Submitted by James Alan on
The Linking Ring | September 2012
Reviewed by: Paul A. Lelekis
This large hardbound book chronicles the beautiful cuts and flourishes of 95- year-old Msgr. Vincent Foy from Canada.
Magic has been a passion of his since he first saw Harry Blackstone perform in 1925. Friends and magicians David Ben and Nick Sacco have waded through a massive amount of his personal notes to compile an impressive array of one-handed cuts and flourishes. Ron van Someren painstakingly photographed Msgr. Foy’s hands as he performed every single move of each and every cut and flourish. This, along with the descriptive text, made learning these sleights very easy to do.
I was surprised at how many variations Msgr. Foy has accumulated! He was Ross Bertram’s friend and student, who in turn inspired many of his manipulations. The book includes nine big chapters of cuts, and each chapter has beautiful renditions. I particularly enjoyed the Simple Transpositions, Twisting the Cut, and Novelty chapters. Some of the more motivated card enthusiasts will also enjoy the Longitudinal Cuts, Challenge Cuts, and One Hand Table Cuts chapters. There are some real show-off cuts in this book!
In addition, Msgr. Foy’s introduction provides the reader with some insightful history of card manipulations and an annotated bibliography of other sources, including books and DVDs, that the performing magician may wish to explore. This man truly has something to say.
Recommended.
