Michael Jay: I don't watch
TV much, but a while back there was a commercial for the one
reality show called "Survivor." They were going
to Africa and each member was allowed to bring a single item.
Also, they were allowed to enlist any tribes that they could
find to help them while they tried to survive in Africa.
My thought was that I'd bring a single Walking
Liberty half, which I could use to convince the tribes that
I was a Shaman. I believe they would go out of their way to
help a Shaman, so my choice would be that coin (being hailed
by the tribe as a great Shaman, though, I might just quit
the show and spend the rest of my life with the tribe!).
Anyway, under similar circumstances and being
allowed to carry just a single item, what item would you carry?
RBauer: ...a loaded Glock...
RB
Michael Jay: Good answer!!
John Mcdonald: What is your
most favourite Vernon trick/routine/performance?
RBauer: You might be surprised
to know that I rarely cling to favorite tricks or performances
because there seems to always be a better one in the offing.
I was acquainted with Vernon in the sixties,
but spent quite a bit of time with him in the eighties, and
I got to see him in various circumstances. Not only was he
a sly old fellow, but (at least in the eighties) he never
seemed to tire of trying to put one over on anyone who came
into the Magic Castle.
Surprisingly, he was easy to fool! In fact,
as a joke, for a while I a.k.a. The Man Who Fooled The Man
Who Fooled Houdini! (It was all in fun, of course.)
The move that he had made a reputation with
was the Double Turnover. I carefully studied his actions under
a wide variety of conditions (my detailed expanation is in
"The Mechanical Deck" #11 of my series) and had
a tough time figuring out his exact handling. One reason it
took so much time to be sure I had it right was because he
would tell anyone who demonstrated their prowess at it that
they did! (I never witnessed one of these fellows doing it
right, though. He, of course, knew a compliment from "The
Professor" meant a lot.) I was also impressed by his
explanation of why he used certain handlings in his version
of "The Ambitious Card." Vital details were omitted
in "The Stars of Magic."
John Mcdonald: What's your
favourite story about Vernon or Marlo for that matter?
dk_the_magician: do you have
anything to add to the Bit I wrote on Vernon? I love to hear
from anyone who meets with him.
RBauer: I'm not familiar
with the "Bit" written by Darren.
As far as John's request for "favourite
story about Vernon or Marlo," I can think of many interesting
exchanges and experiences, but the one that immediately comes
to mind is about Ed Marlo.
It took place in Chicago in 1963. I had known
Ed for several years, and had become a regular (twice a month)
visitor. On this particular occasion, however, I was co-hosting
a convention hospitality room for a Los Angeles company in
a downtown hotel. I got the bright idea of hiring Marlo to
entertain for an hour or so, and planned an elaborate pitch
to talk him into it. To my surprise, he immediately agreed.
Well, the next evening, as I introduced him,
it suddenly occured to me that he was "a technician!"
(I can't tell you how many times I had seen magicians bore
audiences with a succession of "card tricks" even
at my young age.) So, I took a few moments of the introduction
to make excuses in advance... In plain words, I told the audience
that he was a "magician's magician," so they would
be watching great skill rarely seen by the public (of course,
I really was warning them that they were about to experience
a show that was not "entertainment" so much as a
unique and enjoyable experience... I hoped!).
Shame on me for not trusting my friend! He
began to quietly charm the group with his introductory remarks,
then got the entire room laughing with several COMEDY SHUFFLES
(most of which are in his book, "The Cardician").
Then he held the crowd for over an hour, and got TWO ENCORES.
And, I don't recall seeing a single person leave that room.
Mixed emotions on my part!!! I was proud of
his success, and mortified at the thought of how I was going
to frame my apology. I didn't have to worry, though. He was
a gracious guy that wouldn't think of letting young man grovel.
We remained good friends for the next thirty-PLUS years...
RBauer: Okay, Darren, I've
read your "Bit" on Vernon, and it's very good.
You might be interested in knowing that both
of Vernon's arms didn't heal properly, so he couldn't completely
straighten either one. The reason for this was because one
night in the hospital, he thought he overheard a discussion
in the hallway about amputating his arms! (This conversation
may or may not have happened. Drugs and fear of the worst
most likely caused him to dream the incident.) It doesn't
matter, though, because he thought it was true, so he snuck
out of the hospital after breaking the casts off his still
healing arms! He got away, but the arms never healed properly.
If you're interested, sometime I'll tell you
the REAL story behind the short-short history of the Harlequin
Act, and why Vernon used the term "natural."
John Mcdonald: I'm interested!
Thanks for your replies so far Vernon is the one who is seen
as having invented the term naturalness but I have seen that
there were a few before him who insisted on naturalness so
I'd be very interested to hear your views.
dk_the_magician: I'm a great
fan of Vernon, if you don't want to post the info then please
email me, there is also a discussion in Geni forum ref Vernon
(also started by me) with some great tales being told by everyone
who knew him.
I read the monkey caused Dai some "expensive"
problems, but no one has been able to expand on that.
Thanks
Chuck: what is the monkey
Story
RBauer: The Monkey Story?
Do you mean Vernon's one time partner in the Harlequin Act?
Are you asking about Compere?
Okay, Chuck. I know what you mean because
you've asked me to repeat it before!
It's much easier to tell this story than to
write it because Vernon's animations and expressions aren't
easy to convey. Nor is it easy to find the words for his disgust
at that short-lived relationship.
As The Professor told it, Compere was the
payoff to the entire act.
The Harlequin floats a ball around the stage
finally bringing it to rest on a table top (I believe it was
on a table). Then, covering for a moment, he reveals that
it has almost doubled in size, and holding it aloft, he takes
a bow to the thunderous applause, and exits.
This big ball effect, he says, was encore
material, so he returns to the stage, bows again, then flings
the ball upward. It arches overhead, then falls to the stage
with a crash, the impact causing it to burst open AND out
jumps a LIVE MONKEY. That would be Compere.
But, this nonpareil was not to be. You see,
at every rehearsal, when the ball burst open, Compere jumped
out and madly masturbated to completion.
This appalled Vernon. And, since his gentlemanly
disposition required that he deny the ladies in the audience
the embarrassment of having to witness such a lack of theatrical
discipline, the Harlequin, lacking its grand finale, was abandoned.
Now, you can believe or doubt the Professor’s
tale of woe explaining why he was unable to attain his theatrical
triumph. (He must have believed it, because I watch him tell
it THREE TIMES.) It doesn’t matter.
However, and I told the Professor this, he
should have thought twice about aborting Compere’s show
biz career. After all, the little guy must have had something.
I for one greatly admired his ability to be forced into a
container, slammed into a solid surface, suddenly being flung
into dazzling light in front of a shouting, clapping crowd,
and still be able to do THAT... even once.
Thedimsnail: Hi, Ron. I've
frequently wondered about the rationale behind Vernon's Ambitious
Card from Stars of Magic, and you've mentioned that you were
impressed by his explanation of the handling. Would you mind
sharing some of these insights?
RBauer: Dan... I discussed
the Ambitious Card with Vernon many times. I was curious how
he could have gotten away with some of the clumsy moves described
in the Stars of Magic. (Of course, I didn’t approach
the subject in such a depreciatory way.)
This was the approach he was using at the
time he was performing quite often for servicemen. These guys
were keyed up because they were away from home, in New York
City, and, most important, on their way to war. For these,
and reasons of youth and inexperience, they didn’t conduct
themselves with the greatest restraint when someone was trying
to fool them with a card trick!
No sooner did the card come to the top two
or three times, than one or more of the servicemen would shout
out how they thought the trick was done.
Without reconstructing the entire thing, it
boiled down to “meeting the challenge” that these
guys were imposing, or tossing in the cards and slinking away.
Vernon was not interested in anything but triumph (I don’t
mean the trick) in these situations, so he met them head on
with “sucker moves.” The most effective was the
fake Top Change and the “undercut” sequence.
Reread the procedure with this information
in mind, and you’ll get some real insights into the
young Canadian’s thinking.
RBauer: Correction... the
"young Canadian" was almost fifty years old!
Oops!
He was over eighty when he explained it to
me... Clearly he had great thinking that spanned many decades.
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