By Tom Interval
Paul Daniels (1938-2016), the famous U.K. magician, performed and taught his own version of The Four Burglars, a classic plot in card magic dating back to 1591.
For years I’ve taught a version to some of my magic students and only recently saw that some of Paul’s handling was similar to my own. He added a psychological subtlety and four-jack display I hadn’t seen before.
I thought it would be fun to perform Paul’s version in honor and in memory of one of the greatest magicians of all time: The Four Burglars, In Memory of Paul Daniels (see embedded video below).
On his YouTube channel, Paul posted four videos showing three different versions of The Four Burglars. I didn’t know Paul personally, but I think I can safely assume the trick was one of his favorites to teach.
So why would a world-renowned magician post videos of simple card tricks, such as The Four Burglars? He was trying to emphasize what’s really important in magic: the performance. The Four Burglars is a card trick with a story, and people like stories.
As Paul has said many times, magic is so much more fun to watch when it’s funny or at least interesting. I constantly drive home this point to each of my magic students. The Four Burglars isn’t particularly funny (albeit it could be depending on the presentation), but it has a story line that makes it interesting. Tricks with stories draw in the audience and keep its attention.
Here are Paul’s videos of the trick. You can watch my two-minute presentation of his “Version 3” in the embedded video below.
- The Four Burglars, Version 1 (Nov. 10, 2012)
- The Four Burglars, Version 2 (Nov. 10, 2012)
- The Four Burglars, Version 3 (Nov. 10, 2012)
- The Four Burglars (Sep. 15, 2015)
R.I.P., Paul, and best wishes to Debbie and the rest of your family and friends.
To see more cool magic-related videos, please visit the Interval Magic YouTube Channel.
Copyright 2016 Tom Interval
intervalmagic.wordpress.com 