Home » Card Table Artifice

Card Table Artifice

In 1902, a card cheat—S. W. Erdnase (a pseudonym)—self-published what would become the seminal text for sleight-of-hand, The Expert at the Card Table. In 1992, inspired by that text and, oddly enough, the daily BBC broadcast of off-shore weather reports, renowned composer Gavin Bryars and Spanish poet and sculptor Juan Muñoz created A Man in a Room, Gambling, ten pieces for string quartet with accompanying narration.

In 2014, David Ben, master sleight-of-hand artist, lifelong student of Erdnase, and card cheating, brought a new perspective to the Bryars-Muñoz collaboration. The result is Card Table Artifice, and is performed here by the Art of Time Ensemble (accompanied by Gavin Bryars), with live narration by R.H. Thomson, and card table artistry by David Ben.

World premiere @Luminato June 2014 | about the show


Programme Nine


Programme Ten / Three Card Monte