I have been carrying a terrible burden of guilt for over half a century, which I have told to only a few of my closest magical friends. My grievous mistake was unconsciously directed at Martin Nash.
Frankly, I could have been responsible for Martin's outstanding talents being aimed, not toward the art of magic, but in some other direction. Our world of wonder would not have benefited from Martin's unique sleight-of-hand creations and powerful playing card presentations. My transgression occurred several decades ago, before Martin and I ever met face to face. Let me explain.
Martin Nash was an 11 year old boy living in Canada when he discovered his insatiable love for the art of magic, particularly playing cards. The initial evidence of this was the mail-order he sent to Douglas Magicland in Dallas, Texas for his first "trick" deck of cards, The Svengali Deck. The effect was beautifully described in Magicland's 1001 Mysteries catalog, which Martin had ordered for ten cents, (postage included), from Magicland's classified ad he came across in Popular Science magazine.
At the age of 13 I had been hired by Magicland's owner, Mr. Delbert Douglas, not only as the magic demonstrator, but also as the clean-up person, trash-putter-outer, awning-lowerer-and-putter-upper and overall general doer of what-ever-needs-to-be-done-now kid. Also, I helped Mr. Douglas as he fulfilled the mail orders by getting from stock the items to be shipped with each order. Now here comes that disaster, which could have altered the course of magic for decades to come.
I had been working at Magicland for about two years when Martin's order was received and filled. He was sent the detailed instructions for the Svengali Deck, but the deck of cards, which was included was the MeneTekel Deck!
Now you can see what consternation was caused when that exuberant Canadian boy eagerly opened that anxiously awaited package sent to him all the way from Texas, removed the MeneTekel deck from its case and attempted to learn the miracles described in the catalog from the instructions for the Svengali Deck! You can imagine Martin's reactions as he read those directions for his first trick deck.
DO NOT SHUFFLE THIS DECK!
DO NOT TAMPER WITH THE DECK UNTIL READING THE INSTRUCTIONS.
In the Svengali Deck, the same value cards are cut slightly shorter than the different cards (see fig. 1). The deck is arranged with every other card being the same value card. This is the principal that gives the Svengali Deck its magical abilities.
I can see Martin saying to himself, "Ok, I see that every other card is short and is identical with the card next to it."
When riffling the deck front towards back (see Fig2.), the deck appears to be all-different.
When riffling the deck from back to front (see Fig 3.) the deck appears to be made up of all the same value cards.
"I must not be holding this right. When I riffle it one way it does look like an ordinary deck.
But when I riffle it the other way, it still looks like an ordinary deck. What am I doing wrong? And what do they mean, "riffle" the cards? I'm way up here in Canada and there are no magicians that I can ask within a hundred miles. I'll keep reading the instructions until I figure this all out."
Martin's predicament may have been the ultimate example of frustration. Untying the legendary Gordian Knot, or withdrawing the glistening Excalibur Sword embedded in that magical stone, would have been child's play compared to attempting to understand the operation of the MeneTekel Deck from the Svengali Deck instructions!
Now you can understand why I have had this life-long burden. Suppose Martin Nash had been so frustrated by my error, he had turned his talents to stamp collecting or building model airplanes.
The many presentations of powerful magic with playing cards devised by Martin Nash would have never occurred. And then I began to wonder, were there other victims of my Magicland mail order mistakes? How many other orders were misfilled? What other great magical minds were lured from magic to corn collecting or cancer research? What if I had not continued to be employed (for $2.50 a day) at Magicland? Or if Martin Nash had informed Mr. Douglas of my grievous error!? Mr. Douglas might have fired me. I could have been looking for other employment. Suppose I would have gone to work for some scientific supply company. Misfilling one of their orders could have created similar frustrations for a teenager who grew up to become the discoverer of nuclear fusion or the inventor of that electron accelerator used to create that first atomic bomb.
So Martin Nash's ability to overcome the Svengali Deck/MeneTekel Deck fiasco I created and to continue his interest in magic, let me remain employed at Magicland. As you can see, this not only resulted in the creation by Martin of some excellent card tricks, it also speeded victory for the Allies.
My burden is now finally lifted and I say "thank you" Martin Nash, not only for your outstanding magic, but also for helping us win World War 2.
Happy Magic!
Mark Wilson
Rocco
By the Author
I recently was working on the section of this book about building your character and it struck me that Rocco would be a perfect addition to the chapter. The hard part was how to get a hold of him.
I contacted Jamy Ian Swiss, because I knew that they worked together on Monday Night Magic in New York. He wrote me back with a simple email that just had Rocco's name and phone number. I was about to cold call him and ask for a favor. I psyched myself up and made the call. Of all things, I got his answering machine.
The next day, I'm driving down I-215 and the phone rings. I didn't recognize the number, but I picked up anyway, "Hello?" On the other end of the line, I hear, "Hey Mike, this is Rocco." I nearly crashed into a bridge abutment. After speaking with him, I found him to be one of the nicest Jersey folk I've ever met. He agreed to speak with me about Martin and about creating character. He gave me his office number and told me to give him a call.
"You need to be who you're comfortable being. Martin is a master of charm both on stage and off. When you speak to him you find that the name 'charming' is well earned. I've watched his shows at the Castle many times, and he's the ultimate smooth."
While speaking with Rocco, I also got the honor and privilege of speaking to his good friend Roger Mayfarth, The genius mind behind the creation of D'Lite. He also spoke fondly of a private card session he one had with Martin at the Castle. "He was incredibly generous. I sat and had a pri-vate lecture with the Charming Cheat himself." I found out that Roger was infact one of the first peo-ple to receive the Infinity card control from Martin. "It had a major impact in my card magic, and still does."
In the closing of our conversation, Rocco recited to me an old Zen saying that has had a major influence on his work, and has already influenced mine, “Remember Mike, it's the spaces between the notes that make the music." Thanks Rocco, I owe you one.