Description
Effect: (From the Preface by Mike Hilburger) The huge hands scooped up a small pile of quarters, a deck of cards, a cigarette. No dramatic introduction was necessary. People quickly gathered ’round the legend, attired in his formal best of Banlon shirt and slacks soiled by an earlier bar clean-up.
Spectator’s hands become like a stage, holding and counting cards and coins as they change, vanish, and multiply. Humor is delivered, not as some poorly memorized line from an Orben book, but as a seemingly spontaneous reaction to the situation at hand. A situation made possible by interaction between spectator and magician, cleverly developed by the keen psychological insight of the performer. Skillfully directed, the participants are unwittingly led in what is actually a carefully rehearsed play, with appropriate outs to cover errors and human unpredictability.
From year to year, the routines varied only slightly, with a new move, a unique twist, perhaps an added subtlety to confound a visiting conjuror. Simple, direct. Flying Eagles, Cards Across, a truly Invisible Palm. Yet no matter how many times observed, the performance was always enjoyable to watch. Not due to the tricks involved, but because this was a close-up magical entertainment, with all of the varied parts flowing together into a complete package of wit and deception.
Watching Eddie Fechter perform was a most practical lesson. No out-of-the-ordinary props or fancy close-up case. No flaunting of technical prowess as if watching oneself in a mirror. No mention that one was watching another “trick.” Rather, the spectator was completely immersed in the continuing flow of a magical happening.
People came from hundreds of miles away just to see Eddie perform; and they returned time and again with friends, not so much to witness the latest in magical gimmickry, but to be entertained. For a few brief moments reality became suspended, replaced by the mystical maneuvers of an unpretentious personality who allowed the viewers to take part in their own bewilderment and surprise.
This then, is the Fechter Legacy. As a cigarette was sniffed up a nostril and pulled out of an ear, torn in half and visually restored, the audience applauded, for they realized that this was magic by one of a kind. Thanks Eddie !!!
Contents:
Cards
Page 1: Face Up Cutting the Aces (Harry Carroll)
Page 3: Forget and Remember (Dom Cervas)
Page 5: Challenge Poker Deal (Del Copley)
Page 7: Face Down Poker (John Cornelius)
Page 9: The Invisible Bottom Deal (Tony Econ)
Page 12: The Four Packet Shuffle (Neal Elias)
Page 13: A Gallo Sandwich (Lou Gallo)
Page 15: Flushback (Dan Garrett)
Page 17: Two For One Split (Paul Gertner)
Page 20: Broad Jump (Phil Goldstein)
Page 23: World’s Fastest Card Trick (Gene Gordon)
Page 24: Where the Hell Did That Come From? (Bob Haines)
Page 25: Visual Aces (Joe Hammer)
Page 28: Trapped Triumph (Bill Kalush)
Page 31: Devilish Digit Cut (Richard Kaufman)
Page 32: The Simple Killer (“Fast Mike” Lewinski)
Page 34: Old Spell–New Twist (Sid Lorraine)
Page 36: A Test of Flirtatiousness (John F.C. McLachlan)
Page 38: R.M. Card in the Wallet (Ray Mertz)
Page 40: Twice Under the Shot (William Miesel)
Page 43: Repeat Card Under Ashtray (Tom Mullica)
Page 45: Kolossal Kolored Kards (“Obie” O’Brien)
Page 51: What’s in the Envelope (Mack Picknick)
Page 53: New King Cut (Michael Skinner)
Page 55: Twisted the Hard Way (Chuck Stanfield)
Page 57: The Final Card (Robert Stencil)
Page 59: Everyplace (Hans E. Trixer)
Page 65: Five-Way Fours (Randy Wakeman)
Page 67: Holy-Holey (David Walker)
Page 69: Here Come the Aces (Carl Wiesinger)
Page 71: The Missionary Who Came as Dinner (Philip R. Willmarth)
Page 72: Royal Miracle (Meir Yedid)
Page 75: The Dealer Wins (Frank Zak)
Page 76: Multiple Switch-In (Herb Zarrow)
More Cards
Page 78: Sweet, Lorayne! (Allan Slaight)
Page 82: Gambo Magique (Robert Farmer)
Page 87: The Irish Card Routine (Joe Riding)
Page 91: Reshuffling Unshuffled (Robert Wicks)
Page 96: De-Material-ization (Bruce Barnett)
Page 98: Squeaky-Clean Transposition (Jon Brunelle)
Page 99: Four Coins and a Purse (Tom Craven)
Page 102: Susie B. (Ed Eckl)
Page 104: More Than a Penetration (Mike Gallo)
Page 105: Double Reverse Matrix (Bob King)
Page 108: New Karate Coin (Gary Ouellet)
Page 109: Coin Through Balloon (Peter Tappan)
Page 110: Using the Hand as a Servante (Victor Trabucco)
Misc. Close Up
Page 112: Bill to Cigarette (Michael Ammar)
Page 115: The Hole(y) Tearer (Roy Cottee)
Page 117: Four Dice Repeat (Dave Drake)
Page 118: Calendar Card (Carl T. Dreher)
Page 119: Dusheck’s Dollar (Steve Dusheck, Jr.)
Page 121: La Paloma II (Jim Gabor)
Page 122: Two Rings and a Rope (Michael Gorman)
Page 124: The Shadow Switch (Carl Herron)
Page 127: Shooting a Girl into a Nest of Boxes (Richard Hughes)
Page 128: Dollar Duo Digits (Roy Miller)
Page 129: Bill in the Cigarette (Karl Norman)
Page 132: Polychromatic Gum (Rev. O. T. Slem)
Page 134: The Ring Thing (Warren Stephens)
Page 136: Cocktail Sword and Straw (Wally Wilson)
Page 137: Dice Climax (Tommy Wonder)
Page 138: The Broken and Restored Ring (Ron Zollweg)
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