BOOK REVIEW BY DAVID SUTHERLAND THE COMMERCIAL MAGIC OF J.C. WAGNER BY MIKE MAXWELL

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…

THE COMMERCIAL MAGIC OF J.C. WAGNER BY MIKE MAXWELL

BOOK DETAILS: 164 pages (Paperback), Publisher: L&L Publishing, Published in 1987. Illustrated by Tom Gagnon. Out of print, but available as an e-book from Browser’s Den: www.browsersden.com

The Foreward is by Larry Jennings. It makes sense that a heavy hitter would kick off a book filled with heavy hitting material.

JC’s other works include: Seven Secrets, 1978; A Few More Secrets, 1985; and Full Metal Jacket (with Syd Segal), 2005.

J.C. got hooked on magic at age eight after seeing a magician perform at his school Halloween carnival. By age 18 he was working at Merlin’s Magic Shop in Disneyland with Steve Martin. He was in the Air Force for four years and then started performing bar magic in 1973 with Bob Sheets at Marco’s Roman Room in Coronado, California. Wagner was the co-owner of The Magic Lounge in San Diego from 1977 to 1981, and then he helped Bob Sheets start the Jolly Jester in Aspen, Colorado. J.C. died and was buried at sea in 2010 at the age of 65.

Mike Maxwell’s previous books include Louis Falanga’s Lake Tahoe Card Magic and The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings. His company A-1 MagicalMedia was responsible for many videos and books. 

The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner has six chapters, but I’m going to start by covering the items in Chapter Four. I suggest you also start there when you have the book in hand. Do it. Trust me.

Chapter 4: J.C. on Estimation

Estimation #1: Listen to how great this sounds. The deck is shuffled and spread face up. A spectator thinks of any card. The performer proceeds to correctly divine the thought of card. Now, I know there are some items on the market that replicate this, but imagine how powerful it would be to do it with a borrowed deck. 

Estimation #2: The deck is shuffled and handed to a spectator who is requested to run through it until they see a card they like, memorize it and then hand the deck back to the performer. The performer then correctly divines the thought of card. 

These will both take quite a bit of pratice which is a good thing. Miracles come to those who work.

The Card Under Drink is so good, if you don’t currently use it, it may become one of your favourite revelations. If you want to see it done by an expert in action watch Jamy Ian Swiss’s performance of this on The Art of Magic special.* In this case, Jamy’s using the reveal after performing Paul Harris’s Reflex.

Next is Non-gaffed Ultra Mental which is, in fact, J.C.’s out when his estimation doesn’t work. However, this is one of those rare cases where the out is just as strong, if not stronger, than the originally intended effect.

The Wagnerian Miracle. Picture this. The deck is shuffled and placed face down on the table. A spectator lifts a portion of the deck and remembers the face card of that portion then replaces the cut portion and gives the deck several cuts. You pick up the deck and scan the faces, then place the deck on the table. You give a number which the spectator counts down to from the top of the deck and the selection is found at that number!

Really? You need more than this?? Okay.

Chapter 1: Commercial Stunners

Entertainment Tacks is a variation of Card on the Ceiling that goes a step further. In addition to the deck, it involves a borrowed dollar bill, a rubber band and a tack. After a card is signed and returned, the bill is wrapped around the deck and the tack is tucked under the rubber band. When everything is tossed toward the ceiling the banded deck returns to the performer’s hands and the signed card and bill are attached to the ceiling with the tack. As Jamy Ian Swiss would say, “if that don’t turn you on, then you ain’t got no switches!”

Dai Vernon used to request J.C. perform the next item in this chapter called Bandorama. After a card is selected and returned, a couple of rubber bands are wrapped around the deck and there is a riffled attempt to find the card which doesn’t work. The deck is placed on the table with the bands around it and the spectator presses their finger on the deck. Upon lifting their finger, the selection spins out of the deck face up. 

The method for Jumbo Torn & Restored Card was first published in Seven Secrets using a regular sized card. This is J.C.’s stand-up version of the trick which would be perfect for an emcee.

Prediction Out Of This World was inspired by a similar routine by Ron Wilson* however J.C.’s version is impromptu and the prediction of how many misses there will be is a strong kicker. During his foray into magic, my friend Jonathan Yip from Malaysia used to perform this trick regularly and loved the reactions he got.

Whispering Wagner is based on a plot by Ralph Hull that was published in The Talisman. The performer, working with two spectators, places a card face down in front of each person, then asks them what they would like those cards to be and when they are turned over, they are found to be the exact cards named. Apparently J.C. was reluctant to publish this, which should make you want to learn it even more.

JC’s Super Closer is an effect Ricky Jay liked so much that he swapped tricks with J.C. in order to learn it. The four Aces are magically produced from a deck that has been shuffled by two different spectators. The Aces are now found by spelling the name of each from the top of the deck. Next, the four Kings are produced by spelling their suits. In dealing the Aces, four piles of cards have been made. These piles are turned face up to display that the entire deck has been magically separated into the four suits. J.C. kept this effect to himself for well over twenty years before deciding to publish it.

Chapter 2: Four Ace Routines

Twisted Underground Transposition: The Kings are held face up in your hand and the Aces are placed on the table. One at a time the Kings magically turn face down. The packet is now turned face up and shown to consist of the four Aces and the Kings are found in the packet on the table. This strong effect was clearly inspired by Bro. John Hamman’s Underground Transposition and Paul Harris’s Reset.

Omni Twist Collectors is a combination of two plots, Ed Marlo’s Omni Twist and Roy Walton’s Collectors. This is a reworking of J.C.’s Twisted Collectors which first appeared in Paul Harris’s SuperMagic. In this, the four Kings are placed on the table and three cards are selected and lost in the deck. Two of the Kings are turned face down and suddenly all four Kings have magically turned face down. One King is turned face up and now the Kings have all turned face up. The Kings are dropped face up on top of the deck which is then cut by a spectator. When the deck is spread, the three selections are trapped between the Kings.

Twisted Collectors II is a slimmed down version of J.C.’s Twisted Collectors from SuperMagic. The four Kings are placed on the table and three cards are selected and lost in the deck. The face up Kings each turn face down one at a time, then they are spread to reveal the selections trapped between them.

In J.C.’s Fabulous Four Ace Routine, Mr. Wagner has put his own personal stamp on what is considered by many to be one of the very best Ace routines which is Henry Christ’s Fabulous Four Ace Routine from Cliff Green’s Professional Card Magic. For those unfamiliar with this routine, the four Aces are shuffled into the deck and are then found in a mystifying manner.

The Fab Four Revisited was a late addition to the book. The effect here is the same as J.C.’s Fabulous Four Ace Routine, however, this variation could be performed standing using the spectator’s hands instead of a table.

J.C. on Collins Aces: In his version, three cards are placed on each Ace and each Ace is vanished and it is suspected that all four will end up in the remaining packet, but when the last packet is turned face up it still consists of three indifferent cards and the Ace of Spades. The three indifferent cards are fanned face down in the performer’s hands and the Ace is placed on top of the deck. The deck is riffled toward the three card fan and the Ace of Spades visibly appears in the fan. The three indifferent cards are turned face up and they are now the missing Aces! If you want to see a version of Collins Aces, check out The Magic of David Copperfield XVI. (It’s about halfway through the special right after The Blade illusion.) You don’t have to learn Piet Forton’s Pop-Out Move to perform J.C.’s version, but you will have to get comfortable with the Gambler’s Cop. Luckily, J.C.’s provided his thoughts on this at the beginning of the chapter.

The Assembly is a variation of the O’Henry Aces effect. Three Aces magically travel from three separate packets to join a leader Ace.

Honest John’s Cards Across is based on Honest John’s Ace Assembly again from SuperMagic. Imagine the start of most Ace assemblies where three indifferent cards are placed on each Ace, however, following this the spectator selects one of the packets and sits on it. The other 3 packets are assembled and a spectator sits on those. The Aces now magically transpose with the three indifferent cards.

JC’s Collins Kings is an expanded version of J.C. on Collins Aces. Here the layout is done with three indifferent cards on each King. Three of the Kings vanish. When the leader packet is checked, however, it consists of the four Aces and the Kings are produced from the deck in a magical way.

Chapter 3: Coin Magic

Poor Man’s Matrix has a quick pace and a strong finish. Four pennies are covered with four cards; they vanish and appear all under one. The performer explains that an extra coin was used and when one of the cards is lifted there is a jumbo penny underneath.

Knock on Wood is a straightforward Coins Through Table routine that I have promised myself I’ll learn. It’s especially effective with Morgan silver dollars. Every move is covered by a natural action and the visual and auditory elements set this apart from other versions.

I enjoyed learning that J.C. and Bob Sheets devised the routine that came with the Copper-Silver-Brass set that used to be marketed by Johnson Products. However, several important points were not included in the original routine, most notably a climax that happens in the hands of a spectator and the fact that you can also start and end clean. So, if you have the aforementioned set, sit down and learn The Real Two Copper-One Silver.

Chapter 5: Packet Magic

Factory Misprints is based on a Peter Kane effect called Blank Amazement. In it, four blank playing cards magically print faces. This also reminds me of Darwin Ortiz’s Back Off and Photo Surrealism from Top Secret Stuff by Michael Powers which I reviewed recently.

Gypsy Curse Variation: J.C. came up with this while working on Peter Kane’s Gypsy Curse. He felt the beginning and ending were fine but wanted to strengthen the middle. He did this by adding a phase from Emerson & West’s Color Monte and Martin Lewis’s Sidewalk Shuffle.

Ghost Deal Variation is J.C.’s take on Martin Lewis’s Ghost Deal which according to Mr. Maxwell will “leave your audience with the impression that you have consummate skill with the pasteboards.”

Chapter 6: Card Magic

Royally Wild is a no gaff (and therefore impromptu) version of Wild Card. The concept of an impromptu Wild Card came from Larry Jennings and this routine is a combination of the Jennings routine and another routine of Larry’s called Changing of the Guard from Dai Vernon’s Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic.

In Simplex Lie Speller a card is selected and returned to the deck. The deck is then “programmed” and handed to the spectator. Three questions are asked of the spectator and they can lie or tell the truth. The answers are spelled out by dealing cards one at a time for each letter. Regardless of whether they lie or tell the truth the computer deck finds the selection.

Would I Lie to You is similar to the above. However there is an added kicker of the three mates to the selected card also being found.

Up-Standing Triumph is a version of Triumph that is perfect for walk around. It differs a bit from the original since at the end an indifferent card changes into the selection for the climax.

In the Royal Detectives a selected card vanishes from between a pair of Kings and appears face up in the centre of the deck between the other pair of Kings.

J.C.’s take on the Everywhere and Nowhere plot is described in an effect called Tri-Mi-Way.

Sweepstack was the other late addition to the book and one that J.C. performed countless times at J.C.’s Magic Lounge in San Diego. The Aces are put into four separate areas of the deck and within five seconds the performer shuffles the cards so that he gets the Aces dealt to him. Upon attempting to do the same feat only faster it is seen that his opponent’s hands have the Aces, but now the performer has dealt himself a royal flush.

Both the writing and the illustrations are clearly done by Mike Maxwell and Tom Gagnon, respectively. (Tom also provided the illustrations for The Vernon Chronicles.)

Aside from consistently badgering you to crack open your books, the other prevailing theme in these reviews is articulating my regret of not paying attention to certain effects earlier in my life. Specifically for this book, everything in Chapter 4, Knock on Wood and Whispering Wagner are ones that I wish, I wish, I wish I had worked on decades ago. Next time you see me, ask me to show you these and see if I’ve really learned my lesson.

To paraphrase Jamy, if The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner don’t turn you on, then you ain’t got no switches!

Until next time… read your books.

*Watch it on YouTube. Search “Card Under Glass from The Art of Magic”

** Way Out of This World in The Uncanny Scot Ron Wilson by Richard Kaufman, 1987.

Purchase The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner from Browser’s Den: www.browsersden.com