- V. Bell

Fawnya Frolic par Benjamin Earl

Benjamin Earl released a track called "The Art Of Making Love" earlier that aims for the mind. The song has a deep mellow mood with top with thought-provoking lyrics. The vibe of "The Art Of Making Love" is smooth enough to get lost in thought. Playing this one back a few times is must, or you'll miss something. Listen to it right here and see what it makes you think.

Benjamin Earl and Saba team up for a new track called "West". Peep it here.

Paul Wilson, Jason England, Guy Hollingworth and Benjamin Earl's lectures, part of the International Magic Convention hold in London this week, were a real treat. Jason England's lecture highlighted the right way to practice seconds and bottoms - the approach is aligned with the methodology used on his DVD Foundations. This point raises a very important question that wasn't answered: do you need unlearn all your bad habits in order to learn again? I believe that musicians know well how difficult is breaking bad habits. It is essential try to learn things correctly as soon as possible. The more you delay, the harder it will be to change later. Probably the only way is to slow things down and pay attention to detail: watch what your hands are doing. Another good tip is to record yourself on video and study the performance carefully - practicing in front of a mirror creates bad habits (like blinking at the key moment) and will not allow you to discover all your flaws. Benjamin Earl's lecture was very estimulating. He shared some ideas that, in my opinion, helped to put into context his performance at the Penn & Teller show (Fool Us). The main idea was "realism" in magic. I enjoyed his thoughts about the need to make some errors (to make your magic more believable) and his "jazz" approach to the ace location. Food for thought!

I found also a thread in the Magic Cafe with some other versions of the effect: [1] Aldrich, St.: Aldrich Hofzinser Ace Trick in The Linking Ring, vol.71, no.6, 1991, p.75 [2] Avis, J.: The "Lost Ace" Trick in Fulves,K.: Epilogue #11, March 1971, p.1 [3] Bengel,R.: One-Shot Hofzinser; Apocalypse, vol.12, no.9, 1989, p.1687 [4] Britland,D.: Tell Tale Aces in Magigram, vol.9, no.1, 1976 "Ganson's Teach In" [5] Busby, J.: Cased Prediction, 1978 [6] Chesbro/West: Flipper in Tricks You Can Count On, 1970, p.25 [7] Christensen, J.L.: Pyramide Aces in Pabular vo.3, no.12, 1977, p.447 [8] Cyprian Fr.: New Hofzinser Four Aces in Father Cyprian's Lecture Notes #11, 1989, p.29 [9] Cyprian,Fr. Hofzinser-70 in Epilogue #17, 1973, p.7 [10] Cyprian,Fr.: Fr.Cyprian on the Hofzinser Card Problem, Fulves 1978 [11] Cyprian,Fr.: Hats Off To Hofzinser in Father Cyprian's Lecture Notes #11, 1989, p.28 [12] Cyprian,Fr.: Hofzinser's Departure in Garcia,F.: The Elegant Card Magic of Father Cyprian, 1980, p.54 [13] Duffie, P.: Hofzinser's Alternative in Sadewitz/Duffie: Inspirations, 1987, p.98 [14] Duffie,P.: Hofzinser In My Pocket in Duffie/Sadowitz: Alternative Card Magic, 1982, p.22 verwandelt! Stets verwandelt sich das As der gew„hlten Farbfamilie in die gew„hlte Karte.® [15] Edwards, D.: Half-Shot Hofzinser; Apocalypse, vol.12, no.10, 1989, p.1703 [16] Elmsley, A.: Bare-Aced Hofzinser in Minch,St.: The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Vol.I, 1991, p.253 [17] Elmsley, A.: Hoftwister in Minch,St.: The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Vol.I, 1991, p.49 [18] Fare, J.: Criss Cross Triumph in fare,J.: Card Tricks French Stile, 1977, p.32 [19] Fulves,K.: Dollar Hofzinser in Fulves,K.: And A Pack Of Cards, 1989, p.24 [20] Fulves,K.: In Re Hofzinser; Fulves,K.acket Switches (Part Five), 1977, p.294 [21] Fulves,K.: The Red Backed Hofzinser in Fulves,K.: Packet Switches, Part One, 1971 p.8 [22] Fulves,K.: Two Unsolved Problems in Pallbearers Review, 3rd Folio, Winter 1969, p.299 and 302 [23] Giobbi, R.: Hofzinser's Aces in MAGIE (MZvD) vol.67, 1987, p.108 [24] Goldstein, Ph.: Twisted Hofzinser, in Linking Ring, vol.68, no.9, 1988, p.104 [25] Hartman,J.: Hof Zingers (Optionzer - Ringer - About Face - One Stop Swapping - Elastic Ace - Over and Over and Out) in Hartman,J.: Card Craft, 1991, pp.253-271 [26] Hartmann,J.: Hof Zingers (=Hotfinger - Face Lift - Ringer - Final Solution) in Hartmann Packet Magic, 1972, pp.31-37 [27] Higham, J.: Hofzinser Triumphs In One Shuffle; Higham,J.: Technomagic, 1990, p.67 [28] Jennings, L.: Hofzinser Ace Problem in Patton/Vergillo. A Visit With Larry Jennings, 1982, p.3 [29] Jennings,L.: A Problem with Hofzinser in Maxwell,M.: The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings, 1986, p.17 [30] Jennings,L.: Tell-Tale Aces in Ganson,L.ai Vernon's Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic, 1967, p.49 [31] Kaufman,R.: The Hofzinser Ace Tunnel, Kaufman,R.:The New York Magic Symposium Close-Up Collection One, 1982, p.71 [32] Lees, W.:Hofzinser/Jennings in Lees,W.: More Professional Card Tricks, 1981, p.21 [33] Marlo,E.: Choice Transposition in The New Tops, vol.5 no.11, 1965, p.37 [34] Marlo,E.: Marlo's Third Solution To Hofzinser's Card Problem in Racherbaumer,J.: Cardfixes, 1990, p.55 [35] McCarthy, D.: No Shuffle Hofzinser Aces; McCarthy, D.: The Underground Hits The Bottom, 1984, p.45 [35] McCarthy, D.: One Shuffle Hofzinser Aces; McCarthy,D.: The Underground Hits The Bottom, 1984, p.43 [36] McCarthy,D.: Another Hofzinser Aces, in McCarty,D.: Sly Glances, 1991, p.29 [37] Nelson,B.: Jennings Improved in Mandoza,F.J.: The Book Of John, 1978, p.119 [38] Racherbaumer,J.: A Case For Hofzinser in Racherbaumer,J.: Cardfixes, 1990, p.50 [39] Racherbaumer,J.: About the so-called Hofzinser Problem in Racherbaumer,J.: Arch Triumphs, 1978, p.8 [40] Racherbaumer,J.: Decking Hofzinser in MUM vol.67, no.4, 1977, p.16 [41] Racherbaumer,J.: Decking Hofzinser Delux in Apocalypse, vol.1, no.3, 1978, p.27 [42] Racherbaumer,J.: Hofzinser Triumphs in Racherbaumer,J.: Arch Triumphs, 1978, p.6 [43] Sanvert,J.J.: Another Hofzinser Twist, Apocalypse vol.5, no.10, p.687 [44] Simon, F.: Hot Zinger in Simon,F.: Versatile Card Magic 1983, p.134 [45] Solomon, D.: Triumphant Aces in Racherbaumer,J.: Arch Triumphs, 1978, p.10 [46] Swinford,P.: Three Different Ways in Fulves,K.:Epilogue #9, July 1970, p.3 [47] Tropeano, D.: Hofzinser Triumphs!; Apocalypse, vol.7, no.6, 1984, p.928 [48] Walton, R.: Grown Up Hofzinser in Walton,R.: That Certain Something, 1979, p.2 [49] Warlock/Haxton/Ryland/Kort: Platform Hofzinser in The New Pentagram vol.2, no.10, 1970, p.81; vol.3, no.2, 1971, p.13;, vol4, no.4, p.30 [50] Yedid, M.: Sandwichange For Hofzinser, Apocalypse, vol.15, no.5, 1992, p.2071

Sleight of hand looks like real magic on the hands of Benjamin Earl: