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Showing posts with label elevating magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elevating magic. Show all posts
This is Norberto Jansenson. He is a brilliant magician and storyteller from Argentina. He performs mainly in his native tongue, but occasionally, those of us who do not speak Spanish can be blessed by his English speaking routines.
I have been a huge fan of his for years. The first time I saw him, I was struck by the dignity he brought to magic. He used storytelling, references to literature, music, and great magic to create the most wonderful compositions. Watching him, elevated magic in my eyes.
Imagine my surprise to just now learn about a film he made a few years ago. It was based upon something that really happened in his life. It's called The Dream of Aces. This story is very interesting, as it deals with Norberto in his youth, his magic teacher at the time, and this particular trick. It's a touching story and a wonderful short film. I encourage you to watch the film and then read on, as there is more to this story.
I truly hope you took the time to watch the video. IF for some reason it doesn't show up, you'll need to go to Youtube and in the search box type in Dream of Aces Jansenson, and it will come up. But either way, watch it and come back.
Now, the extra can be seen on a video on Norberto's Instagram page. I'm going to put the link here, but just in case it doesn't work, I'll share the important details. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_rGmJ8PjWJ/
It turns out that Charly Brown learned this routine from Gary Oulett, the magician and TV producer. In fact, at one point it was put on on the market as the Dream of Aces in 1993. According to Norberto, a chance running into Gary Ouellet at a magic convention is how he learned the history and where his mentor Charly had learned it. And then. Norberto Jansenson too, learned the routine. Pretty cool.
The routine is a version of the MacDonald's Ace, which first appeared in Dai Vernon's book, More Inner Secrets and it was then called McDonald's $100 routine. The effect itself was likely the creation of Hofzinser and has manner versions over the years.
Gary Ouellet taught it to Alain Choquette, a fantastic Canadian Illusionist, for one of his TV specials. He used a hand held camera so that the entire audience could view the routine. David Copperfield also adapted the routine for one of his TV specials and called it Grandpa's Aces. I'm going to post David's routine below so that you can see the work he put into the effect. According to David, Chris Kenner helped with some of the handling and they really suped it up in regards to the sleight of hand. David's version has some knuckle busting moments in it. You can see that below....BUT then keep scrolling after you watch that one...
Finally, we come to one of the most brilliant versions. And frankly, I think David's and Jansenson's and I'm sure Alain's are all fantastic. But the next one was extremely different and helped to pave the career for no less than Ricky Jay. Same routine, totally different vibe, very different reactions.
I posted all of these to show you how a classic effect, like an Ace Assembly, can be turned into a wonderful theatrical moment with storytelling, music, emotion, and more.