I paid the original price of $10 and felt I got my money's worth.

I've used Marc's booktest in impromptu situations, and it has been effective. It's nice to have an extra impromptu method in my repertoire. It's not--and I've gone back to Peek Performances--the same as the peek described by Busch. Busch's idea is more complex, and consequently more difficult for the spectator to reconstruct. However, the peek that Mark describes is quick, easy, and potentially deceptive. Is it is original to him?--Well probably not, but Mark has written that he wasn't sure if the peek was original with him. Is it the greatest thing since sliced bread as the Rowland quote implies? Well, no, but even sliced bread is expensive these days.

The DR effect is a standard, but effective use of the principle. It is one of the few effects that is not Anytime, Any Place. In my opinion DR in a close-up or small party situation may suffer from the problems that Sven has pointed out. But in a more formal situation such as a theatre performance, the DR principle can be extremely powerful, and, as has been pointed out, is used to great effect by some top performers.

I don't think it's fair to compare a set of lecture notes to an awesome book like PP. With the price raised to $20, I can understand some feeling that the booklet was overhyped. Certainly I can understand someone choosing to pass this by and save their money for the Busch or Osterlind offerings. That said, if you see it on eBay for a reasonable cost, I would pick it up.

Jack Shalom

Re;
"It was until a few years ago a very difficult task to get hold of any contempory magic books in the UK, let alone specific titles."

That statement is nonsense. Magic Books By Post, based in the UK and started around 30 years ago carry probably the largest stock of magic titles in the world, and have always kept up with contempory releases. Probably most of my magic library originated there in the eighties.

Paul.

I was just going off my own experiences, with northern UK magic shops and mail order (Davenports, etc). Personally I have previously found obtaining the books, effects and videos of my choice to be very difficult indeed, not to mention pricey and am hugely grateful for the internet revolution. Gone are the days when I spend a weekend trying to hunt down a magic shop from the yellow pages, only to find a joke shop that sells stripper decks.

Additionally, I reserve the right to be consistently spectacularly wrong, wildly inaccurate and deeply misleading on a variety of topics, simultaneously and without prior warning. In the event of disagreement it is best not to consider my ignorant ramblings authoritive, or even vaguely relevant. Your house may be in danger if you do not keep up a mortgage or other loan secured on it.

I thought the lecture notes were worth the money, but all things are relative. I think that most items that are really good are far too inexpensive. Peek Performances is worth way way more than the price it is sold at for example.

Sven, thanks a lot for your review... This reminds us of being extremely careful when reading those hyped recommendations (even when they're coming from well-known and respectable professionals)

Yea...a good page (or pile) of adjectives will hot me up anyday. I have to staple my wallet to the floor before I look at any ads for magic....I believe them all. How can I get this book of miracles???? Ah, never mind.