PODCAST INTERVIEW & THE PHANTOM!
The Insider Podcast
Top of my news this week is that I was invited to return for a second time to be interviewed on “The Insider” podcast over at Vanishing Inc., this time to talk about my new book, Conjuror’s Conundrum. The podcast format is typically 30 minutes but the host kept the conversation going and so they’ve broken it into two parts. The first part is up now:
The Insider | Jamy Ian Swiss (Part 1)
You can obtain signed and personally inscribed copies of the book from me here on my online store:
“One Night in Brooklyn”
In other news, my story, “One Night in Brooklyn,” about Walter Scott, the legendary, mysterious and still controversial “Phantom of the Card Table,” appeared on the cover of the March issue of Genii magazine. I’ve written about the Walter Scott story a number of times over the past 25 years or so, and I was inspired to revisit the subject thanks to the recent release of a new expanded edition of the original Phantom of the Card Table by Eddie McGuire., published by Conjuring Arts.
For my new article, which runs 15,500 words in the total two parts, I took a fresh and deep dive into the research and found a wealth of resources that were previously unavailable or even occasionally unknown to me. The article also features a number of never-before-seen images, including some unusual Walter Scott inscriptions on a rare copy of the Johnston bootleg of the McGuire manuscript, circa 1951, that belongs to collector and gambling expert Terry Roses.
Among many aspects of the story—including what might have actually happened the night of June 14, 1930, at the home of Al Baker, when a coterie of expert card conjurors met up with Walter Scott—I also tackle the subject of whether or not Walter Scott was actually a professional cheat. In response to reading my piece and point of view on this subject, I am humbled by the generous comments I received from no less than Steve Forte, America’s leading authority on gambling sleight of hand. With his kind permission, I quote him in part here:
“… you should be proud for contributing a critically important, illuminating, fair, and long overdue alternative perspective of Mr. Scott. I, for one, applaud your work and admire the end result. … It's insightful, informative, comprehensive and compelling, and your conclusions are supported by meticulous research, not to mention some solid logic and a little old-fashioned common sense.” “I thoroughly enjoyed your piece. No BS, it’s excellent!”
Let the record show: I cannot ask for better than that. Thank-you, Mr. Forte.
Of course, I’ve received many public and private comments about the article, and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge this direct quote from one Joe Crist, who contributed an introduction to the new Conjuring Arts edition of The Phantom at the Card Table. To quote Mr. Crist (from his Instagram account): "Why a gouch like that thinks he knows anything whatsoever about highline card handling is amazing to me."
But hey, I hate to brag.
By way of some background, readers can learn a lot about the phantom story—not all of which is repeated in my new article—from several previous book reviews of mine, all of which can be found in the fully searchable FREE archive of my 18 years of Genii reviews that are now available at the Vanishing Inc. site, including some 450 book reviews totaling more than half a million words. Here are some useful links:
The Jamy Ian Swiss book review archive
The Phantom of the Card Table by Eddie McGuire
The Phantoms of the Card Table by David Britland & Gazzo
The Secrets of the Palmettos by Jeff Busby
Cardini: The Suave Deceiver by John Fisher
That’s plenty of background for you to serve as entry to the legend of Walter Scott.
To obtain the March and April 2021 issues of Genii that include “One Night in Brooklyn,” you can subscribe to Genii, buy the two issues online or from your favorite magic dealer, or you can even buy the single issues from Genii—however, a full year subscription to the well designed digital edition is only $35! And along with that you get access to the entire Genii archive going back to 1936! It’s a bargain, so just go subscribe to Genii!
There is also a great bonus deal available for subscribing to extended digital and print editions, in the form of a heavy discount on the recently published and terrific volume of Charlie Miller’s Magicana, which I simply cannot recommend highly enough. I grew up poring over that column every month, and it taught me not just terrific magic but a ton of lessons that have informed my work for a lifetime ever since. If you subscribe and want to get the Phantom articles, make sure you drop an accompanying email to Donna at genii@geniimagazine.com and ask to start your subscription with the March issue.
This pretty much wraps up all the latest news. Part Two of my “Insider Podcast” interview will go public next week, and look for two other online interviews that will be released very soon … stay tuned! I’ll also be back soon with some new and in-depth magic content ahead! Remember, if you subscribe to the blog, you get a 10% discount in my online store!
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