talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect
NOW, YOU TOO CAN BE
"AS DANGEROUS AS A HUNTER WITH AN ELEPHANT GUN"

"A SPOOFY, GOOFY TREATISE that includes everything from a letter alerting the Secretary of Defense to this cheap-yet-allegedly effective weapons systems to the technique behind throwing cards through the air with the greatest of ease " - Chicago Daily News

"AN ESSENTIAL HANDBOOK FOR THE URBAN DWELLER." - Newsday

"EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO INTEREST AT ALL IN FLIPPING CARDS, YOU'LL STILL ENJOY THIS BOOK. In addition, the volume contains complete instructions -clearly illustrated- on how to become a card tosser at olympic caliber . . . within a few short months, you'll be ready to face a sneering rhino or charging wino with equal nonchalance." - Circus magazine

"DECK-DEFYING . . . ostensibly a strainghtforward study of how ordinary playing cards can be used to ward off muggers, slay wild animals or remove a spleen . . . a comic spoof of the How-To genre." - Los Angeles Times

"DELIGHTFUL . . . with a Pepys-like frankness Ricky Jay dispels any sceptic's's thoughts on the validity of throwing playing cards as a martial art form of self-defense . . . presents a rich embroiling history of the art of card throwing along with in-depth methods." - The Grapevine Press

"A MOST AMUSING BOOK." San Francisco Chronicle

Cost

100-500£

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)

4 - There aren't really any advanced sleights, but if you want to hit a target 20m away or more with accuracy, you're gonna need years of practice. However, basic card-flinging should take only a couple of hours to learn, but the accuracy is going to be very bad in the beginning (you'll find yourself throwing cards behind you or missing the target BADLY.

Review

Well, where to start. First, the book is a comedic book, not really a "detailed description of scaling which will make you shoot down planes in the sky" (although that is most probably advertised). If you're looking to become Gambit like in X-Men, this book is not for you. Maybe this would be more appropriate in that situation (that is, if you combine that idea with Bicycles). However, If you want to have a good laugh or you collect books such as these, then sure, why not, buy it. This is A PARODY BOOK. It parodies how-to-do-it books. Although several card throwing techniques are described in it (of which the trivial and eccentric "foot fling") it does not teach you anything that you could not learn by yourself, or by visiting any card-throwing website on the internet.

Secondly, the price. I'm guessing this book is no longer in print and three or so copies have been made due to some dysfunctional printer, otherwise the price wouldn't be explained. 500£ FOR A PARODY BOOK?! Unless you're an AVID COLLECTOR and this is the one missing piece from completing your collection, or some over-the-top rich megalomaniac who has nothing better to do with his money, buy it, or then please, do something more useful with it and donate it to Unicef or some other NGO. Price, not good.

Thirdly, the card-throwing techniques. They're basically the natural ones which you would learn by yourself if you threw cards enough. I knew how to throw cards before, and this book taught me nothing new besides the "Lethal Four Card Fist" which enables you to throw four cards at once, an interesting innovation yet not worth the whole book. Many other (useless) techniques are also described, some of which very strange. The techniques are demonstrated by Jay and by naked women (!) which makes me question the initial purposes of this book and the mental sanity of Ricky Jay when he made the book.

Fourthly, the humor. Well, what can I say, it's not bad, it's funny at times, incorporating card scaling for uses such as surgery, cutting string cheese, self-defense from bums and underwater octopus-hunting. Provides a history of cards which is quite interesting and also an anecdote at the end about a man who killed himself in prison using a deck of playing cards. (Something having to do with the chemical compounds used in the paint of playing cards). Funny, random-type humor and promotion of card-throwing as a martial art.


Overall

3/10 - Well, it's a pretty crappy score, but I think the price cuts off most of it. It is DEFINITELY not worth the price. All the card-throwing techniques could be described undes a very short sentence: "If the card spins, it flies." I can assure you that you wont be fighting rhinos anytime soon, unless you're Superman or...option number two, you buy METAL CARDS. Which I will in the distant future, but their price currently impedes me. (You can get some here or here, if you're rich and Japanese .)

Now, if you're a magician, throwing cards makes any cool addition to your arsenal, and it's REALLY REALLY REALLY FUN to throw cards. But if you want to do that, do not do it by buying this book.

So yeah, hope you've enjoyed my review.

EDIT: I've changed the prices to british pounds, considering most of the forum is from England

Nice review, but it begs the question, given the price, and your poor review score being based on the cost, and the fact that you're 17 years old, how on earth did you get hold of it?

A friend of mine also interested in card scaling had gotten ahold of it at some garage sale and he borrowed it to me
...I only found out the price later (while thinking of doing this review)

But if the price had been, say, 5 pounds, which it should have been, then probably the rating wouldn't have risen to much, maybe a 5.5/10, due to the poor informative quality of the subject matter.

My mom had found this book and bought it at a garage sale. She gave it to me for my 11th birthday thinking it would be a fun book for me to read through, as I was into playing and doing tricks with cards. She quickly confiscated it when I started going and found the few (totally random) pictures of the nude woman sitting in the chair showing "proper form for holding a card". Lol - it still makes me laugh when I remember my mom's face when I showed it to her!

Hello All,

I have this book and I find it a lot of fun.

Love,

Amanda Angeli

WHAT!? That price for a book that teaches you how to throw a card?

"A SPOOFY, GOOFY TREATISE that includes everything from a letter alerting the Secretary of Defense to this cheap-yet-allegedly effective weapons systems to the technique behind throwing cards through the air with the greatest of ease " - Chicago Daily News

.....How very useful.

OMFG!!!!

Why so expensive? I even had to go and check a few online retailers to see and yes, it's really freaking expensive!! The cheapest I found it for was just under £200!!

I'm glad I'm not in a CUPS mood today....

Whalemeister wrote:OMFG!!!!

Why so expensive? I even had to go and check a few online retailers to see and yes, it's really freaking expensive!! The cheapest I found it for was just under £200!!

I'm glad I'm not in a CUPS mood today....

I'll second that motion(again), the price is INSANE. Its just sick.

Any given item in existance is only such a value as someone is willing to pay for it.

For example, if you were trying to sell your car for £2000 but nobody would give you more than £20 for it, then your car is worth £20.

Now, here you have a book wherein a copy that is in very poor condition is still going to sell for well over £100 - well, that is its value. Regardless of how you rate it for content, the value is already set and there are plenty of buyers out there who will pay the high price to get their hands on a copy. If you have a signed copy, then you really hit pay dirt.

What makes this book so valuable? The name of the author.

There is a reason why Ricky Jay videos on youtube don't remain there for very long. Mr. Jay put a value on his name a couple of decades back and now you're seeing the fruition of his effort...He appears in movies from time to time, quite often can be found running with the Hollywood crowd and gets gigs doing consultant work on movies oftentimes.

The name "Ricky Jay" is a commodity.

Sadly, Mr. Jay turned his back on the magic community a long time ago, because of the thieving that goes on in this industry. And, here we are, still dealing with thieves today - both kids and adults (many of whom should know better) that think it's okay to see a marketed effect, figure it out and start using it, without paying the price of admission.

And while they're not paying the price of admission, every magician is paying the piper for it. Sadly, there is little outrage over this within the magic community. Anyone who steals anything in this industry should be treated as a pariah, no exceptions.

That ain't going to happen, though. So, what's to do? Continue paying £200 for that book and watch the price of Derren Brown books continue to skyrocket.

Mike.

This simply and truly is not worth the money. Ive seen it on Amazon for $250+. A long time ago I watched a Ricky Jay video and didnt think much of it TBH. It was very short with "hold the card like this.... flick... now practice" and onto the next move.

There is no secret to card throwing, learn a grip you are comfortable with and practice over and over and over again and you will become as good as Ricky Jay.

Mr. Chan wrote:This simply and truly is not worth the money.

Sure it is. People pay that price, therefore it is worth it. Even if your opinion states differently.

People's reasons for having the book differ. Some will see it as a costly piece that they just have to have in their library, others will see it as an investment, still others will see it as a piece of magicana that they simply must have and there are probably a few who just wanted it for no other reason than "just because."

And, to all of them, it was worth every penny.

Opinions, we all got 'em. But, in this particular case, popular opinion makes that book worth the asking price. Therefore, it is.

Mike.

Michael Jay wrote:

Mr. Chan wrote:This simply and truly is not worth the money.

And, to all of them, it was worth every penny.

What about people who buy the book and feel that it wasnt worth the money? Or people that buy the book with hope that the value will rise so they can sell it on at profit but discover that it doesnt?

Your position would hold if the object that is on sale can be fully inspected prior to the sale, such as a antique on sale at an auction. In this case, the object is worth the bid of the highest bidder - except in latter case where the object is bought speculatively.

Magic books are in almost every case bought on speculation because the buyer isnt allowed to read the book first. Sometimes people buy magic books hoping that they live up to the hype and are worth the cover price but unfortunately they arent. In this case, those people feel that the books they bought were not worth the money.

Mr. Chan wrote:Your position would hold if the object that is on sale can be fully inspected prior to the sale, such as a antique on sale at an auction.

E-bay is an auction house and they auction everything under the sun (except guns - they quit doing that). So, there are plenty of antiques being sold off of the site that cannot be inspected. That is why there are seller and buyer ratings - so that you know if someone tells you it is in good condition - it is (or, if they have a poor rating, then maybe it's best to avoid it).

If you're going to pay a huge sum for a book, then you'd better damn well know what you're buying. If you buy a book because someone told you, on E-bay, that it was worth the asking price not knowing one way or the other whether that was true or not, then you are a sucker. Not a big surprise that you'd lose your shirt, then, is it?

With the Ricky Jay book, I can't imagine anyone paying that price and not realizing what they were buying. And, even as such, you can turn it around and get back the price that you paid...Possibly even more.

And, if you wait another decade, you'll probably make an extra hundred off of it..Or, maybe not. That's why investments are shaky things. In the 1970s (or thereabouts) gold was going for a couple hundred an ounce. Then, all of the sudden, it went bull and shot up, in the course of a few months, to over 800 dollars an ounce. The folks who bought low made massive amounts. The unfortunate suckers who bought when it went over 800 were sadly burned when, a few months later, it dropped back to 300 an ounce.

He further wrote:Magic books are in almost every case bought on speculation because the buyer isnt allowed to read the book first.

Same as every magic trick under the sun. Ever hear the mantra, "You didn't buy the equipment, you bought the secret?" In this way, if they sold you garbage, well just too friggin' bad. Another investment out the door.

But, with the Ricky Jay book, you know you're getting something that holds its value. You might not like the contents, but that book is still worth exactly what you paid and if you put it on E-bay immediately, you might even be able to find someone to pay you an extra 10 or 20 for it.

With the Ricky Jay book, you aren't buying a book, you are making an investment. Will it pay off? With that book in particular, chances are that yes, it will.

I have two Derren Brown books that I bought sight unseen (just like most anything that you buy on the web). Now, come to find out, I can get three times what I paid for them. I didn't buy as an investment, I bought on the strength of the author's name. I can guarantee you that I would never sell them for a penny less than I paid for them...Nevertheless, a buyer has to be found. It is doubtful that any magician would buy either of these books (at this point in time) not knowing what they contain.

But, what they contain means little if you are simply buying them as an investment, because as time moves on, they will appreciate in value.

Sometimes people buy magic books hoping that they live up to the hype and are worth the cover price but unfortunately they arent. In this case, those people feel that the books they bought were not worth the money.

That is where reviews come in so very handy. Maybe that person who is so disappointed should have read a review. Going by the strength of this review, someone finding the Jay book for, say, $25.00 would pass it up. Oddly, if they bought it, they could turn it around and make $150.00 to put in their pocket. But, the review said the book sucked, so oh well.

Again, if you are in the market for whatever it is that you're buying, then maybe you owe it to yourself to know what the hell you're getting. And, if you buy garbage, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Nevertheless, I've said it over and over, study the history of magic, learn what this is all about and you'll save yourself many, many, many headaches and plenty of money.

The ironic thing is that the original poster got the book as a gift from someone who found it in a garage sale...In other words, they got a $200.00 book for a song. Seems to me that if I picked up a book for a few dollars and found out that it was worth hundreds, the last thing I would do is say that the book sucked. I would be dancing right out in the street - I'd be a happy, little pig in the mud.

Again, regardless of all this verbal thrust and parry, any given item on the face of this earth is only worth the value that someone is willing to pay for it. There are plenty of people ready to pay 200 dollars for copy of this book. Therefore, the book is worth at least 200 dollars. Doesn't matter what your opinion is, the fact is the fact.

Mike.

Mike you are using the idea of worth to mean only: the worth of an artifact is whatever someone will pay for it. While it could be argued that this is perfectly valid it doesnt make it useful. The meaning is so limited that it isnt of use in a review. When people use the word in everyday life they mean that: whatever they end up with is preferable or equal to the loss of time and/or money to get it.

This has been a fun exercise but not really useful for the purposes of a review. So I will rephrase my original post:

Some people may think that owning the book is preferable to owning $250+. I do not. I think that the owning the book is preferable to owning $25 but no more than that.

Okay, I think I understand what you're saying, but I just have one more question that I think will fully clear it up for me...

Let's assume that by some miracle you find the book for $25.00 and buy it. Then something comes up and you need some money quickly. Will you sell the book at the value of your opinion ($25.00), or will you sell it for the real value ($200.00+)?

Mike.