戴·福农

戴·福农（Dai Vernon^[1]，1894年6月11日—1992年8月21日），加拿大魔术师，被称作教授，知名于魔术界^[2]。以精湛的魔术手法和丰富的知识，特别是近距离魔术与卡牌魔术，在魔术师之中获得敬重。他对于20世纪的魔术界影响十分巨大，也是许多著名魔术师的导师。他在魔术城堡度过生命的最后时光。

生平

福农生于渥太华，原名为大卫弗雷德里克温菲尔德韦纳（David Frederick Wingfield Verner）。他经常在表演时提到七岁从父亲那学到的第一个魔术，并讽刺地说“浪费了他生命中的前六年”，而他的父亲是政府人员与业馀魔术师。福农在安大略省金斯顿的加拿大皇家军事学院（英语：Royal_Military_College_of_Canada）学习机械工程，但在第一次世界大战时搬到了纽约市^[2]。

福农在七岁时父亲带他去看魔术表演后就爱上了魔术。他拥有第一本魔术书是S. W. Erdnase（英语：S. W. Erdnase）著作《牌桌上的专家（英语：The Expert at the Card Table）》（The Expert at the Card Table）的早期版本^[3]。在他13岁时，他已经记住了这本书的内容，还与另一位崭露头角的年轻魔术师柯利福·格林（Cliff Green）有著一次知名的相遇：

格林问福农：“你都表演什么样的魔术？”而福农要他给卡牌取名，之后福农从口袋里掏出一包卡牌，翻开牌堆最上面的牌，露出了那张写有名字的卡牌，然后回答无话可说的格林：“这就是我在表演的魔术。那你都表演什么样的魔术？”

福农年轻时搬到纽约一间叫做克莱德鲍尔斯的魔术店（Clyde Powers' magic shop）后面的房间，他在此时有了这时代最欣赏的魔术师，如Dr. James William Elliottc与哈里·凯拉（英语：Harry Kellar）。他在一家报纸用Dai代替David称呼他之后，开始使用这个名字，而Dai实际上是David的威尔士小名。美国有一对受欢迎的滑冰运动员，男生姓Vernon，而当福农第一次搬到美国时，美国人不断误认为Verner的姓氏与运动员一样，最后他懒得纠正而直接改叫Vernon。

由于福农非凡的知识和技巧，他被称作教授。哈利·胡迪尼经常吹嘘自己只要看三次同样的卡牌魔术，就能破解它。福农向胡迪尼表演一个魔术七次：他将牌顶的牌往下放一层，然后翻开牌顶，仍是原来那张。直到胡迪尼妻子与福农的朋友劝说，胡迪尼才放弃破解。之后几年，福农以“愚弄胡迪尼的男人”作为自己的广告标语。

参考

^ When asked which way to pronounce his first name, Vernon would say "either, or either." Vernon, Dai. The Vernon Touch: The Writings of Dai Vernon in Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine from 1968 to 1990. Washington, DC: The Genii Corporation, 2006.
^ ^2.0 ^2.1 Daniels, Lee A. Dai Vernon, 98; An Expert Magician Who Taught Others. New York Times. August 29, 1992 [2007-08-21]. Dai Vernon, a sleight of hand artist who was a mentor to many of the most accomplished magicians of the last half-century, died Aug. 21 at the home of a son, Edward Wingfield Verner, in Ramona, Calif., where he had lived for the last two years. He was 98 years old.
^ Erdnase, S. W. The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation 1st Ed. reprint. Mineola, NY da: Dover Publications. 1995: 144 pages. ISBN 978-0-486-28597-9.

资讯

Short biography on Vernon
A Magician's Quest for the Perfect Card Cheat （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）, NPR Morning Edition, August 18, 2006

[1] When asked which way to pronounce his first name, Vernon would say "either, or either." Vernon, Dai. The Vernon Touch: The Writings of Dai Vernon in Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine from 1968 to 1990. Washington, DC: The Genii Corporation, 2006.

[obit-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Daniels, Lee A. Dai Vernon, 98; An Expert Magician Who Taught Others. New York Times. August 29, 1992 [2007-08-21]. Dai Vernon, a sleight of hand artist who was a mentor to many of the most accomplished magicians of the last half-century, died Aug. 21 at the home of a son, Edward Wingfield Verner, in Ramona, Calif., where he had lived for the last two years. He was 98 years old.

[erdnase-3] Erdnase, S. W. The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation 1st Ed. reprint. Mineola, NY da: Dover Publications. 1995: 144 pages. ISBN 978-0-486-28597-9.

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