Introduction to “The Tale of the Three Altars”

This post contains excerpts from a magic routine that I invented; the excerpts should give you some flavour of the performance without giving too much away. Since originally writing this, I have started a seperate blog dedicated to magic, and the full routine can be found there - provided you can persuade me to give you the password.

It is basically an elaboration of the well-known 27-card trick, which magicians often regard as one of the most boring tricks in existence. But my version revitalises it by adding a story in which the cards represent treasures layed upon the altars of the gods, and also by having the cards shuffled by both the magician and the spectator in the middle of the trick. All the cards really are shuffled.

News in brief

I haven’t had time to update this blog in a while, and the pressure’s on to get everything done before the Christmas break. So here’s an ultra-brief overview of some of my recent news.

• Most importantly, my grandfather died. I attended his funeral last Friday. All of my other grandparents have died before, so I have none left now. In his prime, Papa was a very active figure in the community, but was reduced in his last few months to a most unenviable state, both physically and mentally. His death was anything but sudden, and in many ways came as a relief.

• My sister is in India for a few months. It’s part of her medical training, to work for a while in a hospital overseas.

In November I did a couple of WEA courses, which I intended to write about, but time is short! I did two courses, namely “Wonders of Ancient Egypt” and “Magic For Beginners“.

A children’s playground near where I live has been rebuilt by the council. What makes this interesting is that ages ago the council asked local residents for opinions about what should be done with the playground, so the new version must be a reflection of the community’s decision. It certainly looks much better.