The Best of Slydini...and More (Two Book Set Text & Photographs)

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Tony Slydini

Slydini (1901, Foggia, Italy – 1991) was a world renowned magician.

Tony Slydini was born as Quintino Marucci in Foggia, Italy. Best known as a master of close-up artistry, he served as inspiration to a generation of magicians, including Doug Henning.

Slydini was the son of an amateur magician who encouraged him to pursue sleight of hand at an early age. Slydini was attracted to the psychological aspects of the art, which would later show itself in his magic in the form of precise and expert use of misdirection. He was also inspired by the relationship between the magician and his audience, which fueled his desire to be a close-up artist. While still young, Slydini and his family left Italy to live in Argentina. It was there that Slydini began to experiment more seriously with magic. He worked in South America's version of vaudeville for a time, but soon the Great Depression hit and work became scarce. In 1930, he moved to New York City, landing a job in a museum on Forty-second Street. From there, Slydini found work in carnivals and sideshows. On a visit with his sister in Boston, Slydini attracted the attention of an agent there, landing a job for $15 a day for a three-day show. His skill was apparent to those who saw him on those three days, including another agent who offered him another contract. This streak continued for some time: Slydini ended up performing in Boston for seven years.

In 1945 in New Orleans Slydini showed his own special brand of magic. His style of close-up was something that had never been seen before: he was one of the first to show close-up magic as an art in itself rather than as a lead-in to bigger and grander illusions. Slydini's magic was impromptu: rather than follow a set sequence of tricks, he allowed his audience and the situation to dictate his show. Reportedly, Dick Cavett once asked Dai Vernon who could still fool him. His answer: Nobody but Slydini.

Slydini died in 1991.

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Karl Fulves

Karl Fulves
Born Carl A. Fulves July 27, 1938 New Rochelle, NY
Died February 16, 2023 (age 84) Hackensack, New Jersey

Categories
Books by Karl Fulves
Karl Fulves (b.1938-d.2023) taught thousands of beginners, young and old, to perform remarkable feats of sleight of hand through the books he has published (as Gutenberg Press), especially with his "Self-Working" series he did for the general public, published by Dover Books.


Contents
1 Biography
2 Awards
3 Force Books
4 Periodicals
5 Publications
6 Contributions
6.1 New Stars of Magic manuscripts
6.2 Abra magazine
7 References

Biography
Fulves (pronounced full-ves) lived in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and was a private person who repeatedly turned down all requests for interviews. There is not much known about him other than his incredible output of magic literature.

Karl Fulves was married to his wife Jean with whom he had three children.

One of the most prolific writing magician of the 20th century, Matthew Field gave a detailed presentation on the "Collector's Day" in London in 2012, listing almost all publications.

Fulves used over 30 different pen names throughout his works, especially in magazines, which have included: Ralph Gironda, Robert Hess, Fred Lessor, Glen Kehler, Gray Leese, Peter Alexis, Francis J. Baker, Alan Brown, Ben Christopher, B. Jordan.

Awards
Literary Fellowship from the Academy of Magical Arts.

Force Books
Fulves wrote a science fiction book, published in paperback in 1976 called "Aftermath: Stories From the Rigel War", which he also created as a Force Book.[1] There were two versions of this science fiction book. The first was a typed manuscript offered for a limited time, the second is the paperback version.[2]

Fulves produced another force book for magician Sam Schwartz called "Astrology, The Hidden Force, sometimes called Incredi-book" (1983). Released as a hardback set, it was dedicated to astrology, and used branching anagrams. It came with two books with different covers, one a black cover, the other a red cover.[3]

Periodicals
Karl Fulves took over The New Phoenix magazine from Don Tanner. He published three more issues and then at issue 400 in October 1965 stated "The bird will be fondly laid to rest." He then started a new magazine called The Pallbearers Review which continued until 1975.

He also started another periodical called Epilogue from 1967 until 1976.

In 1970, Joseph K. Schmidt submitted to Fulves a rope trick complete with illustrations. The contribution was published in Volume 5, Issue #10 of Pallbearers. Fulves was very impressed with Schmidt's artistic abilities and, coincidentally, was looking for an artist to illustrate some of the lengthier routines. He asked Schmidt to illustrate an effect called Canterbury Cups and Schmidt agreed. Fulves and Schmidt's relationship grew and it continues to this day. Fulves was the first person to refer to Schmidt as an "artist". Schmidt has illustrated over 75 books, manuscripts and booklets for Fulves, including Swindle Sheet, Cheat Sheet. Rigmarole, and Verbatim.

Shortly after concluding Pallbearers and Epilogue he announced the birth of a new periodical, The Chronicles Limited to 36 issues, The Chronicles took from 1978 to 1988 to complete, and during those ten years, some of the finest close-up magic of the period was explained in its pages.

Fulves published many more periodicals over the years including Charlatan, Underworld, Fine Print, Interlocutor, and Midnight Magic Monthly.

Midnight Magic Monthly (15 issues, only one complete file is known to exist) was a periodical by Karl Fulves that ran from 1959 until 1960. According to Karl Fulves who writes in the index,"The first thirteen issues were written in order and the Fall and Winter Extra's followed." The index was last to follow. It should be noted that the original title was "Midnight Magic Magazine" and the first seven issues are named as such. Beginning with issue eight, the "Midnight Magic Monthly" title began.

List of periodicals published by Karl Fulves.

Alfredson/Daily ... Fernandes number, title, year of publication and number of issues in a complete file:

4850...Midnight Magic Monthly 1959-1960 13+2 issues
3262...Lamplighter (with Jim Sarles) 1963-1964(?) 7(?) issues
5510...Pallbearers Review original series ?-1965 22 issues
5515...Pallbearers Review 1965-1975 120 issues
5180...New Phoenix 1965 4 issues 397-400
2130...Epilogue 1967-1975 25 issues
2955...Interlocutor 1975-1988 52 issues
1580...Chronicles 1978-1988 36 issues
5335...Notebooks no information available
6055...S-C Contemporary Money Magic 1985 7 issues
15505..Charlatan 1999 - 2003 10 issues
15550..Cheat Sheet 1990-1992 10 issues
19657..Discoverie 1999 - 2003 10 issues
65703..Swindle Sheet 1990-1992 10 issues
29505..Interim Report 1993 1 issue
58955..Rigmarole 1993-1994 10 issues
69800..Verbatim 1993-1994 10 issues
69206..Underworld 1995-1999 10 issues
22102..Fine Print The 1995-1999 10 issues
32627..Latter Day Secrets 1999 - 2003 10 issues
XXXXX..Off The Books 2000-2003 10 issues
XXXXX..Prolix 2006-2013 10 issues to date
XXXXX..Xtra Credit 2006-2013 10 issues to date
XXXXX..The Lowdown 2016-? (10 issues plus 10 supplements expected)
Fulves has announced in the final issue of Prolix that there will be a new periodical issued with an estimated 20 pages per issue. This new periodical is called The Lowdown. There will be 10 issues plus 10 supplements. The material was written in 2013, printed in 2015, and began being distributed in 2016.[4]

Publications
Most of the titles are published by himself under his own name or Gutenberg Press

Title Date Pages
13 Prophets 1996 60
28 Card Tricks 1991 64
A History of the Brainwave Principle 1983 100
Ace Machine 1963 6
A Die of Another Color- Martin Gardner 1995 40
After Jordan 1983 12
And a Packet of Cards 1989 60
Animation (Workshop #1) 1979 12
Big Book of Magic Tricks (reprint of The Magic Book) 1994 196
Binary Count Notes 1969 ?
Blocking Off ?
Bob Hummer's Collected Secrets 1980 106
Bob Ostin's New Submarine Card 1983 40
Calculator Tricks 1998 130
Card Counting 1982 48
Card Under Glass 1979 24
Cards #1 Four-card Brainwave 1978 20
Cards #2 51 Faces North 1978 24
Cards #3 Interlock 1980 72
Cards #4 Side Steal 1981 60
Cards #5 The Multiple Shift 1989 48
Charles Jordan's Best Card Tricks 1992 252
Charles T. Jordan Collected Tricks 1975 315
Clockwork: Approaches to Card Counting 2005 75
Close-up Mental Magic 1974 55
Color Capture 1986 30
Color Quick 1980 50
Combo 1998 55
Combo II 2005 125
Command Colors 1997 22
Contemporary Handkerchief Magic, part 1 1987 30
Contemporary Handkerchief Magic, part 2 1987 28
Contemporary Rope Magic, part 1 1986 28
Contemporary Rope Magic, part 2 1986 28
Contemporary Rope Magic, part 3 1986 28
Confessions of a Psychic by Uriah Fuller (pen name of Martin Gardner) 1975 37
Covenant 1987 29
Crooked Tales 1994 129
Cryptology 1979 24
Curioser 1980 61
Deceptive Practices 1992 83
Day for Any Date- Sam Schwartz 1997 43
Deceptive Practices, Supplement 1992 28
Downs on Malini 11
NSOM : Dr Ken Krenzel's Incredible Card Tunnel 1975 6
Easy to do card tricks for children 1989 47
Easy to do magic tricks for children 1974 90
Ellis Stanyon's Best Card Tricks 1999 313
Epilogue 1993 312
Faro and Riffle Technique 1976 90
Faro and Riffle Technique- original xerox copy will be signed 1969 46
Faro and Riffle Technique; Supplement 1 1970 10
Faro and Riffle Technique; Supplement 2 1970 ?
Faro and Riffle Technique; Supplement 3 1970 ?
Faro Possibilities 1967 36
Four Color Problems 1979 24
Fourcast 1981 36
Fr. Cyprian's TV Card Rise 1982 40
Further Confessions of a Psychic by Uriah Fuller (pen name of Martin Gardner) 1980 69
Gambler's Third Lesson 1979 16
Gene Finnell's Card Magic 1973 76
Hardcore Aces 1983 12
Hocus Poker 1982 32
Hofzinser's Card Tricks 2002 148
Hofzinser Notebook 2003 87
Impromptu Holdouts 1977 50
Impromptu Openers 1979 8
Labyrinth 1980 7
Magic with Cards and Cases No. 2: Inner Sanctum 1979 48
Magic with Cards and Cases No. 1: Jack in the Box 1979 24
Jacob Daley's Notebooks (transcr. Csuri)1st ed. HB no pagination 1975 194
Jacob Daley's Notebooks (transcr. Csuri)HB with pagination 1975 194
Jacob Daley's Notebooks (transcr. Csuri)comb bound 1975 194
Kaleidoscope 1989 50
Kannibal Kards 1975 8
NSOM : Karl Fulves Technicolor Cards 1974 6
The Magic Book 1977 195
Methods with Cards, Part 1 1975 80
Methods with Cards, Part 2 1975 80
Methods with Cards, Part 3 1975 80
Mexican Monte 1972 32
Milennium Aces 1981 92
Money Moves 1989 34
More Self-Working Card Tricks 1984 136
Mutus Nomen 1988 82
Neale's Trapdoor Card 1983 12
New Card Rises 1996 62
Notes from the Underground 1973 61
Nyria Effect 1979 24
Octet 1981 76
Origins 1981 56
Packet Switches (Part One) 1973 56
Packet Switches (Part Two) 1973 56
Packet Switches (Part Three) 1977 76
Packet Switches (Part Four) 1977 72
Packet Switches (Part Five) 1977 70
The Pallbearers Review, Volume 1-4 1993 290
The Pallbearers Review, Volume 5-8 1993 390
The Pallbearers Review, Volume 9-12 1993 380
Parallel Lines 1980 40
Principles of Riffle Shuffle Set-ups 1968 30
Prototype 1989 50
Punch out Puzzle Kit 1982 24
Quick Card Tricks 1989 50
Riffle Shuffle Control 1979 23
Riffle Shuffle Controls Part Two: Blocking Off 1996 206
Riffle Shuffle Methods 1987 49
Riffle Shuffle Set-ups I 1973 98
Riffle Shuffle Set-ups II 1976 98
Riffle Shuffle Technique Preliminaries, Notes, Problems 1971 22
Riffle Shuffle Technique Preliminary Notes, part 1 1972 22
Riffle Shuffle Technique, part 1 1973 12
Riffle Shuffle Technique Preliminary Notes, part 2 1973 60
Riffle Shuffle Technique, part 2 1975 12
Riffle Shuffle Technique, part 3 1984 92
Secret Session, part one 1987 29
Secret Session, part two 1987 28
Secret Session, part three 1987 28
Self-Working Card Tricks 1976 113
Self-Working Close-up Card Magic 1995 120
Self-Working Coin Magic 1989 136
Self-Working Handkerchief Magic 1989 184
Self-Working Mental Magic 1979 121
Self-Working Number Magic 1982 145
Self-Working Paper Magic 1985 147
Self-Working Rope Magic 1990 148
Self-Working Table Magic 1981 122
Setting up Exercises 1995 111
Shape Changers 1979 44
Shuffle off 1983 12
Six Impromptu Card Tricks 1982 48
Swindle & Cheat - a collection of nontransitive games 1991 71
Teleportation Notes 1969 8
Teleportation Notes 1979 24
The Best of Slydini ... and More, vol 1 (text) 1976 108
The Best of Slydini ... and More, vol 2 (photos) 1976 126
The Book of Numbers 1971 47
The Book of Numbers, Supplementary Notes 1971 19
The Children's Magic Kit 1980 16+16
The Magic of Slydini and More, vol 1 (text) 1976 108
The Magic of Slydini and More, vol 2 (photos) 1976 126
The Magic Thrust 2001 46
The Magical World of Slydini, vol 1 (text) 1979 101
The Magical World of Slydini, vol 2 (photos) 1979 176
The Noir Test 1998 26
The Return Trip 1986 39
The Shamrock Code & the Parallel Principle 1979 48
Topological False Count (Workshop #2) 1979 18
Transpo Trix 1978 80
Trick with Dice 1970 26
Under Tension Tricks With Rubber-Banded Decks 2004 101
Vampire Chronicles 1997 92
Vampire Papers 1997 45
When Psychics Play Poker 2004 63
Wireless II 1982 48
Word Play 2007 71
Worknotes on Brainwave 1983 20

Contributions
New Stars of Magic manuscripts
Fulves also wrote the text for a number of the New Stars of Magic manuscripts, including Chris Capehart's 3-Ring Routine, Joe de Stefano's Chinatown Poker, Max Londono's Eternal String, Metalogic (Fred Baumann) and David Roth Okito Box routine.

Abra magazine
Contributions to Abra (from Andi Gladwin's post on the Clog):

A Hofzinser Variation - 1st March, 1969. Volume 47, Number 1205. Page 140
A variant of Hofzinser’s Remeber & Forget effect. In this handling three people each select a card. The first person is then asked to pick another card and decide which of the two they’d like to keep. They then hand their discard to the next participant, who decides whether to keep that or his first selection. That discard is passed to the next person, who is asked to make the same decision. Karl then names all three selections. While the effect is certainly simple in method I’m considering adding it to my repertoire as I’m sure that it would absolutely fry any audience.

Think-A-Card - 16th March, 1974. Volume 57, Number 1468. Page 210
Instructions for how to make a pretty detailed gimmicked deck. It’s similar to the Ultra Mental deck, but with the cards separated at the start. This allows you to place a odd-backed card into the deck (without anyone seeing its face) and have someone think of one of the cards from a spread. Then, you show that the named card is actually the odd-backed card.

Kings Row - 30th March, 1974. Volume 57, Number 1470. Page 261
A basic Sandwich routine using two black Kings. Fulves also suggests a challenge to the reader that you might like to experiment with: “As a problem the reader may wish to solve, this basic effect can be elaborated upon as follows: the red Kings and the black Kings are shown separately. One of two chosen cards ends up between the red Kings. The other chosen card then ends up between the black Kings.”

That’s Odd - 27th April, 1974. Volume 57, Number 1474. Page 330
An fun transposition routine where someone on your left is given two odd value cards and someone on your right two even value cards. The two odd cards are placed into the card box and are caused to transpose with the even cards. When the participants check the card box for extra cards they just find the words, “That’s odd” written on the case!

Restoration - 22nd June, 1974. Volume 57, Number 1482. Page 490
A weird and original effect using two borrowed playing cards and two clear plastic sheets. A card, say the Four of Spades is cut into quarters and placed on top of one of the plastic sheets. Another card, say the Seven of Spades, is placed on top of the quarters and then the other plastic sheet is placed on top of that. The condition of the cards is then caused to swap: so the Seven of Spades is now the cut card and the four is shown to be completed restored.

References
↑ Interlocutor No. 21 May 1978
↑ Interlocutor No. 1, July 1975
↑ Genii Volume 48, No.7, July 1984, page 79
↑ http://forums.geniimagazine.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=48245&sid=4d81ae031c2363358c59da1b1ffa2f15