Samuel Cox Hooker And His Rising Cards by Chris Wasshuber

Dr. Samuel Cox Hooker's Rising Cards have been an unexplainable fascination for nearly a century. Hooker first showed his effect in 1914, and in 1993 and 2007 John Gaughan gave abbreviated performances. Nobody who has seen the Hooker Rising Cards performed has ever been able to explain how such effects can be accomplished. This includes the most notable and most knowledgeable magicians from past and present. How can, from a borrowed and shuffled deck, any card called for rise in the fairest possible manner on a well lit stage only a few feet from the spectators?

This work is not just about how I think Hooker achieved these incredible effects, but about a fascinating man and the fascinating history of rising card apparatus. Samuel Cox Hooker and his Rising Cards will first examine three famous card rising apparatus: the Hofzinser card automaton, the Neyhart houlette, and Joseffy's rising cards. It then examines Hooker the person covering his private, scientific, and magic achievements.

This is followed by two theories of how the Hooker Rising Cards could be done. The first theory was purely based on my conclusions studying the historical record and is most likely not how it is done. The second theory arose from observations brought to me by individuals who have seen one of the 2007 reenactments and it can exactly replicate a core set of effects. I built a Lego prototype to prove that this mechanism works, is practical and indeed replicates the effects precisely. You will be able to see photos of the prototype and read a detailed description of it.

I have studied the historical records, I have extensively communicated with people who have seen Gaughan's reenactments in 1993 and 2007 and I have thought for countless of hours, pieced together clues, and applied my own understanding of magic methods and technology. However, it is not possible for me to say that one of my methods is 'the' method used by Hooker, but I have proven it is at least 'a' method. Potentially it is even a more practical method than the original method.

Samuel Hooker created his rising cards to stimulate magicians to think and come up with their own solutions and explanations and through that process of inquiry, to develop new methods and techniques. As a scientist this is a very natural way of learning. Nature exposes us to all kinds of mysteries, questions, and puzzles and scientists try to explain them. They conduct experiments and think logically about them to advance their understanding of nature. Fundamentally scientists are driven by nature's secrets and want to understand and explain them. In the same way Hooker is presenting magicians with a mystery and he is asking us to think about ways how it could be done. Hooker himself solicited explanations from his spectators. This work is my answer to Hooker's solicitation.

This publication was written with this very spirit in mind. Perhaps it stimulates others to also think hard about new ways to achieve such effects. I have communicated with other magicians, some of them notable and recognized, who have developed their own theories about how Hooker did it. This lead to exciting and stimulating exchanges of ideas and critiques - exactly the kind of effect Hooker wanted to achieve with his "Impossibilities".

(For a short biographical sketch published in a Google map click here.)

At the end of the book you will find a chronological record and reproductions of many articles and letters, including unpublished records, related to Samuel Hooker. This makes for fascinating reading regardless of if you agree with my theories or not.

[Please keep in mind that the book and ebook differ in the following way: All photos and illustrations which are color in the ebook are in b/w in the book. The book has been reformatted to a smaller form factor 6'' x 9''. Should I have the time to release a video of my prototype, then such a video will only be part of the ebook, not the book.]

1. Contents
2. Acknowledgment
3. Introduction
4. Other Famous Any Card Rises
5. - Hofzinser
6. - Neyhart
7. - Joseffy
8. Hooker the Person
9. How Could it be Done? (theory #1 - probably not)
10. - Hooker's idea
11. - Boundary conditions
12. - Fundamental method
13. - Multiple methods for the same effect
14. - Afterthoughts
15. Card March
16. How Could it be Done? (theory #2 - much better)
17. People in the Know
18. Chronological Source Documents
19. 1913, July
20. 1914, April
21. 1915, June
22. 1915, August
23. 1916, January
24. 1916, March
25. 1917, July 6th
26. 1917, September 25th
27. 1918, January
28. 1918, February
29. 1918, February 16th
30. 1918, March 16
31. 1918, March 23
32. 1918, April 20th
33. 1918, May 11th
34. 1918, September
35. 1927
36. 1929, April 10th
37. 1929, April 20th
38. 1929, April
39. 1929, April
40. 1929, June
41. 1929, June 10th
42. 1929, November
43. Undated
44. 1934
45. 1935, January
46. 1935, October 14th
47. 1935, November
48. 1936
49. 1936, June 19th
50. 1936, September
51. 1936, November
52. 1937, June
53. 1937, July
54. 1937, August
55. 1939, January
56. 1944
57. Undated
58. 1945, July
59. 1947, June
60. 1949, April
61. 1949, April
62. 1949, June
63. 1951, August
64. 1955, February
65. 1966, July 5th
66. 1966, June
67. 1966, October
68. 1967, April (John Mulholland in Pallbearers Review and Magic Circular)
69. 1970, July
70. 1976
71. 1993
72. 1993, November, 6th (Gene Matsuura's personal notes)
73. 1994, January
74. 1994, January (Bill Miesel in Precursor)
75. 1994, April
76. 1994, May 9th
77. 1995 (John Booth in Fine Art of Hocus Pocus)
78. 2007
79. 2007, November 9th
80. 2007, December
81. 2008, January
82. About the Author
83. About the Publisher