I recently found some notes while ripping the lining out of one of his suitcases. I was looking for the source of the smell. The handwriting is Flash's, and the subject is one of his favorite card effects: the venerable Card Duck. From close study of these notes, it appears that Flash "called in some markers" to dig up information on Card Duck performances from magi who went on to to become well known. I have no references to back up this information -- it should be taken with a grain of salt...
David Blaine: "Ya wanna see somethin'? I got a duck here dat's gonna find yer card."
Lance Burton: Have a sword fight with the duck, have it kill you, then become the wooden duck.
David Roth: Palm six of the ducks and do a repeat "Duck to Brandy Snifter".
Copperfield: Put lipstick on the duck, get it on the cover of a fashion magazine, and marry it.
The Pendragons: Do the duck trick faster than anyone else, and change your costume at the same time. Remember to scowl.
Teller: " ."
Mark Kalin: Have Jinger writhe across the stage -- nobody's watching the wooden duck.
A Large Pizza*: Sell the duck to feed the family.
Max Maven: Isolate the duck principle and create 25 technically interesting but unperformable related effects.
Jeff Hobson: Dress the duck in a rhinestone vest and have it talk with a lisp.
Valentino: [Make up your own joke here.]
Gary Ouellet: Smoke, lighting, dancers, music nobody has ever heard, and seven camera cuts. Five "teasers" earlier in the show reminding everyone that the big duck trick is coming up later -- so stay tuned!
Mike Close: When no one is looking, stick the duck on your forehead.
Doc Eason: When no one is looking, put the duck under their drink.
Docc Hilford: When everyone is looking, stick the duck up your nose.
Kenton Knepper: Talk about the duck until the audience believes something interesting has happened.
Mark Wilson: Build a big duck on casters, spin it around, point to it, and smile!
Juan Tamirez: Put wheels on the duck and spend ten minutes pushing it back and forth over the cards.
Dan Harlan: Duck-Toon.
Rocco: D'Duck.
A few months after I originally published the above notes, a magician known only as Jeff Hass sent me a photo of a stall door from the men's room at the Pocatello Greyhound station. The scrawled, shaky handwriting is very familliar to me. I can only assume that it is a continuation of the list that I found...
Mac King: Has an extremely funny routine with the duck, but Gary Ouellet only wants him to "find" it in a breadroll on the World's Greatest Magic.
Harry Anderson: Follows Three Duck Monte with carnival geek trick where he runs needle through duck then bites its head off. Afterwards, sentences duck to pay a fine plus six months probation, then writes a humorous column about it.
Amazing Jonathan: Decapitates duck, blood gushes onto front row, still doesn't find the selected card.
Richard Kaufman: Buys rights to do duck trick from Larsens. Remakes it in more expensive version, but keeps the most annoying, insulting parts of the trick.
Ghost of Houdini: Still refuses to come back from the other side, probably due to seances imploring him to do the duck trick.
Ed Marlo: Spends hours on subtle handling variations in the back room of Schulien's, secretly recording discoveries on wall behind fireman's helmets. Sadly, all info was lost when Schulien's closed.
Jerry Seinfeld: Writes script for duck trick as part of his TV show, but realizes that he should go out on top, and cancels the show before the duck trick episode can be aired. The nation continues on, unaware of what might have been.
* What's the difference between a large pizza and a semi-pro magician? A large pizza can feed a familly of four.
