Magic that's fun…For profit. by Scott F. Guinn.

E-Book: $20 from : http://www.scottfguinn.com

Pre-Amble
It should be no surprise that I find myself reviewing another book by Scott F. Guinn. I think it is like finding an author of fiction you like. You really really like. (Good grief! I sound like a spice girl now)

Once you have read a few of their books, you can pretty much trust your instincts and know that everything they produce will be ok. Obviously that isn’t always the case but so far I haven’t been let down by Scott.

This booklet was of particular interest to me though as now I am earning money from magic, I want to make sure I am doing the very best for my clients and the very best for myself.

Who better to write on the subject than Scott F. Guinn. There are many full time magicians in the world, but I doubt that any get more work than he does.

The Review
The book is primarily aimed at the close up magician. It not only offers several close-up effects, ranging from cards, coins, sponge balls (well not actually sponge balls, but you will have to read on to find out what), and string and ring, but also there are a few parlour based effect, one for adults and one for kids.

If you could perform everything in this manuscript well, you could make a living as a magician. You pretty much would have all the bases covered.

Difficulty.
1=Easy peasy lemon squeazy, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used, 4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)
Dificulty: 3

The Tricks
1. Red Hot Mama’s Lips
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Based on Al Leech’s Chicago Opener, this is actually one of the strongest card tricks I perform at a table. It is sweet and endearing and is fantastic to perform to a couple. It does use some basic sleights, but they are all well taught in the booklet.

2. Idaho Travellers.
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A simple version of the Dai Vernon classic “Travellers” effect.
Four queens are removed from the pack. The pack is shown to have no extra queens. One by one the 4 queens are placed in the deck and then they just disappear (as if by magic). Only to reappear one by one in four of the magicians pockets.

Strong, funny and very visual.

3. Visit to Boise
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This is Scott’s handling of Larry Jennings’ “The Visitor”. Another classic of card magic. Possibly a little trickier than the first two card effects – but well worth putting in the time and effort to practice.

4.. Universal Appeal
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Magic really happens in this effect, several times over. It uses the concept of chameleon cards which can mimic any card selected.

This trick is very visual.

5. Ransomed Back
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Possibly one of the easier effects performance wise – but just as strong. Some great thinking was put into this one.

6. Magic Western Union
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I could say this is just another coins across routine. I could, but I won’t because it is so much more.

Three coin magically travel from one closed hand to join the three coins in the other closed hand. The coins are then held in the hand of the spectator, and you take an invisible coin and vanish it (even I can vanish an invisible coin!), but it materialises in the spectators hand.

The kicker is the Jumbo coin production at the end. Beautiful stuff.

7. Glass Action Suit
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A coins to glass routine, that appears so magical because of the sound effects.

8. Rings off, Rings on
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This was one of my favourite pieces in the booklet. It uses to key ring rings that first penetrate a piece of string and then mysteriously link.

It doesn’t actually sound much when I say it like that, but it gets great reactions. It also makes a tres nice break from cards and coins.

9. A Trunk full of Nuts
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This is a two in the hand one in the pocket routine. Something that I think all magicians should learn as it teaches so much about performing sleight off hand magic.

This particular variation uses peanuts and an Elephant and is quite enchanting. If making an Elephant disappear is good enough for Houdini, then making one appear is good enough for me.

10. The Card or the Cash Visual Matchup
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Scott says "This is probably the single stongest effect I have ever performed, in any venue".

I am not going to say a single thing about it. If you want to learn more then you will just have to spend the $20.

11. Million Dollar Chocolate
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A sort of Misers dream with sweets.

If I did kids magic I WOULD do this. I would end with it. Heck I am tempted to do a kids show just so I CAN do this.

I know – where are my nieces and Nephews? Hhhmmmm. Next time I see them I will have to get them together with some of their mates.

To be honest I had fun just reading about the fun that the kids would have when you do this.

Bottom Line
I don’t think Scott will mind my saying that most of the effects are variations of classic effects. Scott’s strength for me is his routining of them and his ability to make them not just entertaining, but also a lot of fun to perform. I guess that is why the manuscript is called "…for fun, AND profit".

My goal is till to persuade Scott to come to England and do the lecture circuit here.

I strongly recommend this booklet.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like another winner by Scott!

Mark.

In the interests of full disclosure...

I USED to perform a LOT; 4-5 times per week in restaurants + 75-150 private shows per year. I am now semi-retired from magic. I still do a few shows here and there, but nothing even approaching when I was doing it full-time. All the material in this book, however, was developed and performed during my full-time days.

Having said that, thank you Simon for the lovely review and your very kind words.

Scott, your e-books look really,really great. I was wondering if they contain photos or only text. Just trying to gauge how user freindly they are.
Thanks

There are lot's of photo's. Good quality ones too that really do help with the explanations. It is a very profesionally produced document.

I performed The Card or The Cash Visual Matchup last year at an event where I only had about 15 minutes of stage tine. It went over great and was the perfect routine as there's a lot of magic going on in a very short amount of time. It also packs very small but... wait for it... plays big!

All of the effects in the book are good. Very nice stuff from Scott.

Thanks, guys! I appreciate your kind words.

Bertrand, this book has about 115 photos.

Regards,

Scotr

Thanks!

Very nice review... THis looks like its a great product and definitely something I would buy. Nice Work.

Just FYI, this is also now available at Lybrary.com.

How much of this overlaps with your other books?

XX

This book is actually lecture notes, excerpted from my other books. It has routines from:

Great Scott It's CARD Magic
Great Scott It's COIN Magic
Great Scott It's MORE Magic
Magishing My Way
You'll Be Pleasantly Surprised

Hope that helps!

Thanks Scott. I have most of those, just wanted to make sure.

XX

Then you don't need this--it is literally just the routines copied and pasted from the books. In the first post above, Simon lists the routines included in this ebook. If there are some you don't have that interest you, you might check my website, where some of them are offered individually.

Having said that, keep in mind that all of those books are out of print, so for those who don't have them, this is a good sampling.