talkmagic.co.uk

Okay, here's the situation. On July 25th it's my birthday (Yay for me!) but I'm already putting together a list of what might ask for. This year I'm asking for mainly magic items, but I need some help. So far I've got on my list a PK ring (I know, not so obscure), a book from Art of Astonishment (Yeah, I know), and Secrets of Alakazar. Here's what I need help with. I want to get some magic books and DVDs that will vastly improve my skills as a magician, but I want things that are not heard of as much because I feel those contain the best tricks. What I would like to get from the members of the forum is some names of a book or DVD that you have that you've found extremely helpful, but have not heard much about it. I'm talking about stuff that you found in your grandpa's attic when you were nine. I have a theory that if you start performing forgotten magic tricks, you will get more respect as a magician. So, what have you guys got?

I'll PM you.

Myself, Im a big fan of Dave Williamson, and his lectures. They are not only highly entertaining, but very strong (and often very easy) magic.

Also, look out for anything put out by Simon Lovell (Think his books are Simon Says, and Son of Simon Says). Lovell's stuff is brilliant, and again highly entertaining magic.

And finally, I would suggest grabbing some John Bannon stuff. He really thinks in depth about what experience a spectator is likely to get.

(Plus of course Peter Kane's stuff is always good)

Hmmm, oh, I know its not that obscure, but you can't go wrong with Mark Leverage magic. He's a worker in "the real world", and as such, knows what packs a punch, and what is workable for a working pro.

Phil

I have a great ebook by Michael Paul you might like... You want magic, this is truly a hidden gem.

Imagine the following: With no cover or sleights, the back of a signed card flickers between the color red and blue when set on fire, and for the kicker finish the signed card's back remains as the opposite colour! Think of a flickering television set.

OR: A way to let a spectator freely handle an expaneded shell without detection ie: to hand it to you.

Let me know if you are interested. Oh, and in advance, happy birthday!

Michael Kras

Whilst not particularly obscure, as per se, "The Amateur Magician's Handbook" (Hay) would be a worthwhile addition to your library (if for no other reason than the writings of Hay throughout the book). It can usually be found at a reasonable price.

Mike.

Move along - nothing to see in the original text -

In light of my insensitive remarks, I have thought better of my actions and I wish to contribute to this thread in a POSITIVE way.

I'm not entirely sure of what you already have, but a few of my personal favorites are:

Hugard's Encyclopedia of Card Tricks - One of my all-time favorites

Buckley's Card Control - I absolutely love this book. It's advanced and it will take a LONG time to get through (I've been studying from it for well over a year) - but the thinking in here is pure genius.

Mentzer's Counts, Cuts, Moves and Subtlety - A great body of work that I believe any card worker should put in his library.

Annemann's Card Magic - I don't see many people reference this work. Perhaps because he is more commonly associated with mentalism? However, there is genius in these pages.

Annemann's Practical Mental Magic - I love this book. As Mr. Jay says - there's not better source for nearly any kind of effect. There's a reason so many people produce variations and performances of his stuff!

Since I'm starting a trend there - buy anything that has the name ANNEMANN on it.

Not "old" but I highly recommend anything Peter Duffie puts out. His lateral thinking produces absolute gems, in my opinion.

That should get you started. Hope that helped!

There is a great deal of real gold in those obscure books and 99.99% of all magic being marketed today can be traced back into those books.

So, quite literally, if you're looking to make a mark in magic that is creatively your own, you'll do better going to the obscure and old books to get the information and update it yourself, rather than letting everyone else update it and taking it from them.

Ellusionist and Penguin make huge profits from mining those old and obscure books and repackaging it for sale to the younger magicians. One of the latest offerings was that effect where you blow a big puff of smoke out after lighting a match ("Warning"). That came from a Jean Hugard publication from 1938.

Further, a card effect that I presented after working it through and putting on my own twist to it was seen by another magician that actually told me the name of the book that I pulled it from (for the record: the original name of the trick was "Cagliostro's Spectacles" from "Magic as a Hobby" by Bruce Elliott in 1948).

Personally, I find it refreshing that any up and coming magicians give enough of a damn about where we came from to have this kind of request for birthday gifts. Most of them, in my experience, are asking which trick deck they should get or if the raven is better than the M5.

And, as far as I'm concerned, even if his thinking is off (which, I don't think that it is), at least he'll be learning our history rather than blowing his money (or, in this case, birthday presents) on the new garbage.

Mike.

This post has been edited (Demitri got the wrong end of the stick in his original post, so some of my post is a direct statement to what he'd said and may not make sense in the context above...)

Yes, I was a bad magic forum member, and Mr. Jay was nice enough to smack my head and put me back in line.

Michael Kras wrote:I have a great ebook by Michael Paul you might like... You want magic, this is truly a hidden gem ... Let me know if you are interested.

I sincerely hope you're not offering to trade eBooks, or just give him the eBook here

Hey, guys, thanks for all the great ideas! I am particularly interested in the Anneman's Practical Mental Magic as I feel I don't know enough. I'm going to look this stuff up and I'll ask any questions about them here. Thanks again!

I also forgot to mention that I really want tangible objects, like books and DVDs. Sadly, I'm not interested in ebooks. Sorry, Kras.

Tarbell.

If that's over budget, I second Henry Hay's "Amateur Magician's Handbook". And two Dover books that haven't been mentioned yet - "Hugard's Magic Manual" - originally "Modern Magic Manual" - and "Magic and Showmanship" by Henning Nelms (Hay's favourite book).

Barry

magicofthemind wrote:Tarbell.

Please elaborate, I'm not sure what you mean. Is the book called Tarbell or is that the author?

The Tarbell Course in Magic, by Harlan Tarbell, vols 1-8. Very expensive but the nearest there is to a magic encyclopedia - it has enough magic for a lifetime. Search Talkmagic for reviews.

(Mind you, expensive is relative, when you consider how much you can pay for slim books, DVDs or single tricks.)

Barry

*low whistle*

That is expensive. Although, I suppose if I got one I could get the others at different times when I save up the money or another gift-giving holiday comes around. I did find a special, though, first seven books only $160 (320 pounds) !

monker59 wrote:I did find a special, though, first seven books only $160 (320 pounds)

That's actually eighty pounds, which is a real bargain! I'd snap them up if I were you!