Herbert Brooks opened at Hammerstein’s Theater in New York City on this date in 1905. He was a sensation in vaudeville with his card tricks and his trunk escape. His original effect was taking a shuffled deck, cutting it in half and putting the halves into his pants pocket. He produced any card named by the audience. Brooks once showed Dai Vernon his set of cards in the gimmick. Vernon was surprised to see some cards that were dirty and worn, and others seemed brand new. After years of trial and error, Brooks had found that only certain cards were called for; others went virtually ignored.
