I know you are a big book guy, do you have a top three and why?

Thank you for the question smullins.

To only pick 3! They are all my babies. I think I will pick 3 books that have had the most influence on me. Sometimes is not always the effects themselves in the books but the type of thinking process the author had I find most inspiring.


Concertos for Pasteboard by Oliver Erens -- I think this book has been underrated and I don’t see many people talk about it. I personally find the the thinking and processes in the book to be truly amazing. A good example in the book is Heldge Thun effect Bulkoki. Just a masterpiece of thinking!

Close-Up Card Magic by Harry Lorayne - This was one of the 1st book I read starting out in magic and I didn’t realize how much it truly guided me until I went back years later and flipped through the pages again. It was his effect Out of This Universe that starting me down the path of Hands off/Self Working magic.

The Great Artful Dodges of Eddie Fields: This is one of the very few books I read cover to cover. (John G’s One degree would be the another one) Usually I skipped around but I was BLOWN away by the approach Mr. Fields took towards his magic. He was sooooooooo BOLD and after reading it I realize I could be too and I haven’t looked back since. If you want to see an example of what I mean read his effect “Way-Ahead Card to Cardcase”. I did this effect on a room of people one day and destroyed with it.

Ryan

Never read the Eddie Fields book. I'll have to check that out.

Well I hope you don’t now! I want to fool with 20 tricks out of it first!!!

Ryan

You gave it up Schlutz! haha

That's a book I've been meaning to pick up for a while. So Lorayne was your main inspiration into the world of "hands off" magic? Are there other hands off sources that really inspired your current releases?

Of all the magic items I own, my library of books are my most prized - a lifetime of information and inspiration.

I have an autographed copy of Lorayne's book. While I do not do much card magic due to a physical problem with my hands, this is one of my most prized magical possessions!

Steve I think you said it perfectly - A lifetime of knowledge. I have more books than I could ever possibly read in my life but I have a fun time trying. The problem is I keep buying more!

Ryan

You can never have too many books Ryan.

For myself, buying books has turned into an addiction, but a good one me thinks.

It's very gratifying to slay some of the guys with an effect you learned from a book published in 1930 and they haven't a clue.

I third for Lorayne's close-up card...

I am at this point almost exclusively a close-up coin worker, but his approaches to even the most established routines expanded my creative process; in cards & coins.

As a young magician I was hesitant to take his approaches seriously since he seemed "cocky" to my young mind because of his insistence on the purity of his own methods.
However, I now recognize it as a great example of the value of books, to the student and professional alike.

"Lorayne's Close-up Card Magic" and most full featured reading material is a much deeper look into ideals, technique, and philosophy of the author; it can be a window to the individual thought process and intention behind the material being taught rather than just a mechanical presentation of the end-product