Richard Turner, Expert Card Mechanic

At the Magic Castle last week, I had the good fortune of assisting expert card mechanic Richard Turner in the Close-up Gallery. My husband Joe had told me the guy was amaaaaaaazing, and when one magician says that about another magician, you tend to pay attention.

The Close-up room is the smallest of the Castle's performance venues for scheduled acts, with usually two assistants called up from the audience to sit on either side of the magician's table. Richard Turner is not someone you want to plays cards with -- his maneuvers were incredible, and he can even deal cards from the center of the deck. No matter who shuffled the cards, or how many times, he was able to select the cards he wanted from within the deck. I was completely blown away.

Now add to this the fact that Richard has become blind, and you take his skill level to unimaginable heights. He's also a 5th Degree Black Belt, an author, an instructor, and a favorite of the late great Dai Vernon, master card magician.

Yeah.

How'd you spend your morning?