawing AWoman In Two was a worldwide phenome-non. Vernon returned to Coney Island andjoined a troupe that performed the illusion.The troupe traveled to Cuba where Vernonenjoyed the lifestyle and characters that theisland had to offer. When he returned toNew York, Vernon connected with JeanneHayes, a visual artist so petite that sheformed the lower half (the feet) in the Sawingillusion. After a brief courtship, they married.To finance the romance Vernon sold a smallmanuscript titled Secrets, and taught Jeanneto cut silhouettes. Together, they led aBohemian lifestyle that alternated betweenManhattan and the Atlantic City boardwalk.

As a young, dashing New Yorker in his20s, handsome and confident, his reputationgrew in the magic world. Whispers of mira-cles emanating from his fingertips continuedto circulate through professional circles,sometimes creeping into print in the pagesof The Sphinx and other trade journals.And yet, as the legend of his work grew, theexploration of magic and gambling becamehis life’s work.

In 1924, while plying his trade inAtlantic City, Vernon was discovered byFrances Rockefeller King, the preeminentagent for private theatricals in New York.King promised Vernon a $5,000 winterincome if he would perform his magic at

[Facing page] David Verner on his thirdbirthday. [Top to bottom] Vernon’s wifeJeanne poses as her husband snips away inthe back of the Little Blue Bookshop inAtlantic City, 1924. Silhouettes of Cardiniand Houdini. Vernon working GreenwichVillage, New York, circa 1943.

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private parties in Manhattan. Vernon even-tually accepted her offer and began a ten-year association with King, performing forthe elite of Manhattan society including theCarnegies, the Schwabs, and the Astors.The student of the art of magic became oneof its preeminent practitioners. Vernon con-jured in intimate settings. Participants inhis miracle-making did not select cards,they simply thought of them. Then, infalli-bly and uncannily, Vernon made theirthoughts materialize.

The roaring ’20s also marked an era inwhich Vernon formed strong, lasting bondswith two other magicians — amateurs — S.Leo Horowitz and Arthur Finley. Together,the trio was a vanguard that introduced anew wave, one that imported the secret tech-niques of gamblers into the realm of theescamoteur, shrouding this virtuoso skill inthe natural movements and mannerisms ofthe artist. Led (in the figurative sense) byVernon, this trio developed and honed princi-ples that would become hallmarks of 20th-century card magic: estimation, card controls,palms, and doctored decks. The source ofpower shifted from the back rooms of magicemporiums to the late night coffee table dujour that these gentlemen frequented.

A newcomer, a recent immigrant toAmerica named Richard Pitchford, soonjoined their ranks. Pitchford was a GreatWar veteran with an insatiable appetite forsleight of hand. With Vernon’s assistance,Pitchford refined the character — an appar-ently tipsy monocled card manipulatorcalled Cardini — and charted a course togreat acclaim, one that would inspire thou-sands of copycat magicians.

Reports of Vernon’s own work continuedto filter out into the community. In his Sphinxcolumn “Trouping Around New York,” MaxHolden regularly reported the effects Vernonhad been performing around the city. Whilesome dismissed Holden’s descriptions ofVernon’s tricks as hyperbole, others likeCharles Miller aspired to duplicate them.Soon Holden declared that New York hadan “Inner Circle” and intimated that Vernonwas its king.

While a new generation of magicians, par-ticularly amateurs, was inspired by the InnerCircle and its officers, an old guard plannedto steal Vernon’s crown. T. Nelson Downs,Vernon’s boyhood idol, conspired with Eddie“Tex” McGuire to usher a New Englandcard cheat named Walter Scott, dubbed ThePhantom of the Card Table, into New York

for a private session. The session would takeplace while Vernon was on tour cutting sil-houettes. McGuire and Downs’ goal was toconvince Vernon’s confreres to part with thesecrets, particularly those belonging to Vernonin exchange for access to Walter Scott.

Scott bamboozled the assembly — a groupthat included Horowitz, Cardini, and MaxHolden. Holden crowned Scott the new kingof the cards. Scott, although a gifted advan-tage player, was not as skillful as he appearedto be, relying on marked decks provided tohim by the conspirators. Vernon soon recog-nized the session as a hoax, one designed todeceive the Inner Circle and get its members topart with their cherished secrets. He had out-hustled other hustlers before who had mis-taken him for easy prey. Vernon did not revealhis secrets to either Downs or McGuire.

Scene: The Great Depression Year: 1932

Large-scale illusion shows were fadingfast, ambushed by shifting economic sandsand new forces in the entertainment indus-try. Performers could no longer afford totour and audiences preferred to spend theirmoney on talking pictures.

Interested in neither money nor publicity,Vernon toured the Midwest with his youngwife and son, Edward Verner, cutting silhou-ettes, meeting magicians, and searching foradvantage players. He met Paul Fox, a superbmagical craftsman and jeweler in ColoradoSprings. Vernon also befriended a small-townmagician named Faucett Ross in St. Joseph,Missouri. Through Ross, Vernon met aMexican gambler named Amador Villasenor.Villasenor informed Vernon that he had meta man who could deal from the center of thedeck, an entirely new concept that, if true,would be the Holy Grail for card cheats.Vernon embarked on an exhaustive hunt andeventually located the man in Pleasant Hill,Missouri. His name was Allen Kennedy andhe could do what no one thought was possi-ble, exactly as Villasenor had described it:deal from the center of the deck — perfectly.Vernon convinced Kennedy to teach him thedeal and, like the Riffle Cull, guarded thesecret closely for 50 years. Ross did convinceVernon, however, to publish some of hisother secrets in a small manuscript. Thenow-famous publication was called Ten CardProblems and sold for a then whopping $20.The Vernon legend continued to grow.

In December 1933 Vernon returned toNew York with a second son, Derek Verner.On arrival he met up with Cardini who intro-duced him to Billy Rose, a nightclub impre-sario. Rose hired Vernon as a resident per-former, Vernon performing magic at patrons’tables at the Casino De Paree, Manhattan’spremier nightspot. The concept of tableside

entertainment was new, and Vernon was aperfect fit. His intimate style and endless cata-log of one-on-one illusions guaranteed hissuccess. Casino de Paree clientele representeda who’s who of New York society and enter-tainment. Vernon met celebrities, gangsters,and political figures. Although the era of thelarge-scale illusion show had faded, magicexperienced a renaissance in New York asfashionable nightclubs featured sophisticatedvariety artists. Vernon was at the forefront ofyet another new wave.

Soon, his base of operation shifted to theMadison Hotel, where he performed tablemagic for one year. Yet, a certain satisfactionwas lacking in his work for the public, andVernon became disenchanted with performing.He preferred to spend his waking momentsstudying and practicing obscure sleight ofhand. Though a proven professional per-former — a virtually peerless magician in allrespects — he regarded himself as a student ofthe art first and foremost. Despite familialresponsibilities and the protestations of hiswife, Jeanne, Vernon started to turn downlucrative engagements.

With two boys to raise Jeanne Verner tiredof the hunt for elusive gamblers quickly, tosay nothing of the sporadic income her hus-band generated. She helped make ends meetby sculpting performance masks for actors,magicians, and artists. In the meantime,Vernon displayed a callous disregard for con-ventional home life. He slept during the dayand spent most nights practicing sleight ofhand, meeting with magicians, and sharinghis secrets. A colorful cast of characters fre-quented the Vernon household seeking guid-

ance and instruction. They wanted to learnfrom him, yet Vernon was not interested inaccepting money for his instruction. Heshared information because he loved the craft.He became known as “The Professor.”

One student, Garrick Spencer, an attor-ney for the Woolworth Corporation, sug-gested that Vernon create a stage act similarto his friend, Cardini, an act that could beperformed entirely to music and showcasedanywhere in the world. Vernon accepted thechallenge and created the Harlequin Act.Jeanne designed the costumes and acted ashis assistant. After performing out of towntry-outs, Vernon premiered the act in NewYork in 1938 at the fabled Rainbow Roomin Rockefeller Center. He received great criti-

Charlie Miller and Vernon in the midst of a session. [Below] The Harlequin Act at NewYork’s Heckscher Theatre, February 25, 1939.

Vernon performing at the Kit Kat Club inManhattan, 1936. Jeanne’s life-like maskof Cardini. The Vernon family — Derek,Dai, Ted, and Jeanne — in a 1944 snap-shot by Cardini.

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cal acclaim and was held over for ten weeks.Magicians regarded the Harlequin Act as thehigh water mark of artistic excellence. Onthe heels of glowing reviews, the act wasbooked into Radio City Music Hall butclosed after three performances, too smallto be seen and appreciated on the cavernousstage. Vernon was crushed and returned topast practices, sleeping away his days andsessioning into the wee hours.

By 1939, the dissemination of magicsecrets had exploded; the notion of secrecywithin the magic community undertook afundamental shift. Unbeknownst to the pub-lic, the safe had fallen open, its contents laidbare to all who expressed an interest in thesecret art. Books such as Greater Magic andExpert Card Technique drew heavily fromVernon’s repertoire, and these tomes imme-diately became recognized as the most signif-icant contributions to magic literature sincethe publication of Erdnase’s book in 1902.Even so, Vernon received no remunerationfor his contributions.

Eventually, Jeanne persuaded her husbandto accept a steady, non-showbiz job. Hesigned on as project manager on an East

River construction site, where after only twoweeks on the job, he fell through a plank intothe river, breaking both arms. With doctorsready to amputate, Dr. Jacob Daley, a NewYork ear, eye, and throat specialist and stu-dent of Vernon’s, intervened. The road torecovery was long and one that, in Vernon’sopinion, he never completed. His superhumansleight-of-hand skills were diminished forever.

Scene: The world is at war Year: 1941

Vernon performed for soldiers stationedin America and in the South Pacific as partof a troupe of performers organized byAntoinette Perry. After the war, Vernonbecame the focal point of the groundbreak-ing Stars of Magic series, manuscripts thatrepresented a manifesto for performing close-up magic. With the uptick in interest at thehobbyist level, Vernon was also persuaded tolecture on the art to magic societies. He laidthe groundwork for an industry in whichperformers were paid to perform and explaintheir secrets to aficionados.

The quest for a steady income continued toknock at Vernon’s door, so he became a fix-

ture on cruise ships that traveled betweenNew York and Buenos Aires. It was a lifestyleVernon, a hedonist in the truest sense of theword, found easy to enjoy. Essentially, he waspaid to work in a ’30s-era nightclub environ-ment stationed on the high seas. But moreimportantly, cruising gave him the opportunityto meet magicians, including David Bamberg,and advantage players in ports of call. Hesoon tired of the routine, however, abandon-ing the field and opening it to others.

By the late 1950s, Vernon was unen-cumbered by family; his sons, now grown,achieved their own success despite anunorthodox upbringing. Vernon hadrenounced his Canadian citizenship so thathis son, Edward Verner, could enter Anna-polis Naval Academy. He rose through theranks to become a Lt. Colonel in the UnitedStates Air Force. Derek Verner also joinedthe Navy, but left eventually to become atechnical writer in the aerospace industry.Jeanne Verner stayed at home in West-chester, New York. Vernon’s lack of financialsupport, however, made it difficult for her tomake ends meet. She sought refuge in thebottle, becoming an alcoholic.

Vernon was invited to lecture and performin Europe. Magicians followed him fromtown to town, absorbing what has becomeknown as “The Vernon Touch.” To spreadthe gospel even further, Vernon agreed to therelease of some of his most valued secretsin a series of publications written by LewisGanson. The Dai Vernon Book of Magicbecame an instant classic and launched a newera of magic publications in both size andcontent. Other works, including tributes toNate Leipzig and Max Malini, became partof Vernon’s oeuvre.

The 1950s ushered in the television era,the small screen quickly becoming the pri-mary purveyor of family entertainment.Magic was at a crossroads, and the publicwas skeptical. A public accustomed to andwary of the visual illusions made possibleby multiple cameras and editing did notfind magic very convincing on TV, especiallystage-sized illusions. Magicians were also

wary of this new medium because of itsvoracious appetite for material. Like manyvaudevillians, for years magicians under-stood that a ten-minute stage act could gen-erate ten years of income. The way televisedperformances consumed material, there wasno time to hone sophisticated performancepieces or refine skill to a virtuoso level.

Vernon was one of the first performersinvited to perform on television, yet, like otheropportunities, he failed to rise to the occasion,choosing instead to become removed from thedebate on how his craft could benefit econom-ically and artistically from the new technology.He was at an age when he should be thinkingof retirement. Unfortunately, he had no meansof economic support.

Vernon spied a young boy practicingsophisticated gambling technique in the cornerof a cafeteria. Impressed by the boy’s prowess,Vernon invited him to sit in with the InnerCircle. The boy, Persi Diaconis, was 14 yearsold. Soon after their initial encounter, Vernonasked Diaconis if he would like to join him inthe hunt for an advantage player. Diaconis ranaway from home and joined Vernon on a trekacross the country. Under Vernon’s tutelage,Diaconis explored the subculture of gamblers,hustlers, and magicians, and developed intoone of the 20th century’s finest practitioners ofsleight of hand. During his time with Vernon,Diaconis displayed other talents, as well.Vernon advised Diaconis to continue his edu-cation. Eventually, Diaconis graduated fromHarvard, pursued a career in mathematics,and went on to receive a MacArthur Foun-dation Grant for his work in statistics.

Scene: Sunny hills of California Year : 1963

William and Milt Larsen, the sons of aCalifornia lawyer obsessed with magic,opened the Magic Castle on Franklin Avenuein Hollywood. Vernon, now turning 70, leftJeanne in New York to visit Jay Ose, themagician who had been hired as the residentperformer at the new venue. Vowing to staya week, Vernon extended his visit by close to30 years. The Larsens provide Vernon withroom, board, and a small stipend. In turn,Vernon provided the Magic Castle with pub-lic and professional credibility. In the process,with Vernon’s move, the center of the magicworld shifted from New York to LosAngeles, and a whole new cast of charac-ters — actors, writers, and producers —joined Vernon’s circle.

Shortly after the Magic Castle opened,two young hobbyists, Larry Jennings fromDetroit and Bruce Cervon from Akron,Ohio, traveled to Los Angeles to be nearVernon, the living legend. They were thefirst of many who pulled up stakes andmigrated to California. Cervon transcribed

extensive notes on all of their meetings.Decades later, these notes of tricks, tech-niques, and routines were published toinspire another generation of magicians.

Vernon, ensconced at the Magic Castle,pondered abstract questions related to sleightof hand. The methodology he studied wasboth sophisticated and esoteric, and the meritsof his work were recognized by an ever appre-ciative group of magicians. In 1968, he wasawarded the inaugural Masters Fellowshipfrom the Academy of Magical Arts & Sciences.

Scene: The Magic CastleYear: 1972

Suddenly, as if dropped from the sky fullyformed, a young Canadian magician namedDoug Henning was awarded a travel grant bythe Canada Council to study magic in LosAngeles with Vernon. Henning, sporting longhair, tie-dyed T-shirts, and flower-powercharisma, was the antithesis of the public per-ception of a magician. Though they made an

unlikely pair — the octogenarian and thehippy — Vernon recognized Henning’s talentand agreed to tutor him. Vernon predictedthat Henning would change the face of magic.His approach was fresh, exciting, and rootedin the Vernon tradition that the effect — notthe technique — is of primary importance.Henning starred in the most successful magicshow in the history of Broadway and par-layed these performances into a series ofaward-winning television shows.

Henning shattered stereotypes and brokenew ground in the way that magic was pre-sented on television by performing andtransmitting the shows live. There could beno debate about trick photography, cameraediting, or post-production. His magicemphasized mystery and wonder in a waythat appealed to all ages. Henning breathednew life into a moribund industry, inspired awhole new generation of magicians, usheredin a new Golden Age and set the stage forDavid Copperfield.M A G I C • j u n e 2 0 0 6 6968 M A G I C • j u n e 2 0 0 6

[Facing page] Recovering from his construction site accident; this photo is inscribed January3, 1942. Vernon was the star of the Stars of Magic. [Above] Bill Larsen prepares TheProfessor for a lecture at the Magic Castle. Mingling with two other grand men of magic,Blackstone and Ose. Appearing with one of his students, Doug Henning.

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the world’s premier magicians. In many ways,he combines the best of MAGIC magazine’snominees as the two most influential magi-cians of the 20th century. Blaine supplementsthe sensationalism of Houdini’s stunts withthe insouciance and confident swagger Vernondemonstrated in his prime. Blaine’s repertoirealso is built on material taken from their oeu-vre. He augments Houdini’s tests of endurancewith Vernonesque “think of a card” tricks,improvised stunts and feats, like the self-levi-tation, that Vernon and his Inner Circle cham-pioned between the 1920s and 1960s. Blaine,like Henning before him, marked a paththat others would follow.

The journey and Vernon’s influence willcontinue. ◆

David is both a performer and the ExecutiveDirector of Magicana, a not-for-profit orga-nization dedicated to promoting magic as aperforming art.

Dai Vernon: A Legacy of Magic, the first of twovolumes, will be released next month by SquashPublishing, www.squashpublishing.com.

Other students of Vernon’s, on the heelsof Henning’s success, also drew public praise.A New Yorker, Ricky Jay, had also movedto Los Angeles to be close to Vernon. UnderVernon’s tutelage Jay grew into a world-class,sleight-of-hand performer, going on to star ina variety of feature films and successful one-man stage shows directed by David Mamet inNew York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London,and Washington.

Although retired from per-forming, Vernon was still activeand the center of late-night ses-sions with performers who trav-eled the world to meet him.Vernon extended his reach furtherwith a column, “The VernonTouch,” in Genii magazine. Thecolumn ran monthly from 1968to 1990. Vernon shared his phi-losophy about performing andteaching magic, as well as hisopinion on the evolution of theentertainment industry through itspages. He also undertook a travelschedule that would punish a

lesser man, touring the world to attend confer-ences and gatherings of magicians. He wasfeted year after year at events in Europe, Asia,North and South America, and Australia.

At the age of 83, feeling both a bit ofremorse for not providing more for his fam-ily, and wanting to provide financial assis-tance to another friend, Joe Cossari, Vernonembarked on a Farewell Lecture Tour,speaking in 50 cities at a fee of $1,000 per

speech. He was an inspired orator, andmagicians marveled at his stamina andgrace. Each lecture was a marathon thatexhausted the spectators, not The Professor.

In 1986 a book that he wrote in the late1950s — Revelations, Vernon’s meditation onErdnase — was released by Persi Diaconis andpublished by Mike Caveney. The Professor’swork had come full circle. At the age of 98,on August 21, 1992, Vernon died in the homeof his son, Edward, in Ramona, California.His ashes were placed in an urn on display atthe Magic Castle.

After his passing, products, books, andvideos related to Vernon and his legendappeared anew. His silhouettes, apparatus,and notebooks became coveted collectibles.A feature motion picture called Shade, theterm gamblers use to describe techniquesused to conceal their technique, starringSylvester Stallone, Gabriel Byrne, MelanieGriffith, and Hal Holbrook as Vernon, wasreleased. The film was inspired by Vernon,his relationship with Dad Stevens, and hislifelong pursuit of advantage players.

David Blaine is now regarded as one of

“Circa 1915” by Dai VernonDescribed by David Ben

Vernon performed this trick for other magicians upon arrival in New Yorkin 1915. It was one of the pieces that helped establish his reputation. The onlyone who came close to reconstructing it at the time was Dunninger.

HERE’S THE EFFECT: With the magician standing 20 feet away and with hisback to the audience, the spectator shuffles his own deck of cards, looks at acard in the pack, and squares up the deck. The magician turns around, takesthe pack and discovers the spectator’s card in a startling manner.

I titled this “Circa 1915” because it relies on estimation. Estimation is theprinciple of determining the location of a spectator’s selection by determiningits general position in the pack and then using a series of procedures to nar-row the field and produce or reveal the chosen card, using the best option athand. The principle was rarely used in 1915 and would remain buried in theliterature until magicians like Jim Steranko and Ed Marlo wrote about the tech-nique in more detail in the 1960s.

Circa 1915 is also important because, in many ways, it is the precursorof Vernon’s Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Both tricks are, in essence, card con-trols rather than effects — in the traditional sense that an “effect” has a pre-determined outcome. Vernon improvised the revelation of the chosen card.By 1927, however, Vernon rarely improvised in the wild manner of hisyouth. He explored other types of material and approaches to magic. Outof Sight, Out of Mind, as a control, represents a step forward from Circa1915 because the spectator merely “thinks of a card” rather than physicallycutting to one.

Vernon used a combination of skill in manipulation and the psychology ofmisdirection to lead the spectator’s mind step by step to defeat its own logic.Circa 1915 illustrates the power of that combination.

TO PERFORM: Ask a spectator if he has a deck of cards. You can provideone, but it is better if the participant uses his own deck. Tell the spectator togive the deck a good shuffle. Walk away from him as he does this andemphasize that you will be as fair as possible. Counter-intuitively, your powers

of estimation for this particular trick improve as you increase, within reason,the distance between you and the deck.

Now, with your back to the spectator, ask whether he has finished mixingthe cards. Do not turn around. Once he has said, “Yes,” tell him to place thedeck on the table in front of him. Still with your back to him and standing 15to 20 feet away, extend your right hand from your side as if reaching over tocut an imaginary deck of cards, and ask the spectator to lift off a portion ofthe pack. Keep your right arm extended.

Ask the spectator whether he has cut off a portion of the deck. Once hehas, ask him to look at the card at the bottom of the packet held in his hand. Itis at this point, and this point only, that you turn around and glimpse the sizeof the block of cards on the table. Do not try to estimate the specific number ofcards, just the mass of the block. This glimpse takes but a fraction of a secondand must be done under the misdirection of turning around to gaze at theimaginary packet you are holding in your outstretched right hand. Your eyeslook at the imaginary packet and in your peripheral vision you note the massof the block on the table. Turn your gaze away as soon as you can.

With your right arm extended as if you are still holding the packet, ask theparticipant whether he has noted a card. When he says, “Yes,” tell him toreplace the packet on top of the deck and make sure that the cards areabsolutely square. Ask whether he has done this. Once he says, “Yes,” turnaround and walk back to the table, pick up the deck and, as you ask, “Didyou give the deck a shuffle?,” knowing, of course, that he has not, then givethe deck a false shuffle. Give the pack a simple cut at the end of the shuffle,separating it into two blocks, the bottom one being the approximate size of theone you peeked at moments before, and complete the cut. This cut sequenceshould form the punctuation mark — a period — to your shuffle sequence.With practice, you will be able to cut the selection to within three cards of thetop or bottom of the pack. You now have, in essence, a six-card margin oferror. With more practice, this slight margin can be reduced.

It is also worth pointing out that Vernon and others — Malini, for example —realized that few people square the cards completely when asked. The cards willoften break at the point where the spectator cut for the selection. This natural breakpoint is also often maintained during the course of an overhand false shuffle.

You must now use the right tool from your stock of techniques to concludethe trick in a mysterious manner. This is obviously easier if you have mastered

a wide body of techniques. Published accounts of some of Vernon’sapproaches to a multi-option card revelation can be found in both Out ofSight, Out of Mind and The Trick That Cannot Be Explained.

Here are four approaches that I have adopted, all inspired by revelationsVernon employed at one time or another. All begin by spreading the packbetween your hands (with the faces toward you) in order to note the cards atthe top and bottom of the pack. I usually spread the cards as I state, “There isno way I can know the identity of your card.”

MENTAL DIVINATIONSpread the pack between your hands, note the variants at top and bottom,

and then perform a classic pump/fish/binary sort based on the principle ofmajorities. “Think of your card. It is a red card… it is ahigh/low/Diamond/Heart card.” You get the idea.

SPECTATOR DISCOVERS CARD IN OWN HANDS You may be in the position to very quickly narrow the card down to two

possibilities. Position one on top, the other on the bottom. Place the deck in thespectator’s hand. Ask him to tap the deck and name the card. Ask him to turnover either the top card or the entire deck, depending on the situation.

Note that if you are wrong, and you know now that his card is actuallysecond from the top or bottom of the pack, you can top change or second dealthe appropriate card to the table to conclude successfully.

NUMERICAL COUNT DOWNSometimes when I have narrowed it down to one of three, I position them

through a series of simple culls or shuffles so that they rest in their relativenumerical positions in the deck. For example, if the cards are a Five, Seven,and Nine, they are secretly maneuvered to the fifth, seventh, and ninth posi-tions from the top. I ask the spectator to think of the numerical value of hiscard. I then deal cards one at a time from the top of the pack and ask thespectator to say, “Stop,” when I have dealt the card that corresponds with thenumerical value of the one he has in mind.

VANISH FROM PACKSometimes, I narrow the field down to three variables and palm them out

of the pack. I then hand the deck to the participant and inform him that if hethinks of his card and taps the deck once, the selection will vanish completely.He does so. I instruct him to deal the cards face up one at a time to look for hiscard. He will be too busy looking for his card to notice the deck is missing twoothers as well. Sometimes I leave it at that. Other times, I then ask him for thename of his card and remove it from my pocket. Obviously, I remember theorder of the three cards that I palmed from the pack and reproduce the appro-priate one from my pocket.

As you can see, there are an infinite number of possibilities. Here are a couple of variations that enhance the impossibility of the

control. I keep a deck of cards on my desk so that when a visitor, sittingacross from me, reaches over to cut the cards, I am in perfect position toturn my back and estimate the size of the block on the table by looking atits reflection in the glass on a photograph hanging on the wall. On otheroccasions, I have left he room while the spectator has shuffled, cut, andnoted the card. I speak to him from the hallway, stick my arm in the door-way to demonstrate how he should pick up the pack, and obtain the neces-sary glimpse as my head pops momentarily around the doorway ostensiblyto look at the imaginary card in my extended hand. I ask permission to re-enter the room moments later.

Finally, here is how I used to practice the trick. I would set up a table somedistance from a mirror and then stand so that the table was between me andthe mirror. I would then turn my back to the mirror. I would place the shuffledcards on the table behind me, cut the pack, and hold the upper packet so thatit faced the mirror. Turning around quickly, I would then note both the cardreflected in the mirror and the size of the block on the table, then turn back.Reassembling the pack, I would false shuffle and cut. I would then notewhether I was able to cut the selection near the top or bottom of the deck, andthen study my options for concluding the trick.

As one can imagine, Vernon flabbergasted magicians with this when hefirst arrived in New York. Estimating the position of the card is easy. Setting theappropriate scene so that the spectator is defeated by his own logic and con-cluding the trick in a mysterious manner is much more difficult. Both take men-tal agility. With practice, however, it will become second nature and you willexperience the thrill of performing Dai Vernon’s brand of jazz magic. ◆

70 M A G I C • j u n e 2 0 0 6 M A G I C • j u n e 2 0 0 6 71

Ed Marlo, Roger Klause, Charlie Miller, Dai Vernon.

The Professor preaching his dictum,and loving every minute of it.

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