Hello there beloved friends!

I was just re-watching Dai Vernon's Revelations series and many times when it comes to demonstrating some move The Professor mentions about his left thumb.

By any chance, do you know what happened to him? Vernon said he had absolutely no feeling in the left thumb.
From my research I was able to find out that the incident happened in 1941.

Just to be safe, I am aware of David Ben's book on Dai Vernon's life. It is a book I will centainly buy in the future, but I really do want to know this individual piece of information about Vernon's thumb.


Thanks a million in advance,
Steve

To make ends meet he got a job as a construction laborer in New York City.

He was walking on a plank six stories up in a buildings open framework when the plank broke.

He fell six stories into the East River and almost didn't make it out.

That's where David Ben's book #1 ends......and Ben's book #2 will pick it up from there.

Hi Steve,

The fall damaged Vernon's arms. The thumb problem may have started later in life for Vernon. I'm not positve though.

Last I checked, the thumbs were at the end of the arms..........I'm not positive though

So when he fell he basically landed on his thumb?

He was thumb tip tester for Mysto Magic and this was the side-effect from his occupation.

LOL!!!

Just got around to reading this...What actually happened to his thumb was as a result of an accident in a market in Hollywood,back in the seventies. He was shopping at the old Market Basket on Highland Ave. and slipped on some spilled liquid. He was apparently carrying a bottle of milk and the broken glass sliced deeply into his left thumb. JP

I remember the old Market Basket. We had one down the street from me when I was a kid. Who knew it was a place that disabled magicians.

It may have been one of their "secret specials."

Maybe Ed Marlo was hiding out in the background.

Dai Vernon was truly the professor. Half the fun of the Revelations is his story telling and the inconvenienced looks on the faces of his buds every so often when trying to get through a routine