I worked as a "Magic Bartender" for several years, tricks have to be simple, entertaining, and ideally employ common objects. Occasionally I'd sit at a customers table which gave me the opportunity to perform 'The Glass Through the Table'
Cigar Magic is the result of my investigation into the Cigar From The Purse Routine generally associated with Nate Leipzig (but originally created by G.W. Hunter). I explored different methods including the use of a 'holdout';
Barlotta's Coin Magic manuscript features his variation of Slydini's "Four Coins through the Table". He has eliminated the 'mid air Hang Ping Chen' movement and replaced it with a Slydini variation he sometimes employed. Dennis' objective was to give
Slydini's Paper Balls in the Box is the first miracle I ever saw my teacher perform. His performance compelled me to give up everything I knew about magic and seek him out for lessons. This routine will teach the student many guiding
This is Slydini's version of the Silk in the Apple. He told me he performed it on Cuba television in the 1950's. When he walked through the streets of Havana people recognized him and came up to saying "The apple... the apple...".
My manuscript on Slydini's Cigarette Magic teaches all of his major cigarette routines including his Cigarette Fantasy; a production of un-lit cigarettes performed to music. With the exception of his 'Torn & Restored Lit Cigarette',
I have studied a linking pin routine myself many years ago. It wasn't this Slydini routine, but the effect is very strong because safety-pins are familiar to everyone. And if you can do something magical with a common object then you have a miracle at
Slydini's Linking Ring Routine is a show stopper. Layman love it and magicians schooled in the Linking Rings are puzzled by it. It is everything a stage routine should be, entertaining and mystifying. This 91 page manuscript includes over 100 instructional
Slydini used to open his stage act with this routine.
Slydini's Production Silks is a routine he cared deeply about. This is an opening stage effect. (He used to say: "If you wait too long the silks will get stale".) The magician shows his hands
I believe that Dennis Barlotta will soon be known as the foremost teacher of Slydini's system of misdirection. There have been others before that have tried to explain and teach Slydini routines, but nobody could capture the essence of what made Slydini
D. Angelo Ferri D. Angelo Ferri's aka Dennis Barlotta's interest in magic began with a gift from his father, a set of plastic cups and balls purchased from a novelty shop in Times Square. Years later, after military service, he discovered Tannen’s Magic Shop on Broadway and Al Flosso’s. He was drawn to close-up magic. One day he met a man at Tannen’s. He did a version of Slydini’s Coins Through the Table for Dennis. He suggested Dennis purchase The Magic of Slydini by Lewis Ganson, which he immediately did.
Dennis abandoned everything he had learned about magic and started over. He studied Slydini’s routines for one year, on his own; then sought him out for lessons.
His studio was on 341 West 45th Street in Manhattan; Apartment 111. Dennis remembers being very nervous as he knocked on his door. It swung open and there he was, dressed in a crisp white shirt and a blue tie. Dennis froze. He said “I bet you were expecting a taller man”. That made Dennis relax; a little.
They went into his living room and after a few minutes of small talk he asked Dennis if he could do any of his magic. Dennis told him he did his One Coin Routine. He said: “Really? Show me.” As Dennis worked his way through the routine he saw this look of horror cross his face. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore. He said: “OK that’s enough, let’s start.”
Dennis spent over eight years with him. after a couple of years he stopped charging Dennis for lessons. Being Italian himself, they had many things in common. It was like having a ‘magic grandfather’. Dennis was very lucky.
Dennis' manuscripts represent eight years of private lessons and thirty years of performance experience. They are based upon the thousands of questions Dennis asked him and his careful answers. He told Dennis: “I like you because you understand my magic”. Dennis' goal is to pass on his teaching as precisely as he is able. Dennis' dream is his magic continues to be performed as he intended it to be performed.
