talkmagic.co.uk

Hi there. I have recently seen several people advertising Martin Lewis' Sidewalk Shuffle trick. Now I remember this used to be sold by Supreme a long time ago. Anyway, I recently performed an old Joe Riding routine and someone referred to it as Sidewalk Shuffle. When I read the description of the SS routine, it certainly sounded pretty similar. But the Joe Riding routine is v old (an old Ken Brooke one). So my question is, are they the same routine or not? And if they are, then who 'invented' it - Joe Riding, or Martin Lewis. Curiously enough, Paul Gordon's Corner of Picadilly also bears some resemblance to this routine (though is definitely different) - and he himself acknowledges a debt to what I think is a different routine by Joe Riding! Anyway, one of you must be able to shed some light on this. I'm just curious...

Joe Riding put out 'The Only 3 Card trick Usuing 4 Cards' using 4, unfaked, Jumbo cards & the Elmsley Count.
The one card kept disappearing then re appearing. David Charles has done this brilliantly for many years.
Then came the Leprechaun version.

Ken Brooke put out Sidewalk Shuffle with extra large Jumbos. 3 Blanks each of which had a coloured spot in the corner (so you, the audience, could tell which were the blank cards!!!) & one Ace.At the end all the cards had changed to Aces.Again using the Elmsley Count but with gaffs.
This was the Ben Martin Sidewalk Shuffle Special.
The coloured dots were a 'conjurer's sledgehammer idea'!! At least you got the gag of saying, "You'll know which are the blank cards because they have a red dot on them!!"
I did hear, somewhere along the way, that the dots were Fred Kap's idea.
Ken called it Martin Lewis's Sidewalk Shuffle'

I performed it for years in my Hiram J Peabody Act.

Ken used to perform Chase The Ace which is similar. Harry Stanley also put this out. using Huge cards.
There are other variations on the market.
JB Magic has/had a version called, I think 'Confusion Cards'. At least I remember the first word was Confusion.

Allen Tipton

ive seen a very nice version of it that Repro put out years ago. nice cards, very clean and clear.

I'm not sure if this will shed some light into this thread or not. I bought Martin Lewis's Sidewalk Shuffle years ago. It was marketed through Haines House of Cards, here in the United States. Following is the exact 'copy' from the instruction pages:

Sidewalk Shuffle

This effect was originally based on Joe Riding's "Three Card Trick with Four Cards" which was marketed by Ken Brooke in England. However, the method is quite different, and the effect itself so strengthened that it is virtually a new trick. Ken Brooke, upon seeing this, agreed, and gave his full permission for Martin Lewis's "Sidewalk Shuffle" to be marketed in the United States.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all your input. Its cleared some things up - though maybe confused others...!