The meaning of Kabbala, translated from Hebrew, means something received and handed down. This definition resonates. Knowledge of magic, after all, is handed down from generation to generation, from magician to magician, and from teacher to disciple. Prior to xerography and personal computers, most magical knowledge was transmitted in this primitive, semi-private, and intimate means. Word-of-mouth reigned supreme and to a certain extent still does.
The magic scene in the Seventies was a blooming, buzzing place, atwitter with contentiousness and creativity. Close-up magic, particularly with cards, was becoming better. Tricks were becoming more interesting, finessed, and sophisticated. Many magicians became knowledgeable and expert: Fast-Company Men, too hip for each other, too hip for most rooms, and too hip for their own good. Magic for magicians took hold and had to be magician-proof. Card problems were subjected to new and stringent conditions and restrictions and strategies of misdirection-within-misdirection were the order of the day. This was the world Kabbala wanted to explore, exploit, and harvest.
The Kabbala (1971-81) was part of the information pipe-line, a supplement, complement, and co-conspirator. Although it did not start out to be an alternative voice, it became combative counterpoint to Pallbearers Review and Epilogue.
Most of the material collected in this book is still vital, interesting, and useful. Certain routines are prototypal members of a special class, not masterpieces or blockbusters in the hyperbolic sense, but solid, practical, thought-provoking effects.
CARDSTUFF TECHNIQUES
- FORCES
- Farcical Force
- Original Christ Force
- Variations of K.M. Force
- SWITCHES - CHANGES
- Bold Atfus
- Coin Kick and Card Change
- Convincing Jogged Change
- Eidetic Change
- Kick-Off Switch
- Push-In Change
- Finn Change
- Jelly Roll Change
- Spinner
- Marlo's Curry Curve
- No Way
- Deal Switch
- Scoop Change
- Mechanical Change
- New Card Add
- P.S. Move - Secret Subtraction Finesse
- Slow-Motion Marnase Change
- Ruffle Shuffle
- PALMS
- Bottom Palm Replacement
- Marlo On The Longitudinal Palm
- COUNTS, CUTS, SHUFFLES
- Expert's Elmsley Count
- Spirit Count
- Repeat Code 345
- Marnase False Cut
- Overhand Cull Shorts
- CRIMPS, DEALS, AND STEALS
- One-Hand Crimp
- Multiple Minus Bottom
- PASSES
- SPREADING
- Partial Ascanio
- Pivot Spread Variation
- Ruse Cull
- Side-Jog Cull
- Side-Jog Glide
- Spread Notes
- ARSENAL ADDITIONS
- New Quick Three-Way
- One-Hand Tilt
- Tilt Throw-off I
- Tilt Throw-Off II
- Marlo's Screening Action
- Propelled Lapping Ideas
- Out Of The Rut Reverse
CARDSTUFF APPLICATIONS
- BLIND AMBITION
- Ambitious Swindle
- Dual Ambitious
- For The Unambitious
- Still Avid
- FOUR ACES
- No Trace Aces
- Gourmet Slide Aces
- Sawing A Lady In Half?
- FOUR-ACE MUSTER-CLUSTER
- All-Fair Four-Ace Effect
- Elmsley Assembly
- Magician's Sleeper Aces
- Zap Aces
- Zap Variant
- BACK-TRACKING
- Disassembling Jokers
- Technicolor Disassembling Jokers
- Gather And Scatter Ye Colorful Jokers
- ROUNDABOUT ACES
- Blended Succession
- Successful Succession
- Succession Aces Of A Different Color
- Pyramid of the Kings
- THINK ACE
- Cased-In Technicolor Thought
- Spread Think Ace
- Tabled Think Ace
- More Technicolor Thoughts
- ACE-CUTTING
- Lead-In Ace-Cutting
- To Set Up
- Spectator Cuts Off More Than He Can Choose
- Spectator Cuts To And Turns Over The Aces
- CASTING SPELLS
- Swindle Speller
- Spell Mell
- Spellbinder
- Shift Spell
- Taking Further Than That Too Far
- THE RAW AND THE COOKED
- Canned Cannibals
- Cannibal Cards
- Cannibals French-Style
- Colorful Cannibals
- Real-Gone Missionaries
- Uncanny Cannibals
- Dessert
- DELI DECEPTIONS
- Color-Changing Eidetic Sandwich
- Slap jack
- Pressed Between
- CLOCK-WORK
- Atomic Clock
- Predetermined Hour
- Impromptu Predetermined Hour
- MENTAL CASES
- Another Encore
- Blankwave
- Group Shuffle
- Card Clairvoyancy
- Christ-Crossed Clairvoyance
- Doubly Open
- Think As I Think
- Some People Think
- Still Visiting
- Totally Telepathic
- Turning On An Audience
- 21 Plus Subtlety
- Lie Sleuth
- Ma Bell Ringers
- "Card Thirteen" In Spades
- Ho-Hum Humdinger
- Humming With Hummer
- Third Thot
- Wired Hidden Power
- Impromptu X-ray Deck
- Riding The Wave
- Phantom Deck
- PRIME-TIME PLOTS
- Another Elevator
- Between Elmsley, Brown, and Himber
- More!
- Complot Wallet Routine
- Castillon's Connection
- Elusive Jacks
- Fantasy Torn And Restored Card
- Jumping Jacks
- Quick Reflex
- WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
- Flip's Wild Card
- Hand-Out Wild Card
- Impromptu Wild Card
- OIL AND WATER
- Early Oil And Water
- Floating Phase
- Veeser Phase
- Oil Slick And Water Wonderful
- FARO FOOLERY
- Easy-Way Faro-Fooler
- Faro Riffle Shuffle
- Incomplete Faro Transposition
- LOCUS-POCUS
- Conditional Find
- S-D Location
- Countdown Disclosures
- O. Henry Find
- Ten Paces To The Right
- Reversal Track
- Tossed-Timated
- Yore Finder
- Inconclusive Climax
- Card Number
- Covert Coin
- Ethnic Card Trick
- X Marks The Spot
- For The Color Blind
- COLLECTORS
- Cervon's Ambush
- Taking Flight
- MIRRORING
- Blind Date
- Match-A-Matic
- Matching Prediction
- Right Number
- TRANSPOTENTIAL
- Back And Forth
- Colorful Cased-In Transpo
- Signature Rush
- Underground Transposition
- Bridge
- Vise Versa 1
- Vise Versa 2
- PACKET PRESTIDIGITATION
- Blushing Jokers
- Partial Ascanio
- Jackpot
- Inversion
- Inversion Follow-up
- Herb's Variant
- MORE ARCH TRIUMPHS
- Count-Down Triumph
- Flip-Flop Triumph
- Spade Shuffle Triumphs
- Zen Triumph
- TRANSFORMATIONAL ANALYSIS
- Deck In Parvo
- Micro-Macro Handling
- Spirit Production and Transposition
- TWISTS
- Pineapple Twist
- Pineapple Preserve
- Twist'In
- Turning Up
- ROUND-UP FOR ROUNDERS
- Second Power Poker And Lead In
- Sloppy Drunk Poker
- Super Stoned Poker Deal
- The Sting
- Up The Sleeve Again
- Vernon's Aces Plus Kings
- Magician vs. Gambler
- Monte Mingle Move
- Deal Dodge
- NODS TO HOFZINSER
- One Spectator D.M.
- Mini-Observation Test
- Last-Minute Departure
- Kung-Fu Card
- York's Surprise Stab
- The Lady Stretches
- They're All Alike
- Tabled Riffle Shuffle Control
- Recall and Neglect
- Double Speller
- More Mental Reverses
- Cliff Green's Return Flight
- Unpublished Handling of Cliff Green
- Stull-Less Watch Stunner
- Unexpected Signed Card To Wallet
- Cosmic Card
- Working Against Time
- Rouge En Noir
- Flight
- HAUNTED
- Zany Gaff
- Veiled Tosheroon
- Impromptu Multiple Haunted Pack
- Tosheroon Two
- Seven-Up Float Treatise
COINS
- OKITO NEATO
- Another Tabled Transpo
- Tabled Transpo Plus
- Ungaffed Tabled Transposition
- O-Korto Box Rides Again
- Magnetic Marlo Meets Okito
- CLASSICS
- Cap and Pence Handling
- Copper and Silver: Cupped and Cozy
- New Theory Coins Across
- Midas Touch
- Easy Thievery
- UNCLASSIFIED
- Gypsy Switch
- Dematerializing Coins
- Kneet!
- Six To One
- Silent Gypsy
- Pursed Coins Of Ishtar
- Extinguished Smoker
- Coin And Tip
- Variation
- Tip
- RING-AND-ROPE
- Afterword
1st edition 1998, 486 pages.
word count: 232101 which is equivalent to 928 standard pages of text