Jinx Navigator

Episode 015: Issue #15, Diabolical Influence, and More

Jinx Navigator Podcast — Episode 15: Issue #15 Issue #15 is a compact but well-stocked issue — a three-way out envelope used for real election-night publicity, a self-working spelling effect updated for American audiences, a coat-mounted ball retriever that takes Jay on a nostalgic tour of his heavily rigged performing jackets, and a parlor effect that Annemann calls the best drawing-room conception he knows. The editorial is sharp, covering glowing promotional eyes, a handwriting expert working a crystal ball act, and Annemann's blunt thoughts on how the magic community handles exposers. Effects Covered [0:52] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Annemann opens with a photo of Otis Manning landing a three-column front-page picture — full details promised next issue. He covers a lobby display trick using luminous paint on a promotional photo, a crystal ball act secretly backed by a handwriting expert sending personalized notes about audience members, and a practical tip about writing predictions on your own business card so people keep them. He closes with a pointed editorial on magic exposers — formal expulsion doesn't work, he argues, and watching the community immediately surround a known exposer asking to see his latest stuff proves it. [3:42] An Original Faked Envelope with a Publicity Angle — Theodore Annemann A three-compartment envelope that opens to a different compartment depending on which end is trimmed — content simply falls into the helper's palm, no fumbling required. Annemann describes using it during a local election: writing a prediction, having a newspaper editor sign it, apparently having second thoughts and sealing a new envelope, then returning after the results came in to verify it — leaving the clean original on the table and pocketing the faked one. Clean entry, clean exit. [5:21] A Different Card Spelling — George C. Hannemann A refinement of a spelling effect from Gibson's Houdini's Magic, updated for American audiences who don't call Jacks "knaves" or 2s "duces." A helper spells out their card's suit and lands on a matching suit, then spells the value and lands on a matching value — two separate arrivals, both exactly on cue, with no sleight of hand. Nineteen cards in a specific order near the middle of the deck, and the trick essentially runs itself. Hannemann also offers a handling that avoids a force entirely. [6:42] An Original Ball Dropper — Otakar Fischer A coat-mounted device that delivers a palmed ball with nothing more than a slight lowering of the arm and two fingers of gentle pressure — gravity does the rest. Fischer's key note is that the hand stays completely still throughout, and the dropper lies flat against the body once empty. Jay takes a nostalgic detour through his performing jackets of 40-some years ago, which apparently housed doves, pinned cards, a vanishing candle, and a giant card against the breast pocket simultaneously. [7:57] Diabolical Influence — Harris Solomon The performer writes a prediction, covers it with an initialed sticker, and leaves the room — from outside, he directs a series of apparently free choices: a card at a counted position, a named card, three random numbers. He returns, peels the sticker, and the prediction matches the card at the counted position. Two more cards match the other selections. The three numbers add up to the sum written under the sticker. The pocketed card is named, the deck shown complete. Annemann calls it the best parlor and drawing-room conception he knows, and Jay says he's going to try this one. [9:31] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #16 — featuring Doc Mifflin's "Again, a Prediction."

Episode 014: Issue #14, Coins En Route, and More

Jinx Navigator Podcast — Episode 14: Issue #14 Issue #14 is a busy one — Annemann makes the case for learning fortune telling, prints a point-by-point rebuttal from a critic in full, and delivers a card on a window, a coin transposition for platform use, and the two-person mentalism piece he's been using in real-world conditions. There's also a dime passing through a handkerchief, which Jay notes would be perfect EDC material if anyone still carried handkerchiefs. Effects Covered [1:00] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Annemann opens with a practical case for learning fortune telling — nothing takes over a party faster, he says, and card layouts do most of the work once you know the meanings. He also addresses magic exposés in Popeye cartoons, touches briefly on the ongoing Burling Hull dispute, and closes with an elaborate fantasy publicity campaign involving a coffin, a jailbreak, a department store climb, a bullet catch, and a live burial — described in gleeful detail. Jay endorses the fortune telling advice and points to his own numerology site as a companion resource. [3:20] The Burling Hull Letter Battle — Burling Hull / Theodore Annemann A departure from the usual format: Annemann prints a full letter from Burling Hull responding to criticism directed at Hull's publication Stage Magic. Hull defends his publication history point by point, cites over 1,200 testimonials, and closes with a pointed shot at Annemann's own book — noting it nearly didn't appear at all and only made it to print through a dealer's intervention. Annemann prints it in full, as promised, which says something about how he ran the Jinx. [4:43] Images of Business Cards — Theodore Annemann A full page of magicians' business cards from the era — not something that translates to audio, but worth a look at jinxnavigator.com. [4:51] A Card in Flight — Bobby Hummer A helper notes a card, the deck goes into a borrowed hat, and the performer appears to remove the spots one by one — flicking them away. The card vanishes from the deck entirely, and when a window curtain is raised, the card is on the outside of the glass looking in. The vanish uses small pieces of black paper and a move inside the hat that happens in plain sight without anyone registering it. The card on the window is a duplicate, planted during an earlier visit that same day. [5:55] Coins En Route — Otakar Fischer Ten coins on a helper's palm under a handkerchief, ten more in a second helper's cupped hands — the first helper shakes the handkerchief a chosen number of times, and that many coins travel invisibly between them. Fischer's contribution is a quiet steal built into the initial counting action, looking purely functional. Diachylon plaster is called for in the original; Jay recommends magician's wax and notes this may be the first coin version of a traveling-coins effect he's encountered. [7:05] A Cute and Quick Location — Theodore Annemann Four cards dealt face down, the helper touches one, and its value tells the performer exactly how far down in the deck to count for the selected card. Four specific cards in a particular order near the top of the deck — that's the entire setup. Annemann discovered it while noodling around rather than setting out to invent anything, which gives it the feel of something that slots naturally into a casual impromptu session. [7:52] Metal vs. Fabric — Fred Demuth A dime and a penny are placed on a handkerchief, the cloth is twisted tight around them, and the dime is pulled slowly through the fabric — leaving only the penny behind. The method uses a classic coin set that many performers already own, with Demuth offering a new application that makes the penetration visible and direct. Jay notes that pennies are still around even if handkerchiefs aren't, and recommends giving it a shot. [8:53] Thoughts in the Air — Theodore Annemann A two-person mentalism piece that Annemann has been using and finds genuinely practical. A helper hides a personal object somewhere in the room while the performer is present — then the performer leaves, the assistant returns, finds a chosen card in the deck, and locates the hidden object without asking anyone anything. The card selection is pure misdirection; what the audience remembers afterward is the object being found and returned. The location system divides the room into a coordinate grid, learnable with a partner in about five minutes. Jay plans to try it at an upcoming magic club meeting. [10:28] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #15 — featuring Annemann's original faked envelope with a publicity angle.

Episode 013: Issue #13, Higher Magic and More

Jinx Navigator Podcast — Episode 13: Issue #13 Issue #13 arrives with two black cats overhead and Annemann unbothered — he notes the cat should be the worried one. The issue delivers practical stagecraft from a Viennese theater veteran, a publicity stunt involving a postage stamp and a ceiling, a newspaper prediction with mentalism flair, and a self-working eight-ace routine that Manning insists should be performed as one unbroken sequence. Effects Covered [0:56] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Annemann opens with a genuine pet theory: magicians do too many things in threes, and the third repetition risks nullifying the mystery entirely. Jay pushes back slightly — he's fine with threes, but argues that if you repeat something, at least vary what the audience perceives. The editorial also covers a bird cage update tracing Robert Heller's version, a recommendation for U.F. Grant's one-way deck booklet, a cigarette vanish by Calvert Cole that fooled Annemann completely, and Andrew Brennan's follow-up to last issue's shrinking dollar — which ends with a large souvenir penny and the punchline that the secret of 59 cents is that they have bigger cents. [4:21] An Original Tie for Loads — Otakar Fischer A practical stagecraft solution from a man who spent 12 consecutive years performing two-hour shows at a magical theater in Vienna. The device is a simple endless loop of cord with a ring and a dress hook — a load secured diagonally releases instantly with a single upward motion of the hook, and the heavier the load, the more securely it holds until needed. Twelve years of professional use is about as good a recommendation as it gets. [5:17] Higher Magic — Theodore Annemann A wet postage stamp pressed to a half dollar and thrown at the ceiling with a particular motion — the coin comes back down, the stamp stays up. Annemann's best version involves a card name written in ink on the back of the stamp, placed on a hotel ceiling during one visit and confirmed by forcing that card on a return visit. Practical notes: use ink not pencil, small stamps work best, and for a walking advertisement, have gummed stickers printed with your name instead. [6:35] The Super Slates — Anonymous A two-slate effect where both slates are openly numbered on all four sides before anything happens — and when opened, there's chalk writing on the inside of each one. The method involves a precisely timed sequence of flap handling woven around the numbering procedure. Jay's honest take: lay audiences probably aren't going home wondering why only one slate had writing on it, but if you want to fool the folks at the next magic club meeting, this will do it. [7:51] Cards and a Newspaper — Arthur Johnson A helper shuffles and cuts a deck into four piles, cards are moved between them, and the top card of each pile turns up a page number, column, line, and word — which matches a prediction written before anything began. The underlying card principle is one magicians will recognize from the classic four-aces location, but Johnson's repurposing of it as a newspaper prediction shifts the feel entirely toward mentalism. Jay notes it would work just as cleanly as a book test with a small adjustment to the presentation. [8:58] Aces of Eight — Otis Manning Eight aces — two from each suit — are mixed and cut by a helper, and the performer produces them from behind his back in a sequence of escalating phases: matching suits, then matching colors, then a spelling sequence, then finally both hands emerge with reds in one and blacks in the other. No conventional sleight of hand — the work happens behind the back through arrangement and one simple repeated move. Manning's instruction is to learn it smoothly and perform the whole thing as one continuous unbroken effect. [10:04] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #14 — featuring Annemann's Thoughts in the Air, an almost-impromptu two-person mentalism effect.

Episode 012: Issue #12, Four Aces on the Stage and More

Jinx Navigator Podcast — Episode 12: Issue #12 Issue #12 is an all-Annemann affair — editorial, notebook column, a stacked-deck solitaire hustle, and a stage four-aces routine built for maximum fairness. He's also bottle-feeding a puppy, which explains a few things about the issue's more notebook-jottings character. Effects Covered [0:48] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Annemann blames August heat and an eight-day-old bird dog for a lighter-than-usual issue, then pivots to a genuinely frustrated observation about magicians who ignore published effects until someone else does something brilliant with them — at which point the whole community suddenly discovers it's great. He closes with a word about the late dealer Sam Bailey and goes to feed his puppy. [2:22] Thoughts in General — Theodore Annemann Annemann's occasional miscellany column covers a card puzzle involving 25 cards and five poker hands, a betting proposition hidden in a fanned shuffled deck, an improved handling of the Seven Keys to Baldpate built with Robert Thrasher, a shrinking dollar bill stunt with Roosevelt-era patter, a canary-in-a-lightbulb variation using water, and a pointed note to anyone still using cop-and-robber patter in 1935. He also digs into the history of the vanishing bird cage and cards from the pockets, and closes with a practical angle for secretly loading an object into a helper's pocket using a card trick as cover. Jay notes that put-pocketing, it turns out, is not a new idea. [5:03] The Solitaire King — Theodore Annemann Annemann discovered that the Eight Kings stack, applied to the solitaire game Canfield, produces a win nearly every time — and built a presentation around it for card parties. After a few card tricks, you offer to demonstrate how you can always win at solitaire, false shuffle the stacked deck, lay out the game, and it plays itself to a win with one decision point in the middle. Annemann is modest about it: he didn't invent either piece, he just noticed they fit together. [6:06] Four Aces on the Stage — Theodore Annemann A classic close-up effect gets a full platform treatment. Four volunteers each find an ace themselves, cover it with three cards, and one packet is chosen at random — the rest go back into the deck, which gets shuffled, rubber-banded, and tossed into the audience for someone to search. No aces anywhere. The chosen volunteer spreads their cards: all four aces. The method uses a short-card deck and three extra aces, with the key moves happening precisely when every eye in the room is on the volunteers or the audience member searching the deck. Jay — confirmed non-card-guy — says this one sounds genuinely fun to both perform and watch. [7:37] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #13 — featuring Arthur Lloyd Johnson's Cards and Newspaper.

Episode 011: Issue #11, The Card Unharmed and More

Jinx Navigator Podcast — Episode 11: Issue #11 Issue #11 is a card-heavy issue with a few pleasant surprises — a clever cigarette gag, a matchbook divination that requires nothing more than a book of matches and one quick calculation, and a borrowed business card that survives being cut in half. Annemann's editorial is in a reflective mood, anchored by a story about a fireman with an excellent memory for shoes. Effects Covered [0:56] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Annemann opens with a summer complaint about slow mail, recommends a Liberty magazine article on university telepathy experiments, and highlights a magic newsletter disguised as a hometown newspaper. The centerpiece is a story about a fireman who remembered a substitution act from 20 years earlier in perfect detail — including the performer's shoes changing mid-routine — which Annemann uses to make the point that audiences are paying closer attention than performers tend to assume. [3:45] A Cigarette Rolled by Proxy — Orville Meyer Tobacco and rolling paper go into the mouth, a few chewing motions later, out comes a perfectly rolled cigarette. Meyer's version uses a rubber novelty cigarette and a well-timed switch, and produces a clean result every time — unlike earlier marketed versions that often left the cigarette looking the worse for wear. For close-up situations, Meyer suggests substituting ground coffee for the tobacco, signing off with a cheerful "after all, it's for the sake of art." [5:40] The Fan Location — El Rey A card technique rather than a complete effect — a method for secretly marking a selected card the moment it's returned to a fanned deck, using nothing but a finger's sense of touch and a tiny crimp. The right hand stays completely clear throughout, the helper can even be invited to reposition their card, and the deck ends up shuffled by the helper with the performer's hands nowhere near it at the crucial moment. Jay — self-described non-card-guy — tried it this morning and reports it works as written. [7:17] A Trick with the Fan Location — Theodore Annemann Annemann's own application of El Rey's technique, built around a neat reversal of standard card trick logic: the helper chooses their card from a face-up spread, returns it, shuffles the deck, and the performer finds it face-down. The presentation hook — chosen face up, found face down — gives the effect a tidy internal logic that, as Annemann notes, tends to stick in people's minds long after the show. [8:26] A Card to Be Thought About — Theodore Annemann A helper mentally selects one of three freely chosen cards, the deck is mixed, and the performer produces — incorrectly, then incorrectly again — before ultimately finding the card in the most dramatic way possible: from his pocket. The method is structured so that the pocket production is the most likely outcome, and the apparent failures along the way make the ending land harder whenever it arrives. [9:48] A Divination with Matches — Fred Demuth A helper secretly pockets some matches, tears out more to represent the count remaining, then holds an unknown number in their fist — and the performer names exactly how many without asking a single question. The secret is a fixed mathematical principle built into the standard 20-match booklet that always produces the same result regardless of the choices made, leaving the performer with just one quick calculation. Adapted from an older card effect, the matchbook setting gives it a pleasantly casual, impromptu feel. [11:15] The Card Unharmed — Theodore Annemann A borrowed business card is sealed in an envelope, both ends are cut off, the card is slid back through so both ends are visibly sticking out, and then the scissors cut straight across the middle — yet the card comes out completely unharmed. Annemann has been using this as a press piece for years, preparing batches of envelopes in advance and carrying them mailed and ready. Jay has a note about the moment when the card first gets shaken out after cutting the end off — check the comments at jinxnavigator.com. [12:59] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #12 — featuring Annemann's thoughts, tidbits, and ideas on several different magic effects.