DAI VERNON A MAGICAL LIFE

Table of Contents

Volume 4
Foreword by Richard
Buffum. ...................................................................... xi
Introduction ......................................................................
.............. xiv
Magic's Past and
Future ...........................................................................
3
My First Hundred
Years ............................................................................
6
PART ONE
18961916 ..........................................................................
....... 9
I Try to Fly and Other Early
Memories ............................................................ 11
My Father's Principles for
Life .................................................................. 14
My Father and My First Magic
Tricks .............................................................. 15
My First Playing
Cards. ..........................................................................
17
Learning about
Silhouettes .......................................................................
18
My First
Magician ..........................................................................
...... 20
Going
Backstage .........................................................................
......... 22
Some Thoughts on
Thurston ........................................................................
26
My First Trip to the Pawn
Shop ................................................................... 27
Mother and
Magic .............................................................................
.... 28
The Carnegie Library in
Ottawa ................................................................... 31
Magic
Books .............................................................................
......... 33
My Attack on
Magic .............................................................................
.. 35
Practice ..........................................................................
............... 36
Know the
Terms .............................................................................
...... 38
'I You Should be an
Engineer ..." . .............................................................. 39
Cliff
Green .............................................................................
......... 40
New York and Coney
Island ........................................................................ 42
Carny
Games .............................................................................
......... 45
Carnival
Talk. .............................................................................
...... 51
Larry Grey, the Dizzy
Wizard ..................................................................... 53
My Brother Napier and the
Army ................................................................... 58
PART TWO 1917-
193938 ............................................................................
. 59
New York ...1
917. ..............................................................................
. 61
New York's Magic
Shops ............................................................,,,............
67
Powers' Magic
Shop ..............................................................................
. 69
Harry Kellar and
Thurston ........................................................................
73
The Short
Card ..............................................................................
..... 77
Doc Elliott, He Played with a Full
Deck .......................................................... 78
vii
The Inner
Circle ............................................................................
..... 83
"Just Think of a Card ...
" ...................................................................... 85
"The Tricks of the
Greeks" ....................................................................... 87
Gamblers ..........................................................................
............... 90
The Three Card
Monte .............................................................................
92
The Masked Man. One of My
Heros .................................................................. 93
Hofzinser. Another of My
Heros ................................................................... 95
On Using Trick
Cards .............................................................................
98
Jeanne Comes into My
Life ........................................................................ 99
Women in
Magic. ............................................................................
..... 101
Nate
Leipzig ...........................................................................
......... 103
My First Professional
Engagement ................................................................ 104
The Union League
Club ...........................................................................
107
Cardini ...........................................................................
.............. 109
Doc
Tarbell ...........................................................................
.......... 114
Jud
Cole ..............................................................................
.......... 115
Horace Goldin and the Unusual
Cane .............................................................. 116
Alfred Benzone. "Originator of
Ectoplasm" ....................................................... 117
The Man Who Fooled
Vernon ....................................................................... 120
Malini's
Misdirection ......................................................................
..... 122
Malini. Still Another
Hero. ..................................................................... 124
Malini and the
Queen ............................................................................
127
On Meeting Thomas
Edison ........................................................................ 128
Silhouettes and
Agents ..........................................................................
129
Mr . Houdini and Madame
Houdin .................................................................. 130
More Memories of Harry
Houdini. ................................................................. 131
Houdini and
Spiritualism ......................................................................
.. 136
Ted "Male"
Vernon ............................................................................
... 138
Cuba ..............................................................................
.............. 141
Sawing a Woman in Half in
Cuba .................................................................. 143
My Black Magic in
Cuba. ......................................................................... 144
Sam Margules and Dickie the
Dunce. .............................................................. 145
Mentalists. .......................................................................
.............. 149
Touring
America ...........................................................................
...... 150
Jarrow and Van
Hoven ............................................................................
152
Dai Yen or Dr .
Chung ...........................................................................
156
Fred
Keating ...........................................................................
......... 158
Mr . Shock and the Rubber
Bands ................................................................. 161
Dad Stevens-"The Mysterious
Kid" ................................................................ 163
The Fabulous Center
Deal ........................................................................ 166
Charlie Miller. "I'm a Dice
Man" ................................................................ 168
My Life as Edward
Brown ......................................................................... 170
J . Warren
Keane .............................................................................
... 171
William J .
Hilliar ...........................................................................
.. 172
Tommy Downs. "The King of
Koins" ................................................................ 174
Harry
Blackstone ........................................................................
........ 179
Vernon in
Print .............................................................................
.... 180
Jean
Hugard ............................................................................
......... 185
The Wonderful Faro
Box .......................................................................... 188
Paul Fox and
FDR ...............................................................................
. 193
Neepie ............................................................................
.............. 195
The Cigarette
Trick .............................................................................
196
Frank Tobey's Gambling
Furniture ................................................................ 197
Garnet Lee. the Chinaman's
Toy .................................................................. 200
Secrets. ..........................................................................
.............. 203
Australian
Slang .............................................................................
... 204
Effects
Defined. ..........................................................................
...... 207
Entertaining the
Rich ...........................................................................
210
The Linking
Rings .............................................................................
.. 212
My Brother Napier
Dies .......................................................................... 214
PART THREE 1939-
1963 ............................................................................
215
My Harlequin
Act ...............................................................................
. 217
Doves Steal the Show at the Rainbow
Room ........................................................ 220
Compeer. the
Monkey ............................................................................
. 222
How I Became "The
Professor" .................................................................... 224
Fu
Manchu ............................................................................
........... 226
The Mind-Reading
Box ............................................................................
229
On the Same Bill with Charlie
Chaplin ........................................................... 231
Dante .............................................................................
.............. 232
Sam Horowitz Becomes
Me! ........................................................................ 233
From Blueprints to Broken
Arms .................................................................. 237
Citizenship... ....................................................................
.............. 239
Shade .............................................................................
.............. 240
With the US0 in World War
I1 .................................................................... 243
Dan
Cummings ..........................................................................
.......... 244
Milbourne Christopher and the Cuban
Lottery ..................................................... 253
Annemann's Bullet
Catch. ........................................................................ 254
Annemann's
Suicide ...........................................................................
... 255
Roy
Benson ............................................................................
.......... 256
On Being
Natural ...........................................................................
..... 258
Cruising ..........................................................................
.............. 260
A Couple of Funny
Moments ....................................................................... 263
The Old Vaudeville
Formula ...................................................................... 265
Old Cards .. .New
Cards ......................................................................... 267
Authority .........................................................................
.............. 271
The Father of the Modern Lecture
Series ......................................................... 272
Great
Tricks ............................................................................
........ 274
Simple Ideas Drive People
Crazy ................................................................. 276
/I A Pocket
Trick" ............................................................................
.. 278
How to be
Effective .........................................................................
.... 280
Classics ..........................................................................
.............. 282
An Original
Thought ...........................................................................
.. 284
Art in the
Craft .............................................................................
... 285
Traveling
Magicians .........................................................................
.... 286
Through the Looking-
Glass ....................................................................... 288
The
Pass ..............................................................................
.......... 290
On
Performing ........................................................................
........... 292
What's Wrong with
Magic ......................................................................... 293
My
Family ............................................................................
........... 295
Afterword .........................................................................
.............. 298
INDEX .............................................................................
.............. 301
PHOTO
CREDITS ...........................................................................
........ 307