During the final battle sequence, we see Oscar Diggs (a.k.a: Oz) packing up his satchel with various props and such. I happened to recognize several of the items and was quite pleased to note that I own similar items and can perform outstanding feats of illusion with them.
One in particular was a set of Linking Rings, which I have performed ever since my youth as a charter member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians; Ring 210: Duke Stern chapter out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Here are my own set of rings and I was pleased to see that, despite a few years of not having used them, I was still able to astound several friends and colleagues with some fundamental passes and effects.
I was honored to have performed my own Linking Rings routine for Dai Vernon during Magi-Fest in Columbus, Ohio one year back in the early 70's.
He was extremely kind in his praise. He also pointed out, in a very mentorial manner, a fundamental flaw in my performance, showed me how to correct it, then proceeded to teach me a rather unique pass and link that had the rings end up looking like the Olympic Rings symbol.
"You'll only be able to use this one every four years!" he joked. At that time, the Olympics were held (both summer and winter) every 4 years. He then went on to suggest I try my hand at card fanning and scaling (tossing playing cards great distances with accuracy). When an elder magician suggest you try something, you don't say no. Well, I tried my hand at card fanning and scaling and after a couple eyars of practice, I became very adept at it. I even won some close-up competitions with my card routines.
In my 3rd book, Family of Oz, I wrote about Magi-Fest and my card fanning/scaling routine which won me top honors that year. It was nice to find a way to blend my love of magic and the Land of Oz.
I'm currently working on a shrinking card fanning routine that I hope to do at Wizard of Oz festivals. I'm calling it "the Munchkin Card Game."
James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz
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