Hmm… my first blog. I’m going to keep this one short and simple. I’m going to use this space, from time to time, to discuss something within magic that interests me. A brief bit about myself for those of you that don’t know me. My name’s Jeff Hinchliffe, and I’m the resident card-guy at the Browser’s Den. I was a customer for 12 years, and after Jeff (Pinsky) saw that I wasn’t going away, he figured he might as well hire me. I found out about the shop through Canada’s Wonderland. Jeff had a small booth in one of the souvenir shops, and it was there that magic entered my life. I had a choice to make that day, buy the Svengali deck, or buy lunch. I think I made the right choice.

So, what am I going to usually blog about? Mostly card stuff, although there will be non-card stuff from time to time. I have a large interest in the history of magic, so expect useless factoids and other bits of nonsense. I may even rant a little.

For example, the trick known as Card on Ceiling was popularized in the 20th century by Michael Ammar. There were others who had versions in the 20th century before Ammar (Scarne, Bertram, etc.) but Ammar was the one who really made it popular, even having his own version on the market.

The double-lift was a technique that, at the beginning of the 20th century, was rarely used. Then came along a guy named Vernon. His use of the double lift was one of the factors that has likely made it the ‘most used/abused’ move in magic today.

What I find interesting is that both the ‘Card on Ceiling’ and the ‘Double-Lift’ were invented long before the 20th century. Before the lightbulb, electricity, the tin can, or photography were invented, these two pieces of modern(?) magic were originally published in the same book… in 1716. That’s right, they’ve been around for close to 300 years! The book is called ‘The Merry Companion’ and it was written by Richard Neve. There’s more magic in that book, but we’ll save that for another blog.

I wonder if Richard Neve could’ve gotten a deal with Ellusionist? Perhaps we’ll save that for another blog.

Until Next Time,

Jeff