Magic of the Scottish Conjurers Association - Book Review

Monday, 30 June 2008 23:28 |

Written by Administrator |

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This small booklet of just 32 pages is compiled by Richard Armour in 1945 and has a variety of magic and was put together as a fund raiser for the association's building fund. It contains 21 effects mostly with cards, coins, and other close-up type effects. It includes contributions by John Ramsey, De Vega, J.B. Findlay and more.

However, probably the most significant contribution in the book is "The Great Divide" illusion which is believed to be where Robert Harbin got the original idea for the Zig-Zag illusion. There are significant differences in the illusion in that the cabinet is in 2 parts unlike the Zig-Zag which is 3. Additionally, the method is completely different and the De Vega illusion seems to have some issues at least as proposed in the drawings.

In this illusion, a cabinet is rolled on and the assistant takes her position inside. Both hands are shown outside of the top of the cabinet. A novel part of this illusion is that the head and torso is visible in the top section of the box and the legs are visible in the bottom when the divide takes place. The top is slid over and the illusion divide is created.