The Legendary Kabbala (1971-1981) by Jon Racherbaumer

The meaning of Kabbala, translated from Hebrew, means something received and handed down. This definition resonates. Knowledge of magic, after all, is handed down from generation to generation, from magician to magician, and from teacher to disciple. Prior to xerography and personal computers, most magical knowledge was transmitted in this primitive, semi-private, and intimate means. Word-of-mouth reigned supreme and to a certain extent still does.

The magic scene in the Seventies was a blooming, buzzing place, atwitter with contentiousness and creativity. Close-up magic, particularly with cards, was becoming better. Tricks were becoming more interesting, finessed, and sophisticated. Many magicians became knowledgeable and expert: Fast-Company Men, too hip for each other, too hip for most rooms, and too hip for their own good. Magic for magicians took hold and had to be magician-proof. Card problems were subjected to new and stringent conditions and restrictions and strategies of misdirection-within-misdirection were the order of the day. This was the world Kabbala wanted to explore, exploit, and harvest.

The Kabbala (1971-81) was part of the information pipe-line, a supplement, complement, and co-conspirator. Although it did not start out to be an alternative voice, it became combative counterpoint to Pallbearers Review and Epilogue.

Most of the material collected in this book is still vital, interesting, and useful. Certain routines are prototypal members of a special class, not masterpieces or blockbusters in the hyperbolic sense, but solid, practical, thought-provoking effects.