The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

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The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby T0M » Jun 2nd, '12, 17:46



The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

As there seems to be a lack of reviews for this book, except for the one copied into the current ongoing thread relating to Sherlock Holmes, I figured it might be of some use to write one for this forum. Be kind, I'm new here.

What They Say

"Although Sherlock Holmes never admitted to have magical powers, the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have inspired this collection of magical effects designed to baffle your friends, entertain your audience, and stimulate interest in the great detective's work.

If you enjoy magic, you'll find some interesting twists on some old tricks as well as a few new ideas. If you're a beginner; perhaps this book will help you chart a course in the world of conjuring!"



Cost

Around £10 + Postage and packaging.

I purchased this from ebay as it came to the lowest price there however in my bargain hunt I came across it in various other easy to find places too, Amazon being the next big online store to spring to mind, all still costing about the same. If you shop around you'll only save yourself maybe a few pounds.


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)

This book sits around the 2 - 3 level I'd say. Nothing overly difficult that a complete beginner wouldn't be able to learn them in a short space of time. As with most magic, the hardest part of these effects lies in the presentation.


Review

So for those who are reading this review a while after it has been posted, at the time of writing there was a popular thread running on this forum relating to Sherlock Holmes and how this famous character could be woven into the performance of magic. In this thread this book was mentioned and given high praise. As a fan of the Doyle detective I decided deduced that I would benefit from owning this book and so eagerly went hunting online for it.

For those who are unaware of the content of this book, it consists of twenty nine effects which vary from tricks with cards to other easily obtained objects. The style of magic it seems to describe would probably be best suited to either a close-up performance or perhaps even better in a parlor situation. This isn't saying though that if you were to scale things up a little it wouldn't go down a treat on a stage either though.

Before the book had even arrived I was aware that it wasn't exactly aimed at the seasoned professional and upon receiving it and reading it, it became clear that this statement couldn't be more true. I'd say that when reading through this book, almost all the effects when described, were fairly easy with magical knowledge to figure out the method for, mostly this was because quite a lot of the effects are fairly common or well known in the magical community. I am not being negative here by mentioning these things, it's more to state that for a reader who's after some new diabolical trick, they might want to look else where.

Some people may think from the above paragraph that I was not happy with my purchase, well this would be far from the truth. I knew before buying the book that the likely hood this happening was high. I brought the book to read how Jeff Brown incorporated Sherlock Holmes into these tricks to turn them into some really magical mysteries. In that respect the book did everything for me that I wanted it too.

Jeff has obviously got a passion for the stories of Holmes and has done his research. Each effect has meaning and ties in well to the Sherlock Holmes stories which he uses to present the trick. Also, at various points throughout the book he lists several quotations from the books which may be used in the performance to enhance things (and make yourself look a little bit cleaver). At the end of the book there is a small section which explains forcing a card (as this is used several times throughout the book) along with a list of some other quotes relating to magic, further reading, magical organizations and shops. There are also several items which you can copy and use to make certain props needed for several effects throughout the book.


Overall

Overall, I would say that this is a nice little book for the price, and for someone who is a fairly new magician, it is a great little resource for some good magic. If someone wanted, they could string a little Sherlock routine together from just these effects and put on an entertaining show.

As stated, this doesn't contain anything groundbreaking but as I have said, that's not the point. The point is to present magic in a particular way and this does just that. Your audience will enjoy these effects and although a magician might work things out, the vast majority of the public would be baffled.

To sum up, I brought this book mainly to help me see how I may incorporate a Sherlock Holmes theme into some magical effects of my own. The book has helped me perfectly while also giving me some other thoughts that I may otherwise not have had and so because of that it's a winner.

For what it is and what it did for me, I'll give it an 8/10


Thanks for reading. Any questions, please post below.

T0M
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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby Mandrake » Jun 2nd, '12, 17:50

Much as I'd hoped nobody else would discover this book ( :wink: ) I can only agree that it's a worthwhile addition to any magic library. Apart from the routines described it also encourages the reader to think about how other effects could be converted/presented in a Holmesian setting.

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby Dr Percival RP Pound » Jun 5th, '12, 09:05

I'm currently browsing my copy of this work and must say that while the effects themselves may not be the most earth shattering out there, it's a wonderous lesson on how to weave a theme and story around an effect.

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby T0M » Jun 5th, '12, 17:34

It seems as though my review hit the nail on the head then as from what it looks like, people who buy this book aren't disappointed at the lack of new material, but are instead impressed by the performance side, the way in which the magic is themed. Well it is a great little gem I think and I'm glad I brought myself a copy.

Don't worry though, I still think there are plenty of people who don't know about this book.

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby andreasgan » Jun 5th, '12, 17:55

Nice review T0M, I may buy this book.
May I ask what you payed for it on ebay?
Thanks in advance,
- AndreasG

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby T0M » Jun 5th, '12, 18:35

Thanks, I've not really reviewed before so I wasn't sure if it was a little too wordy but if it's got someone interested in buying it I guess it did the job.

As for how much I paid on ebay, I just looked back through my ebay e-mails and I saw that I got it for roughly £8 including postage. It was with the ebay book store bangzo if that helps. I did look about and like I said, it seems that you'll only ever save a pound or two so it's never going to break the bank where ever you buy it.

I'm sure Jeff Brown will be happy that people seem to be quite interested in his book at the moment.

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby magicofthemind » Jun 6th, '12, 10:05

I exchanged E-mails with Jeff several times while the book was in production. He's passionate about Holmes and the book was a real labour of love for him. I think it shows.

Barry

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby T0M » Jun 6th, '12, 13:35

Well if you're still in touch, perhaps you can send him my regards and maybe let him know how much of a stir his book has made recently on this forum.

A tip of the cap to you also for your included effect. Very nice.

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby magicofthemind » Jun 6th, '12, 22:41

Thanks, Tom

I haven't been in touch with Jeff for years - but but I still have an E-mail address in my Contacts so I will drop him a line!

Barry

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby Mandrake » Jun 6th, '12, 22:46

Please add my thanks, a bargain book of very useful effects!

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby aCeOfSpAdEs » Jun 18th, '12, 19:45

I ordered this book because I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. (Actually, it was me that started that post you mention in the beginning.)
I am expecting a nice book. It hasn't arrived yet... Nice review. Thanks.

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby T0M » Jun 19th, '12, 18:59

It is a nice book to have especially considering it's price if you're a Holmes fan. It's why I became interested in the book to begin with and is great. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

I hope the review is accurate for you, I'm happy it's been viewed so much though probably much to the disappointment of Mandrake if he wanted to keep it a secret.

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Re: The Sherlock Holmes Book of Magic - Jeff Brown

Postby Mandrake » Jun 19th, '12, 19:03

No worries TOM, just let me imbibe a few (more) large G&T's and I'll get over it :D !

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