Are there enough superlatives to be tossed in Dai Vernon’s direction? The answer is no. I had the pleasure of sitting with The Professor on many occasions and each and every time I learned something new. Not necessarily a trick or sleight, though there were many of those, but thoughts about magic and its performance, stories about the greats he knew during his life, and I was happily on the receiving end of his gentle criticism, much to my benefit. If you haven’t watched every video of the lectures he did that are floating around, you are missing some of the best lessons you could learn as a magician.
Is there a lot of Dai Vernon material still unpublished? Yes—more than enough to fill a very large book. I am pleased to present the following two items from Michael Skinner’s notebooks, for which I’ve provided full descriptions. While both are good, the second item in particular is a gem. It is a delightful and elegant use of a specific One Hand Top Palm of Vernon’s. All of the elements are in harmony with one another. There are no false moves or readjustments.