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bugjack Inner circle New York, New York 1624 Posts |
Wow. I'm really surprised to read your reaction. I bought the book, like it, and agree with you that there's a strong Paul Harris vibe through some of the effects. I liked the writing style, found it inviting and refreshing and thought it not only provided context for the tricks but also got me thinking about my own attitude towards magic. One thing I liked was how the simple stuff was what entertained the lay audiences and how Josh and Joel made clear with their comments what were intended to be magician foolers or just fun moves to try out among magician friends.
But as much as this book is being heralded (or, in your case, scorned) for its narrative, I have to say that I think all the talk about the storyline is kind of overblown. I mean, we're not talking about some kind of monumental epic here. This is not the Tolstoy of magic books. There's very little story to actually follow. It's just a night at a restaurant with two magicians shooting the breeze and trying tricks on each other and friends. In fact, the only narrative throughline that exists, really, is Josh's attempt to figure out how Joel does an impossible peek. Otherwise, you really can skip through the book and just go to the effects you are interested in (although I think you lose something by not following the book's flow of the evening into early morning). When I got the book, I wanted a quick fix so I jumped to "More Memory Man," which I was particularly interested in. Looked it up in the index of tricks, skipped to the page, read the presentation and then read the method. Just like a normal magic book. Crediting? The book seems very well credited and has 80 footnotes that are referenced in the back. And then there's a second index in which tricks, names, moves and everything else are listed. I think what Josh was trying to do was capture the flow of natural conversation so I guess not everything is spelled out in the body of the text, but an awful lot of it is. I found tons of references throughout the text as to inspirations, etc. I'd maybe take a second look and start by reading the trick index and then, since you don't like the story format, just skipping to routines that sound interesting. If the story format has a failing, it's that most magician readers will have their pre-conceived interests and won't really care about reading all the way through the methodology of a trick they have no affinity for. So there are some slight bumps in the book as you come across, say, the coins across routine you'll never learn or yet another Triumph handling (that is, unless you are looking for a coins across or a Triumph), and then decide whether to skip to the next effect or honor the linearity of the concept by reading through. There's a lot of variety in the book, and I'd say that the majority is not for everyone. But everyone will, I think, find a few solid pieces here they'll use, and for each of us those pieces will be different. Anyway, enough rambling from me... but give the book a rest and then come back to it through the index would be my suggestion. |
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sirbrad Inner circle PA 2096 Posts |
Mine has arrived and it looks great. I was a little disappointed to find out there was also a Deluxe edition after I already bought this one, but nonetheless it looks good enough. I welcome this change in a book, as I find it to be very engaging and sort of draws you into the story like a novel would. I already have thousands of books that follow the other boring format, so it will be a good change of pace. Course I am sure there are many out there with ADD that simply want to thumb through to the "secrets" instead of learning how to actually present an effect.
The great trouble with magicians is the fact that they believe when they have bought a certain trick or piece of apparatus, and know the method or procedure, that they are full-fledged mystifiers. -- Harry Houdini
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bugjack Inner circle New York, New York 1624 Posts |
Josh, whenever you check this thread... is "Monte 101" missing the description of Marlo's Quick Three way? I can certainly do moves that will achieve this result, but I don't have the Marlo text cited.
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bugjack Inner circle New York, New York 1624 Posts |
I thought I'd bump this thread with a post about one of the best tricks in the book, I think: "More Memory Man," which has been discussed previously on these boards under the title "Pseudo Memorized Deck." I had the chance to try out this trick last week and I can't stress how good I think it is. Like many of the other tricks in Jay and Givens' book, the effect is a smartly routined assembly of several different techniques/principles all united by a clear, direct concept and seemingly casual handling. Givens credits Micah Lasher's "Memory Man" and Harry Lorayne's "Lorayne Storm" as inspiring this one, and while I don't know those tricks it seems like he's added several stages to them to make this one smoothly flowing, multi-climaxing routine.
For those who don't know it, here's the effect. You borrow a deck, shuffle it, give it back to the spectator to shuffle as well, and have him or her remove the top card and place it in his or her pocket. Then, the spec selects another card from the deck (no force). Next you demonstrate how you can memorize the sequence of the entire deck and ask the spec to time you. You quickly run through the deck, mumbling to yourself as you remember all the cards. You finish and ask the spectator what card they chose. They tell you and you say, "That should be the 18th card." You count down and it is the 18th card -- and, in fact, you quickly rifle off the names of five other cards all in a row. You demonstrate further by casually spreading the cards, breaking the deck and showing one, and then calling out the name of the following face down card. You do that a couple of times, each time selecting a card from a different part of the deck and, on the last demonstration, doing a sort of poker demonstration by calling out the name of the third card following the card you break to. You then remember the card the spec placed in his pocket and quickly rifle through the deck to see what card is missing. After a few seconds, you call out the card in the spec's pocket. Then, as a kicker, you offer to demonstate a combination of your memory work with your ability to cut the deck precisely to the cards you want and, with three quick cuts, cut to the three mates of the spec's chosen card. What's great about this trick is that it really walks a line between magic and a seeming demonstration of skill. The "memorization" hook ties all the different segments of the trick together and makes them come off as one single effect -- an effect which packs a lot of surprise into a short period of time. It's also not as shopworn a card plot as so many other tricks these days. The handling is all very natural and smooth, and, sleight-wise, it's a lot easier to do than one would expect. My wife freaked out as I kept riffing off the names of the cards one after another. I like the book as a whole a lot but this trick, so far, is the highlight. |
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baobow Special user 510 Posts |
A handful of the effects in Session i.e.( Laser Aces, Karate Coin, Coins Across) are also shown and explained in the Talk About Tricks DVD set. It's a great opportunity to see Joel perform his pet effects. His karate coin routine for example has to be seen to be full appreciated.
The two products certainly compliment eachother from that stand point |
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RevJohn Inner circle Oregon City Oregon, Oregon 2473 Posts |
It was fun to see Joel at MagicLive. Especially to see him teach some of the effects at the Talk about Tricks section.
RevJoh |
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michaelmystic2003 Inner circle 3062 Posts |
I love his Sugar Packet effect from Magic Magazine. Thanks for the review! I just ordered a copy myself.
Learn more about my upcoming book of close up magic and theory SYNTHESIS & SECRETS: A Magic Book in Four Acts: https://www.michaelkrasworks.com/synthesis-secrets
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michaelmystic2003 Inner circle 3062 Posts |
My God! I jusdt got my copy in themail last nightand I absolutely love it! Already I see3 of the effects I've read going into my repertoire and I love More Memory Man! To anyone not sure about purchasing this, I say stop thinking about it and click Add To Cart!
Learn more about my upcoming book of close up magic and theory SYNTHESIS & SECRETS: A Magic Book in Four Acts: https://www.michaelkrasworks.com/synthesis-secrets
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calexa Inner circle Germany 1635 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-07-23 22:42, Magiguy wrote: The buzz is always terrific, if something new in magic arrives soon and is mentioned here in the Café... I think it´s called "marketing".... Carsten PS: This is not a review of the the book or the content of the book itself - I haven´t read it. It is just funny for me to see how history repeats itself when it comes to a magic publication....
Optimists have more fun.....
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