{"id":19750,"date":"2026-07-05T00:07:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T22:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertogiobbi.com\/site\/?p=19750"},"modified":"2026-07-04T18:14:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T16:14:35","slug":"the-magic-memories-229","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robertogiobbi.com\/site\/the-magic-memories-229\/","title":{"rendered":"The Magic Memories (229)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone!<\/p>\n

Today’s topics are: Tamariz on Giobbi in La Circular<\/i>, June 1980; Dai Vernon’s “Cutting the Aces”; Joaqu\u00edn Matas Lecture; Pat Page Audio Archive and Cy Endfield’s Zulu<\/em>; To AI or not to AI; David Williamson’s New Sleight School<\/p>\n

These are\u00a0The Magic Memories 229<\/em>, gone online Sunday, July 5th, 2026, at 0:07h sharp.<\/p>\n

All\u00a0The Magic Memories<\/em> from 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, \u00a0including the Magic Advent Calendar<\/em>\u00a0from 2020, can be found\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I planned to write a longer The Magic Memories<\/em> this month, but as you may have learned from the news, Europe is suffering from an unusual heat wave.<\/p>\n

Here in Basel, Switzerland, we had temperatures up to 39\u00b0C (over 102\u00b0F), which is most unusual, and we are simply not used to that.<\/p>\n

In the Old World we have a lot less air conditioning, and some countries even require you to obtain an approval by the government to privately install an air-conditioning device; this is mainly in order to spare the environment… hard to understand for my readers in the New World, where most countries do not subscribe to the Berne Convention.<\/p>\n

Tamariz on Giobbi in La Circular<\/i>, June 1980<\/h3>\n

In June 1980, forty-six years ago (!), almost to the day, Juan Tamariz wrote the text below in the La Circular<\/i>, the monthly “newsletter-magazine” of the Escuela M\u00e1gica de Madrid:<\/p>\n

\n
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La Circular, June 1980<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Transcription of original: Roberto Giobbi, joven y magn\u00edfico mago, pas\u00f3 una semana en casa. Sus “chips”, sus aros, sus monedas y algunos efectos con cartas fueron super-comentados y degustados. Apuntaros el nombre. Sonar\u00e1.<\/p>\n

English translation: Roberto Giobbi, a young and outstanding magician, spent a week at our home. His chips, rings, coins, and several card effects were thoroughly discussed and greatly enjoyed. Remember the name. You’ll be hearing it again.<\/p>\n

(The clip was sent in by Lorenz Sch\u00e4r, who co-hosts Denis Behr’s “Archives” and is right now doing the gargantuan work of entering the content of La Circular…)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is attached to so many memories I would not even know where to start… here are a few flashbacks:<\/p>\n

1980 was the first time I spent a full week at Juan Tamariz’s home in Madrid, at the time an apartment in Lope de Rueda 3, where he lived with his first wife Mary Pura and his two daughters Ana and Monica, at that time ten and twelve years old.<\/p>\n

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… with Consuelo and Juan Tamariz, Cadiz 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few years ago I went back to the place and took a photo of the front door (see below), and was surprised at how well that old building I knew from the 1980es had been renovated.<\/p>\n

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Lope de Rueda 3, Madrid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If memory serves me well, Juan and his family moved out of there in the 1990es into a house in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, where the famous card conference Las Jornadas Cartomagicas have been held since 1974.<\/p>\n

We had met for the first time at a German convention in 1978, then again at FISM 1979 in Bruxelles.<\/p>\n

As we met yet again in 1979 at Ron MacMillan’s One Day Convention in London, at dinner in a Chinese restaurant the name of which I forget, but which to me was a historical moment and place, he invited Christian Scherer and me to visit with him at his home the following year.<\/p>\n

I accepted the invitation, and from 1980 until the 2020 (the damned year of the pandemic), I spent every year at least one week at Tamariz’s home in Madrid and\/or San Fernando near Cadiz.<\/p>\n

In the short text above Juan refers to my visit to the SEI, the magic club of Madrid, where up to this very day members meet every Monday evening at around 7pm (in Madrid all time references are “around”, with a tolerance of up to 60 minutes… or maybe 63…), and afterward go for dinner, where the magic goes on until thrown out by the restaurant owner.<\/p>\n

At the time the restaurant was “La Corona”, in calle de los Jardines, 5, and which is now permanently closed, so I will never again be able to recreate those marvelous sessions we had when we were still innocent amateurs…<\/p>\n

Just in case: If you happen to be in Madrid and want to attend the meeting of the SEI you will find it in Calle Pinos Alta, 87.<\/p>\n

Dai Vernon’s “Cutting the Aces”<\/h3>\n

I was recently discussing Dai Vernon’s magnificent and influential routine, “Cutting the Aces,” from Stars of Magic<\/i> with my Parisian friend, Yves Carbonnier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yves recalled that the title page of Robert-Houdin’s Les tricheries des grecs \u2013 L’art de gagner \u00e0 tous les jeux<\/i> (Paris, 1863)\u2014a landmark work in the history of both magic and gambling literature\u2014depicts the hand of a card sharp being transfixed by a knife. <\/span><\/p>\n

It seems quite possible that Dai Vernon had seen this striking illustration and that it inspired the presentation he later developed for Stars of Magic<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Vernon’s inspiration for “Cutting the Aces”?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robert-Houdin’s book was subsequently translated into English by Professor Hoffmann (Angelo Lewis), himself one of the most celebrated authors in the history of magic, under the title Card-Sharping Exposed<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

A PDF edition of the book is available from Chris Wasshuber’s Lybrary.com<\/a> for less than $10.<\/span><\/p>\n

PS: The book is now public domaine, and you should have no difficulties finding various versions online; for the original French CLICK HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joaqu\u00edn Matas Lecture<\/h3>\n

Joaqu\u00edn Matas<\/a> from Barcelona lectured for our club, the Zauberring Basel (ZRB), on Saturday, 20th June. A dozen magic enthusiasts attended and enjoyed an excellent lecture.<\/p>\n

Joaqu\u00edn split his talk in two parts: part one was dedicated to some of the best items from his professional repertoire, the second part discussed the magic and philosophy of his late friend and teacher Gabi Pareras.<\/p>\n

Even though Joaqu\u00edn is a working professional active for corporate, private, and magical events \u2013 and he is very busy doing that \u2013 he has remained at heart an amateur who practices and studies magic in a scholarly way.<\/p>\n

Joaqu\u00edn first performed each piece as if we were laypeople, and then discussed it as if we were advanced practitioners of magic; and each was a piece de resistance<\/i>.<\/p>\n

If you have a chance to book or see his lecture I advise you do.<\/p>\n

For his tour Joaqu\u00edn wrote a lecture book titled The Barcelona Notes<\/i> (with 152 pages a lecture book, not lecture notes). The book is engagingly written, in great detail, with lots of illustrations – it is the closest thing to assisting to his lecture.<\/p>\n

You can get The Barcelona Notes<\/em> directly from Amazon if you CLICK HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Joaquin Matas (left) with a group of magic enthusiasts In Basel, Switzerland, 20th June 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pat Page Audio Archive and Cy Endfield’s Zulu<\/em><\/h3>\n

Pat Page\u2019s family recently let me know that the Pat Page Audio Archive<\/strong> has moved to a new home: https:\/\/www.patpagearchive.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Until their email arrived, I had completely forgotten that I had written the endorsement below, which they still feature prominently on their website. It also gives you a good idea of what the archive contains. For those who may have missed it, here it is:<\/p>\n

I immediately purchased the entire interview series and have been listening to the recordings one after another while traveling. <\/em><\/p>\n

Barry Murray and Gordon Drayson have done a remarkable job remastering these wonderful tapes, which preserve an important part of magic\u2019s cultural heritage. <\/em><\/p>\n

The interviews are rich in biographical detail, entertaining anecdotes, and a wealth of practical insights that will appeal equally to beginners and seasoned professionals. They have my highest recommendation!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014Roberto Giobbi<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Among my personal favorites in the collection is the two-part interview in which Cy Endfield<\/strong> talks with Fred Kaps<\/strong>. Perhaps one day I will comment on the many fascinating observations Kaps shares there.<\/p>\n

For the moment, however, I would like to draw your attention to Endfield\u2019s trilogy Cy Endfield\u2019s Entertaining Card Magic<\/em>, written by Lewis Ganson<\/strong>. It was originally published in three separate volumes by Harry Stanley\u2019s Unique Magic Studio<\/strong> in 1955 (Part One), 1956 (Part Two), and 1958 (Part Three). In the 1970s, Supreme Magic Co.<\/strong> reissued the three parts as a single collected volume.<\/p>\n

Cy Endfield (1914\u20131995)\u2014a figure who deserves an essay of his own\u2014was an American film director, screenwriter, inventor, and accomplished magician.<\/p>\n

He directed numerous films (see HERE<\/a> for a visual filmography).<\/p>\n

One of my personal favorites, as an admirer of the Tarzan films, is Tarzan\u2019s Savage Fury<\/em>, starring Lex Barker<\/strong>, which even features a bit of simple conjuring in Tarzan\u2019s treehouse.<\/p>\n

Endfield\u2019s best-known achievement, however, remains Zulu<\/em>. Now in the public domain, the film is available to watch on YouTube here:<\/p>\n