After Curtis's appearance as guest of honor at the Café, I decided to get his book, "Professional Magic of Curtis Kam: Deceptions in Paradise." I'm very pleased with this book. I feel it has a wealth of strong, useful magic.

I mentioned in my review of Darwin Ortiz's "Scams and Fantasies with Cards" that have been on a quest for the perfect cannibal cards routine. I have found it! "Kamnibal Cards" gives the routine a finish -in this case, a hammer between the eyes finish. I've combined Ortiz's vanishes with Kam's finish for a very strong impromptu effect that has been getting great reactions at the restaurant.

Kam also gives his presentation and handling of the jumping gems, in which diamonds appear, disappear, jump, and multiply. I think this has to be the strongest application possible of the paddle move. The magic is visual and fast-paced. Spectators need to do nothing but watch (which is good for a table eating a plate of hot wings), and very quickly know that you are a magician, not some huckster doing lame card tricks. Just as impressive in this routine is that Kam gives it meaning, so the performer isn't just manipulating plastic sticks. I love the presentation, which suits me and allows me to develop gags that fit to make for a memorable, humorous, and magical event. I have been performing this at the restaurant and am very pleased with the response.

Kamnibals and the jumping gems alone make the book very worthwhile to me, since I have two strong, engaging, frequently performed routines, but there's much more. There's "Coercive Purse" (also found on the "Fists of Fury" DVD), a wild coin routine that automatically resets, a shrinking cards routine that ends with a give-away, a stage presentation of cards up sleeve --complete with all the little bits of business leading into and out of the effect, a ring and rope routine, a card to forehead tour de force, a hopping half routine without the usual gaffs, and that doesn't make the spectator look like a moron.

Right now I have two routines from "Professional Magic of Curtis Kam" that I use and are solid gold to me. But that's not all. Next I am going "back into the mine" to find, develop, and practice other routines for my repertoire.

Not to mention Framed Wild Pocket, and EXTREMELY magical and practicle spellbound-esque routine using a purse frame that resets as you finish. A real "worker".