Steve Says; Its not often that you see a piece of magic that is startlingly original and simultaneously as charming as the Elf himself. Rons story-deck is just thatA refreshing change from the old, tired Sam the Bellhop.
Story tricks with a full deck of cards have been around for a long time. Probably the most famous is Diamond Jack, closely followed by Sam the Bellhop. Other well-known routines of this type are Eric Meades A Night at the Improv and Simon Lovells Who Killed Lilly Longlegs? While all of these routines can be entertaining, I personally always had a big problem with them: They dont really have an ending so much as they just stop, and they arent particularly magical.
Enter Ron Giesecke. As you may have guessed, his story deck effect is based on a work by Charles Dickens; specifically, A Christmas Carol. However, this routine is more than just a story illustrated with the boardsMUCH more!
You obtain a deck of cards and a marker. You give the marker to a member of the audience. Then you begin shuffling the deck, introducing the premise of what you are about to do. You repeatedly shuffle and cut the deck, dealing the cards out to illustrate the classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge (in the form of a poem). The spectator signs one of the cards to represent Scrooge. This card is placed in your breast pocket to represent Scrooge going to bed.
During the part of the story where Jacob Marley lectures Scrooge about the evils of making money his highest priority, you remove your wallet and set it on the table. You then continue the story, relating the visits of the ghosts of Christmas Past present and Future. At the point in the story where Scrooge sees his own tombstone, you open your wallet. There is one red-backed card, bearing the writing: Ebenezer Scrooge, R.I.P. You finish the story, dealing out the entire deck.
This is where every other routine of this type Ive seen would end. But here is where Ron diverges from existing routines. The card that was placed in your pocket (the signed, Scrooge card) is removed to reveal that it has changed to the card representing Jacob Marley! The red card that came from your wallet is turned overit is the signed Scrooge card!
The manuscript includes the required stack and a full explanation of the routine, complete with all the patter and explanations of the required sleights, including the false cuts and shuffles.
Obviously, at this time of year this routine would be particularly appropriate, but I would heartily recommend it for any time of year. It is a guaranteed crowd pleaser and a real stunner (apologies to Becker)!
"Apologies to Dickens" by Ron Giesecke is comb bound, 8.5 by 11 inches, and 22 pages.
RATED: advanced-magic
