Lately I've been having a great time with the wonderful Genii Archive. From time to time I'll mention some nice gems or great articles I've found on on my blog. But I figured it'd be cool to hear from you guys about certain things from the archive that you've found that you've enjoyed reading. I'll start:

The May 2000 Japan issue is superb. Check out Hiro Sakai's "Vibrating Bed". One of the cleverest versions of the Hotel Mystery I've encountered. Very simple, and it has a wonderfully visual climax.

The old Steranko and Dingle issues were great to finally read.

Hey Justin,

Joe here (from THE DOUBLE DEAL blog). Anyway - I love your blog so much I thought I would respond to your question. So - I have 'cut and paste' a post I made for a different magic forum. It covers a lot of interesting stuff and should be of use...

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I would recommend checking out the SPEAKING VOLUMES article by David Regal. It is the best article I have ever read. You can find it in the JUNE 2002 issue of GENII...

Also - I am a big Roy Walton fan. As such - I can highly recommend the following tricks by Roy:

An Aces And Kings Transpositon - March 1967 - Vol 31 No 7, page 297

A Twisted Tale - April 2001, page 52

Open Acrobatics - July 2004, page 86 - [This is what I wrote about this elsewhere] - 'This is another personal favourite. It starts as an open prediction type effect. It then becomes a card transpostion which then morphs into an impossible card reversal. It is my favourite example of Roy cleverly concealing steps whilst simultaneously setting up later phases in a card effect…'

Another favourite - is the 2/3 columns that Roberto Giobbi devoted to the second volumes of THE VERNON CHRONICLES. It is pretty much a trick by trick overview of the book...

Bill Goodwin also has a great trick called HOFZINSER UNDER COVER which makes great use of the cover pass. I should add that the trick is a version of the HOFZINSER ACE PROBLEM.

Charlie Miller also had a MAGICANA devoted to giving tips on how to perform the classic pass.

ZIG-ZAG FINGER is an amazing (non-card) trick by Angelo Carbone. It is in the SPETEMBER 200O issue.

In the JANUARY 2001 issue there is a great kicker for use at the end of a COLLECTORS routine. It is by Jim Swain.

Christian Engblom's THE ANTI-FARO is taught in the MAY 2001 issue.

Also check out the SEPTEMBER 2001 issue for a couple of sneaky ideas to apply to your MACDONALD'S ACES effect. Remember too that Derek Dingle's brilliant version is taught in the DECEMBER 2004 issue.

My favourite GILBREATH PRINCIPLE effect is SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE by Gordon Bean. That is in the MAY 2005 issue. And for those interested in this area - check out Norman Gilbreath's three part series which was published in the late eighties...

There is a lovely card control by Steve Draun published in the DECEMBER 3005 issue. It is called THE DRAUN CONTROL and is based on an unpublised Frank Thompson move which was shown to Steve by Ricky Jay. How underground is that?

Check out THE THIRD TIME'S A CHARM by Jack Parker in the JUNE 2007 issue. It contains a new principle which will fool you as you use it. In the same issue check out THE THREE STOOGES which makes clever use of the MACDONALD'S ACES gaffs.

The NOVEMBER 2007 issue has AN OPEN DISPLAY OF TRIUMPH by Jard Kopf. This is a real magician fooler.

DECEMBER 2007 - Check out THE HAUNTED CARD by R. Paul WIlson. A great no-gaff animated card effect.

JUNE 2008 - There is a trick/puzzle called THE SECRET by David Regal. It is a non-card effect which uses a weird mathematical principle which will fool you.

AUGUST 2008 - A MAGICANA devoted to Ed Marlo. This is a bunch of clever semi-automatic Marlo effects that Richard Kaufman and Jon Racherbaumer have enjoyed over the years.

There is a lots more great stuff scattered through these magazines. The above is just a small sampling..

Also - check out these links for a couple of useful indexes listing what appeared in MAGICANA:

http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Magicana_Kaufman

http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Magicana_New_Series

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Lastly - A lot of David Willaimson's best tricks were published in GENII. So - if you are not familiar with his output then check out what he published in GENII. Some wonderful material there. One other thing. The 2009 archive for GENII just went up - and as a 'mathematical principles' geek - I was pleased to play around with a clever Gilbreath Principle idea which combines it with a faro shuffle to extend the principle in a new way. Might be of academic interest...

Also - it is quite fun reading Jamy Ian Swiss's review of Derren Brown's PURE EFFECT. The review was written a couple of years before Derren became very famous on TV over here in the UK. What is interesting about the review though is that Jamy correctly identified Derren's work as opening up what would be an influential new approach to mentalism. I think Jamy deserves credit for identifying Derren's potential at that early stage...

All the best,

Joe

PS The DECEMBER 2001 issue is one of the best collections of Dai Vernon material around.

Thank you both for responding! Motown, I really dug that Steranko issue. I don't care for his magic in the least, but he's such a fascinating guy. Great article.

Joe-- thanks a lot for all that! I'm gonna have a lot of reading to do.

I really like the collection feature they have. So far I've made a large Walton collection (I wasn't aware how much he had actually contributed). "A Magical Joke" really gave me a chuckle.

The Giobbi column is just tops. The Chronicles annotations were a great read. As I read the columns, I always highlight stuff that I'd like to quote on the blog. Giobbi's a wealth of information.

And hot ***, I'd looked for Bill Goodwin contributions, but for some reason I totally glossed over the Hofzinser problem. Thanks for the tip!

Don't forget. Roy Walton was on the cover of the AUGUST 1998 issue of GENII. Lots of interesting material in there - including a variation of STAGE SHOUT (possibliy Roy Walton's best trick) by Bill Goodwin and Gordon Bean. Also - check out ROYAL TOWN in the AUGUST 1997 issue of GENII. It is a cool trick by 'Briar Tyson' (who is actually Roy Walton under a pseudonym). There is a follow up (this time under Roy's name) in the NOVEMBER 1997 issue. Also - Alex Elmsley was on the cover in the mid 90's as well...

There are tricks and a short interview with Jerry Sadowitz in GENII as well. The Sadowitz tricks are brilliant. Also - there is a lovley Frank Thompson 4 ace production that was published in the 1970's which is great as well.

By the way - my favourite thing in GENII was Gordon Bean's LOCKED ROOM column. There was only about 12 of these in total - but each one contained an interesting interview, a great trick and the most beautiful writing in magic I have seen.

Also - check out the following for a useful overview of GENII - http://www.littleegyptmagic.com/magic_december2009.html

The FULMINATIONS column by Gary Ouellett was great as well. Also - Hiro Sakai was featured in the magazine in an 'Japanese Magic special' in the late 80's as well...

Lastly - my favourite issue of GENII was the one with the incredibly long interview with PENN AND TELLER. It went on over three issues (including one of Eugene Burger's columns). And a really useful issue was the 75th anniversary issue which was an 'all-tricks' special looking back on some of the magic that had being published in the magazine over the previous 75 years.

All the best,

Joe

Glad you folks are enjoying the archive available via iGenii. Tell your friends to subscribe!

Some great one-man issues as well. Look out for the Mike Skinner, Bob White, Bro John Hamman, Derek Dingle and Derren Brown ones. They are all great!

All the best,

Joe

Some great one-man issues as well. Look out for the Mike Skinner, Bruce Cervon, Bob White, Bro John Hamman, Derek Dingle and Derren Brown ones. They are all great!

With Richard Kaufman editing the magazine it is great fun since we finally have a total 100% card fanatic running a major magic magazine! Happy Days!

All the best,

Joe

PS Don't forget to check out Paul Harris's intriguing 'ACE ANOMALY'. It was mentioned in GENII and hasn't really being publicised elsewhere.

I had let my Genii sub go a year or so back but this looks like a hellava good reason to resubscribe!

MMc

Sorry for the weird double post above. Wasn't logged in properly...

Anyway - for those sitting on the fence. You should all try and subscribe to GENII. MAGIC magazine is a pretty good magazine - but these days, GENII is ten times better. In fact 99% of the people who made MAGIC great are now over writing for GENII instead.

And with access to the archive as well? Jeesh! - that's the gift that keeps on giving!

Joe

Here is another. Check out the FEB 2009 issue for some great tricks from Hiro Sakai including a fantastic weird version of the classic pass. It is a bizarre move called 'The Strange Pass'.

Joe

Really great contributions, Joe.

Speaking of the Sakai move, I just did a little write up of my thoughts on Chronicles 1 on my blog. After going back through the book, I realize I'd forgotten about A Curious Turnover Pass, which is very similar in design. I don't care for the Chronicles handling, but I like Sakai's. Earick has a similar one as well.

The Sakai issue is great, btw. While I'd probably never perform it, that Bank Night routine is killer.

Some of my favorites:

The Color Out of Space (February 1989) - Probably one of the cleanest, yet most unusual ESP symbol divinations you'll ever come across!

That same issue also features "Sneaky Sneaker", where you pull the bow off your shoe, put it at the bottom end, and untie the shoelace there.

Hummeracle! (March 1990) - Max Abrams' awesome work on Bob Hummer's 3-object divination. (Why Bob himself didn't mention this, I don't know.)

March 1991: Just read through it - there's many a great treasure in this issue.

Twinkle Toes (December 1987) - Take off your shoe, remove your little toes through your sock, and replace them!

The Mystery of the Red Herring, (November 1991) - This is a simple card discovery in which the overacting on the part of the magician makes it play very big!

The Paper Chase (March 1993) - Use a Ted Lesley or other m****d deck? Here are some of the most effective ways to use it.

I'm into memory, of course, so Tom Harris' "Mnemonics for Magicians" series, which started back in the January 1959 issue, was one of my favorite series.

Here is another. Check out RED CARS AND REAL MAGIC by Mark Levy. It is on page 55 of the Sept. 2008 issue of GENII. The method for this seemingly impossible effect is a wonderful sneaky bluff.

Joe

Another one. Derek Dingle had the best handling for the MACDONALD'S ACES routine I have come across. It was published in GENII - although not in the one-man issue devoted to his work.

If you are a fan of this trick then this is well worth checking out...

Joe

For anyone still reading this thread, check out Gene Maze's "Facer". page 595, vol. 63. Very, very clever use of the KM move.

Richard Sanders' "Pile of Change" is an impromptu gem. Any audience member with at least a small handful of change in his pocket is asked to dig it out, whereupon his bankroll is magically increased at no cost to the magician. You can find it in the June, 2005 issue.

I was hoping to go through the archives and take a look at some of the "gems" shared here.

But am I the only one who finds the archive to be a real pain to use? I can sit there for 10 minutes before a page loads and often it doesn't load at all.
Searching only seems to load the page containing the text you searched for - I can't figure out how to move onto the next page of the magazine.

Things were so much smoother (for me at least) when it was on Ask Alexander.

Does anyone else have the same issue?

Actually I find the archive BETTER than when it was on CARC. I hasten to add that here in The Netherlands the Internet is BLAZING fast but even with a fast client, a slow server can make fast seem like a crawl. What browser are you using? Internet Explorer is a dog infested with fleas and there is truth to the saying that people use IE to download Chrome and/or Firefox. I use Chrome and I love it.

In the gems offered here, you have the issue citation. So, instead of doing a text or boolean search, go to the issue itself THEN to the item you want. To flip pages all you need to do is move your mouse to either end of the screen and arrows will appear. Click on the right arrow to advance and the left arrow to go back.

Back to your PC or MAC: Have you cleared your browser's cache? Have you scanned for malware, adware, spyware, trojans and virii? I would recommend download the free Malware Bytes and do a deep scan of your computer. Also, AVG anti-virus (also has a free option) is a GREAT anti-virus that uses very little in terms of resources.

I hope a few of these suggestions will help you as the archive is simply amazing.

Best,
Vlad

I just wanted to add that I think the online issue is great. The text with the video features makes for a great learing and entertainment experience. I love the way its put together. The guys at Genii have figured out a great format. Awesome job guys! Im about to do a three year online subsription and Im hoping I can somehow talk Richard into a Jennings 67 deal...