Conjuring Credits

The Origins of Wonder

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Flip Stick Vanish

The mechanics of the Flip Stick vanish are published as “Vanishing Cylinder” under Stanyon Ellis's name in Mahatma, Vol. 2 No. 9, Mar. 1899, p. 210. This description includes the idea of grasping the lapels and opening the coat to aid in the concealment of the cylinder behind the forearm. Nine years later, David Devant explained the flip vanish in “The Vanishing Ruler” in his column, Tricks for Everyone, in The Royal Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 122, Dec. 1908, p. 169. Devant combined the serials into book form as Tricks for Everyone, 1909; see p. 15. The “Flip Stick” title came courtesy of Flip Hallema, who invented the vanish independently and composed a full original routine of vanishes and reproductions, which is explained in Harry Lorayne's Tarbell Course in Magic, Volume 7, 1972, p. 221, “Flip's Flipstick”.