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Linking Pins
The Linking Pins is a trick invented and popularized by Jerry Andrus, in which the performer causes safety pins to "magically" link and unlink from one another.
History
The Linking Pins evolved from the old Piff-Paff-Poof, a popular trick in which the performer "magically" unlinked two ordinary pins. It was marketed by Gene Gordon in the early thirties and a presentation for it was printed within the "Vest Pocket and Impromptu Magic" column by W. F. Van Zandt in the December 1934 of The Linking Ring.[1] A few years later, a version attributed to Don White appeared in Hilliard's Greater Magic (1938). In 1943, L. Vosburgh Lyons published an approach using a gimmicked key-pin in The Phoenix, which he called Slip, Snap, Spoof.
Enter Jerry Andrus, who in 1955, released his Linking Pins. He used two regular pins as well as Lyons' gaffed pin, and had an entire routine linking and unlinking all three. The following year, he published what remains to this day the definitive treatise on the Linking Pins, Safety Pin-Trix. Ron Bauer had a comedy version published in The New Tops in 1962.
In 1978, Tony Slydini made a big splash when his Mystery of the Gold Pins was published in Apocalypse. It was also sold by him and through Palmer Magic as the Slydini Pins.
The development of the "soft" pin was published by Han van Senus in Apocalypse in 1982. It would provide inspiration for Dan Garrett and his popular Pin-Demonium, as well as Bruce Bernstein's Linking Pins Routine and Michael Weber's End to Pindemonium.
Gaetan Bloom developed a new and unique methods in the mid-eighties, and has become well-known for the trick.
A new gimmick was introduced by Nicholas Bengston in 2004, and sold as Dreamweaver through Murphy's Magic Supplies.
Publications
- Piff-Paff-Poof (Gene Gordon): Marketed item, circa 1935.
- W. F. Van Zandt: The Linking Ring, Vol. 14 No. 10 (December 1934, pp. 841-842).
- Don White: John Northern Hilliard, Greater Magic (1938, pp. 871-873).
- Sid Lorraine, Patter (1938, pp. 43-44).
- Eddie Joseph: The Tops, Vol. 4 No. 2 (February 1939, p. 9).
- Bruce Elliott, Magic as a Hobby (1948, pp. 63-66).
- Pin Perplexer (Audley Walsh): The Phoenix, No. 41 (Aug. 6, 1943, p. 170).
- Slip, Snap, Spoof (L. V. Lyons): The Phoenix, No. 47 (Nov. 5, 1943, pp. 192-193)
- Bruce Elliott, Magic as a Hobby (1948, pp. 65-67).
- New Light on Piff, Paff, Pouf (Jean Poisson): Hugard's Magic Monthly, Vol. 10 No. 10 (March 1953, pp. 1053, 1056).
- Linking Pins (Jerry Andrus): Marketed item, 1954. Star Magic.
- Safety Pin-Trix: An Array of Truly Bewildering Effects with the Lowly Safety Pin: Jerry Andrus, 1955. Star Magic, 70 pages.
- Revised. Jerry Andrus, 1972. Star Magic.
- Revised. Jerry Andrus, 2006. Chazpro Magic, 60 pages.
- Safety Pin-up (J. G. Thompson, Jr.): M-U-M, Vol. 45 No. 12 (May 1956, pp. 552-560).
- J. G. Thompson, Jr., Top Secrets of Magic, Vol. 1 (1956, pp. 64-72).
- Bent Pins: Don Alan, Pretty Sneaky (1956, p. 38).
- Andrus' Giant Safety Pins (Jerry Andrus): The Linking Ring, Vol. 37 No. 9 (November 1957, pp. 73-75).
- Rinking Pins (Rink): The Gen, Vol. 15 No. 12 (April 1960, pp. 300-304).
- New Piff-Paff-Pouferie (A. Hjalmang): Abracadabra, Vol. 29 No. 743 (May 23, 1960, pp. 233-234).
- Linking Pins Routine (Ron Bauer): The New Tops, Vol. 2 No. 2 (February 1962, pp. 6-7).
- Two Pins & the 'Kerchief (Danny Tong): The New Jinx, Vol. 6 No. 68 (December 1967, p. 277).
- A Routine With Jerry Andrus' Linking Pins (John Stanfield): The Linking Ring, Vol. 53 No. 9 (September 1973, pp. 94-95).
- Play Pins (John Stanfield): Marketed item, 1978.
- Pin-Tration (Amedeo): Frank Garcia and George Schindler, Amedeo's Continental Magic (1974, pp. 55-56).
- Piff-Paff-Poof Variation (Gerald Kosky): Genii, Vol. 36 No. 9 (September 1972, p. 405).
- Gerald Kosky, The Magic of Gerald Kosky (1975).
- Linking Pin Moves (Tom Ellis): The Chronicles, No. 4 (April 1978, pp. 1103-1104).
- Foop Fapp Fipp (Jim Hunter): M-U-M, Vol. 67 No. 12 (May 1978, pp. 20-21).
- M-U-M, Vol. 96 No. 5 (October 2006, p. 47)
- Jon Racherbaumer, At the Table (1984, pp. 38-40).
- Super Pin Routine (Edward Marlo): M-U-M, Vol. 68 No. 5 (October 1978, pp. 20-23).
- Jon Racherbaumer, At the Table (1984, pp. 41-49).
The Mystery of the Gold Pins (Slydini): Apocalypse, Vol 1. No. 10 (October 1978, pp. 109-114).
- Slydini Pins: Marketed item, 1984. Palmer Magic.
- The Friendly Witch and Her Linking Pins: Leslie Mellville, Magictales: The Definitive Book of Storytelling Magic (2006).
- Safety Pins: Jim Klayder, Watch Closely (1978).
- Linking Pins Routine (Jim Rainho): M-U-M, Vol. 70 No. 12 (May 1981, p. 36).
- Un-Safety Pins (Han van Senus): Apocalypse, Vol. 5 No. 2 (February 1982, pp. 589-591).
- Pin-Demonium: Dan Garrett, Closeup Connivery #2 (1988, pp. 5-7).
- The Bernstein Linking Pins Routine (Bruce Bernstein): Marketed item, 1991.
- The Incredible Linking Pins (Jose de la Torre): M-U-M, Vol. 73 No. 8 (January 1984, pp. 17-19).
- M-U-M, Vol. 96 No. 5 (October 2006, pp. 48-49).
- Ultimate Linking Pins: Gaetan Bloom, Smashing Close-Up (1984, VHS).
- Linking Pins: Karl Norman, Here's How: The Close-up Magic of Karl Norman (1985).
- An End to Pindemonium: Michael Weber, Life Savers (1991, pp. 16-17).
- Stealth Linking Pins: (Geno Munari), 2001. Houdini's Magic, 30 pages (with props).
- Acupuncture: Sol Stone, Quick & Casual Close-Up (2002, DVD, Meir Yedid Magic).
- Dreamweaver: Nicholas Bengston, 2004. Murphy's Magic Supplies, 20 pages (with props).
References
- ↑ Remix, MUM, October 2006
- Danny Orleans, "Tricks Review," Genii, Vol. 67 No. 5, May 2004, pp. 94-95.
- Jon Racherbaumer, M-U-M, Vol. 96 No. 5, October 2006, pp. 46-47.
- Phil Goldstein, "Product Review," Genii, Vol. 54 No. 6, Apr 1991, p. 399.