Dick Oslund Road Scholar - Everything I Own Has A Handle or Wheels is a new book written by Dick Oslund about his magical life. Over the years I heard and seen this hard working magician, behind the counter at Abbott's Get-To-Gether and in books on various magic props. He is like most professional magician, he is constantly working and giving whenever he can to those that want to better themselves in performing magic.

This book will give you an idea how he made a living doing School Shows for Grade School through High School children at Educational Institutions all across the country. Dick tells it all the good and the bad, the ups and downs working for School Bureau that sells entertainment for these Schools.

It is an autobiography of his life on the road, and his connection with many recognized names in magic and some you will not recognize. How sharing magic knowledge is fun and can lead to original routines that become show pieces in your act or show.

This is not just a story book, as throughout the book you will learn about performing in front of hundreds of people, children, teachers and principals. Family shows as well, because Dick constantly performed.

Then Dick goes into detail with the routines he used over the years. He learned by doing and kept reducing the props and keeping the entertainment value in every magic effect he performed. You will learn what it takes to create, hone, and polish a winning act that gets results and people asking you back for repeat shows.

Dick Oslund shares it all, the classic tricks and the old tricks. I would think you could invest no more then two or 3 hundred dollars and in the information and props and go out and start performing.

Regularly, close-up magicians here on the Café post, that they want to try stand-up magic, or how do they get started in stand-up magic, and many times, they are requested for a stand-up show and find they do not have clue as to what it entails or the 1st thing they should do to begin. In this book, Dick shares it all, and what is important, entertainment value.

He even gives his exact patter for each of the trick covered, and how he performed it with his own style. He even tells you how he changed and improved the trick to get maximum entertainment from each and ever trick performed.

Don't think this is book only for kid performers, as this same material Dick used for adult and family shows. This is the real deal, the real scoop, the real business of magic. Dick did not do this for a while, he did it for 50 years and is still going, even when retired, he does magic at summer camps. I now know what they call it "Retired", because you are "Tired".

This book is 402 pages a real Tomb and heavy on good quality paper. It perfect bound to keep the cost down so everyone can afford this valuable information on performing magic that is entertaining and fun for your audiences.


Tricks covered:

20th century Silks
Needle Though Balloon
Coin - Go
Crystal Tube & Silks with Demon Wonder Box addition
Mardo Egg Bag Routine
Tarbell Dissolving Single Knot
Inertia
Professor Nightmare
Tee Cee Bottle aka Hydrostatic Bottle
Vanishing Boy Gag
Ball Routine (multiplying Golf Balls)
Notes on Cut and Restored Rope
Sucker C & R Rope and how to tuck the ends in
Dr. Dailey Square Knot
Scotty's Sucker C & R Rope
Jack Chanin Tips on C & R rope and Knot Steal
Color Changing Silk Routine
Thoughts on Sucker Tricks
The Bluff
The Oops
The Teach A Trick
Elusive Silk
G.W. Hunter shoelace Knot
The Little Wonder Knot-o-matic
Tips On Booking and Promotion
Joe Ovette's Repeat Knots
Serpentine Silk
Tricks That I Have Used, But Eliminated For Various Reasons
Routine For The Standard Wand, Break-a-way Wand, Shooting Wand, And Break-a-wand Fan
Balloon Pump Basically Situation Comedy
Solar Powered Electric Deck
Card Shuffle Routine
Compliments After The Show
Disecto Routine
Fade-a-way Double Knot
The Illusion Routine
Torn & Restored Napkin
Silk Thru Mike Stand
How To fasten Thread From Reel To Silk
Mutilated Parasol
Rabbit Production
Notes on Multiplying Balls
Two Minds same Rut, The Cards To Pocket Thing
Dove Routine
The Tactile Illusion
My Coin Pail Routine
Abbott's Tantalizing Wand
Handling Of The Vanishing Square Knot

Dick Oslund wrote this book from his heart to help magicians become better magicians and performers. You will learn about business of magic, obligation, what your job really is, how to do the job, and how to deliver every time.

The only con I could say about his book is that it does not have a Table Of Contents, or an index, most magic books never have an index, so you have to mark where you left off or stopped reading. I suggest you buy a supply of those little flag tab Post-it sticky things to mark information you want to return to later. But Dick thought everything was important, I would imagine, and as I read it, it is. I tell you, you will have a lot of Post-it tabs sticking out of the side of this book. Most likely the top and bottom as well.

Actually, a lot of the magic is actually close-up tricks with rope, silks, and coins, that are turned into stand-up trick for large audiences.

The book is $50.00, it will be the best investment you will have made in all of your magical life.

You can buy the book from Fab Magic, I just read there is not a DVD of shows Dick performed. So for a small additional investment, you can see a professional magic at work. The DVD just came out this week, I don't have it, so check it out. I believe it is just shows, no explaining of the material in the book.

So if you want to start earning some cash performing magic, and not just keep buying the latest trick on the market buy this book and set your career in a positive direction.

Be prepared for that big break, when someone wants you to perform at a banquet, birthday party, picnic, bigger tricks then coins or cards. Once you have this performing information, the sky will be your limit.

Highly recommended for all magicians that want to perform and entertain with their magic, and not just do tricks.

Dick is a real gentleman.

Ihop, being you could not hold off any longer and resumed stalking me again, why not be constructive give your review of Dick's book.

Wow.

Grrrrrrreat review, Bill. I concur with every word!

Julie

Thanks Julie.



I see I my fingers did not hit the right key, I meant "there is now a DVD ...

Can we get this in the UK?

I don't know the distribution network on these items. So far, you can order from www.fabmagic.com or www.magicinc.net , and after Dicks lecture at www.dennymagic.com , I am sure it will be available from them. To my knowledge, Dick Oslund is not selling these direct.

Dick is currently doing a Book Signing Tour with lecture in the U.S., so he is very busy.

I think I remember, back on the Coin Forum here, Dick mentioning something about a book???…Guess it's out!

I might be a little late to the table here, but I am very happy and quite proud to see this incredible information on Dick come out. From what I know of him, he has done the real work out there for others - for decades and decades, and always lends a tremendous perspective in his comments here on the Café. I remember saying, from some of our conversations, "Man, they should write a book on that guy." Guess someone was smart enough to. Good for us!

Just to read through some of his wonderful posts here on the Café is like taking a trip back in time with a real professor of a wizard. A big book (400 pages???) like this is just a remarkable effort, but this is a man that has lived every page of it...Every page is the real deal, from a most honorable fellow and magician, indeed a "Road Scholar" in this art of the first order, and then some. I'm happy to know him.

I'll be looking into this, and highly recommend everybody else does too. Definitely worth a VIP spot on every magical bookshelf around.

*Oh, and thanks Dick for also dropping a few coins in this magnificent pot of gold he's written/lived for us all. Thank you sir.

-Mb

I received the companion show DVD disc this week, it is 3 of Dick Oslund's shows filmed by teachers and principals in grade and junior high schools. So this should be purchased as an additional learning tool to the book. You should read the book 1st before even loading the DVD. Why, because you will see and hopefully realize that test is not always the way your mind's eye sees. You will see that in order to perform for children, you do not have to be crazy and dress like a clown. Listen to the reactions of the kids, for each effect being shown. How impressed with were with the color changing silk, rope tricks and knot effects.

This DVD covers only stand-up stage magic presentation, no close-up.

You will learn how to include showmanship into your act. How to use facial expressions, to get convey wonder to your audiences. How to learn a simple smile is important to audience. You will learn how to handle spectators. How to signal applause cues to the audience, and how to accept applause graciously.

I will say, Dick Oslund's manipulations are perfect, as he even fooled me on his steals and timing. Sneaky guy he is! If you use this as a learning tool, and not just a movie, you will have a full course on how to present a show in a sophisticated manner.

For those looking to purchase the DVD for a showing to the family, I would not advise it, as the quality is poor on most the shows. Some auditoriums are not sound engineered, so a lot of echo's and camera movements by the camera person. For me, these things are not important, the magic and how to execute the tricks are important to me. The mannerisms and how the show is put together is important. How to work out of only a small case or roll-on table is important. How to get the most reaction out of the simplest trick is important. How to deliver a message within the presentation of an effect is important.

For me this is a wonderful DVD of a working paid performer, or a person that wants to start doing stand-up shows. I do a number of these tricks, as they are tricks that have stood the test of time and are certain audience pleasers.

So much information here, if you open your mind and observe and learn from a person that was out there doing it.

The DVD plays straight through all 3 shows, no index or selection screen. Each show is about an hour long. If your computer is set to automatically start DVD to a certain movie playing program, then you only have to insert the DVD in the player and close the door. Otherwise you will have some searching to do to get it to play. If you are not computer savvy, then just open and close the player drawer.

You can read my review of Dick's book in the second half of this blog post:

http://jackshalom.net/2015/11/15/magic-wide-and-deep/

That was an excellent review.
Thank you