Samuel Cox Hooker and his Rising Cards

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.]

3. Contents
5. Acknowledgment
7. Introduction
10. Other Famous Any Card Rises
10. - Hofzinser
16. - Neyhart
18. - Joseffy
22. Hooker the Person
28. How Could it be Done? (theory #1 - probably not)
28. - Hooker’s idea
29. - Boundary conditions
30. - Fundamental method
33. - Multiple methods for the same effect
38. - Afterthoughts
40. Card March
41. How Could it be Done? (theory #2 - much better)
51. People in the Know
52. Chronological Source Documents
53. 1913, July
53. 1914, April
54. 1915, June
55. 1915, August
56. 1916, January
56. 1916, March
58. 1917, July 6th
58. 1917, September 25th
58. 1918, January
59. 1918, February
65. 1918, February 16th
67. 1918, March 16
67. 1918, March 23
67. 1918, April 20th
67. 1918, May 11th
68. 1918, September
70. 1927
70. 1929, April 10th
71. 1929, April 20th
71. 1929, April
72. 1929, April
74. 1929, June
75. 1929, June 10th
75. 1929, November
77. Undated
77. 1934
78. 1935, January
79. 1935, October 14th
81. 1935, November
83. 1936
89. 1936, June 19th
90. 1936, September
90. 1936, November
91. 1937, June
91. 1937, July
91. 1937, August
92. 1939, January
96. 1944
96. Undated
96. 1945, July
97. 1947, June
97. 1949, April
99. 1949, April
100. 1949, June
100. 1951, August
101. 1955, February
101. 1966, July 5th
102. 1966, June
102. 1966, October
104. 1967, April (John Mulholland in Pallbearers Review and Magic Circular)
112. 1970, July
112. 1976
113. 1993
113. 1993, November, 6th (Gene Matsuura's personal notes)
117. 1994, January
118. 1994, January (Bill Miesel in Precursor)
122. 1994, April
123. 1994, May 9th
125. 1995 (John Booth in Fine Art of Hocus Pocus)
130. 2007
131. 2007, November 9th
138. 2007, December
139. 2008, January
140. About the Author
142. About the Publisher