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--- cards:fusion [2018/08/13 19:55] – Added Kaufman's Abstract reference. stephenminch
+++ cards:fusion [2022/10/23 19:00] – Added Sankey citation and other clarifications. stephenminch
@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 The plot of causing two cards to fuse into one was published by Norm Houghton as "Stranger of Another Color" in //[[http://askalexander.org/display/9333/Ibidem+Volume+1/145|Ibidem]]//, No. 5, Apr. 1956, p. 19. Houghton had a blue-backed card fuse to the face of a red-backed selection. No signatures were involved.
-Several years later, signatures made their way into the fold. The first few handlings to involve signatures weren't presented as fusions, but rather as predictions or moveable ink -- the result was the same, though; that of two signed cards becoming one. The first of these was J. G. Thompson, Jr.'s "Joint Signature" from //[[http://askalexander.org/display/12839/Pallbearers+Review+Vol+5+6/79|The Pallbearers Review]]//, Vol. 5 No. 12, Oct. 1970, p. 365. In this trick, a prediction card, signed by the performer on the back, ends up on a selection signed by its chooser on the face. The next was Karl Fulves's "Future Minus" from //[[http://askalexander.org/display/13083/The+Book+of+Numbers/39|The Book of Numbers]]//, 1971, p. 39. A red-backed prediction card fused to the initialed face of a blue-backed selection. Dan Tong later used signatures to reintroduce the fusion premise with "Signature" in //The Blueprint//, Vol. 1 No. 8, Feb. 1975, p. 32. Ian Baxter -- an editor of //The Blueprint// -- anachronistically published his own variants of Tong's trick as "Signature Variations" in the previous month's issue, Vol. 1 No. 7, Jan. 1975, p. 27.
+Several years later, signatures made their way into the fold. The first few handlings to involve signatures weren't presented as fusions, but rather as predictions or moveable ink---the result was the same, though; that of two signed cards becoming one. The first of these was J. G. Thompson, Jr.'s "Joint Signature" from //[[http://askalexander.org/display/12839/Pallbearers+Review+Vol+5+6/79|The Pallbearers Review]]//, Vol. 5 No. 12, Oct. 1970, p. 365. In this trick, a prediction card, signed by the performer on the back, ends up on a selection signed by its chooser on the face. The next was Karl Fulves's "Future Minus" from //[[http://askalexander.org/display/13083/The+Book+of+Numbers/39|The Book of Numbers]]//, 1971, p. 39. A red-backed prediction card fused to the initialed face of a blue-backed selection.
-Wesley James has claimed the Fusion plot as his, but he didn't publish his "Forgery" until //[[http://askalexander.org/display/14532/Stop+Fooling+Us+Lecture+Notes/46|Stop Fooling Us!]]//, 1989, p. 39. James has two cards fuse, one signed by the spectator, the other by the performer. Even if calculating by James's claims of creating his trick in 1965 (see //[[http://askalexander.org/display/12674/Enchantments|Enchantments]]//, 2004, p. 5), Houghton's fusion effect, although lacking signatures, predates it by nine years.
+Dan Tong later used signatures to reintroduce the fusion premise with "Signature" in //The Blueprint//, Vol. 1 No. 8, Feb. 1975, p. 32. Ian Baxter -- an editor of //The Blueprint//---anachronistically published his own variants of Tong's trick as "Signature Variations" in the previous month's issue, Vol. 1 No. 7, Jan. 1975, p. 27.
-Other early and influential routines employing the concept of fusing two cards or portions of two cards are Kaufman, Maze and Arthur's "Fusion" in Richard Kaufman's //Cardworks//, 1981, p. 47; an improved handling of this routine in Kaufman's lecture notes, //Abstract//, 1984, n.p.; and Peter Samelson's "New York Transpo" in his //Theatrical Close-up//, 1984, p. 73.
+Wesley James has claimed the Fusion plot as his, but he didn't publish his "Forgery" until //[[http://askalexander.org/display/14532/Stop+Fooling+Us+Lecture+Notes/46|Stop Fooling Us!]]//, 1989, p. 39. James has two cards fuse, one signed by the spectator, the other by the performer. Even if calculating by the 1965 creation date James claims for his trick (see //[[http://askalexander.org/display/12674/Enchantments|Enchantments]]//, 2004, p. 5), Houghton's fusion effect, although lacking signatures, predates it by nine years.
-  * [[http://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/category/899|Category in Denis Behr's "Conjuring Archive"]]
+The open use of gimmicked cards was later introduced to enhance the effect. Gene Maze, Richard Kaufman, and David Arthur used a double-backed card in their "Fusion" routine from //CardWorks//, 1981, p. 47. Strictly speaking, this isn’t a fusion routine, regardless of the title. The cards weren’t fused but merely “stuck together” (which, while similar, is conceptually different). The double-backer was then split back into two cards, giving the merger no permanency.
+also saw the publication of Paul Harris and Looy Simonoff's "The Beast with Two Backs" in //Close-Up Fantasies Finalé//, 1981, p. 113. This trick ended with two cards permanently fused together in the form of a red/blue double-backer.
+Steve Beam developed the idea of ending with a double-facer, publishing it as "Making Faces" in //The Trapdoor//, No. 7, Jan. 1985, p. 115. In his text, Beam claims to have been doing the routine since his college days. No signatures are involved.
+The first published variation to use a double-faced card to fuse together two spectator-signed selections is "Hotfoot" by Jay Sankey, in //Sankey Panky//, 1986, p. 76.
+The complexity in the development of the card-fusion concept makes it a forbidding topic for succinct discussion. The citations above offer points of origin and some highlights in its evolution. To explore the subject further, refer to:
+* [[http://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/category/899|Category in Denis Behr's "Conjuring Archive"]]
+----
+Prior to the fusion effect being applied to cards, it was suggested for [[coin:fusion|coins and billiard balls]].
+----
+===== Precursor =====
+Prior to cards being fused face-to-face or back-to-back, George Fairclough published a method of fusing cards end-to-end. His trick, "The Mystical Aces and Kings" appeared in //[[https://askalexander.org/display/38527/The+Sphinx/5|The Sphinx]]//, Vol. 6 No. 8, Oct. 1907, p. 93.
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