talkmagic.co.uk

i heard from a friend there is this book that teaches you how to build illusions.

he said there was one that teaches you how to vanish elephants, change a motorcycle into a girl, and how to vanish someone, and build a cheap head twister, etc.

The book is also by a guy that worked and build some illusions for David Copperfield.

Anyone know the book?

Let me know ASAP!

Thanks!

The book in question is Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer. It does not tell you how to build the illusions. It tells you how some of them worked.

There are a lot of books on building illusions. If you simply want to find out how illusions are done, then that's not a good reason to buy an illusion book. There are a number of reasons that I make this statement. There are at least a half dozen ways every major illusion can be done, with the possible exception of the Zig - Zag.

Burling Hull and Ormond McGill published a book that showed how many of the major illusions were done. Burling Hull told me personally that the reason for the book was not to expose the methods, but to let pro's know what the stage requirements for various classic illusions were so they could make an educated judgment of what plans to buy for their acts. The book sold for $100 in 1980. Now it is much more expensive.

Paul Osborne has a set of books that are reasonably priced that will tell you how to build many classic illusions. These are a good place to start.

Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer...

i just searched it up and im not completely sure if this is the one. Are you sure it has the explenation of the illusions i mentioned before?

and i also remember the last name or maybe the first name, ended in an e.

And it was about $70ish..

Yes... I'm positive Bill knows what he's speaking of.

ok, well thanks for letting me know.

ill drop by my local magic shop and chek it out. If its what i was looking for ill buy it

Thanks!

You are possibly thinking of a dreadful book called,'The Secrets Of Magic Revealed' by Herbert L. Becker.
It was published in 1994 by Lifetime BooksInc. Hollywood and has an opening section by David Copperfield.Then it pertains to show you 'how it's done using Robert Houdin,Thurston, Kellar, Houdini, Hardeen, Walter Gibson,Mark Wilson, Doug Henning, Kreskin, Siegfried & Roy & Mr. Becker himslef who 'perfomed' as The Great Kardeen'.
A number of illusions are exposed..badly
The double page illustration of Zig Zag, with no mention of Robert Harbin, is laughable.
In fact the whole book is laughable.
The Floating Ball set up, vaguely copied /stolen from Herman Hanson's Thurston m/s., is totally unworkable.
The Hoop passing for the Fountain Levi() here called the Water Jet Suspension) sends you dizzy to look at it. And if you made the lucite board it would just tip the assistant off!!!!!!!!!
The writing is puerile!
Second hand copies can often be picked up via Amazon.
If you want illusions then you need to rwead Paul Osbourne & Rand Woodberry but don't expect to build any unless you are a very experienced wood/metal/plastic etc craftsman!
Allen Tipton