Choo Choo!
Consider this newsletter your training ground. And a brand new crossword to locomotivate you!
Puzzlers and magickers!
In this newsletter:
Magic and trains
Trains!
Video: David Copperfield’s The Orient Express
Video: Subway card trick
Video: DMC’s “The Great Escape”
A brand new crossword! All Aboard!
Trains!
Lately I’ve been thinking about trains. Maybe it’s because I want to dig out my old Brio trains to give to my daughter when she’s a little older.
In this newsletter I’ve put together some of my favorite magic tricks that have to do with trains. From a small sleight of hand trick to a grandiose TV illusion.
First, my mind went to this scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There’s some movie magic here, but the techniques used are pretty good!
If you look closely, you can see the train car is called Doctor Fantasy's Magic Caboose. I did notice this until putting this article together! Doctor Fantasy is actually the magician name of producer Frank Marshall. Years ago I had the privilege of watching Frank perform as Dr. Fantasy. It was Kathleen Kennedy’s birthday and I had just performed my own magic show (In truth, this might have been one of the greatest thrills of my performing career: Frank, Kathleen, Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams were sitting in the front row. No pressure!). After I concluded my act, Frank took the stage. He was dressed in a pristine black tuxedo. I believe he did a few simple tricks with props, but the pièce de résistance was Frank running across the room and diving headfirst into an enormous cake. Apparently this is Dr. Fantasy’s signature move. I have a photo of this somewhere and I will try to include it when I find it!
The Orient Express
The Magic of David Copperfield XIII: Mystery on the Orient Express is one of my absolute favorite magic specials. The full special from 1991 is below and culminates with David vanishing a 70-ton train car. But if you click on the link, it will start you at the trick that I found the most memorable. I left an inedible mark on me when I was a kid. It’s “card through window” on a moving train. Enjoy!
The opening of the special also features a fabulous illusion. Make sure you go back to the second minute to watch a great motorcycle vanish/transformation.
Subway
My history is a bit hazy on this. I believe the first published magic trick called Subway was by Martin Gardner in Hugard’s Magic Monthly in 1949. The idea uses the “plunger principle” — cards pushed into one side of the deck emerge from the other.
Here’s a very cool version by Dan and Dave Buck. If you want to learn it, you can actually purchase the instructional video at Theory11!
DMC’s “The Great Escape”
Here’s a modern take on a train escape, as performed by UK magician DMC. This is part of his series Death by Magic.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
All Aboard! crossword
Another brand new crossword for you to solve. Play it now! Would love to hear your thoughts below in the comments!
Events
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Upcoming Shows
After a sold out run at The Kennedy Center, The Enigmatist next moves to Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier in May 2024. The Windy City, get ready for the puzzle party! More info here.
Puzzle Hunt Playing Cards
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OK, now that's a cool puzzle - I can't you believe you got all the theme content to cross like that!
Re: that David Copperfield trick with the glass, my first thought was... OK, well, my first thought was "I wish you posted this a week or two ago so I wouldn't feel weird about finding a David Copperfield video so delightful." But my second thought is, wow, what incredible direction -- you have to do the trick with no cuts, to avoid any accusations of doctored video, so that's a full minute without cuts, back in the analog era of filmmaking. Very impressive! (Very clever, also, picking the four of diamonds because its ripped-off corner will look nicest on camera.)
Fun puzzle! The 68A/52D Latin/German cross got me, but it's always good to learn something.