talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect
Not applicable. This is a general, beginners book on magic.

Cost
£3.99 from Just Books (UK retail shops). £8.99 on Amazon UK.

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)
1-3 - Everything from self working tricks up to beginner and intermediate sleights.

Review
I spotted this book in the local Just Books shop recently and had to pick up a copy for the excellent price. The book is around 250 pages and contains over 120 close-up magic tricks with lots of illustrative photos throughout.

The book is slightly larger than A5 and paperback, but the cover is fairly thick card with internal flaps for you to use as handy bookmarks. The cover is also helpfully scored, so that you can fold back the pages without creasing the spine.

The first 30 pages or so give an interesting history of magic, biased toward close-up, with a brief introduction about things like misdirection and the secrets of magic tricks. Following this are sections containing individual chapters and effects, as follows:
Card Magic - 70 pages.
Dinner Table Magic - 20 pages.
Match Magic - 12 pages.
String, Cord & Rope Magic - 18 pages.
Mind Magic - 19 pages.
Silk, Thimble & Paper Magic - 22 pages.
Money Magic - 34 pages.
Large glossary, supplier listing and index at the end.

Inevitably, I have to compare this to Mark Wilson's book as they are aimed at the same audience - the novice. In terms of content, there is more than twice as much in Wilson's bible than this book. But, that's not to take away from how useful it is and you cannot beat the low price considering how much useful material there is in the book. There is some crossover between the two books, but I don't feel like I have duplicated much as both authors have different ways of teaching.

Mr Einhorn obviously loves magic and knows his stuff. His 120+ effects in the book are all illustrated by clear, step by step colour photos. The explanations for each effect are described in enough detail for anyone to at least have a go. This is a bit of a two edged sword and shows the limit of any book - namely that with limited space, some of the more complex effects could do with a few more pictures. For the most part, there's nothing that stands out as being too difiicult to attempt, but I did have to pause and try and work out unclear steps in one or two of the card sleights. Being left handed doesn't help, again typical of most magic books.

In the explanations, there are a lot of useful tips and snippets of information to help the reader begin to think of other methods of performing the effects and things that could be altered to suit the individual. I like the way this is done as it shows the author is making an effort to engage the reader and help them develop some style of their own instead of merely following instructions.

The writing style from Mr Einhorn is lively, easy to read and his descriptions are generally more than adequate. Interestingly, he also uses props that most people can find around the house. A variation on the three shell effect is shown using a coin and three plastic milk bottle tops. Cups and balls are simply rolled up balls made from paper napkins and polystyrene cups. This is great for a novice who really doesn't need to spend a fortune on props in order to learn the basics. A book like this would be perfect for a slightly older child (probably from 8yrs and older) to learn from as most of what you need to perform the tricks are readily available in the house or can be bought from any supermarket for very little money. The only caveat with buying this for a child is that there are some effects where matches and safety pins are used. I'd advise some caution. Otherwise, it would make a nice, inexpensive gift for a child or adult with an interest in magic, but with no idea where to begin.

If I'm looking for something to criticise, then I'll go back to my original comment about the limitations of a book. For learning some of the sleights and flourishes in particular, there aren't quite enough photos to make it as easy as it possibly could be. That isn't to say you couldn't learn anything from the book, but it might require more effort than watching someone actually do it in person or on film. It's also, as they all seem to be, entirely biased toward the right hander and that's understandable due to the sales market. As the book is aimed at beginners, there's nothing in here that even a lefty like me would really struggle to learn. In that respect, I'd recommend this over Royal Road to learn the very basics of card handling from.

One thing I did like and haven't seen before appears in his section on money magic. Effects in magic books involving coins are usually illustrated with US money and some are here too. But, there are pictures of Spanish and English notes and coins too. He even shows the Bobo switch with a large American coin and an English 20p. This is a really nice touch.

Overall
I'm really pleased with this book. Although I'm not a performer, I can see how it could be another one for even experienced people to dip into for ideas. There is plenty of material to keep anyone going for a long time and to learn some very nice effects using simple enough props to make many of them effectively impromptu.

Considering the target audience, the content and price, I have to give this book 10/10

I did search for an existing review of this book, but didn't find one. Sorry if I missed it.

This book has appeared under several titles; I haven't seen this particular one mentioned, which is probably why you couldn't find a review. Have a look here:

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic1578.p ... ht=einhorn

Barry

Oh bu**er. Thanks Barry. If you want to delete this duplicate review, please feel free

Additional reviews are always welcome. As Barry said, Nic's book has been issed under many different titles so it's difficult to check and keep track. In any event, a good book is a good book and would smell as sweet by any other name... or something like that.....