The Modern Mystic League
OCTOBER 2022
Blackburn & District Society of Magicians
Owing to the last-minute indisposition of Marc Oberon, Chairman Roger Woods stepped into the breach for our October meeting with a lecturette he had planned for next year – on the stacked deck, with particular reference to Si Stebbins.
Roger opened with a potted history of playing cards, tracing their origins back to the fourteenth century in the East. Possibly the earliest examples (although not as we know them) have been dated back to 1371. Hand-made and painted in those pre-printing days, they were only accessible to the richest in society. There is evidence to be found in an Italian document of 1593, however, (translated and reproduced in Gibeciere) to suggest that cards were already being arranged in a specific order for the purpose of trickery, the sequences moving forward in groups of four.
The vaudeville performer Si Stebbins (William Coffrin, 1867-1950), who presented a ‘rube’ act as a country bumpkin character, was the first to popularise the stack in the modern era, again working to the value of four. It was introduced in the form of a pamphlet in 1898, with a later exploration in the Linking Ring magazine in 1945. Thurston, always keen to jump on any passing bandwagon, brought out his version in 1901, but the use of increments of three made the pattern more obvious.
Roger recommended several books for wider reading, such as Si Stebbins Unplugged from Trickshop.com, and illustrated the effective use of this set-up by performing Nick Trost’s ‘Automatic Lie Speller’ and the ‘Bilton Diary’ of Tony Griffith.
Roger listed many exponents, from Stuart James to Darwin Ortiz, detailing the ‘Pa Pa System plus Si Stebbins’, presented as a memorised deck by Patrick Page in his book Page by Page.
Roger opened with a potted history of playing cards, tracing their origins back to the fourteenth century in the East. Possibly the earliest examples (although not as we know them) have been dated back to 1371. Hand-made and painted in those pre-printing days, they were only accessible to the richest in society. There is evidence to be found in an Italian document of 1593, however, (translated and reproduced in Gibeciere) to suggest that cards were already being arranged in a specific order for the purpose of trickery, the sequences moving forward in groups of four.
The vaudeville performer Si Stebbins (William Coffrin, 1867-1950), who presented a ‘rube’ act as a country bumpkin character, was the first to popularise the stack in the modern era, again working to the value of four. It was introduced in the form of a pamphlet in 1898, with a later exploration in the Linking Ring magazine in 1945. Thurston, always keen to jump on any passing bandwagon, brought out his version in 1901, but the use of increments of three made the pattern more obvious.
Roger recommended several books for wider reading, such as Si Stebbins Unplugged from Trickshop.com, and illustrated the effective use of this set-up by performing Nick Trost’s ‘Automatic Lie Speller’ and the ‘Bilton Diary’ of Tony Griffith.
Roger listed many exponents, from Stuart James to Darwin Ortiz, detailing the ‘Pa Pa System plus Si Stebbins’, presented as a memorised deck by Patrick Page in his book Page by Page.
SI STEBBINS STACK - ROGER WOODS
Bringing the concept up to date, Beyond Stebbins is the latest project by Craig Petty, introducing a roughing element for even greater flexibility, while the F.A.S.T. deck from Daniel Dorian Johnson, which sold out at the last Blackpool convention for £20 a shot, turned out to be simply a reversed Stebbins set-up. Dan Harlan’s ‘Supercharged Stebbins’ was just another of the 160+ items flowing from Si’s original concept.
It was a fascinating canter through a topic which was familiar to most but not widely appreciated in detail . . . and to prove that stacked deck magic can actually be entertaining, the session concluded with a clip of Nick Mohammed presenting a hilarious version of the memorised deck in the character of Mr Swallow from 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown.
Thanks to ‘Electrickery’ Craig, part two of the afternoon comprised an equally hilarious clip of ventriloquist Trevor James and his Venezuelan Jungle Parrot – the act which inspired Steve Hewlett – and the second part of his compilation of Donald the Average footage from the archives, complete with impressive graphics. Donald treated us to his take on Dippy Duck (Daisy, who produces the chosen card in a most surprising manner), his miraculous flying dove, a cleverly constructed version of the sliding die box and a mirror box which eventually produced a live rabbit after a string of amusing toy ones. Donald finished with his slapstick Speed Camera routine, with an assistant being shot from a cannon. All vintage D the A, which brought back happy memories of past shows.
It was a varied afternoon, blending comedy with education, and all came away feeling better for it.
Brian Lead
It was a fascinating canter through a topic which was familiar to most but not widely appreciated in detail . . . and to prove that stacked deck magic can actually be entertaining, the session concluded with a clip of Nick Mohammed presenting a hilarious version of the memorised deck in the character of Mr Swallow from 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown.
Thanks to ‘Electrickery’ Craig, part two of the afternoon comprised an equally hilarious clip of ventriloquist Trevor James and his Venezuelan Jungle Parrot – the act which inspired Steve Hewlett – and the second part of his compilation of Donald the Average footage from the archives, complete with impressive graphics. Donald treated us to his take on Dippy Duck (Daisy, who produces the chosen card in a most surprising manner), his miraculous flying dove, a cleverly constructed version of the sliding die box and a mirror box which eventually produced a live rabbit after a string of amusing toy ones. Donald finished with his slapstick Speed Camera routine, with an assistant being shot from a cannon. All vintage D the A, which brought back happy memories of past shows.
It was a varied afternoon, blending comedy with education, and all came away feeling better for it.
Brian Lead