The Classic Force by Steven Youell

The Classic Force generates a fair number of very active (and sometimes harsh) discussions on the internet. Unfortunately， I was a participant in one of the first ones and yes， it was harsh. I don’t know the exact date， but we only had dial-up modems， so it was a long time ago. The discussion  was with T.A. Waters and although I can’t remember all the details， I remember where it went  ballistic: I said I could Classic Force the four Aces on four different people in a row without anyone knowing it was a force. Mr. Waters disagreed and said that it could not be done without bullying， which would tip off the audience to the force.

T.A. refused to be convinced until he saw it with and to be truthful， this was a reasonable attitude since the term “bullying” is at best， subjective– at least in terms of Card Magic.

Years later， I handed my nephew a video camera and told him that if he taped me annoying people at a mall， I’d guarantee he could look at pretty girls and I’d let him order what he wanted from the food court. Here’s part of what we did:

Most magicians will not attempt to learn the Classic Force because:

They believe the timing is very difficult to learn

They believe the Classic Force is less reliable than other forces

They’re afraid that if they do miss during a performance， they won’t be able to recover.