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What they say

Volume 1

Michael Close: The Work – Palming Volume 1
(The Bottom Palm and The Gambler’s Cop)

Way back in 1993 I wrote a small treatise titled On Palming. It was one of the chapters of Workers 3. In this chapter I attempted to develop a pedagogical method for learning to palm playing cards. I included information on one of the Erdnase Bottom Palms, two methods for stealing cards from the middle of the deck into the left hand, and the Vernon Topping the Deck palm. This information was also released on a video titled The Power of Palming. In the ensuing 13 years I have thought a great deal about the pedagogy of sleight of hand. That is, what is the best way to learn to do certain sleights, and what is the most effective way to convey that information. Many magic books tell you how to do something; few tell you how to learn to do something.

The result of these years of study, investigation, and contemplation is a new series titled Michael Close: The Work. The first installment of this series covers the bottom palm and the Gambler’s Cop. Even if you have never palmed a card in your life, you will (with a reasonable amount of study and practice) be able to master these moves.

Using the technology available through the Adobe Reader format, we have again combined text, photographs, and video clips to provide a learning experience that rivals personal instruction. With each of our ebooks we have tried to raise the bar, and we have feel we have done so again with Michael Close: The Work – Palming Volume 1. There are 37 pages, 43 photographs, 18 video clips, and almost 11,000 words of text. We cover palms by Erdnase, Hofzinser, and Marlo. In addition, we have included all the work on a new bottom palm of my own invention, one that has been enthusiastically received by the card men who have seen it.

Volume 2

Michael Close: The Work – Palming Volume 2 (The Top Palm )

The second volume of Michael Close’s The Work series is now available for immediate download. This volume covers various methods for the top palm, including methods for palming multiple cards.

The top palm is one of the most powerful sleights in magic; mastery of this move opens the door to visual and miraculous magic. The Work: Palming Volume 2 – The Top Palm offers unparalleled instruction in various techniques for this sleight. The combination of text, photographs, and video clips impart information in a way that rivals private lessons.

Included in this volume are: an analysis of the basic palming positions, Vernon’s Topping the Deck Palm, Marlo’s Multiple-Card Top Palm, The One-Hand Top Palm, Marlo’s Misdirection Palm (and the Close Variation), The Erdnase Top Palm, The Dr. Elliott Palm, A Pivot Point Top Palm, Four Methods for Replacing Palmed Cards, How to Avoid Framing, and How to Practice Palming. There are 12K words of text, 50 photographs, and 15 video clips.

Volume 3

The Work: Volume 3 – The Side Steal covers all these aspects in detail. The quality of instruction offered here will quickly put you on the road toward mastering this most useful sleight.

Topics covered are:

•The Left-Hand Diagonal Palm (a simple, pivot-point based steal that can be quickly learned)
•The Left-Hand Peek Steal (a remarkably efficient steal of a peeked-at card)
•The Erdnase Diagonal Palm Shift (the move that separates the men from the boys, examined in a clear, easy-to-understand way with an emphasis on the key points and the problematic moments of the sleight)
•The Arthur Findley variation of the diagonal palm shift
•The Standard Side Steal (with variations of Ed Marlo’s Technical Steal and Deliberate Side Steal)
•The Gambler’s Flat-Palm Steal (three methods that will be of great value to those of you who, like me, have small hands)
•The Loewy Palm (a fast way to steal the top card of the deck into the left hand)

In addition, there is information on the psychology of card controls (including an easy control that will fool anyone – magician or layman), effective methods for delaying the side steal, methods for delaying the diagonal palm shift, turning the diagonal palm shift into an “action palm,” and resources for further study.

There are 14,000 words, 61 eye-popping, full-color photographs, and 14 video clips. Those who prefer not to read large amounts of text on their computer monitors will be happy to learn that, as with our other ebooks, the beautiful layout was designed to be easily printed out. The level of training you receive is second only to personal instruction. You will be able to learn and master this material.

Cost

$19.95 each at http://www.forworkersonly.com

Difficulty
(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)

3-4

Review

Volume 1 is Michael Close's comprehensive treatise on the bottom palm and gambler's cop. The 42 page ebook covers in detail holding a card in classic palm, the crucial pivot point, the Erdnase BP and several variations and improvements for it, the One-Handed BP, Marlo's Delayed Action Palm, the Hofsinzer BP and the Michael Close BP with several covering actions. Also covered is the gambler's cop, replacing cards from BP or cop and what to do when you have a card in palm/cop.

Every sleight is covered in great detail and with 43 photographs and 18 video clips accompanying the text you can be sure that every last little nuance is taught. The quality of the instruction in all these ebooks is some of the best I've come across. This is without doubt the best resource for learning the BP and gambler's cop, and for only $20 I think it's a steal.

Everything I said about the quality of teaching and clarity of explanation about Volume 1 also applies to Volumes 2 and 3 so I'm not going to repeat myself. For the contents of Volumes 2 and 3 check out the What They Say part above.

One thing worth noting is that there are no tricks taught in these ebooks. Close makes a good point that it's important to first learn and be completely comfortable with the mechanics of palming before using it in tricks.

Overall

If you feel like your palming could use some work then look no further than these three ebooks. Even if you feel confident in your palm I'm sure you'll still find tons of useful info in these works.