Where is this marketplace going? A „new“ trick is offered: A version of the „7 Card Monte“ (click here).
Well, some sort of discussion and speculation started in some magical forum. When reading this, it really raised my eyebrows. Some people apparently have only a little or limited idea of the history of magic. The basic effect and inspiration was Peter Kane’s „Gipsy Curse“. From that, the late Fred Kaps built his (unpublished) version, using unprepared cards. The Kaps routine is a blast and unmatched.
Later, José Caroll was inspired by the Kaps routine and developed his brilliant routine, which is published in «52 Lovers». Derek Dingle had some work on the same lines. Darwin Ortiz has a nice routine in „Scams & Fantasies with Cards“. So there is plenty of people out there that have been contributing to that plot, the „Gipsy Curse“ and the Wild Card. Especially Spanish magicians are very familiar with that effect. There is a beautiful version on the Dani DaOrtiz website for download. It is well-known and on the way to becoming a classic. Basically, it is a wild card done under the premise of of Monte effect. I am sure there are other versions as well, which I am not aware of …
The dealers offer us a „new“ trick, there is even a gimmick involved that „does the work“ for you. Given that some of the above mentioned versions are done all without trick cards, using a gimmick in that routine seems like a little step back.
I prefer the other versions. Pepe Caroll’s routine, for example, is just a thing of beauty. Reading the books really pays off …
