What he said!

I better start reading "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Impossibilia" with all this great comments on them?

Which book is Timely Departure in?

Very last effect in "Smoke and Mirrors".

Bannon originally wasn't going to put the effect in due to publishing deadlines, but was persuaded to do so by Simon Aronson.

Timely Departure is a killer effect too. Has built in patter, a terrific ending and easy to do.
It would be nice if all magic books would end with such a great effect.

just throwing in my two cents. john bannon is one of my favorite magicians/creators and I guess you can see why. his effects are very practical, commercial, and best of all-- theyre pretty easy (if youre the type of guy whos into fingerbreaking sleights then I guess this is a negative). anyway, enough praise has been said about bannon. I just wanna comment on his 'coin in nest of boxes'. it was so simple, my stomach turned for not thinking up this effect myself.

For the uninitiated, a signed coin is found inside an aspirin tin, inside an envelope, inside a shoe polish tin, inside a cloth bag. I use a velvetine bag with a drawstring I got from my employer a few years ago; it's the perfect size for a shoe polish tin and the black velvet looks really classy. It floors people, and resets pretty quickly.

the hard part sounds like getting all that shoe polish out out the tin?

Can someone point me to the method for that or would that be exposure?

You nailed it!

I used a popsicle stick for the bulk of it (so that the interior wasn't scratched), then a rag for the last bits. It takes patience and a wastebasket or trashcan.

Strangers Gallery takes the color changing deck premise to the max and I think is an extremely well thought out routine.

Smoke and Mirrors is definitely worth purchasing as it's my favorite book being an advanced beginner (which I imagine myself to be for an additional year or two.)

In my opinion, I like the effects in S&M more than in AOA or even Derek Dingle's book which seems to require more skill than I currently posses.

The book is well thought out, descriptions well illustrated and clear, and his patter is worthwhile.

Tattoo you and Timely Departure as well as Hop To it are all favorites.

Mike

Boys Play it Straight is STRONG. Quit spreading it around. I don't do it often enough, cause I'm stupid I guess. But did it tonight and they loved it. I think I don't do it more often cause of the ease of performing it. Duh, go figure that. Must be a ego thing. I need to get over that. Tatto you is another good one , but I even find myself drifting away from it. I think the spectators find it too unbelievable. Isn't Timely Departure on one of the vids ? If so which one please. I might as well get back up to speed on that one.

One time, I did Play it Straight with a full deck setup and I used Faro Shuffles. The end result was that I dealt the whole deck into four piles, One endeed up with all of the faceup cards, the hearts in order. The other piles were the other suits. The setup is a little harder than you expect originally and I decided that it wasn't worth it. If you just want to deal yourself the face up hearts, no additional setup is necessary, but sometimes teh spectators look for something more with the other three piles. I don't do this anymore, but I thought I would mention it just in case somebody else thinks tit's a worth wile idea.

For an interesting variation of Play It Straight, our pal Joshua Jay has a cool idea utilyzing a ribbon-spread hide-out. Also, do these books have a lot of gimmicks?

Heart of the City, and Tattoo You....

Performed Timely Departure tonight. It is another winner. It is actually quite an amazing effect. Needless to say it stun'ed em. I will add it to my current top ten or so. Thanks for the tip. One of the reasons I hang around here. You guys tip the good stuff. Unfortunately I missed Aldo Columbini, gosh he was here and I got my days mixed up. I sure do like some of his material as well. But I did save some money on my car insurance with Gigco, or whatever it is..joke ..joke

Agreed about Timely Departure. It can be enchanced with Larry Becker's hypnosis presention in which the spectators are unable to see their selected cards.

Regards,

Steve Roth

No.

Just ordered "Impossibilia" from H&R Books in Houston earlier today. Can't wait to receive it. It's been on my wish list for many years.

Based on this glowing thread, I imagine that Bannon's new book will burn though the first printing rather quickly!!!

Bye for now.

Glen Guldbeck

Bannon seems to have a cult following for sure. It would be awesome to have him as the guest of the month!!!!