Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay is going to shortly be released in a number of cities! Check the map to find the location nearest you to make sure you don’t miss this extraordinary look into the life of Ricky Jay as well as all of the great footage and stories of many of magic’s greatest and most revered personalities.

Also, if you missed it, Mr. Jay was on The View and The Late Show with David Letterman promoting the film, and you can find the whole episodes on their respective websites and video players. Here is a clip from the Letterman show:

The Late Show with David Letterman

Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay

PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY MOLLY BERNSTEIN AND ALAN EDELSTEIN

Because of this The Sphinx has retained a very high value in the world of magic magazines. It’s not uncommon for a complete physical file of The Sphinx to sell for around $5,000. A previous digitization project was offered for sale for $500. Conjuring Arts has completely rescanned and OCRed (makes the text searchable) The Sphinx and we are releasing this on DVD for the astounding price of $49.99 postpaid in the US.

Why so low? We feel that the contents in The Sphinx creates its own indispensable bookshelf of magic knowledge, and because of this, everyone should have and read The Sphinx.  This belief led us to decide on a price that everyone can afford.

What’s inside? Charles T. Jordan material, Arthur Finley material, news about every imaginable name in magic from Houdini to Fu Manchu to Richiardi Jr. and on top of that magic secrets that rival the greatest books ever written on magic. Find the first advertisement for Erdnase’s Expert at the Card Table or see one of the beautiful ads made for Dai Vernon’s privately distributed booklets.

Conjuring Arts has offered The Sphinx for years as part of all levels of our Ask Alexander database but some still would like to have this at their offline fingertips.

Why do we call it The Ultimate Sphinx? We carefully went through every volume, scanned it in color and had our computers convert the words to searchable text. We then created the files and also created an electronic index so that you can search the whole thing incredibly fast on your home computer.

In addition to writing by Fu Manchu, Sam Horowitz, Max Holden, John Mulholland and thousands more, here are some examples of how many references you might find:

Houdini – 7253
Annemann – 778
Dai Vernon - 380
Cardini - 982
Hofzinser – 257
Erdnase – 188
Richiardi – 85
Fu Manchu – 362
Charles t. Jordan – 99
Kellar – 3452

Now own the Sphinx for only $49.99 postpaid anywhere in the US ($59.99 everywhere else in the world)!

For this reason we are about to make Ask Alexander publically searchable. While it is still necessary to have a subscription if you want to access articles, the public search feature will allow non-members to search for their favorite magicians and effects in order to see what information is available at each membership level. This way you know exactly what you are getting before signing up. This also will allow members with Bronze and Silver access to see what they’ve been missing. Additionally, we will be offering instant subscriptions, so that new members can begin searching just seconds after joining.

Both of these changes are part of an effort to make our database accessible to a greater variety of magicians, researchers, and curiosity seekers.

Ask Alexander is the most valuable single resource in all of magic. At present, it contains over two-million pages.  All access levels feature keyword search; instant translation into nearly fifty languages; and personal search history. In addition, you can easily create a personalized bookshelves and collections from your favorite documents.

Bronze 

Bronze access provides an incredible value for those who want a taste of what Ask Alexander contains. This level features:

• 500,000 pages of material
• Complete files of magazines such as the Sphinx, Genii, and Hugard’s Magic Monthly.
• Dozens complete books by Jon Racherbaumer and the Miracle Factory.
• and much more

Bronze level access is available as part of our Charlier level membership package (which includes special discounts and our journal, Gibecière).

Silver

With over 750,000 pages of material, Silver level provides superior access. Aside from all Bronze material, this level includes a great more books and magazines, many of which have only been made available by special arrangement with the authors and publishers. Highlights include:

• Stewart James correspondence
• Sid Lorraine’s incredible files
• Dozens of Max Maven books.

Silver level Ask Alexander access is available as part of our Hofzinser level membership package (which includes special discounts and our journal, Gibecière).

Gold

Gold level features over 1,000,000 pages of material, the best outside of the library. Users will encounter vast troves of books, magazines, and rare items. This includes all of Bronze and Silver as well as:

• Rare books from before 1900′s
• Houdini Scrapbooks
• Hugard’s comprehensive personal files
• Dani DaOrtiz’s El Manuscrito
• Paul Harris books, and more.

Gold level Ask Alexander access is available for subscription as part of our Erdnase level membership package (which includes special discounts and our journal, Gibecière).

Click here to view all of the membership options and prices

Gibecière Vol. 8, No. 1

Our 15th issue of Gibecière is our biggest issue ever! As with some previous issues of our journal, we are once again very proud to deliver a long lost manuscript that sheds refreshing light on our history while also unearthing some forgotten treasures.

The Asti manuscript is estimated to have been written somewhere between 1670 – 1730 and, until recently, had been relegated to a storage closet housing a miscellany of things in the Biblioteca di Asti. Someone did discover the manuscript there and deemed it  worth being inventoried and catalogued, although they ultimately decided it was not of any major importance.

It was Marco Aimone and Aurelio Paviato who learned of the manuscript and thought otherwise. Just a brief look at the first two items, and they knew they had found a new and important addition to magic literature. Here we find the earliest known descriptions of a sleight-of-hand color change and the under-the-spread force. In addition, there are unique effects described that would otherwise have been lost, as well as early precursors to now-classic effects. The forgotten effects may inspire you to breathe new life into them with modern methods, while the early handlings of classic effects could drive a well-worn plot in new directions.

The manuscript has been painstakingly transcribed by Aurelio Paviato and then translated into English by Lori Pieper and  features sections on tricks with playing cards, sleight of hand with other objects and tricks with apparatus, and, finally,  tricks, stunts, and experiments. The author has included a plethora of clear and very informative illustrations. Additionally there are a number of tips on handling sprinkled throughout the manuscript that point to some early psychological advantages in use by magicians of the era.

The manuscript has been made as readable as possible and supplemented with numerous annotations by Lori Pieper, Aurelio Paviato, Thierry Depaulis, William Kalush, and Stephen Minch. Further, studies of the history and background for the work have been provided by Donatella Gnetti and Thierry Depaulis.

We think you will enjoy this fantastic window into our history! It should be at our offices near the middle of February (a little late due to the extensive work involved in getting the manuscript ready coupled with setbacks attributed to Hurricane Sandy), and we will be shipping them out to members as soon as we receive them. To insure that you get your copy, make sure that your membership is up to date. Or, if  you are not a member, please join by going here. In addition to the journal we offer numerous other benefits, not the least of which is our searchable magic database, Ask Alexander.

The Erdnase 216 deck.

Relatively recently one of our board members found what might be the only existing example of the Bee 216 deck. This was printed by the New York Consolidated Card Company for a period of time around the year 1900, and although the back design appears in catalogs and illustrations, no other complete deck is known. What is even more exciting is that our deck is in mint condition. What this means is that for the first time we can determine exactly what the cards that Erdnase used felt like! For example, the deck is very thin (52 cards is 14.50 mm!) and very smooth (Cambric finish wouldn’t be used until 1910!). Fittingly, Erdnase wrote, “For superior work the cards should be new, thin, flexible and of best quality.”

As many know, Conjuring Arts has produced more than a dozen decks over the last couple of years and each deck has had variations as to production methods, materials and finishing. This is an ongoing effort to create an amazing deck of cards. Most of our previous releases used the Casino grade of paper that is quite a bit thicker than the retail stock. This allowed us to create an amazingly sturdy and durable deck that quickly became favorites of many of the world’s top card men.

Last fall Conjuring Arts started some new experimentation, taking our research in a completely new direction. We did three major test runs at great expense which allowed us to successfully create what we proudly call our Erdnase Finish. This new finish is the thinnest and smoothest card that can be produced at US Playing Card Company. When measured by caliper a 52 card deck is merely 14.5 mm. This combined with a smooth finish (just as all the cards were in Erdnase’s time) creates a deck that feels as close to the 1902 Bee as is possible to make today. The only real difference is that our new reproduction is a bit slipperier than it’s 1902 predecessor. Today the manufacturing process uses a plastic material in coating the paper and 100 or so years ago this was more of a varnish that can no longer be used for cards.

The back design of the Bee 216 is another very interesting thing. Anyone who has studied Erdnase sufficiently has noticed that the illustrations clearly indicate that he was using Bees. This can be seen by the Ace of Spades in Figure (101). On even closer examination of the illustrations, you can see in Figures (see Fig. 75, for example) that the back design is not redrawn but just a squiggle is used. This is very possibly just a shortcut by the illustrator, and this has been our opinion for many many years. But two years ago, on discovering the Bee 216 deck, a new theory arose. What if this design, which matches M. D. Smith’s “squiggles”, was actually the type of card Erdnase used at the time the book was illustrated? We found it intriguing enough to warrant our latest release of the Erdnase 216 deck. A faithful reproduction in both design and feel of what New York Consolidated’s Bees looked and felt like in 1902.

A very limited edition has been produced, evenly split between a tan and green back color.
 
 

 
 
Member pricing (includes shipping!)(Members must log in for discounted pricing):

Domestic:

1 deck = $6.99 ($4.99 + $2 shipping)
12 decks = $54.99 (Postpaid! Just $4.58/deck!)
144 decks = $574.99 (Postpaid! Just $3.99/deck!)

Canada:

1 deck = $12.99 ($4.99 + $8 shipping)
12 decks = $75.99 ($54.99 + $21 shipping; $6.33/deck)
144 decks = $704.99 ($574.99 + $130 shipping; only $4.90/deck!)

International:

1 deck = $14.99 ($4.99 + $10 shipping)
12 decks = $79.99 ($54.99 + $25 shipping; $6.67/deck)
144 decks= $754.99 ($574.99 + $180 shipping, only $5.24/deck!)

Non-member pricing (includes shipping!):

Domestic:

1 deck = $7.95 ($5.95 + $2 shipping)
12 decks = $64.99 (Postpaid! Just $5.42/deck!)
144 decks = $699 (Postpaid! Just $4.85/deck!)

Canada:

1 deck = $13.95 ($5.95 + $8 shipping)
12 decks = $85.99 ($64.99 + $21 shipping; $7.17/deck)
144 decks = $829 ($699 + $130 shipping; only $5.76/deck!)

International:

1 deck = $15.95 ($5.95 + $10 shipping)
12 decks = $89.99 ($64.99 + $25 shipping; $8.75/deck)
144 decks= $879 ($699 + $180 shipping, only $6.10/deck!)