Conjuring Credits

The Origins of Wonder

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Production of a Suit

This may have been prompted by one of Johann Hofzinser's problems, “The Choice of Suits,” from Kartenkünste, 1910, p. 191 of the Sharpe translation, in which selections by various spectators turn out to be all the cards of one suit. An actual early routine can be found in R. P.'s Ein Spiel Karten, 1853, p. 115, as “Die Freundschaft der Karten.”. In this form, another influence may have been the Multiple Card Revelation sequence.

In the 1970s, Ricky Jay popularized the production of a full suit, card by card, using a series of flourish productions, thus melding the suit production plot with multiple card revelations, removing the element of having cards selected and emphasizing skill. However, Erhard Liebenow may have been the first to develop this idea. In his book, Grand Ouvert, 1978, p. 61, he included such a routine, “Farbskala,” and mentioned having performed it in lectures in the U.S. in the 1970s.

(See Denis Behr's discussion in Handcrafted Card Magic Vol.2, 2011, p. 65.)