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Bob Swadling Lecture
Leamington and Warwick Magic Society
March 5th 2008
Reported by Bernard Visgandis
On 5th March we were privileged to have Bob Swadling visit us for what can
only be described as a superb evening. Anyone who has been involved in magic for
any length of time of time will know of Swadling Magic either from a Dealer Dem
or at a Magic Convention. A lot of our younger members had not heard of Bob
Swadling and were unaware that he was the man who invented the flipper coin.
The first thing I should mention is the excellent quality of all his amazing
items. During the evening Bob demonstrated his range of changing cards my
favourite being the changing face card. Show a card front and back throw it in
the air as it comes down it changes visually to the spectators previously
selected card. Another changing card effect which was equally brilliant was
Credit Card to Full Card. A spectator selects a card after which it is lost in
the deck. The magician bets he can find the card, but loses. He then takes out a
credit card, throws it into the air and the credit card changes to the chosen
playing card. Mention the word Matrix effect in a magic club and the response
can vary from complete indifference to wow! Bob's Commercial Matrix uses four
American Half Dollars which are placed in a square and covered with four cards.
The coins vanish one at a time and re appear under one card using a very clever
gimmick. This was very visual direct and snappy.
Many years ago I bought Bob's Box and so did a number of other older members of
our Society (they weren't old when they bought them but they are now me included
which speaks volumes about the effect and quality of this item). It basically
looks like an Okito coin box but that is where the similarity ends (the box is
made from aircraft grade aluminium). There is a lot more to it than an ordinary
coin box in that it is the sort of prop the gives you credit for doing great
sleight of hand when in fact you don't.
After the break Bob continued his lecture with a new effect for Swadling Magic
Sympathetic Matchboxes. The routine is by Leicestershire's Roy Johnson, this
trick was performed by Geoffrey Durham on the I.T.V. Countdown Show. For a coin
trick Double Deception takes some beating. The four corners of a handkerchief
are held taught by two spectators, two 50 pence pieces are placed on the centre
of the handkerchief, the magician pulls one of the coins through the
handkerchief and the other coin jumps in the air and lands back on the centre of
the handkerchief. The next item was something a bit different - Power Pack
Acrobatic Card. This utility device causes a card frog to jump into the air,
selected cards to turn over and coins to vanish and penetrate. With the evening
drawing to a close Bob's finale' was the Kristal Card Stab - a real reputation
maker A selected card is signed and placed in a shuffled deck wrapped in a small
packet and tied. At arms length the pack bursts into flames and the selected,
signed card appears impaled on the dagger. Our President bought one and can’t
wait to perform it.
I cannot describe a number of other tricks that Bob performed as I would need
far too much space.
A vote of thanks was given by former President of the Leamington & Warwick Magic
Society, Graham Anker who incidentally uses Double Deception.
Val Swadling had a busy evening taking care of the stall.
This is a Dealer Dem I would highly recommend as there is a wide range of
different original items.
© Bernard Visgandis, March 2008