Ascanio, Arturo de: The Magic of Ascanio: Knives and Color-Blindness ©2008 Paginas Magic Books, Spain Hardcover, 7x10", 132 pages

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Comments: Volume four of "The Magic of Ascanio" series, the other volumes being, 1) The Structural Conception of Magic; 2) Studies of Card Magic; 3) More Studies of Card Magic. Knives and Color-Blindness was originally written and printed in Spanish as "Navajas y Daltonismo - Magia de las Navajas" in 1958. Navajas y Daltonismo was translated into English in 1975 by Jose de la Torre as "Ascanio's World of Knives", and I've read that it was meant more as a paraphrase than as an exact translation. Knives and Color-Blindness is a new translation by Luid Iglesias, and from my understanding, is intended to more accurately represent Ascanio's original work.

Contents:

10 Foreword by Fu Manchu
14 Introduction by Antonio Romero
18 Preliminary Note

21 Part One: Technique
22 Introduction: A Few Words about Knives
22 Terminology
22 What Type of Knife Should Be Used?
24 The "Fairly Complete" Set

26 The Paddle Move
26 A Modern Take on the Classic Handling
28 Alternative Handlings
28 A The Ring and Little Finger Grip
29 B The Knife Held between the Left Index Finger and Thumb
30 C The Hand-To-Hand Toss
31 D The Classic Handling Performed with Two Knives
32 The Through-The-Fist Turn
33 The Third-Finger Turn
34 The Ultra-Fast Turn
35 Starting Position
35 The Turn Proper
36 Finishing Position
37 Points to Note
38 The Ultra Quick Turn with Two Knives
38 The Psychology of the Paddle Move
40 Two Psychological Procedures (Ascanio)
40 1 The Sharp Knife
40 2 Breathing on the Knife
41 Color Changes
41 The Classic Color Change
42 Insertion Reverse (Ascanio)
43 A Color Change (Bringas)
44 A Color Change in the Hands of a Spectator (Lewis Ganson)
45 One-Handed Color Change
48 Color Changes with Two Knives
50 A Color Change Using Regular Knives
52 Minar's Visual Color Change
54 The Psychology of the Color Change

57 Sundry Sleights
57 Handling the Knife as a Cigarette
57 The Sliding Vanish
59 Two Vanishes from Fu Manchu
59 A. Holding the Knife by One End
60 B. Holding the Knife by Both Ends
61 How to Tell the Sides of a Knife Apart by Feel
62 Telling Two Knives Apart by Feel

63 Switches
63 The Quick Switch (Ascanio)
63 - Preparation
63 - Execution
64 - How to Use the Quick Switch
66 Other Switches
67 A. Switching Two Dissimilar Knives (Lewis Ganson)
68 B. Switching Two Knives with One Matching Side
68 - a) Switching a Gimmicked Knife for an Ordinary One
68 -- I The Pick and Drop Switch (Fu Manchu)
69 -- II Sleeving into the Left Sleeve (Fu Manchu)
70 -- III Propelling the Knife inside the Right Sleeve
70 - b) Switching an Ordinary Knife for a Gimmicked One

73 Part Two: Routines
75 Preliminary Note

76 A Routine by Fred Kaps
76 - Effect
76 - Material
76 - Routine
76 -- Part One
78 -- Part Two
78 -- A. Hand-To-Hand Transposition
79 -- B. The Handkerchief Move
80 Outline of the Routine
81 Notes

82 A Routine by Lewis Ganson
82 - Material and Preparation
83 - Presentation and Handling
83 - Notes

86 A Routine by Arnaldo Curia
86 - Effect
86 - Material and Set-Up
87 - Routine
89 - Outline of the Routine
89 - Variations

91 "Knives and Color-Blindness" (Ascanio)
91 - Effect
91 - Material and Preparation
92 - Presentation and Handling
92 -- Part One: An Overt Miracle Explained
94 -- Part Two: "You Must Be Color-Blind, Sir"
96 -- Part Three: Climax
97 Outline of the Routine
97 Notes
98 Alternative Handlings
98 - First Variation
99 - Second Variation
100 - Third Variation

103 Miscellanea
103 Two Presentations by Fu Manchu
104 An Idea for a Shell (Fu Manchu)
104 A Pull Vanish (Fu Manchu)
105 A Psychological Turn (Fu Manchu)
106 Holdouts
107 A Good Clean-Up (Eddie Joseph)
107 A Subtle Idea
108 An Opening Effect
108 The Knife in the Garter
108 A Holder for Miniature Knives (Ascanio)
110 A Pretty Color Change (Fu Manchu)
110 A Knife Holder (Lewis Ganson)

113 Part Three: First Fruits
115 A Justification

116 A Chapter by Jose Paytubi
116 A. A Psychological Turn
118 B. The Propeller (A Color Change)
119 C. A Routine
119 Material and Preparation
121 Routine
124 Outline of the Routine

125 A Routine by Martinez Muro
125 Material and Set-Up
126 Routine
128 Outline of the Routine

131 Farewell
132 A Big Thank You