Aldo Colombini

Aldo Colombini

Aldo Colombini is one of the most gifted and entertaining magicians around today. He is one of the few magicians that can entertain you without doing any magic tricks. Aldo is a very friendly man, who stand well over six feet tall. With a full beard, and long hair the audience can easily mistake him for a trapper, or mountain man. A man that takes what life gives him, and relishes every moment. However, even when he has cut his hair short, shaven his beard off, and wears a big red nose with thick glasses, his love of magic still radiates through. You cannot disguise it, Aldo is a consummate entertainer and magician.

You would not think of Aldo was a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but it appears that he is something of an enthusiast. So it is no surprise that some themes to his tricks deal with Sherlock Holmes. One of his most entertaining tricks follows this theme, which he called "Holmes vs. Moriarty." Aldo takes out the two black kings out of a deck of cards. These two cards represent Sherlock Holmes, and Doctor Watson. A spectator is chosen from the audience.

Of course this spectator is a witness to the criminal activities of Moriarty. So Aldo show a list of suspects (the deck of cards) to the witness (the spectator.)

Aldo Colombini and Brad Gordon

The spectator randomly selects a card and signs it. This card represents the alias that Moriarty is using, and is placed back into the deck.

The deck of cards now represents Moriarty hiding somewhere in London. It is now up to Sherlock Holmes (the King of Spades) and Doctor Watson (the King of Clubs) to find Moriarty (the signed card) in London (the deck of cards.) To find where Moriarty is hiding Sherlock Holmes needs to narrow down the area to search. So Aldo cuts off small packets and placed them onto the table until the witness say, "Stop!" The card that represents Holmes is placed reversed on the stack of cards on the table, and covered by the rest of the deck. Now Holmes is lost in London search for Moriarty, and he needs help. Aldo again cuts small packets off the deck until the witness say, "Stop!" This time Doctor Watson's card is placed face up on the deck and the rest of the cards are placed over it. When Aldo spreads the map of London (the deck of cards) out, Holmes and Watson have tracked down several clues.

These clues are the cards that are found between them. The clues need to be narrowed down to find Moriarty. So Holmes calls upon the witness again for help. The witness takes the packet of cards that has Holmes and Watson on top and bottom of the clues. The first card (Holmes) is placed on the table, and the next card is placed onto the bottom of the packet of cards. This is repeat, one card is placed on the table, and the next card is place at the bottom of the packet. This is done until Watson is also placed onto the table. Holmes and Watson have narrowed the clues. The remaining clues are placed back on the discarded deck. However, Holmes and Watson may need to narrow the clues even more. So the previous procedure is repeat. Aldo repeats this procedure until one clue is found between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. When the witness turns the final clue over it is found not to be Moriarty. Still it is the final clue to where Moriarty is found in London. In this case, the final clue is the "Six of Hearts." Aldo now takes the deck of cards and turns over six cards. When he turns over the sixth card, Holmes and Watson have caught Moriarty (the signed card.)

Not only is Aldo Colombini a great magician but he is also a great teacher and lecturer. Beginners, Amateurs, and Professional alike can learn from Aldo. He takes simple principles and turns them into entertaining effects. So if you ever get a chance go to one of his lectures. You will find it well worth your time and effort. If you want to find out more about Aldo Colombini you can check out his Web Page at http://www.mammamiamagic.com/. He has many great magical effects you may want to check out.