by Dominic Rougier » May 10th, '10, 21:44
Having just managed to snaffle a copy of this at a convention (from a dealer's personal collection), it's fantastic.
The Encyclopaedia is a massive collection of principles and effects, a lot of which are simple novelties, useful only to bulk out a routine or for a quick sight joke - but some are fantastic principles which entire routines or acts can be built around, often summed up in a single paragraph.
It's arranged alphabetically in order of object - so the first two pages contain "Apple", and 10 numbered paragraphs of effects or stunts using apples - breaking apples in two with your bare hands, peeling an apple and discovering it pre-cut, party games involving apples, a better technique for apple-ducking, the illusion of an apple bouncing, and a divination technique using apple skin, among others.
It's a wonderful reference, and there's nothing else quite like it. Not all of it is magic, and not all of it is strictly "Impromptu", although everything involves everyday objects.
I imagine that it's not worth paying some of the more exorbitant prices that are offered for it. I would agree that a full copy of Tarbell, for example, would represent a better investment, but it's a wonderful book all the same.
Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash, and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.