BOOK REVIEW BY DAVID SUTHERLAND IMPOSSIBILIA BY JOHN BANNON

A consistent lesson gleaned from almost every lecture I attend is: READ YOUR BOOKS.

I’ll return from these lectures, immediately begin searching through my library and invariably discover much of this great material was already in my possession!

We all know there’s good stuff hidden throughout the works of Hilliard, Stanyon and Tarbell. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some titles that aren’t always top of mind and have been sitting on my shelves for years without even a glance - to my disadvantage. Hopefully, we can all learn from my mistakes…

IMPOSSIBILIA BY JOHN BANNON

BOOK DETAILS: 142 pages (Hardcover), Publisher: L&L Publishing, Published in 1990. Illustrated by Amado Narvaez. Available at: www.browsersden.com

The Introduction is by Harvey Rosenthal who states, “John uses his sharp mind and significant sleight-of-hand ability to develop outstanding tricks and routines that are certain to entertain as well as fool an audience. John does not try to see how many moves he can fit into his elegant magical creations. On the contrary, he goes to whatever lengths necessary to maximize an effect.”

John Bannon believes that construction is as important as sleights and that how you think about a trick can make a real difference. John’s published works include: Mirage, Smoke & Mirrors, Dear Mr. Fantasy (this book was widely hailed as one of the best-selling books of the decade), High Caliber, Destination Zero, Mentalissimo and his most recent work, a highly acclaimed card trick collection called Very Hush-Hush, which sold out in a matter of weeks. You may also recognize the Bannon name from his best-selling trick, Twisted Sisters.

The Foreward is by John himself. In it, he mentions that Impossibilia is a collection of some of his favourite close-up routines. 

The book is divided into four sections, starting with:

SECTION 1.0 EZ FX

The first item is perhaps the one that John is best known for, Play It Straight Triumph. A self-working (i.e. no sleights, moves or subtleties) and hard hitting effect. Like many magicians, I use this as a follow up to Vernon’s Triumph. People can watch as close as they want and yet, at the end all the cards have righted themselves with the exception of all of the cards that match the suit of the spectator’s selection…in order!

Next is Discrepancy City Prediction in which the performer removes three cards as a prediction. The spectator shuffles the rest of the deck and deals the cards singly onto the table and stops at any point. The stopped at card is turned face up and it is the mate to the other three cards.

In The Unreal Work, the four Queens are placed on top of the deck. A card is dealt off the bottom, one from the middle, one is removed from the performer’s sleeve and one is dealt off the top of the deck. The four cards turn out to be the four Queens.

Cries and Whispers sees the four Jacks somehow telling the magician the names of three selected cards only to then transpose with the selections while held by the spectators.

The performer attempts to predict the outcome of two events, one determined by choice and the other by chance. One spectator thinks of a card and the other deals at random from a shuffled deck and stops anytime. Both predictions are correct. This is Oh Calcutta.

Twilight Zone Assembly is John’s presentation and treatment of Mengage a Quatre from his first book Mirage. The performer talks about a Fourteenth card in each suit, also referred to as a “The Nothing” of each suit (represented by four blank cards). The four blank cards start amongst packets of regular cards then disappear from one packet at a time to assemble together in one pile. Just as quickly as they’ve assembled, they return to their original packets.

‘Twixt the Devil is an impromptu method for Alex Elmsley’s Between Your Palms. A mystery card is given to a spectator to hold. A card is signed and lost in the deck. Three indicator cards to discern the identity of the chosen card are placed with the mystery card. After deducing the name of the selection the mystery card is turned over and is in fact the signed card.

Tourist Class Travellers is Vernon’s Travellers effect with no difficult moves, no gaffs, no palming, no kidding. Four Queens are removed from the deck which is spread face-down on the table. Three Queens are shown and inserted into the spread. The fourth Queen is placed halfway into the performer’s pocket in view. The deck is squared and riffled and the Queens have vanished. The performer cleanly removes the vanished Queens from three different pockets.

Travelling Jack’s Sideshow Aces is a modernized approach to the Stanley Collins’ Aces routine. Four Jacks are removed and three are covered with three indifferent cards. One by one, three of the packets are shown to consist only of four indifferent cards. Three Jacks have vanished. The last packet is covered by a spectator’s hand. But instead of making the last Jack vanish and reappear with the other Jacks, the cards under the spectator’s hand are revealed to be the four Aces. The Jacks are then reproduced from the performer’s various pockets.

Wild in the Straights is John’s version of Wild Card. Four Jokers change into a selected card and all of the five cards make a complete Royal Flush.

A Little T, T, & A. (The Ts are for “topsy” and “turvy” and the A is for “Aces”.) This is an Ace-cutting Triumph which is an extension of a Nick Trost routine.

Shock Treatment sees the magician again remove a mystery card, which is put into his pocket. One spectator selects a card and returns it. Another spectator thinks of any card. The second spectator uses his thought of (and unnamed) card to find the selected card. The thought of card is then named and the magician removes the mystery card which turns out to be the very one thought of.

Creased Lightning is John’s secret card fold that he believes is, perhaps, superior to the Mercury Card Fold. Give it a try and see what you think.

Terrorist Card Vanish. I find the title a tad aggressive…but this trick puts Creased Lightning into practice. It is a card in can routine that is combined with Carlyle’s Homing Card and an unusual presentation. According to John, if you do this one right the last place the audience will expect the card to be is in the can.

SECTION 2.0 SIDE FX

This section opens with Two Ahead (is better than one) and is the brainchild of the supremely clever Bob Kohler. The routine is based on the Takagi Matrix routine. Four half dollars, arranged in square formation, are each covered with a playing card. One by one, each of the three coins is shown and then cleanly vanished. The fourth card is merely tipped over and all four coins are found beneath it.

Revolutionary Penetration involves a coin with a hole in its centre that is openly threaded securely onto a shoelace and given to a spectator. The coin frees itself from the lace in the spectator’s hand. John describes this as “a valuable new utility principle that can be applied in a wide variety of situations.”

In The Brass Zero a four-inch brass ring is fairly threaded onto a length of rope. While spectators hold each end the performer visibly pulls the ring off the rope.

John says that his routine for the Chop Cup entitled Chop2 “justifies its own existence by a single thread – presentation. Chop2 has these advantages: it’s very commercial, it does not require the audience to guess where the ball is; it uses the Chop Cup advantage in a logical and integral way; it introduces intermediate productions designed to keep you audience off-guard; and it is relatively easy to do.” What more do you need to hear?

Glass Reunion is a routine that Mr. Rosenthal singles out in the Introduction as being, “one of the finest coins and glass routines I have come across.” Four half-dollars magically travel from the performer’s hand to a small glass on the table. The fourth travels under challenge conditions (the mouth of the glass is covered and a spectator holds the performer’s tightly closed fist). And yet…

Shanghai Surprise is a Spellbound routine with a presentation based around the idea of the coins transposing with coins in faraway locales.

Of Cups and Fuzzballs is John’s personal Cups and Balls routine which was developed with certain objectives in mind. If you want to see how this classic is given the Bannon touch have a look at this one and pay close attention to the logic behind each move and phase.

Brass-Ackwards Production is another offering from Bob Kohler in which a small brass box is shown empty and examined. Amazingly, the performer opens the box and it is now filled with half dollars!

Flurry Production by Alan Nguyen begins with a coin produced from a spectator’s ear. The coin then vanishes and reappears in the performer’s pocket. Then it is split into two coins. Both coins vanish and reappear in the pocket. Then they both vanish audibly (that’s right) and are reproduced, then split into four coins.

Triple Threat is a stand-up Coins Across routine using only three coins.

Silver/Silver Transposition is the classic Copper/Silver effect done with a half dollar and a quarter in lieu of an English Penny.

Return to Spender is another one from Mr. Kohler only this time covering the reverse matrix theme.

SECTION 3.0 SPECIAL FX

Photologic is the ultimate Spirit Photography routine and John says “one of the most effective routines I do for lay people.” From a clear envelope full of blank slips of special paper, the performer removes one with a pair of tweezers. Both sides of the paper are shown blank and the spectator is given the option of initialling either side of the slip. Once marked, the slip is placed on the table and covered with a shot glass. A card is selected. After some incantations, the spectator removes the glass and examines the slip – an image of the selected card has appeared on the slip. The performer never touches the slip.

The Birnman Revelation sees the performer cut the deck into four sections with a face-up Ace atop each.

The performer borrows three quarters from the audience. Each is initialled by a spectator and the coins are vanished and appear sealed in an envelope in the magician’s wallet. This is Coins Across the Water.

Shriek of the Mutilated is an idea for the Torn and Restored Cigarette paper wherein the pieces are crumpled into a ball and impaled on a hat pin. A flame is waved below the ball and it bursts into flames. When removed from the pin the pieces are now restored.

BONUS SECTION: REAL MEN DON’T CARRY COIN PURSES

This section introduces a coin pouch that is, John believes, European in design. It looks nothing like the purse frame that is commonly used. John offers several routines that can be done with the coin pouch, Copper/Silver, Koran’s Five-Star Prediction, etc.

Don’t skip over John’s closing remarks entitled Endpapers. In it, he talks of that silence that, hopefully, occurs after a trick immediately before the applause starts. As John says, “the longer the delay, the greater the shift between what “is” and what “seemed to be…This moment of pause is the magician’s true reward…”

 I completely agree. I have experienced this silence personally after performing an effect, as I’m sure many of you have. There’s nothing like it.

If this material appeals to you, don’t miss the upcoming lecture by the man himself, Mr. John Bannon on Thursday, November 30th and his workshop on Friday, December 1st.

Until next time… read your books.