Yeah, I know a review was posted. I just wanted to post mine as well, just to coax anyone else into buying it.
BTW: I wrote this about a year or so ago. My reviewing is MUCH better now.
Hello people, once again another review! Hopefully you people will like this review, as it has taken me a long, long time to write it.
Let me start off by saying that, as much as I hate to admit it, this is the first real magic book I have bought. (Aside from Bobo and MWCCIM and several sets of lecture notes...) and I am very satisfied with my purchase.
Cost: Well, this is going to cost you. It is a 45-dollar book; I got on eBay for $38 with Priority Mail shipping. I believe the only place you can buy this is David Regal's site, as from what I have heard, it is out of print.
Overview: This is a hardcover, 253 page book full of 72 powerful magic tricks and several essays with the tricks as examples of what he means in the essays. It has a forward by Max Maven and Ken Krenzel, who both agree that this is one of the best magic books ever written, and is the highest quality that a book can be.
Appearance: It is about the size and weight of a full size high school textbook, and it comes with a really shiny dust jacket. When you remove the dust jacket, it still looks really nice with an almost canvas material as the cover with golden lettering. The pages are a very glossy material with easy to read font. Everything is laid out well, and this is just the outside of the book!
Teacher: It is David Regal! The stuff that he puts out is always top notch and he is extremely funny, even in the writing! I agree with what Max Maven said after reading this book, "This stuff is so clever, it's criminal!” David Regal is one of magic’s greatest thinkers.
Lets get on with the tricks! Here I shall post small reviews of each trick and post ratings, one to five. Of course, the system is...
1: Horrid.
2: Bad.
3: O.K.
4: Good.
5: Great.
You ready? Prepare for a very long read.
The first section is Cards. Needless to say, it has, nothing but cards!
All's Fair: Well, this is a mentalist effect with cards. The handling is very complicated, but the trick is very good. Basically a spectator is turned into the magician when predicting the cards that you have put in your pocket.
It takes a lot of practice, but I think that it would be well worth it. 4.0
No Mercy All's Fair: A better version of the above trick, but it requires set up. The spectator predicts a card, and when a deck is brought out of your pocket, it contains only duplicates of that card. This is clever, but I may never perform it because I would like to not buy that many forcing packs. 4.0
Leap of Faith: This is really, really practical as it requires nothing more than a deck of cards and no setup. A card disappears from one packet to very visually appear in another. I have a really hard time performing this though, because I am not that good at the cop that he specifies here. The effect is extremely visual and worth the practice you will put into it. 4.5
Commercial Travel: A version of Open Travelers. Except for the handling looking better (In my opinion) but way more complicated, there really is no difference. He even said in the Effect part of this trick, "Larry Jenning's Open Travelers is a classic of magic. It possesses a beautiful symmetry and does not need any additions to make it better. This trick, therefore, is not an improvement on that effect, but an altered effect that you may find fits the bill on occasion." There is a way he says to do this without setup and it is just as good. 4.0
Clandestine Collections: From what I have heard, this is on "Premise, Power, and Participation." which is David's four-volume DVD set. It is really clever (I keep using that word) and you will smile when you read the method. Or at least, I did. 4.0
Inclination: This is a really easy routine. No setup, no gaffs, just a plain pack of cards and an amazing display of magic. I am definitely going to use this. The cards appear where the aren't supposed to after just being moved and the patter for this is brilliant. 4.8
The Luck Test: A poker hand is put into the middle, face up. When the deck is spread, it is a royal flush! This is a cool trick, but I don't really like what is necessary. If you can do this and will put in the time and effort, do it. It will be rewarding. I personally can't pull this off. 3.5
Romeo and Juliet: An impromptu effect with a great story. As far as the trick goes, presentation is what makes this 3-phase two-card transposition really great. 4.0
Over and Out: A really powerful sandwich effect with a very unique principal; the jacks penetrate the center of the deck to grab a spectator’s card. Fairly simple and a trick I will perform. 4.0
The Isolated Force: A really great force in which the back is never seen and this cannot be fairer. 4.9
Ten Second Poker: A very weird method for a really cool trick. It has many virtues where the spectator shuffles and deals HIMSELF a royal flush in spades. This is cool, and after reading it I came up with a poker demonstration that there should be a video of soon. 4.5
The Wrong Ones: David Regal is a master of not over proving anything. This routine is a color changing deck, which is really cool but I think I will stick with Blindsighted By A Red Hot Mama. 4.0
Sending It Through: A trick that I had been toying around with the method of years before I got this book. He has come up with a really nice way of doing this and, I think, it cannot be improved. 4.3
Clean Cut: A cutting the aces routine, a lot like the one he performed on the Magician's Special of Celebracadabra. The method is, once again, super clever and has some really great qualities about it. 4.0
For Marlo: This is the trick he came up with years ago right before he went to lunch with Ed Marlo. It is a simple traveling card, but apparently it fooled Marlo, so... 4.0
Primate: Another sandwich effect, which also has a unique thing about it. I think that it is really powerful and apparently was based on Bill Goldman's "Monkey in the Middle". 4.0
Swindle Transpo: A signed red backed card sealed in an envelope unseals itself to appear in another sealed envelope with only blue backed cards. Another packet trick with a great, yet again, method and presentation. 4.0
John Hancock: This trick reminds me of Jay Sankey’s Forgery, where in this case it is a signature jumps from card to card. I think I will stick with Forgery, but I might try this on occasion. 3.5
The Joker Works Overtime: This is a fusion of Red Hot Mama and Color Quickie in which you make the joker find and transform into two selected cards. A trick with 4 climaxes that is easy to do like this one is worth looking into. 4.0
Mental Transpo: Card Transpositions. Will they ever stop? Anyway, really easy and pretty visual. I think I shall use this at one point or another. 4.0
There And Back: Everyone knows this routine, where a ring with a glass on top magically moves over to another glass on the same table. It is really, really magical and the method will, if not anything else in this book, make you smile. This is probably the cleverest thing I have ever seen. (I am getting tired of that word too, but it is the only one to describe this!) It is easy to perform, gets great reactions and it is impossible to get caught! 4.7
Got A Light?: This was on P,P, and P and it is an animated matchbox routine. It can be examined before and directly after, so this is, in credibility, better than any others I have seen. 3.5
Business Relocation: A business card transposition with a gimmick not unlike that of that money transposition Jay Noblezada has had here as an instant download for years of which the name escapes me. I love this routine, and as soon as my business cards are printed, this is going to be a performance standard of my routine. 4.5
Ace In The Hole: An ace is visually pulled out of a hole, then tossed back in, then it vanishes and then pulled out again where as it shrinks. Toss it back in, and guess what, it grows! This isn’t bad, but it isn’t great, so… It has way, way to much setup and is kinda hard to keep track of. 3.5
Fool Em’ If You Got Em’: I love this routine, and would perform it if you could do it without smoking. Essentially this is a deck switch, without a deck, and the switch is the routine. It has a definite appeal, and if you smoked, would be very practical. 3.5
Spot Remover: Regal variation on the Sack Dice Routine. This is way more visual than Sack’s (Sack’s was extremely visual, just not as visual) but it is almost a cop out. Doing the paddle move just to pretend you are picking off the spots? 3.5
Letter Perfect: An alphabet deck. When do you play around with one of these? It is a great concept however, being that the spectator mixes them face up and face down, and all the face down ones are his or her name. This isn’t always practical, but when it is, it kills. 4.0
My Best Friend: A chop cup ending which is great, but you must have a duplicate cup and spend a good 10 bucks at a pet store. 4.0
The Half Deal: This routine is clever. It really reminds me of the Crystal Card routines that came in this month’s issue of Genii, which are also great, but this is where the face of a card is dealt off. It is super visual and really practical. 4.5
Pointing The Way: I don’t really like this routine. It makes little sense, but it will fool people. Not my performing style either. 3.0
Mystic Poker: Seems like a Sankey trick. It does. A spectator takes a blank card out of 5 and draws a card in a Royal Flush. Well, when the other cards are looked at, they now have drawings of the remaining cards to make up the flush. 4.5
BTW: I wrote this about a year or so ago. My reviewing is MUCH better now.
Hello people, once again another review! Hopefully you people will like this review, as it has taken me a long, long time to write it.
Let me start off by saying that, as much as I hate to admit it, this is the first real magic book I have bought. (Aside from Bobo and MWCCIM and several sets of lecture notes...) and I am very satisfied with my purchase.
Cost: Well, this is going to cost you. It is a 45-dollar book; I got on eBay for $38 with Priority Mail shipping. I believe the only place you can buy this is David Regal's site, as from what I have heard, it is out of print.
Overview: This is a hardcover, 253 page book full of 72 powerful magic tricks and several essays with the tricks as examples of what he means in the essays. It has a forward by Max Maven and Ken Krenzel, who both agree that this is one of the best magic books ever written, and is the highest quality that a book can be.
Appearance: It is about the size and weight of a full size high school textbook, and it comes with a really shiny dust jacket. When you remove the dust jacket, it still looks really nice with an almost canvas material as the cover with golden lettering. The pages are a very glossy material with easy to read font. Everything is laid out well, and this is just the outside of the book!
Teacher: It is David Regal! The stuff that he puts out is always top notch and he is extremely funny, even in the writing! I agree with what Max Maven said after reading this book, "This stuff is so clever, it's criminal!” David Regal is one of magic’s greatest thinkers.
Lets get on with the tricks! Here I shall post small reviews of each trick and post ratings, one to five. Of course, the system is...
1: Horrid.
2: Bad.
3: O.K.
4: Good.
5: Great.
You ready? Prepare for a very long read.
The first section is Cards. Needless to say, it has, nothing but cards!
All's Fair: Well, this is a mentalist effect with cards. The handling is very complicated, but the trick is very good. Basically a spectator is turned into the magician when predicting the cards that you have put in your pocket.
It takes a lot of practice, but I think that it would be well worth it. 4.0
No Mercy All's Fair: A better version of the above trick, but it requires set up. The spectator predicts a card, and when a deck is brought out of your pocket, it contains only duplicates of that card. This is clever, but I may never perform it because I would like to not buy that many forcing packs. 4.0
Leap of Faith: This is really, really practical as it requires nothing more than a deck of cards and no setup. A card disappears from one packet to very visually appear in another. I have a really hard time performing this though, because I am not that good at the cop that he specifies here. The effect is extremely visual and worth the practice you will put into it. 4.5
Commercial Travel: A version of Open Travelers. Except for the handling looking better (In my opinion) but way more complicated, there really is no difference. He even said in the Effect part of this trick, "Larry Jenning's Open Travelers is a classic of magic. It possesses a beautiful symmetry and does not need any additions to make it better. This trick, therefore, is not an improvement on that effect, but an altered effect that you may find fits the bill on occasion." There is a way he says to do this without setup and it is just as good. 4.0
Clandestine Collections: From what I have heard, this is on "Premise, Power, and Participation." which is David's four-volume DVD set. It is really clever (I keep using that word) and you will smile when you read the method. Or at least, I did. 4.0
Inclination: This is a really easy routine. No setup, no gaffs, just a plain pack of cards and an amazing display of magic. I am definitely going to use this. The cards appear where the aren't supposed to after just being moved and the patter for this is brilliant. 4.8
The Luck Test: A poker hand is put into the middle, face up. When the deck is spread, it is a royal flush! This is a cool trick, but I don't really like what is necessary. If you can do this and will put in the time and effort, do it. It will be rewarding. I personally can't pull this off. 3.5
Romeo and Juliet: An impromptu effect with a great story. As far as the trick goes, presentation is what makes this 3-phase two-card transposition really great. 4.0
Over and Out: A really powerful sandwich effect with a very unique principal; the jacks penetrate the center of the deck to grab a spectator’s card. Fairly simple and a trick I will perform. 4.0
The Isolated Force: A really great force in which the back is never seen and this cannot be fairer. 4.9
Ten Second Poker: A very weird method for a really cool trick. It has many virtues where the spectator shuffles and deals HIMSELF a royal flush in spades. This is cool, and after reading it I came up with a poker demonstration that there should be a video of soon. 4.5
The Wrong Ones: David Regal is a master of not over proving anything. This routine is a color changing deck, which is really cool but I think I will stick with Blindsighted By A Red Hot Mama. 4.0
Sending It Through: A trick that I had been toying around with the method of years before I got this book. He has come up with a really nice way of doing this and, I think, it cannot be improved. 4.3
Clean Cut: A cutting the aces routine, a lot like the one he performed on the Magician's Special of Celebracadabra. The method is, once again, super clever and has some really great qualities about it. 4.0
For Marlo: This is the trick he came up with years ago right before he went to lunch with Ed Marlo. It is a simple traveling card, but apparently it fooled Marlo, so... 4.0
Primate: Another sandwich effect, which also has a unique thing about it. I think that it is really powerful and apparently was based on Bill Goldman's "Monkey in the Middle". 4.0
Swindle Transpo: A signed red backed card sealed in an envelope unseals itself to appear in another sealed envelope with only blue backed cards. Another packet trick with a great, yet again, method and presentation. 4.0
John Hancock: This trick reminds me of Jay Sankey’s Forgery, where in this case it is a signature jumps from card to card. I think I will stick with Forgery, but I might try this on occasion. 3.5
The Joker Works Overtime: This is a fusion of Red Hot Mama and Color Quickie in which you make the joker find and transform into two selected cards. A trick with 4 climaxes that is easy to do like this one is worth looking into. 4.0
Mental Transpo: Card Transpositions. Will they ever stop? Anyway, really easy and pretty visual. I think I shall use this at one point or another. 4.0
There And Back: Everyone knows this routine, where a ring with a glass on top magically moves over to another glass on the same table. It is really, really magical and the method will, if not anything else in this book, make you smile. This is probably the cleverest thing I have ever seen. (I am getting tired of that word too, but it is the only one to describe this!) It is easy to perform, gets great reactions and it is impossible to get caught! 4.7
Got A Light?: This was on P,P, and P and it is an animated matchbox routine. It can be examined before and directly after, so this is, in credibility, better than any others I have seen. 3.5
Business Relocation: A business card transposition with a gimmick not unlike that of that money transposition Jay Noblezada has had here as an instant download for years of which the name escapes me. I love this routine, and as soon as my business cards are printed, this is going to be a performance standard of my routine. 4.5
Ace In The Hole: An ace is visually pulled out of a hole, then tossed back in, then it vanishes and then pulled out again where as it shrinks. Toss it back in, and guess what, it grows! This isn’t bad, but it isn’t great, so… It has way, way to much setup and is kinda hard to keep track of. 3.5
Fool Em’ If You Got Em’: I love this routine, and would perform it if you could do it without smoking. Essentially this is a deck switch, without a deck, and the switch is the routine. It has a definite appeal, and if you smoked, would be very practical. 3.5
Spot Remover: Regal variation on the Sack Dice Routine. This is way more visual than Sack’s (Sack’s was extremely visual, just not as visual) but it is almost a cop out. Doing the paddle move just to pretend you are picking off the spots? 3.5
Letter Perfect: An alphabet deck. When do you play around with one of these? It is a great concept however, being that the spectator mixes them face up and face down, and all the face down ones are his or her name. This isn’t always practical, but when it is, it kills. 4.0
My Best Friend: A chop cup ending which is great, but you must have a duplicate cup and spend a good 10 bucks at a pet store. 4.0
The Half Deal: This routine is clever. It really reminds me of the Crystal Card routines that came in this month’s issue of Genii, which are also great, but this is where the face of a card is dealt off. It is super visual and really practical. 4.5
Pointing The Way: I don’t really like this routine. It makes little sense, but it will fool people. Not my performing style either. 3.0
Mystic Poker: Seems like a Sankey trick. It does. A spectator takes a blank card out of 5 and draws a card in a Royal Flush. Well, when the other cards are looked at, they now have drawings of the remaining cards to make up the flush. 4.5
