The CDs are personal audio correspondence sent to Allen Okawa of Hawaii, and have been edited down from over 30 hours of material. It's like having Michael sit in the room and talk to you.
A note about the contents of the CD's: The title of the tricks listed below might indicate a full performance with patter and explanation-or just one of those elements; sometimes even just a useful tip or single patter line. Some tricks are repeated twice because different details are given.
CD 1: Tips on adding tricks to repertoire; Copper/Silver Transposition; Mental Reverse 3; Flying Eagles; Chicago Opener; On presentation; Vernon's Weight Guesser; Patter tip; Boomerang Card; Bill in Lemon; Al Baker Cut and Restored Ribbon; Fred Kaps' touch on The Devano Deck; Comedy Egg Trick and Daniel Cros; Cards Across; Fred Kaps' Vanishing Cane; Poker Trick; Hotel Mystery; Marlo's Triumph; Larry Jennings' Stop Trick; Sleeve Aces; McDonald's Aces; Blackie the gambler.
CD 2: Paul Fox Rope Trick talk; Dai Vernon's Coffee Cup and Sugar Cubes; Dai Vernon's Deck Vanish; John Scarne's Ace Cutting; Dai Vernon Poker Routine a la Skinner; Patter for borrowing money; Matching Card routine; Three-Card Monte bent corner; Cards to Pocket talk and vanish of final card; Dr. Sawa's Dollar to Four Quarters; Finger Exercise Card Routine; Malini Chink-a-Chink comment; Vanishing Glass Under Napkin; Speller; Silk from Dollar Bill; The Innocent Bystander; chit chat; Jardine Ellis Ring history and patter; Elmsley Dollars; Avoiding requests from repeat customers; Patter and gags; Gun Trick patter; Routined silk tricks; Larry Jennings' Bold Card Case Load and Skinner handling; Lippencott Box routine by Paul Fox and Fred Braue; Dai Vernon Card Force; Skinner Bridge Deal; 51 Card Elimination; Bill Change from Magicana; Blackjack Switch by Herb Zarrow; Deuces are Wild by Johnny Paul; Smash Watch; Card Transposition with Envelope by Francis Carlyle.
CD 3: Going through the Leipzig book; Charlie Miller's Slap Aces with Jack Merlin addition; Tear Up with a Twist; Touch for Larry Jennings' Coin Cut; Balancing Coin; chit chat; Dr. Sawa on Dai Vernon's Add On; Max Malini's Lady and the Eagle; Coin from rolled-up bill; Card on Seat; Furota bottle cap gag; Skinner's picks from the Tarbell Course in Magic; Double Deck Coincidence (includes Johnny Paul Force); Pete Biro's Coins Up Through the Table; Dr. Sawa's Cigarette Trick; Five Hands; Instant Replay (Chicago Opener); One-Hand Force; Scarne Ace Cutting; New LJ book chit chat; Routine by Bill Malone and Bob Stencel; Bill Malone trick; Jimmy Grippo trick; Eddie Fechter's Color Change and One-Hand Palm; Francis Carlyle's handling of Vernon's "The Peregrinating Pip"; 12 items Skinner contributed to Vernon Chronicles 3; Harry Riser Prediction Effect; Floating Stack and Boomerang Card; Current repertoire.
CD 4: Larry Jennings visits; Larry Jennings' "Allen Okawa Trick"; Amazing Rhythm Aces; Talk about Bill Simon's Effective Card Magic; The Jennings' Myth; The Pink Card; The following items are from cassettes Skinner sent to Larry Jennings. LJ Face-Up Face-Down Poker with Skinner presentation; Skinner Bridge Deal; Half and Half; Dr. Sawa's Sliced Lemon; English penny patter; Dr. Sawa's Cigarette Trick; 51 Card Elimination; Dr. Sawa Ace Production; Walt Rollins' 9 Card Trick; Roger Klause Coin Box and Finger Ring Trick; Max Malini's handling of Michael Zens' trick; Boomerang Card; Klause handling of Sleeve Aces. Balance of items sent to Okawa. Francis Carlyle's real version of The Homing Card; Bill to Cigarette; Eddie Fechter's Jawbreaker; Larry Jennings' Coin Bet; Dr. Sawa's Shootout Production; Torn and Restored Napkin; Broken and Restored Cigarette; Card Production; Paul Fox Card Stab.
CD 5: Toss Location; Copper/Silver with dime and penny; Penny for Your Thoughts; Wine Glass Production; Countdown; Idea on Torn and Restored Cigarette; Dr. Sawa's Spongeball Steal; Dr. Sawa's Paycheck Trick; Ed Marlo's Five Card Routine; Fred Kaps' Snap Change; Talk about Chuck Smith and Cards to Pocket; Bottom Deal talk; Bottom Deal trick; Second Deal talk; Flash Paper trick; Visit from Vernon; Magic restaurant; Art Altman's 7 Location; Larry Jennings' Card through Hank; Skinner on Roy Walton's Card in Box; Dai Vernon's Fortune Teller; Bruce Cervon's Flash Invisible Deck; Miniature Invisible Deck presentation; Roger Klause Fake Center Deal; Transposition; John Carney visits; John Carney Add On; Torn and Restored Bill; Bare Hand Cigarette Vanish; Peek Force Trick; Eddie Fechter Cigarette Vanish; Multiplying Rabbits; Talk about Jay Ose's Do as I Do; KBV Aces; Walt Rollins' Card through Silk.
CD 6: All Backs idea; Allen Okawa Chop Cup tip; Children's shows; Roger Klause's Card on Forehead; Henry Christ's Solitaire Prediction; Faro Shuffle talk; Dai Vernon's Viennese Coin Pull; Approaching a table; Talk about books; E.G. Brown's Six Card Mental Effect; Aces from Box; Dai Vernon's Ring and Coin Transposition; Japanese Ace Production; Dr. Sawa's Invisible Hair Mystery; John Carney's Bill and Coin Trick; The Photographic Coin (Paul Fox handling); Talk about great books by Marlo and Vernon; Do as I Do handling; Egg Bag talk; Ring and Rope Trick; Color Changing Knives talk; Comparing Marlo and Vernon books; Talk about performance at hospital; Tossed-Out Deck; Color Changing Knives; Herb Zarrow's Baseball Trick.
CD 7: Talk about Charlie Miller visit; ESP Card Routine; chit chat; Talk about Carlyle's Match Decapitation; Vanishing Glass; Atlantic City chit chat; Sleights versus presentation; Ray Grismer visits; The Two Ronnies Trick (Ron Wohl Royal Flush Cut and Ron Ferris trick); chit chat; Geoff Latta's Silver Extraction; Jay Marshall chit chat; Pea Can teaser and chit chat; Coin and Handkerchief Trick; chit chat about Skinner's repertoire; New material in act; Pea Can teaser 2; Max Malini's Chink-a-Chink; Chuck Stockwell Impromptu Bill Reading; chit chat about Roger Klause's Ashes to Ashes with Skinner intro; Talk about Don Alan Bowl Routine; Jennings Chop Cup; Ten for Ten; chit chat about youth; Daub; Convention talk.
CD 8: Torn and Restored Napkin Routine; Boomerang Card; Patter chit chat; Jerry Schultz Stack of Quarters handling; Patter lines; Ultima Thule; Eddie Fechter's Throw Change Transposition; Al Baker's Telephony a la Skinner; John Carney and Roger Klause visit; Talk about Jay Ose; Jay Ose's Opener; Jay Ose's Repertoire; Jay Ose's Boomerang Card; chit chat; Roger Klause talks about Skinner; Key Bending; Titanic Thompson story; Key-R-Rect; Karrell Fox key trick; Roger Klause explains Dai Vernon's Eight-Card Transposition and Follow the Leader; John Carney describes Roy Walton trick; Jumping Gems and Hot Rod (Liberace's Piano Keys).
CD 9: Daniel Cros Devano Deck; Sleeving; Tip on a Dead Crab; Celebrities at The Lilly Langtree; Patter; Carlyle's Decapitated Match; Performance advice; Cigarette routine; Daniel Cros Han Ping Chien; Ring Flite; Thoughts on Cigarette Through Quarter; Patter for a coin; Bill Transposition recommendations; Spread Force on the Table; Michael Zens' Red Ace Trick and Max Malini's handling; Slydini's Card Through Table; On flourishes; Creating a repertoire; Out of Sight, Out of Mind; Spellbound routine; Skinner handling of Jack Miller's Lazy Man's Card Trick.
CD 10: Allen Okawa and Michael Skinner in Conversation. The business of magic; What Skinner teaches students; Tradeshow work; Signed Business Card to Envelope; Getting a job as a restaurant magician; Bill and Silk routine; Miniature Invisible Deck; Presentation for Multiplying Rabbits; Two-Card Transposition.
DVD 1: Tokyo Lecture, circa 1971 (Translated by Hideo Kato)
1. Matrix Two Ways (Al Schneider)
2. Okito Box Routine
3. Coins Across Three Ways
4. Knotted Silks (Slydini)
5. Triumph (Dai Vernon)
6. Cutting Surprise
7. Cutting the Aces with Piet Forton's Pop-Out Move
8. Slow Motion Ace Assembly
9. Invisible Palm Aces (Larry Jennings)
10. The Fiddle with the Biddle in the Middle (Alex Elmsley)
11. 11 Card Routine (Edward Victor)
12. Between Your Palms with Card to Wallet Ending (Alex Elmsley)
13. Giant Die Production a la Malini
14. Tear Up With a Twist (Explained)
15. Coins Across: Two Copper/Two Silver (Explained)
16. Bewildering Ball Vase
17. Cards through Newspaper (Explained)
18. Four Copper and Four Silver Exchange Places (Explained)
19. Pen and Coin (Explained)
20. Deceptive Perception a la Skinner (Explained)
21. Brother Hamman Transposition (Performance Fragment/Explained)
22. Cups and Balls Moves (Explained)
23. Paul Rosini's Thimble Routine
24. Cut and Restored Rope Three Times
25. Coin from Rolled Dollar
26. Torn Card and Top Hat
27. Flying Knot (Explained)
28. Mora's Balls in Net with Three Different Colored Balls (Explained)
29. Sleeve Aces a la Skinner (Al Leech) (Explained)
30. Four Packets and a Silk (Explained)
31. Torn and Restored Card Odd-Cornered Card (Explained)
32. Transposed Cigarette Papers (Explained)
31. Linking Safety Pins (Fragment)
DVD 2: Private Session, 1988 or '89
Michael Reflects on His Early Years in Magic.
1. "Skinner Monte" (Based on Theodore DeLand's "Pickitout")
2. "Blackstone's Favorite"
3. Four-Ace Cutting (Variation of Ackerman's Method)
4. Allan Ackerman's Four-Ace Cutting (Magic Mafia)
5. Larry Jennings' "Reaping the Aces" (Genii)
6. Ed Marlo's Ace Cutting (The New Tops)
7. Color Changing Knives
8. Francis Carlyle's "Decapitated Match" (The Stars of Magic)
9. Flying Match Routine (Based on Milbourne Christopher's "Flying Match")
Includes Martin Gardner's 10 Count
10. Mona Lisa Card Trick
11. Peter Samelson's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Skinner Handling)
12. Routine:
Think Ace [with 4 red and 4 blue cards] (Vernon and Horowitz)
Follow the Leader [with 4 red and 4 blue cards]
Oil and Water [with 3 red and 3 blue cards]
13. Skinner Handling of "Silas and the City Slickers" (Hugard's Card Manipulations)
14. A Clock Trick
15. "Torn and Restored Straw Wrapper"
16. Three Non-Lit Cigarette Tricks
17. Skinner Handling of Ed Marlo's "Poker Deal" (The Cardician)
18. "The Solid Deck" (Andrus/Korem/Skinner)
19. Skinner Handling of Ed Marlo's "7-Card Assembly"
20. Alex Elmsley's "Boston Two Step" (The Gen)
21. Skinner Handling of Ken Brooke's "Tea for Two"
22. Skinner's Presentation of "The Rainbow Ropes" (Max Londono)
23. Comedy Card Shuffles
24. The Notis Cascade and Eddie Fechter Revelation
25. "Oil and Water" and "Triumph" Routined
26. Walt Rollins' "Vernon/Marlo/Andrus Trick"
27. Skinner's Cigarette Vanish
28. Coins Through Hand with Pencil (Ken Brooke/Scotty York)
29. The Professor's Nightmare, Skinner Style
30. Scotty York's Handling of Larry West's "Hornswoggled"
Bonus Disc
Michael Skinner's Notebooks; Michael Skinner Memorial Issue of Genii; Michael Skinner Lecture Notes (June 1, 1971); Michael Skinner Lecture Notes (undated); Letter to Allen Okawa with diagrams for Malini's "Chink-a-Chink."
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