Monthly Update #24 (December 2024)
In this final update for 2024, we visit the Weird Inn, learn a trick related to Shakespeare, and take a look at "Bag Reborn" by Alakazam Magic and Craig Petty.
Welcome to the final monthly update from Marty’s Magic Ruseletter for 2024. I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable Christmas. I’m still recovering from the mammoth late-night present-wrapping session! 🎁 I also want to take this opportunity to welcome the eighty-plus new Ruseletter subscribers who joined, contributing to our growing community thanks to the Mystery Arts Holiday Calendar.
I haven’t had much time for magic this month because of festive preparations and pre-Christmas outings with the family. However, I did manage to write up another trick inspired by “The Card Players and the Devil” called “More Mark of the Beast”. As the name suggests, this is an alternative handling of “Mark of the Beast”, which I shared last month. I’ve got one more trick in this series to write up, which, funnily enough, has a Christmas-themed joke in it. Once it’s complete, I’ll be publishing the six routines in the next edition of Tricks, Tricks and More Tricks (this one will be for paid subscribers only, I’m afraid).
What a Weird Inn!
Thanks to David Britland’s excellent Cardopolis Newsletter, I recently discovered a fantastic performable puzzle set to rhyming patter called “Weird Inn” (see Ruseletter Monthly Update #23 for my previous musings on poetry and magic).
In Cardopolis #34, David shared a trick called “The Convention”, which is a version of Paul Curry’s “Case of the Missing Hat” (Magician’s Magic, 1965). See the video below for a performance of the trick by David.
You can learn the method for the trick in Cardopolis #34 (I won’t be sharing it here—do yourself a favour and subscribe to David’s Newsletter). Curry’s trick, in turn, was inspired by “The Nine Rooms Paradox”, a rhyming riddle first published in Harper’s Young People (Vol. 4, May 15, 1883).1 The poetic puzzle was later republished in Current Literature (Vol. 2, April 1889), then in various books on mathematical curiosities over the intervening years.
It was Herb Runge in the pages of The Jinx (#128, 1940) who first suggested that the poem could be used by magicians and gave it the fitting name “Weird Inn”.2 However, he didn’t actually add any magic to the riddle. In his introduction, Theodore Annemann described it as a “modern blackboard item”, which could cover an interlude between tricks or some “underhand bit of business” performed by your assistant.
The poem, as it appeared in Harper’s Young People, was originally called “Is It Possible?” but now goes by several different names, such as “The Innkeeper and the Travellers”, “The Nine Rooms Paradox”, and, thanks to Herb Runge, “Weird Inn”, which happens to be my favourite.
In 2020, David Britland published a trick based on the nine rooms paradox in Genii Magazine called “The Weird Inn Revisited”, which, unlike “The Convention”, uses the original poem as patter.3 Here’s it is in full:
Ten weary, foot-sore travellers,
All in a woeful plight,
Sought shelter at a way-side inn
One dark and stormy night.“Nine rooms, no more,” the landlord said,
“Have I to offer you;
To each of eight a single bed,
But the ninth must serve for two.”A din arose. The troubled host
Could only scratch his head,
For of those tired men not two
Would occupy one bed.The puzzled host was soon at ease—
He was a clever man—
And so to please his guests devised
This most ingenious plan:In a room marked A two men he placed;
The third he lodged in B;
The fourth to C was then assigned;
The fifth retired to D;In E the sixth he tucked away,
In F the seventh man;
The eighth and ninth in G and H,
And then to A he ran,Wherein the host, as I have said,
Had laid two travellers by.
Then taking one—the tenth and last—
He lodged him safe in I.Nine single rooms—a room for each—
Were made to serve for ten;
And this it is that puzzles me,
And many wiser men.
The poem is attributed to Gath Brittle, who wrote many amusing poems (there’s another good one called “Harry’s Joke” in the same book on page 80). Gath Brittle is likely a pseudonym for the newspaper journalist Robert W. McAlpine. If you haven’t already figured it out, you can find the solution to the riddle at the bottom of this newsletter.4
I really like the original poem. The fact that it is so old provides a compelling hook for your audience, e.g., “Here’s a puzzling poem from the late 1800s.” While both of David’s methods work well, I’ve devised an alternative way of performing the trick that avoids the use of a prepared card and the double lift by using two Jokers, four Jacks, and four Kings as the weary travellers in the tale. I’ve named my version “Jokers, Jacks and Kings” to differentiate it from those published by Herb Runge and David Britland.
Having performed this combination of puzzle and magic trick several times, I can attest to its effectiveness. The puzzle, when paired with the magic, becomes more memorable. The magic, in turn, adds an element of surprise to the puzzle, making it more intriguing. It’s a symbiotic relationship—the puzzle strengthens the magic, and the magic strengthens the puzzle. And when someone does manage to solve the puzzle, they’re often taken aback by the magical effect regardless (the disappearance of one of the cards).
David also mentioned that “The Missing Dollar Paradox” would fit well with “The Nine Rooms Paradox” and I wholeheartetly agree. For example, the visitors each pay $10, resulting in a total of $100. However, at the last minute, the manager offers a generous $15 refund due to the missing room. The Bell Boy takes the $15 but only gives $1 back to each visitor. The visitors are satisfied, having paid $9 for their rooms, totalling $90. The dishonest Bell Boy is pleased as well because he pocketed $5. This leads to a confusing situation: $90 plus $5 equals $95, but the visitors originally handed over $100. It seems that $5 has mysteriously disappeared in the Weird Inn! Combining these two paradoxes creates a longer, more complete routine.
After playing around with this handling, I’ve concluded that “The Nine Rooms Paradox” would probably make a better coin trick! Therefore, I’ve started developing a handling of the Weird Inn plot that uses ten pennies and nine paper cups. I’ll be calling it “The Lynn Inn”, which should tip the primary method being used to knowledgable coin magicians (IYKYK). Look out for this in an upcoming issue of my Easy Does It regular Ruseletter column. In the meantime, you can read more of my thoughts on performable puzzles in Ruseletter Monthly Update #8.
Henslowe’s Card Trick
Regular readers of the Ruseletter will know I am keenly interested in card tricks from the Early Modern Period (sometimes known as the English Renaissance, which includes the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages). I recently stumbled across a fascinating article by Colin Beveridge, a mathematician, consultant, and writer from Weymouth, UK. Colin and his young son Bill have uncovered the secrets of a 400-year-old card trick linked to the famous Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare!
The card trick was discovered in Philip Henslowe’s Diary (1591-1609), which is not a conventional diary but an account book detailing his extensive theatrical business ventures. It provides records of over 325 plays from 1592 to 1604, including two or possibly three that were written in part or in full by Shakespeare: Henry VI Part 1, Titus Andronicus, and The Taming of the Shrew.
The page, dating from the 1590s, describes a card trick similar to the classic Clock Trick. In this trick, a person correctly guesses the number that a volunteer is thinking of.
By modern standards, the trick might not be that impressive. However, it would make an excellent precursor to the standard Clock Trick (the prediction of a card at a randomly selected hour). Oddly enough, the trick uses thirteen cards, not the expected twelve, to create the clock face. However, it is easy to adapt the method to use twelve cards (the Ace through Queen of any suit). Arrange the twelve cards in a standard clock-face formation, ensuring they’re face down in their corresponding numerical positions. Your audience must not see the faces of the cards during this setup.
Ask your volunteer to think of a secret hour, choosing a number between one and twelve. Next, instruct them to pick any card and to count clockwise from their chosen hour. They should start with their secret number and continue counting until they reach fifteen. Ask them to keep their finger on the card they land on.
Reveal the “mystic number” associated with the card they’re touching. This number is obtained by adding twelve to the value of the hour indicated by the card, e.g., if your volunteer’s finger is on the card at the 11 O’Clock position, the mystic number will be twenty-four (11 + 12 = 24).
Next, instruct your participant to move counterclockwise from their chosen card, starting with their secret number and ending with the mystic number you just shared, e.g., twenty-four.
Finally, have them turn over the card they end up on. Its value will match their originally thought-of hour!
In the article, Colin mentions that any number can be used for the first part of the trick. Instead of using fifteen, ask a second person to name another hour and use that. In fact, you can ask several people to do this to better disguise the mathematical nature of the method.
Mystery Arts Holiday Calendar 🗓🎄
You can still claim the twenty-four free Mystery Arts Holiday Calendar gifts. Jay told me they would disappear on December 31st, so if you haven’t downloaded them all already, I recommend you do so ASAP!
My contribution, ten free articles from behind the Ruseletter paywall, will stay live on my blog (you can find it on this secret page).
The Bag is Back!
I was delighted to discover that Alakazam Magic and Craig Petty have updated Craig’s work on the coin bag, an ingenious adaptation of the Ultimate Egg Bag. I remember watching Craig demonstrate much of this material in 2008 when he still had hair! He later released much of this content on two DVDs: Attack of the Bag and Return of the Bag. You can watch the video below to see five of Craig’s favourite routines with the bag.
This new project, Bag Reborn, includes much of the same material, updated and improved. I’ll definitely be purchasing it sometime in the new year.
Three Videos Worth Watching
And finally, here are three more videos worth watching.
The Elephant Puzzle by Scott Link
Duration: 1 minute
Here’s a very clever promotional item designed and printed by Scott Link. You can buy it at ElephantPuzzle.com. This folding puzzle is a flexagon (a hexaflexagon in this case). Flexagons are flat models usually constructed by folding strips of paper that can be flexed or folded in certain ways to reveal hidden faces. Acclaimed mathematician, writer, and magician Martin Gardner loved flexagons.
Prison Break by Jay Sankey
Duration: 8 minutes
This is a simple yet incredibly powerful card and bill penetration effect taught by the ever-creative Jay Sankey.
EZ Joker Sandwich by Michael O’Brien
Duration: 11 minutes
Here’s another simple card trick: “EZ Joker Sandwich” by Michael O’Brien. This is a great trick for beginners and provides a great entry point into the world of playing card sandwiches!
Well, that’s a wrap for 2024! As we come to the end of this year, I want to express my gratitude to all Ruseletter subscribers. I truly appreciate the time you spend reading what I write. I’m especially thankful for the small number of paid subscribers to the Ruseletter; your continued support means a lot to me.
Wishing you all a fun and fruitful new year. 🥳
Yours Magically,
Marty
Harper’s Young People (Harper & Brothers, 1883), 448. https://archive.org/details/harpersyoungpeop00newy1883/page/448/mode/1up.
Theodore Annemann, “Unique Puzzles,” The Jinx, no. 128 (1940): 739. https://askalexander.org/display/15822/Jinx+No.+127/6.
David Britland, “Cardopolis: The Weird Inn Revisited,” Genii Magazine (December 2020): 56-58.
If we reflect on what he’s done,
We’ll see we’re not insane.
Two men in A, he’s counted one,
Not once, but once again!
In other words, one of the travellers is counted twice. Although there are nine rooms (A to I), only nine men exist. One of the two guests, initially placed in Room A and referred to as the “first” man, is later transferred to Room I and treated as if he were also the “tenth” guest as well.