talkmagic.co.uk

By: Max Maven

The Out-to-Lunch Principle gets its name from a marketed trick devised by Clare Cummings and Bob Ellis in the mid-1940s.

The roots extend back much further, to seance gaffs of the 19th century. See, for example, "The Interrupted Flap" in _Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena_ by William Robinson, 1898.

It has been commonly held by modern magic historians that the paper modification should be credited to Edward Bagshawe, used in "The Recurring Name" in _Twenty Magical Novelties_, 1930).

However, in 1994 I tracked down the existence of a prior source, Tom Bowyer's "A Message From Nowhere" in the April 1928 _Linking Ring_. And, in 1995, I found yet an earlier credit: William Larsen Sr., "Finger Prints" in the July 1923 _Sphinx_.

This historical information has appeared in print more than once, but few seem to notice, and fewer seem to care. And thus, magic continues to spin, an unknowing ouroboros.

daleshrimpton wrote:

By: Max Maven

The Out-to-Lunch Principle gets its name from a marketed trick devised by Clare Cummings and Bob Ellis in the mid-1940s.

The roots extend back much further, to seance gaffs of the 19th century. See, for example, "The Interrupted Flap" in _Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena_ by William Robinson, 1898.

It has been commonly held by modern magic historians that the paper modification should be credited to Edward Bagshawe, used in "The Recurring Name" in _Twenty Magical Novelties_, 1930).

However, in 1994 I tracked down the existence of a prior source, Tom Bowyer's "A Message From Nowhere" in the April 1928 _Linking Ring_. And, in 1995, I found yet an earlier credit: William Larsen Sr., "Finger Prints" in the July 1923 _Sphinx_.

This historical information has appeared in print more than once, but few seem to notice, and fewer seem to care. And thus, magic continues to spin, an unknowing ouroboros.

I trust Max. The above will be 100% correct.