-- Most of the websites mention the following description for the book titled ”Sam's - The Magic of Sam Schwartz” :
“His "Backflip" set off a new generation of packet effects”

-- The Society of American Magicians mention :
“He is best known for his “Back Flip” trick”
http://www.sampa1.com/news/2005_11_04_sam_schwartz_magician_of_the_year.htm


It seems that the release of BACKFLIP was a landmark in the history of packet tricks.


What could have made this effect so great ?

To start - he put the Vernon "twisting the aces" into the hands of folks who could just barely get through the color monte routine (ie beginners) and added the color changing backs. A quantum leap up in effect and down in difficulty.

That means BACKFLIP was the first colour changing card effect. RAZZLE DAZZLE by Nick Trost and DAZZLE by Alex Elmsley got released lated.

Any idea what year the BACKFLIP was released ?

Inspite of such great importance why BACKFLIP is not marketed nowdays as COLOR MONTE which is marketed even today ?

Also it is interesting to relate COLOR MONTE and TWISTING THE ACES with BACKFLIP.

Just the first widely marketed easy version of Vernon's Twisting where the backs change colors twice.

Epilogue (Karl Fulves)

No. 19, November 1973, p.3 “Backflip”

Version of Vernon’s TWISTING THE ACES with gaffs (6 cards, 2 double back) [Epilogue 1973]: Four cards turn face up, color of backs change from blue to red, and then to green. Distinctive handling of the Elmsley Count. Sam’s is very respectful to his audiences, and patters along asking question! “THE PACKET CRAZE HIT”!

It appears that Sam Schawartz "BACKFLIP" was released prior to Karl Fulves Effect in Epilogue 1973.

It's not Karl Fulves Effect, it's Schwartz's effect.

Excerpt : "Mr. Schwartz has devised a remarkably concise method which uses just six cards and a modified 4-as-4 count, nothing else."

Any references to handlings which start from a deck of cards via an ATFUS or similar?

Mike Gallo has told me that he believes "BackFlip" to be Derek Dingle's trick.

Richard, as scary as that reads it makes sense - especially given the proximity of the parties, theme of sleights and gaffs used (and he was making the cards) and the trick's timing in relation to his color changing all backs routine.

Sounds like an extended version of Dingle's trick "We'll Twist".

Richard, over the years I never heard Derek make even a casual mention of such a situation. Did you? Sam Schwartz has a long and honorable history of creative work, and it seems rather unfair to tarnish that with hearsay.

The early 1970s saw a boom in packet magic. Quite a few people were exploring routines involving color-changing backs, and that included both Derek and Sam. That they explored related constructions is hardly unlikely; in fact, if there were no overlap, that would be suspect...

By the way, an earlier post suggested that "Back Flip" somehow introduced the idea of color-changing backs in a packet trick. Not so. Packet magic per se goes back to 1593. Since then, there have been several periods where interest in such material has surged. The work of Elmsley, Vernon et al in the mid-1950s and early 1960s was just such a surge, albeit minor in comparison to the frenzy of the 1970s.

But the first modern packet trick combining cards reversing with color-changing backs predates that. Credit goes to George Sands, whose "Super Optical Illusion" appeared in late 1946.

I think that Derek's original version of BackFlip had more difficult sleight of hand, and Sam simplified it and put it on the market.

Just because Derek didn't mention it to you doesn't mean it wasn't the case.

When I published Jennings '67, Herb Zarrow was outraged about the item "Dad Stevens' Other Shuffle." This was shown to Jennings by Vernon. Zarrow was convinced that Jennings was simply making this up to imply that the Zarrow Shuffle wasn't original with Herb.

Zarrow was convinced that if Vernon had known this item of Stevens', he would have shown it to Herb or told him about it.

But, guess what ... Vernon never told Herb about it, or showed it to him. But he did show it to both Larry and Bruce Cervon. And David Ben has indeed confirmed that the shuffle does belong to Dad Stevens.

So, if in all the time that Vernon spent with Herb (much more time than you spent with Derek), Vernon never showed Herb the shuffle or spoke of it to him, why do you think it beyond impossible that Derek never mentioned anything about BackFlip to you?

"Backflip" is NOT Dingle's trick. However, Derek, along with Jennings, had many packet tricks--some that were even better. If you have a copy of COUNTHESAURUS, read Max Maven's excellent intro for some specific background. Or: Get a copy of the original GOOD TURNS that I wrote or the updated version on my Website. Sam's excellent version grew out of the other packet tricks that were gaining traction at the time. THe "Upturned One" predates Sam's version and grew out of a version by Fulves,contributed under the name, Ralph Gironda. Also, we should not forget Ed Hollin's "Flipped Out," which Tannen marketed.

Here is my intro to GOOD TURNS 2.0:

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Jon Racherbaumer

I’m often called a historian of magic—an extravagant and exaggerated claim. I’m really a collector of trivia, a semi-serious archivist, a keeper of marginalia, and inveterate reader of all card magic. I also appreciate facts. None of us of course are omniscient, although a few of us sound that way. Regardless, being so inclined, I look at our literature a little
differently and I’m leery of quick-tongued pundits, hind sighted trolls of the underground,and green-eyed harlequins with ever-ready references. It’s too easy to be mistaken. We
are surrounded by misconceptions, misinformation, factoids, half-truths, and outright lies.

The current generation of cardmen have more paper and ink than previous generations.This sheer mass of material, however, often lacks organization, unity, precision, artistry,and authenticity. ‘More isn’t necessarily better.

Let me provide an example. Many present-day cardmen presume that packet tricks are avant-garde and a recent evolvement. Not true. The Age of the Packeteer did not begin when Elmsley’s count became less ghost-like or when Marlo ‘s Flexible Count was
renamed Jordan. Magicians have been performing small-packet card magic since Hofzinser’s day, and let’s not forget about the Six-Card Repeat, Cards to Pocket, and Cards Across? These effects used cards as counting units; however, their disposition
and identities were not emphasized. One might call this a Pre-Buckle Period. No one knows when the exact turning point occurred, but it’s likely to have happened sometime between 1940 and 1946. The Buckle Count turned the trick. (Pun intended.)
Reigning experts in the early 40s experimented with the now famous Buckle Count. The controversy concerning the paternity and provenance of this sleight is beyond my ken, but it is generally credited to Dai Vernon. A description of this technique is featured in Stars of Magic. (See the routine titled “Dai Vernon’s Mental Card Miracle, copyrighted 1949.) Edward Mario was obviously aware of Buckle techniques at the same time and
published routines using the technique in various booklets: “The Magical Gambler’’ - Deck Deception (1912); (2) “Ace Assembly” - Off The Top (1945); (3) “Super Count Routine” - MarIo In Spades (1947); (4) The influential chapter in The Cardician (1953)
on Double and Triple Buckles. Speaking of The Cardician, it explains at least four packet tricks: ‘”Christine,” “Quick Sands, “Oil and Water,” and “Junior’s Card Trick.”

So, perhaps we can agree that the modern packet trick had its beginning in the Buckle Period? There were also a couple of important effects that became prototypes of present-day packet effects. George Sands’ “Super Optical Illusion,” after it appeared in Hugard’s Magic Monthly (Volume IV, Number 7 -December, 1946), spawned many variations. Students should look up Mario’s “Quick Sands” and the Vernon-Braude version. It’s also likely that the popular marketed trick called “Gamble Amble” was based on the Sands’ routine. Later, Max Katz published “The M. K. Turning Aces” in Hugard’s Magic Monthly (Volume XV – Number 4: September, 1957).When the Elmsley Count became more widely known, the genie was out of the bottle. Vernon’s “Twisting The Aces” provided momentum. Marlo’s groundbreaking work on
“Think Ace” and “Touch Turn” was privately circulating and then was eventually published in The Linking Ring. By the time Larry West and Verne Chesbro published Tricks You Can Count On, all hell broke loose. The chronology of events is now
muddled. The production of books and manuscripts seemed non-stop. Magic dealers started putting out packet tricks on a monthly basis. Even the “Wild Card” was tamed.

This booklet adds to the welter and experienced hands will likely succumb to this Weltschmertz. Robert Walker’s enormous Crux Book may be published one of these days, along with Turning Tricks. Meanwhile, as you maximize and hyper activate your Twist routines, keep in mind that the versions in this booklet are not ten-finger exercises or “just another way to make cards flip-and-flop.” They are streamlined, subtle, and potent, adding some new and innovative techniques. “Omni-Twist,” despite its
pedestrian title, is very commercial.

June - 1977