In 1992, the beloved magic book series chronicling some of Dai Vernon’s most cherished works concluded with “Vernon Chronicles Vol. 4: He Fooled Houdini, Dai Vernon a Magical Life.” For years, this was easily one of the hardest “Vernon Chronicles” to find. But now, it’s been remastered as an incredible eBook!
Unlike the previous books, which focused mostly on tricks, this book instead contains a variety of fascinating anecdotes about Dai’s life. Since there are only a few tricks included, the beginner magician eager to find the next best trick may pass on the chance to read this amazing book. However, any magician that desires to truly master their craft must read “Vernon Chronicles Volume 4”.
This text offers an in-depth look at the thinking process of one of the most influential magicians of the 20th century. Not only has Dai influenced many young magicians, he has also personally known many great magicians of the past such as Nate Leipzig, Cardini, Malini, Harry Houdini, T. Nelson Downs (The King of Koins), Harry Blackstone, and many others—all of whom are discussed in this remarkable book.
Contents
- Foreword by Richard Buffum
- Introduction
- Magic’s Past and Future
- My First Hundred Years
Part One (1894-1916)
- I Try to Fly and Other Early Memories
- My Father’s Principles for Life
- My Father and My First Magic Tricks
- My First Playing Cards
- Learning about Silhouettes
- My First Magician
- Going Backstage
- Some Thoughts on Thurston
- My First Trip to the Pawn Shop
- Mother and Magic
- The Carnegie Library in Ottawa
- Magic Books
- My Attack on Magic
- Practice
- Know the Terms
- You Should bean Engineer
- Cliff Green
- New York and Coney Island
- Carny Games
- Carnival Talk
- Larry Grey, the Dizzy Wizard
- My Brother Napier and the Army
Part Two (1917—1938)
- New York 1917
- New York’s Magic Shops
- Powers’ Magic Shop
- Harry Kellar and Thurston
- The Short Card
- Doc Elliott, He Played with a Full Deck
- The Inner Circle
- “Just Think of a Card”
- “The Tricks of the Greeks”
- Gamblers
- The Three Card Monte
- The Masked Man, One of My Heros
- Hofzinser, Another of My Heros
- On Using Trick Cards
- Jeanne Comes into My Life
- Women in Magic
- Nate Leipzig
- My First Professional Engagement
- The Union League Club
- Cardini
- Doc Tarbell
- Jud Cole
- Horace Goldin and the Unusual Cane
- Alfred Benzone, “Originator of Ectoplasm”
- The Man Who Fooled Vernon
- Malini’s Misdirection
- Malini, Still Another Hero
- Malini and the Queen
- On Meeting Thomas Edison
- Silhouettes and Agents
- Mr Houdini and Madame Houdin
- More Memories of Harry Houdini
- Houdini and Spiritualism
- Ted “Male” Vernon
- Cuba
- Sawing a Woman in Half in Cuba
- My Black Magic in Cuba
- Sam Margules and Dickie the Dunce
- Mentalists
- Touring America
- Jarrow and Van Hoven
- Dai Yen or Dr Chung
- Fred Keating
- Mr. Shock and the Rubber Bands
- Dad Stevens-‘The Mysterious Kid”
- The Fabulous Center Deal
- Charlie Miller, “I’m a Dice Man”
- My Life as Edward Brown
- J Warren Keane
- William J Hilliar
- Tommy Downs, “The King of Koins”
- Harry Blackstone
- Vernon in Print
- Jean Hugard
- The Wonderful Faro Box
- Paul Fox and FDR
- Neepie
- The Cigarette Trick
- Frank Tobey’s Gambling Furniture
- Garnet Lee, the Chinaman’s Toy
- Secrets
- Australian Slang
- Effects Defined
- Entertaining the Rich
- The Linking Rings
- My Brother Napier Dies
Part Three (1939-1963)
- My Harlequin Act
- Doves Steal the Show at the Rainbow Room
- Compeer, the Monkey
- How I Became “The Professor”
- Fu Manchu
- The Mind-Reading Box
- On the Same Bill with Charlie Chaplin
- Dante
- Sam Horowitz Becomes Me!
- From Blueprints to Broken Arms
- Citizenship
- Shade
- With the USO in World War II
- Dan Cummings
- Milbourne Christopher and the Cuban Lottery
- Annemann’s Bullet Catch
- Annemann’s Suicide
- Roy Benson
- On Being Natural
- Cruising
- A Couple of Funny Moments
- The Old Vaudeville Formula
- Old Cards New Cards
- Authority
- The Father of the Modern Lecture Series
- Great Tricks
- Simple Ideas Drive People Crazy
- “A Pocket Trick”
- How to be Effective
- Classics
- An Original Thought
- Art in the Craft
- Traveling Magicians
- Through the Looking-Glass
- The Pass
- On Performing
- What’s Wrong with Magic
- My Family
- Afterword
