Bob Cassidy - The Moldavian Switch.pdf - Bob Cassidy - mcgregor2001

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

The Vanishing Art of Billet Switching

The Billet

The Proper Material

and Fold

How the Switch Appears to an Audience

Preliminary Hand Position and the Basic Move

Effective Misdirectional Techniques for Billet Workers

Variations and Applications

The Billet Holder

The Cigarette Case

The Pencil Variation

Preface

Ottoman Empire and, for the most part, was ruled by Ottoman-appointed rulers

(except, of course, during occasional occupations by Russian forces during the

18 th and 19 th centuries) until 1812 when Russia annexed Bessarabia, holding it

through 1856, when the Treaty of Paris restored southern Bessarabia to Moldavia.,

which merged with Wallachia in 1859 and assumed the name of Rumania.

Throughout this period of history and well into the twentieth century, the custom

in much of Moldavia was to name streets after prominent individuals from the

occupying nation. Since the country was conquered on a regular basis, thousands

of address changes were filed three or four times a year, hopelessly paralyzing the

postal authorities of the region. Inevitably, even those natives who had lived in the

same ancestral homes for their entire lives rarely received any mail. In fact, no

one received any mail at all until April 1, 1923 at precisely 10:00 AM. (Greenwich

Mean Time plus two hours) when everyone in the country received an official

looking envelope sent by a mysterious benefactor. It contained many colorful

documents that inspired their imaginations and filled their hearts with hope. The

personally addressed cover letters assured each recipient with the message, “You

May Already be Winner! But you MUST respond now!”

To insure that the responses were received in time, the people threatened

revolution unless the postal system was revamped and a universal system of

addresses adopted. Since every member of the government and royal family also

received the letter, a violent uprising was unnecessary and implementation of

postal reform took place immediately. It was officially decreed that everyone,

regardless of race, creed or station in life, was equally entitled to an efficient

method of sending and receiving their “billets” (“letters” in French, the language of

the Eurasian royal courts who took turns ruling Moldavia). Thus were the long

suffering citizens given their first taste of democracy and everyone took advantage

of their “Unique Opportunity” to purchase five-year subscriptions to the magazine

of their choice.

As a result of what was later declared to be the first successful mass mailing of

junk mail to impoverished nations, the “mysterious benefactor” who had initiated

the campaign from his apartment in Newark, New Jersey, became known as “The

Billet King of Moldavia.” He later sold the business to a prominent publishing

house and began his next quest – to achieve fame and fortune as a stage mind

reader and as the first “Psychic to the Stars.” His success is a matter of historical

record.

What follows is an in-depth description of “The Moldavian Switch.” The foregoing

history was included to depart from the time-honored tradition of assigning exotic,

yet totally meaningless, titles to mental effects. As Annemann succinctly put it –

Gabbatha!

Bob Cassidy

Seattle, Washington

February 2003

I n 1512, the independent principality of Moldavia became a tributary to the

The Vanishing Art of Billet Switching

Despite the fact that billet work is often called a

cornerstone of effective mentalism, very few

performers actually use the technique. One likely

reason is that the necessary switches require high

levels of manual and misdirectional skills – abilities

sadly lacking among those who entered mentalism

with the incorrect - and often ignorant - assumption

that it is somehow “easier” than magic.

I believe that the opposite is true. Perfect execution

and a high level of performing skill is an absolute

requirement for anyone who hopes to succeed in

mentalism.

Accidental exposure of a method during

performance, while presumably embarrassing to a

magician (although I have seen many who couldn’t

care less), is fatal to a mentalist, for it reveals his

entire premise to be false. Audiences know that

magicians are only performing “tricks” and the

accidental (or intentional nowadays) exposure of a method only confirms and

demonstrates the details. Mentalists, on the other hand, are in the same position

faced by professional card cheats. The least suspicion of trickery, in the words of

Erdnase, must be assiduously avoided. Rather than embarrassment, the clumsy

mentalist is subject to ridicule and his audiences to disillusionment.

Most modern mentalists were first introduced to billet technique in the pages of

Theodore Annemann’s Practical Mental Effects , which described a single-handed

switch, a two-handed version, and variations with a thumb tip. The techniques are

very effective, but require a good deal of practice and careful handling to perform

indetectably.

The above photograph shows Ted Annemann performing his classic billet routine

“The Test of the Tiber.” While Annemann admitted that he flubbed the effect that

evening, he was probably unaware that he also exposed the method. If you look

closely at his left hand, you will see a finger-palmed billet plainly visible between

the middle and ring fingers. While his hands are held in the ideal position for billet

work, the sleight requires the hidden billet to be palmed between the base of the

middle finger and the bottom of its first phalange. This, coupled with the

Photograph taken on May 23,

1940 at the Hotel McAlpin in New

York City shows Ted Annemann

in performance at the Society of

American Magician’s banquet. In

his own words, his act was “the

biggest flop on the bill.”

requirement of natural hand position, can easily result in exposure if the performer

is the least bit careless.

Switches of this type also require that one billet slide over the other during the

move. If the performer’s hands are the least bit sweaty, this can pose a problem.

Additionally, proper misdirection is a must, for the sleight is not invisible if the

spectators keep their eyes locked on the performer’s hands. (Close-up magicians

and professional gamblers refer to this as being “burned.”) But the photo of

Annemann proves that even skillful misdirection cannot deceive the eye of the

camera.

[Note: Do not jump to the conclusion that I am in any way disparaging Annemann’s

technical ability. By most accounts, his technique was usually flawless. On the night

the photograph was taken, however, he had several drinks before taking the stage.

This, no doubt, contributed to his carelessness. It is completely understandable,

however, because he was apparently the only mentalist present at the magicians’

banquet and there was, in all likelihood, no other way to tolerate the incessant

requests to “Watch this!” that are customarily inflicted upon all attendees.

The “Moldavian Switch” is a technique that effectively removes the “difficulty

factor” from billet work. With its several variations it can be used to present any of

the many billet routines and effects published during the last hundred years. You

should be able to master the move in just a few days, leaving you free to

concentrate on presentation without the fear of fumbling or accidental exposure.

The Billet

The billet switches described by Annemann, as well as many others, are

performed with a billet folded three times – in half, in quarters, and once the long

way.

This results in a billet which can be finger-palmed along the inside length of the

middle or ring fingers. Most standard center tear techniques, on the other hand,

use billets that are simply folded into quarters. Routines such as Annemann’s “A

Day in the Life” ( Practical Mental Effects ) combine both techniques, a difficult

thing to accomplish if you feel, as I do, that there is no logical explanation why it

would be necessary to fold a piece of paper a certain way in one effect and a

different way in another. Nor is it consistent to prefold a billet in switching

routines – a usual safeguard against the likelihood of a spectator folding it the

wrong way – and to allow the spectator to fold it himself when only a quarter fold

is required.

In my early years as a performer, I used the three-fold billet almost exclusively. I

had learned it from Annemann’s description when I was about fourteen years old,

but it took me several years to perfect the move to the point where I could

confidently present it in public But even then I felt that a quarter fold billet would

be much more natural and less likely to trigger a subconscious question mark in

the mind of an astute spectator. I also had come to an early conclusion that the

Bob Cassidy - The Moldavian Switch.pdf

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