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I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this book from Andi Gladwin over at www.vanishingincmagic.com. Just finished reading it and I am happy to report that it is fantastic.

The first chapter details Jon's IBM close up competition act. It is very magical, funny, surprising and logical. Every detail is covered and while you probably won't want to replicate the entire act, there is much to be learned from the descriptions about timing, misdirection and structure.

The second chapter is close up and walk-around stuff. Wow. Some very strong and extremely clever routines, here. No card tricks in this chapter but there is a wonderful bill animation routine (with some great thoughts about why animations could be a little more convincing than straight levitations), a cool rubber band routine, a VERY clever Professor's Nightmare routine (this is one which will fool magicians), a coin bend that made me laugh with its deviousness and a whole lot more.

After that we are treated to some terrific card routines (his take on Ortiz's Dream Card was especially cool, I thought) followed by some inspiring stand up stuff. But the real meat of the book wasn't the what but the why. Jon is very specific about his goals: He wants to engage his audience. He wants to share with them and wants them to share with him. I don't think this word is ever used in the book but his goal seems to be a deep communion between performer and participant. Sometimes this involves a change in method of effect. But more often than not, it's about presentation. Real food for thought, here. Certainly got me thinking about my performances.

This sounds heavy, I know. But it really isn't. The tone of the book is is actually quite light and fun. John Lovick does a really nice job of keeping the text flowing and injecting humorous asides (actually, I don't know if some of these asides are Jon's or John's but either way they are welcome).

Trick Junkies and Move Monkeys, fear not. There are plenty of great (commercial) tricks in this book to keep you occupied for a long time. In the stand up section, Grabbit Production and Signal Strength were two of my favorites (and two items I might start doing!). In the Move, Sequences & Bits of Business Section, there is a good, fancy false cut called Basil. I did have trouble following this but fancy false cuts don't turn me on that much so it was probably more my indifference than the writing or photos. But that Invisible Palm Finale, hoo-boy, I LOVED that. Just great thinking.

The Miscellaneous section has some good tricks and sequences, including a ring on string move that is quite wonderful.

The last section is entitled Taking Things Further and, boy, the title doesn't lie. This section is all about presentation. There are some great thoughts on the ambitious card and what the participant should write on the card. There is also some deep insight into Jon's Destination Box and a mind blowing concept (which is already getting major buzz on some of the forums) called the Shrodinger's Card. Food for thought indeed.

Overall, I can't recommend this book enough. Jon is very smart and really knows how to structure effects so they are memorable for spectators... excuse me, PARTICIPANTS (love that!). Great tricks and great theory. There is definitely something for everyone here.

It is truly an excellent read and something that is sure to get the old wheels turning. You might not agree with all of Jon's philosophies and presentations but you will certainly start reflecting more over your own work and that's always a good thing.

You can download a free 15 page preview of the book here: http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic- ... e-preview/

Preorder here: http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/ ... jon-allen/

I saw this chap perform some years ago in Buffalo and was highly unimpressed. It seems that he has come on a bit since then. Or at least I hope so.

I expect as long as he writes about tricks things should be fine. I do worry though when people write about presentation and haven't quite mastered it themselves.

However as I say perhaps he has developed his skills a little better than he did then.

Jon is a superb performer and does a great lecture as well. His focus is on maximum enjoyment for the audience and the extent to which he goes with the virtually unnoticed but very important aspects is incredible. Well worth seeing.

mark lewis wrote:I saw this chap perform some years ago in Buffalo and was highly unimpressed.

I have seen him several times now, and I was highly IMPRESSED

He is without doubt one of the best magicians out there (in my most humble opinion of course) - so as much as I usually respect your thoughts Mark - I do not concur on this occasion..

Well,, perhaps the Jon Allen I saw in Buffalo was a different Jon Allen or perhaps he has improved himself since then but the fellow I saw was absolutely horrendously bad. He mumbled and kept asking his audience how he was doing. Luckily he didn't ask me or I would have told him.

However he may well have improved by now. It was a few years ago and in fact even before US immigration wouldn't let the poor chap in when he came a second time. Perhaps they saw him perform in Buffalo and didn't want to subject the US public to such cruel and unusual punishment a second time.

However I do want to be objective. I shall seek out videos of him on that awful YouTube thing. He may have improved since I last saw him if it was indeed him. I do like my magicians to have some personality and charisma. I don't care if they are no good at the magic and I don't care if they are wonderfully creative or not. I care if they can sell THEMSELVES. And that dreadful chap in Buffalo certainly didn't.

However to be fair everyone else doing close up magic there was just as dreadful as he was. There was some dreadful American alleged trade show magician who was screaming and shouting like a demented lunatic, their was some awful fellow in a purple suit doing equally awful magic, and finally there was some long winded American performing equally long winded magic with even more long winded stories to go with it.

I have mercifully forgotten their names. Young Jon however I did not forget on the grounds that he was the worst of the whole bloody lot.

However I do want desperately to be kind. Since everyone else seems to be raving about him I want to rave too. However I shall need to see some evidence of his improvement. If someone has a clip to post here I will be delighted to evaluate it objectively and if I don't like it I will say why in a constructive manner.

Meanwhile I shall scour YouTube to see if there is anything there.

Hi mark,

The guy you describe in Buffalo is definitely not me.

Regards,

Jon

Is there another Jon Allen who is eminent enough to be booked at a magician's convention? And here is the evidence that someone of that name appeared in Buffalo:

July 5th - 8th

IBM 72nd Annual Convention. Buffalo, NY

Starring: Giovanni, Howard Hale, Jade, Oscar Munoz, Joe Givan, Juliana Chen, The Majestix, Martin Lewis, Jon Allen, Rich Bloch, Paul Cummons, Abb Dickson, Fackelli and Gil, Michael Finney, General Grant, Jamal Keyes, Jay Marshall, Dick Stoner, James Cielen, Greg Frewin, Steve Bedwell, Davey Marlin-Jones, Michael Close, Tom Burgoon, Jonh Shyrock, Stephen Knowles, Marie Blood (Houdini's Niece), and more. Click Here for more information.

I did look at your website and although I can't swear to it I am afraid you look suspiciously like the poor incompetent that I saw in Buffalo. Moreover you appear to have won all sorts of magic awards and competitions. That is always a sign of mediocrity.

However you are innocent until proven guilty. There appears to be only three pieces of evidence against you. One. You look a trifle like the chap who was in Buffalo, two, you have the same name as the fellow in Buffalo and three, you have won magic awards which is always a sign of great incompetence.

My computer is not working properly so I cannot see your latest videoclip performances so I am not in a position to judge how horrendous you are or how wonderful you are alleged to be.

I shall reserve judgement until I see you work. If you are the Buffalo Jon Allen you may have improved. If you are not the Buffalo Jon Allen you may be good after all. However since most close up magicians are bloody useless the odds are naturally against this particularly if you have won magic competitions. However I would not wish to seem a biased type of individual so I will wait until I see you work before I confirm if you are horrendous or wonderful.

here's something...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzwxcfQ4pUc&NR=1

Alas I have no sound on my computer. I seem to have accidentally turned something off and I can't get it on again. I am as competent at computers as the Buffalo Jon Allen was at magic. Therefore all I saw was someone doing a card trick. However that tells me nothing at all. I need to hear him to judge these matters. I am not interested in watching someone do a trick. I need to hear them to see if they have a good voice, or if they are amusing, or confident, or condescending, or arrogant and so on.

Presentation is all important and in doing a card trick one does need to hear the person to observe how awful they are. I regret to say that I cannot officially say he is awful and this is a matter of great regret to me.

Even if he is the awful Buffalo Jon Allen he still deserves a second chance. I have always said that you cannot judge a magician by one performance alone. You do have to see him several times before you can judge properly. And the Buffalo desecration was a few years ago. Perhaps the young man has put a bit of practice in since then.

Details of that show are coming back to me. I seem to remember there was also a lawyer performing card tricks and he was as boring as watching paint dry. In fact he did card tricks like a lawyer rather than as a magician. So young Allen was not the only incompetent on that show.

Once I have fixed the sound on my computer I will then be able to judge the matter. I have found other examples of his work on video. However without sound I cannot say one way or the other. Most magicians only pay lip service to presentation and are entranced by clever tricks and technique. So they probably don't need sound to judge. If the performer does something technically skilled or novel they get all excited and deem him to be wonderful.

I don't give a toss about the trick. I cannot be impressed by a trick. I can only be impressed by the personality of the performer and how he puts over his patter.

At the moment the jury is out until I make sound appear.

He is lecturing at International Magic on the 27th

I do not live in London any more and will therefore not be able to go to that event. Not that I would anyway. I refuse to watch any lecturers on the grounds that they bore me stiff and I know everything anyway. Besides young Allen mumbles or at least the Buffalo one does and I wouldn't be able to hear a word he said anyway since I am old and deaf.

Actually not hearing him might be a mercy anyway.

Thanks for mentioning the lecture for International Magic on the 27th. I am hopeful it will be the first lecture where the book will be on sale!

Among the routines from the book that you will learn in the lecture are:

# Ghost: A three phase animated note routine that builds to a surprising to climax.
# Freddy's Dead: This devastating version of Professor's Nightmare brings many new developments to this classic plot; suitable for close-up or stand-up.
# The Wedding Trick: destined to become the definitive wedding trick for happy couples around the world.
# Grabbit Production: A new way to produce any manner of different objects.
# Burning Rubber: Numerous rubber band effects, including the restoration of a band around someone's wrist, weaved into a full routine for walkaround or table work.
# Schrödinger's Card: The controversial card effect that leaves people with a memorable souvenir... and a dilemma!

As well as tricks, the book will get you thinking about how you present magic to your audiences. This is also a major theme in the lecture too.

Regards,
Jon

I saw Jon's lecture in Ireland in March (or April or something) and was very impressed. Great thinking and fully intend to pick up his book.

And is Mr. Lewis resentful no one has seen fit to 'reward' his many years of ground breaking and excellent magic with plaudits and trophies?

I am delighted that the Guiness child has seen Jon Allen perform in bogtrotterland in a month he is not sure of. However that in itself is not evidence of the chap's competence or otherwise. Actually the fact that young Harold praises the chap is in itself a sign that he may be no good since our teenage Irishman has not shown good judgement in the past concerning magical matters.

As for my own need for "plaudits and trophies" I must inform him that I far prefer money instead. However I have had many plaudits indeed and they have all been from laymen who worship the very ground I walk on. I am quite prepared to accept the plaudits. However it is indeed true that I have not won any "trophies" and I thank God every day for it. I would not want to be like that awful "performer" in Buffalo.

Those who win trophies tend to be merely experts at winning trophies and performing technical tomfoolery for the amusement of magicians.

The real test is whether they are any good at working for laymen. Since this young Irish whippernsapper lives in Ireland it would pay him to seek out and watch one of the greatest close up magicians in the world whose name is Dan 0" Donoghue. I have spoken of him on another thread.

It would do him far more good than watching some mumbling performer who can do good tricks but cannot perform them properly. If of course the mumbling performer was the one in Buffalo. He says he wasn't.

I am tempted to ask if he has heard the story about the three bears but I shall hold my tongue.

From my point of view, it would seem that there can be Magicians who win awards AND still be very entertaining to audiences (lay people.). Tho from what I have gathered is that it's never 50/50. You can either be an excellent Mechanic or an Excellent Businessman/entertainer (all tho Bill Malone seems to be both.)