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Ron Bauer
 

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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