The More Things Change… A Session with Ed Marlo

by Wouldn't you like to know?

Excuse me, my good bitches and bastards, but what seems to be the fuck?
It’s been a hot minute. Here’s a juicy one to quench your taint’s dryness.

Editors Note: For transparency, an advanced review copy was graciously provided by Steve Reynolds. Steve is an integral part of the current card magic scene, as well as a huge pillar of modern magic history through his prolific output, documentation and sharing of previously unseen magic correspondence.

Thank you again, Steve!

An important part of proper crediting and references in magic history is having an intimate understanding of the subject matter, be it a routine, a plot or a move in an era that relied solely on the written word as gospel, as a product of its era and what came before. (See Harapan Ong’s brilliant and free To your Credit ebook.) In more recent times, the established evolution and iterative changes of something as it comes to life can be seen through books, forums, streams, private correspondence and video/audio recordings.

One of the biggest proponents of exploring and bringing forward these older artefacts to the present is being able to articulate and expand on the text/idea without losing the original idea/intent.

This fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your spice tolerance) can lead to a lot of bullshit presumptions and interpretations of what people were saying or thinking when pen hit paper over 50+ years ago.

“I think what Marlo meant to say….”
lol shut the fuck up, sit down.

But what if there was a way to hear from the author themselves, as if we were sitting with them at a table, having a session? And someone transcribed the methods and gave current references and crediting? The latest booklet from Steve Reynolds captures such an experience;

Vignettes at Tony’s.

Taken from an audio recording of Marlo sitting at one of his regular session spots, a restaurant called Tony’s in Chicago, this booklet comes together to become a bite-sized trip back to 1989, along with some wonderful anecdotes from Bill Malone.

The booklet outlines five of Marlo’s variations of Jerry Sadowitz’s “The More Things Change” from Alternative Card Magic (1983). In essence, the Ace to Four of Hearts are placed in the performer’s pockets, which then instantly change places with the four Kings in the performer’s hands. Each handling addresses a different condition or convincer, all the way up to doing the effect with signed cards from a borrowed deck.

What makes this publication unique is the accompanying performance by Steve, dubbed with audio from Marlo himself, talking through the how and why of his variations. Having the book laid out, cards in hand and a video on a screen in front of me may sound a bit all over the place, but was actually a really enjoyable learning experience as I worked through each handling.

So, is this this the next big thing in magic? To be honest, no.
Is is still worth getting? Definitely.

… Huh?

The reality is that what you’ll learn from this booklet is not going to be revolutionary or the “next big thing” in magic. Consider it for what it is; a time capsule of what was known, be it published or unpublished at the time, with Marlo dissecting different methods and approaches to a plot, paired with some personal stories from Bill Malone about one of his long time friends and mentors.

If you go into it expecting Marlo to be doing two simultaneous clip-shifts in the late 80’s while puffing on his Marsala Wine X Juicy Fruit flavoured vape and calling himself “Rizz Master Zaddy”, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

“This shit is bussin'” – Marlo, probably

Imagine Vernon with a top-knot hairstyle, popping off some De’vo Cradle 2 Grave bullshit while telling everyone to just “be natural”. A man can dream.

I definitely see the appeal in this as an ongoing series, especially with how prolific Marlo’s private correspondence and notes are. With the most recent publication of the last volume in the Marlo trilogy, The Final Cut, as well as the announcement of the legendary Marlo Magazines being reprinted soon by Vanishing Inc, Marlo is having a bit of a renaissance/hot girl summer.

For the booklet itself, while the printing and quality of paper are great, there were a few bits of the text typesetting that didn’t look right (random bolded words or haphazard spacing), which Steve and I discussed when I first received the booklet. Steve was already aware of these, so they’ve already been corrected in the latest printing.

Vignettes at Tony’s is currently available from Steve for $30 USD plus shipping.
If you happen to go past his site, make sure to say hi and have a look at some of the other amazing shit he’s put out (especially his in-fucking-sane work on the Zarrow, as well as some extensive work on other shuffles)

Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo,

xoxo

LH