Jinx Navigator Podcast — Episode 16: Issue #16

Issue #16 rings in 1936 with Annemann reporting from a turbulent SAM club night, closing the Burling Hull matter with two words, and delivering a book test built on a pocket index, a magic square from a birthday, a comedy coin-to-candy-cone switch, and a thought-of card transposition that Annemann couldn't crack until Dr. Jacob Daly figured out the core method in about five minutes of conversation.

Effects Covered

[0:58] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Annemann skips the standard SAM club night recap in favor of what other reporters missed — including Cardini spending the final three minutes of a magnificent eleven-minute act doing a deliberate expose of a rubber band trick, which Annemann says ruined everything that came before it. He closes the Burling Hull dispute with a two-word response: "I apologize." He also welcomes Percy Abbott's new monthly publication The Tops with measured skepticism — though Jay notes from the future that it ran for 21 years, relaunched, and ran another 33.

[3:05] A Visible Cigarette Vanisher — Lou Brent A cigarette holder of the kind actual smokers carried in the 1930s is shown openly with the cigarette seated inside — then both vanish. The prop never registered as apparatus because it looked like an ordinary accessory, which Annemann notes is exactly how magic props should look. He adds a practical tip: adhesive tape inside the holder keeps the cigarette firmly seated during the vanish. Jay suggests the principle adapts naturally to vaping, with an obvious presentational angle ready-made.

[4:15] Again, a Prediction — Doc Mifflin A card is freely chosen from a mixed deck, the helper opens a small book of poems to the matching page number, finds the word at that same position, and the prediction already in the cup matches it exactly. The method requires thirteen outs and a pocket index — and Jay points out that if you have a pocket index collecting dust and never knew what to do with it, this is the answer.

[4:59] The Lucky Number Magic Square — Royal V. Heath A helper names their birth date, the performer writes it above a blank 3x3 grid, the helper makes two apparently free choices along the way, and the completed grid is a magic square — every row, column, and diagonal adding up to the same total. That total reduces to the helper's personal lucky number, the whole thing fits on the back of a business card, and Jay notes in the comments at jinxnavigator.com there's a free crash course on numerology readings to pair with it.

[6:10] Burr — Otis Manning A borrowed nickel vanishes under a handkerchief and reappears as a candy ice cream cone, handed to the helper as an even trade. The cone was a one-cent candy counter item in 1936 that passed for the real thing at three feet, and Annemann notes the second laugh when the helper realizes it's candy is just as good as the first. Jay acknowledges his earlier snarkiness about nightclubs and handkerchiefs and admits the effect has genuine promise — and suggests there are plenty of modern substitutes for the candy cone worth exploring.

[7:27] The Acme Thought Card Pass — Dr. Jacob Daly and Theodore Annemann Two people each silently think of a card from a packet held in the audience — both packets are sealed in envelopes, one pocketed by a helper, one kept by the performer. The thought-of cards travel invisibly: the helper's envelope comes up two short, the performer's has two extra, and both named cards are right there. Annemann had been trying to crack this with unprepared cards for a long time; Daly solved the core method almost immediately when the subject came up in conversation, with the preparation built entirely into an ordinary stack of envelopes.

[8:46] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #17 — featuring Otis Manning's Finger Exercise.