talkmagic.co.uk

Between $15-$20


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)

1-2 The effects are not at all difficult to do.


Review

Andrew Mayne has done a decent job of compiling some of the greatest Body Stunts out there. Some of them are quite good while most are only decent, and there are a few that are garbage. Many of these effects would be great to teach to a young child who asks you to teach them a trick. Here is a review of each effect present:

SHRINKMAN- You visually shrink as you walk down a hallway or down the street. This is one of the few that has potential to freak someone out. As you are walking away, you are seen to shrink down to about 2 feet in height. This is the reason I bought the book. It also incloudes a variation for the staircase which is quite funny. 7/10

VANISHING HEAD- While walking up a flight of stairs outdoors, your head suddenly vanishes. This is an ok effect, but you need to be on stairs for angle reasons. Still, not a bad idea. 5/10

SUSPENDOR- This is really more of a circus/acrobatic stunt in which you suspend yourself horizontally from a lamp post or other pole. You basically need to be extremely strong to do this, which I am not.... it is downright impossible for me to pull off. Plus, Andrew also shares why he will never do the stunt again... Because the skin on his hand was torn. Not a great effect. 4/10

WRIST ROTATION- The old MC gag that involved arms being twisted and hands being joined. Impossibly, the magician can twist his hands into an upright position without letting go, therefore untwisting your wrists impossibly. The spectators, of course, cannot follow. This is a great effect that many magicians still don't know how to do. Can be a lot of fun. 7/10

EAR PENETRATION- The magician pushes his thumb through his ear. This can look good with a correct hand position. 6/10

NECK BREAKER- The magician twists his neck and a loud crack is heard. This hasn't fooled anyone yet, but it depends on your "sound". 4/10

KNUCKLE BUSTER- You audibly break the bones in your finger. This is the same method at NECK BREAKER, but trhis one actually fools people. I use this regularly while preparing to do some card work. 6/10

NOSE BREAKER- The old gag in which you twsit your nose and break the bones within. My mother fooled me with this as a child, and it is actually quite effective. Unfortunately, this little gag is too commonm nowadays. 5/10

MISSING DIGIT- One of your fingers vanishes and your hand is shown front and back. This one is just bad, because it involves a finger position I cannot achieve. 3/10

RUBBER FINGERS- Basically, an optical illusion leads spectators to believe you have rubber fingers. This is a VERY funny sight gag. 7/10

FINGER STRETCH- The magician's finger slowly stretches. Not too bad if presented correctly. 4/10

FINGER STRETCH 2- I actually quite like this one, but it will take a bit of a knack to get the finger positioning right. 6/10

SHRINKING PINKY- One of my favourites. Your pinky finger is crushed to about half its size. I use this quite often in combination with KNUCKLE BUSTER acting as though I grind up the bones in my pinky finger then crush the finger. Very cool. 7/10

THUMB STRETCH- The magician visually stretches his thumb. A cute effect to showe to kids. 6/10

INSTA-MUG- NO! Awful awful awful. An arm reaches behind a wall and grabs the magician, pulling him away. Andrew doesn;t even explain this one, so thank God it is so easy to figure out. It's an old gag that everyone knows anyway. 2/10

FOOTLOOSE- An illusion in which one leg is wrapped around the other leg TWICE. This is quite cool, and probably the best effect in the book. 8/10

TWISTORAMA- A low-tech version of the Head Twister. This is quite a fooler to many spectators and is a gfreat throwaway gag. 7/10

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MACHINE- The magician enters an elevator, and allows the door to shut. A few moments later the door re-opens to show the magician has shrunken down to about half his original size. This can be quite hilarious if presented at the right time in the right place. 5/10



Overall

Overall, I give this book a 6/10. It provides some great body stunts that are good throwaways for an MC or comedy magician. They can also just be taught to some young kids, who will find great amusement in them. The book comes staple bound and is about 40 pages long, with the last few pages recommending other great body magic books and Andrew's own products. This isn't for everyone, but it has some good little gags in it. Recommended, but not for everyone!

Hope you enjoyed my review!

Michael Kras[/b]

where is this available?

Most magic dealeras should have it, but Andrew sells it firectly from his website at www.shockmagic.com

Doesn't sound interesting to me really. I was, however, amused by some of review-

While walking up a flight of stairs outdoors, your head suddenly vanishes.

Hmm? Sorry? While walking up a flight of stairs outdoors? Sounds a bit impractical for an effect that I doubt I would ever want to produce.

The magician twists his neck and a loud crack is heard.

Ok... Barely amazing, no? Better yet, it goes on-

This hasn't fooled anyone yet,

Brilliant.

Not for me.

This is just a complaint that I see so many people doing the ghost bill effect and they are performing it horribly. This is great and even phenomenal trick if done correctly too many people handling this effect and not taking enough time to let it sink in. The handling is simple but its bits of good misdirection that take this one from mediocre the way most people are perfoming it, to absolutley amazing if done correctly. Alright enough with my rant.

The internet double edge sword for magic performance and learning

Ghost Bills does look quite good. So, any more thouights on Body Morphin' ?

Thanks for the review on this Michael. Cheers.