Although much of the material in CALICO is way beyond my present abilities, I am amazed at the amount of thought, research and creativity that have obviously gone into this book. Rick has soaked up a tremendous amount of information and material, and then re-assembled bits and pieces of it along with his own additional ideas, to create some very beautiful and awesome routines. He also never fails to give credit where credit is due -- a refreshing and humbling approach.

Great books on coin magic are few and far between, and are often published decades apart. Don't pass up a chance to get CALICO while you can. SETH

Just got my copy. Looks great thus far. I’m not a big coin guy, even though i’ve got about 30 coin sets, but always enjoy Rick and his videos. So I picked this up for a little summer challenge.

Hello Rick,
Since we had to discuss the qualitative credibility of coins and gaffs that you are rightfully concerned with, allow me to share a discovery since our last exchange.
For years I like the involvement of "Chinese" coins but regretting that they are not convincingly involved as "Chinesee" (too new, to pristine and suffering from their proximity with old English pennies)
As I had to replace my coin with the very beautiful 10 sterling silver Francs with Hercules and girls on his sides, I needed a C/S ccoin. So I bought some craftsman leafs not of gold but copper and used it on one side of such a coin. With time, it gained a perfect old brown mat patina and never scratched despite years of use/
Now I needed Chinese coins to join these silver and copper coins in some routine. Therefore I purchased some very common chemicals. With the first one, I stripped the color on my Chinese coins and with the other chemical I had them gaining a very nice verdigris patina. This second chemical works perfectly on copper, bronze and even brass, and thee whole transformation required only about an hour.
Having coins that appear "credible" avoids the suspicion raised by "modern" Chinese coins to be "special coins", that all my coins may be "special".
So just a tip, if it can serve you.

Be well and congratulation on Calico, a book worth more than just reading ... worth studying. You are the honorable heir of Geoff Latta.

Lawrence,

Thanks so much for the kind words

When the great Lawrence O, IMHO, says a book is worth studying, not merely reading.... it is time to buy it. thanks so much!!!

Thanks, countrymaven. You've always been supportive over the years. I know you'll enjoy it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

This is a beautiful book with great illustrations and solid material. A must for all coin workers!

Best channel on YouTube, as well.

Thank you all so much. Im really proud of the material and very humbled by the positive reception.

Rick’s book has been available for a little while now so it would be interesting to hear which effects you guys like.
I’m really enjoying the first effect in the book, Triple Bypass, it’s a really fun trick to practice utilising Rick’s slick click. I like to follow this up with Cerebral CBS, this is a very cleaver and simple piece of magic! It flows nicely with the previous coins already in play and with the in-view purse loaded with the copper coin.

Long ago, I noticed Rick Holcombe's unique ability to keep working with coin moves of all kinds until he developed not only practical moves, but very nice, unique, and inspired routines. Now we have his book, Calico. I would suggest every magician get this. Why? Because it is really like having an AI agent in a book. First, the references of the moves range from material from way back, to Ponta the Smith. But many of the moves are just so practical and natural, it is obvious that they came from much thinking and work. What was very shocking to me was that Rick can take a lost move from a well known coin book from the 80's (will leave this unnamed) that did not always work, and use only the part of the move that always works. Sheer genius. This will challenge your thinking and yes, you can use the parts and moves you like to create your own routines or insert them as part of a routine you already do. Because of the vast range of coin moves referenced, it is obvious that this book only came from a huge, and I mean a huge amount of careful and studious work and experimentation. The book also tells you where to be able to see the moves and routines online. One of the best buys in coin magic, with a radical creativity, which could also shape your magic in other areas! Enjoy it! 11 out of 10, if I may say so.

Thanks countrymaven!

I still am getting messages and emails about the book. It's been out almost a year now and it makes me happy knowing people are enjoying it and using the material. And you're right, I put a lot of time putting each routine together and actually getting out there and performing them for people. These routines are all great for walkaround or even parlor shows, which I'm doing more of now.

Late to the party, but for what it's worth....

My kids recently bought me a copy for my birthday. First impression is that this is a very well-written book; extremely well-illustrated; with solid and original routines.

I am an intermediate level coin guy at best, but I have a reasonable grounding in Bobo and Roth. A lot of the material in Calico is informed by more recent coin workers like Harbottle, Kam, Hooser, Kurtz, and others. (Hmmmm. It occurs to me that each of those names have work going back at least to the 90s... Maybe it is not so recent after all, and maybe this means I am somewhat less that intermediate...) I am not as familiar with some of their material, but Mr. Holcombe doesn't assume that I already "know the moves," and explains it well enough that I was able to follow it.

Mr. Holcombe also has several routines that utilize the same set of "standard" coins that (I would think) every coin magi would already own. These routines have a lot going on, and will require a lot of memory and rehearsal to do properly, but they are all do-able and practical.

I can't say enough about how clearly written and illustrated this book is. I noticed in the credits that the book was proofread by Joshua Jay and Mike Vance. I don't know how many revisions or corrections they had to make, but I appreciate that the book has so far been error-free in terms of grammar, spelling, and (most importantly) clarity. This cannot be said for some other magic books in my library. (I won't name names. How about this --- if you appreciate the clarity of authors like Harry Lorayne, John Bannon, and Simon Aronson when it comes to cards, you will appreciate Rick Holcombe's writing on coins as well.)

I have no criticisms. I don't think this book would be appropriate for a coin beginner, but I don't think this was ever his target audience. As an early intermediate coin guy, this book will challenge me and keep me learning new things. One last thing to recommend it: if you want to SEE some of these routines and sleights in action, Mr. Holcombe has them on his website as well as on YouTube. You can't go wrong!