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Description
Some Tricks by Anthony Owen - Booklet, Colour Cover, Mono pages

Cost & Availability
£14.99 from Magictricks.co.uk
Recommended item is to buy Changin' Glue at the same time

Difficulty - Ranges from 1 to 3, with a bit of a 5 chucked in as far as perfomance and patience goes - i.e. novices may be put off by the amount of self-help involved.
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used, 4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

Review
Not such an easy one to review, this...
What you get is a rather nicely done A5 booklet, which contains a rather nicely done set of 'Some Tricks' - namely four effects which, given time, patience, and a little care in preparation - will easily fit into the routine of any card worker, indeed - into the routine of many a close-up magician.

Anthony Owen is one of those 'behind the scenes' type of magicians. He's a writer, producer, consultant AND a performer. His magical genius has perpetuated TV shows such Monkey Magic, Derren Brown's Mind Control, the 50 Greatest Magic Tricks, and the Children's ITV Show 'The Quick Trick Show' - an influential children's entertainment show, for which he won a BAFTA.

He works freelance - and as such isn't tied to anyone or anything. This lets him 'run free', and he's one of the most respected and sought after magic consultants around, working on shows like Blue Peter, the Big Breakfast, Jonathan Creek, TFI Friday and many more.

He was editor of the Magic Circular from August '98 to June '02 - which is the monthly publication to emerge from the Magic Circle - of which Anthony is a Gold Star member of the Inner Magic Circle (ooohhh!!!)

Add to this his performances around the UK, America and more - both as a stage performer and 'select' corporate entertainer - and you'll recognise that Anthony Owen is more than your average magic writer. (Check out his website - Anthonyowen.co.uk... see for yourself)

Anyway, more about the book... it's a collection of four routines which combine mentalism, audience participation, sleight of hand and impossible illusion. They are:

Who Wants to be a Magician?
Think of the Chris Tarrant show, and you're there. A rather comical routine which invites the spectator to pick the correct answer from a set of multiple choices, even though the answers are both obscure and funny. The old Tarrant favourites are there too - 50/50, ask the audience and phone a friend!!! Awesome! And the outcome? No matter what the question or answer given - the spectator is always correct - and the choice really IS a free one.
Verdict This really takes some time and patience to set up... it also involves using a lot of cards, which you'll 'deface' with a marker. But believe me when I say that it's WELL worth it - because this effect plays well to any sized audience. The routine included can be elaborated upon very well - and the whole thing can be stretched out to a hilarious climax. Excellent, if you've got the patience. Almost self-working. 10/10

Number at Card
We've all seen and used variations of this effect, but this one is gorgeous - and pretty easy. The effect is that the spectator is handed a deck of cards to keep them 'tamperproof'. The magician asks the spectator to name ANY (yes, free choice) card and ANY (free choice again) number between one and 52.
The deck is opened - revealing each of the cards has a number on it's back - 1 to 52. By some bizarre coincidence (or fluke?) - the selected number is on the back of the selected card - spooky!
Verdict Again, once the initial card-molesting setup is complete, the routine is quite easy to perform - and will absolutely floor the spectator. Think ID meets number prediction, and fuses together. 10/10

Natural Lottery
The magician bought a lottery ticket earlier in the day, confident that if he can't win the national lottery, he'd have a go at one of his own... six audience members are invited to choose six different numbers between 1 and 49. Somehow - the numbers match the ones on the magician's ticket! There are no stooges, no forces and no aardvarks involved!
Verdict Although an excellent effect, I feel that there's something a bit scrappy about this one. However, that's possibly because it DOES require a large audience to perform it to, a luxury I've not had when trying this out. But then again, it DID work. In my opinion, this is the bad one in the bunch. 8/10

SOBW - Six card Oil and Water
To explain what SOBW stands for would give this one away. Suffice to say it's a rather cool oil and water routine - whereby three black cards and three red cards are shown - the three reds in one hand, the three blacks in the other. The cards are dealt alternately down - red, black, red, black, red, black. Anyone familiar with the Oil and Water plot (where have you all been?) will know that oil and water don't mix - and with the reds representing water and the black representing oil - you can guess what happens next... the six cards are gathered up and amazingly, they are back in two piles - red and black. The magi repeats the effect instantly - this time showing the cards as he deals them face down - red, black, red, black etc. Again - they arrange themselves back into order.
Finally, the magi deals the cards FACE UP!!! They are clearly seen to alternate. But once again - impossibly - they rearrange into their two similar piles.
Verdict This is my favourite effect in the booklet. The plot's an old one - but this is so visual, so direct. And best of all, it can be done right under the speccy's nose. There's very little in the way of sleights involved - but your memory better be good! 10/10 - brilliant. Would have payed the £15 for this one effect alone.

Overall
What a little gem of a book. As I mention at the start of the review, though, I wouldn't have thought anyone but hardened magi will stick with this - as there's lots of construction and gaffing to do.
Laymen tend to prefer the Marvin's Magic approach - it's all in the package ready to perform. This, however is not. You'll need lots of cards to deface, and some other items which simply won't be in a begiccian's arsenal. I've read other reviews of this book which slate it for being nothing more than a pile of pants because you don't get the gaffs. DOH! Deep, deep sigh. I only wish I got a free car with my Haynes manual...

Ratings
A resounding 10/10. I personally had everything I needed to get off the ground with this - but I could imagine how frustrating it could be if you ordered this book on the strength of the description alone - only to find that you need to build the stuff yourself.

If you're seriously considering buying this book - give me a PM and I'll forward you a 'Don't be Disappointed' shopping list to order at the same time.

Great Review.

I bought this nearly a year ago and TBH until today have never really performed anything from this booklet. I have the greatest of respect for Anthony but I have to agree with seige that only serious magi's will keep hold of this.

When I first bought it I had only 6 months experience of magic and felt that this was a booklet I'd come back to later when I was more proficient in my art. Reading your review has made me get this back out and look at it seriously.

SOBW is brilliant. I agree that Natural Lottery is the weak one. Personally I don't see how someone would fall for it because of how the numbers are (Hopefully Seige understands that last comment). The particular line of numbers in question would appear to stand out when you read thru the instructions however I'm pleased to hear Seige that you performed it and succeeded.

Yes there is lots of defacing etc, lots of faffing around, but look at the quality of the person they are coming from.

Great quality even if the gimmicks aren't pre-made it is worth the money. Just beware that if you are a beginner then like mine, it may sit on the shelf for a while before you have the guts to go for it properly.

I just bought this little book today...

I am sure that I will get *something* from it !

Looks a good read.

Piers.

Anthony's follow up, 'Some More Tricks' is available from tvmagic.co.uk - it's a downloadable e-book priced at £15.00 and the e-book reader is there as well. You need to get into the Magician's Only area but it's not rocket science. The downside is, as stated on that website: Please note that this product is read only and at present this can only viewed on a PC. Mac users will require access to a PC to view this product. In other words, you can't print it out so might it find it difficult to read on the bus!

My friend did a card trick and I have no idea of how he did it. I’ll try and explain it best I can. He gave me two random cards. Then he said put them back in the deck anywhere together or separate. Then he threw the deck of cards and there were two left in his hand and they were my cards. He didn’t hold where I put them or anything so can someone please tells me how this one is done? Have a good day.

Click here for the answers to all your questions. Note point six in particular.

Good to see the one post wonders are still around!! Will people never learn that magic is an art form and it is a secret society where knowledge is key and is only shared with those who pay/develop!!

Natural Lottery - did Derren Brown expand on this recently with one of his Trick or Treat episodes?