Scrutinizing Scarne: BioVlog 72 of 384
We are on the fourth week of a six week LP tour, and I’m very excited because the film, “The Sting “is playing in theaters throughout the country. At every stop along our tour, troupe member Glen Hansen and I buy tickets for the film. Glen will sit in the neck-breaking front row so I can see the movie (to the limited extent that I can see what’s happening).
There are a few scenes where card mechanic John Scarne’s hands double for Paul Newman’s, and those scenes are what I’m anxiously waiting to watch. As Glen and I sit and enjoy the film, I’m impatiently waiting to glimpse those gifted hands execute the real work, in real time. It’s Scarne’s scene: I lean closer to the screen so I can try to catch the impressive part where Scarne deals seconds in the skillful way concert pianists run scales. After watching Scarne do his dealing, I recognize the obsessive practice required if I ever want to become truly proficient with the pasteboards.