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This month a number of us reminisce and memorialize our friend and all around good fellow Jon Racherbaumer, who died in October at age 84. Jon was an excellent writer, a good magician, fun to be with, caring, and a great conversationalist. Our remembrances in this issue are a celebration of Jon, of his many successes, and the great legacy he leaves behind.
Every once in a great while a magician who has been seemingly lost to history pops up on the radar, and so it is with the curious case of the performer known only by the name Shaman. My old friend from New Jersey, Denny Tittus, takes a look back at the curious career of this obscure magician who knew fame only briefly years ago … before he was murdered.
Summer is a beautiful time of year in Sweden, home to magician Tom Stone and his cohorts. Each year they muster a unique experience named the Conjuring Workshop. Sixty people, more or less, from various countries take part. The course is free to them once they have been accepted, though they must pay for their own transportation and accommodation. This is rigorous stuff, done over the course of a week, with four levels of students and multiple instructors, plus guest lecturers. Cydney Kaplan of Los Angeles made her second sojourn this summer and tells us all about it.
As mentioned both last month and above, Mike Gallo died in October, and his formal obituary appears this month rendered by Dr. Michael Rubenstein.
Jon Racherbaumer’s final “Exhumations” column for Genii appears this month. Jon introduces the trick as only he could: “It is the equivalent of a knock-knock joke that could, if the hour is late enough, induce someone to buy a round.” * With two “Magicana” columns left in his pocket, Jamy Ian Swiss this month presents one of his own favorite routines, a dexterous handling of the “Cavorting Aces” that would make a fine addition to your repertoire. * This month we bring the first of the two final installments of John Bannon’s column “Dealing With It.” This time it’s an offbeat divination in which the performer fails to find the thought-of card, but the thought-of card finds his failures. * “Material Concessions” from David Regal brings an effect with a prediction that hangs in full view of the audience throughout the trick. * For Jonathan Friedman’s final “WWPD” column, he treats you to an extremely clever torn and restored coffee sleeve. If you search the Genii archive, you’ll find a trick by David Acer where he uses two coffee sleeves to perform a version of the Jastrow (aka Boomerang) Illusion. You might be able to routine the tricks! Come to think of it, you might be able to do Jay Sankey’s “Cardboard Chameleons” with two coffee sleeves. You can find that routine with playing cards in Sankey Panky. The rest is up to you. * Krystyn Lambert will continue her philosophical essays with the new team at Genii. This month in “Stage as Studio” she addresses a potpourri of subjects as she completes her fourth year as a most-welcome columnist. * Vanessa Armstrong, soon to be one of the four editors of Genii starting in February, once again brings you the best of the news from far and wide in “The Eye.” * Shawn McMaster relates some recent goings-on at the clubhouse in “Knights of The Magic Castle.” * In this month’s “Light from the Lamp,” our monthly compendium of reviews of books, tricks, and videos, we introduce a new book reviewer, David Kuraya, and handling tricks and videos are Mark Phillips and, in her final review column, Suzanne, who has done an outstanding job for us over the years.
