If you are planning to add an illusion to your show this is required reading.
Is this ebook for me? Here is David in his own words:
Have you created a show that clients pay you to present on a regular basis and does that show not include any of the big, spectacular acts that we refer to as illusions? Do you want to learn more about these famous mysteries to decide if adding one or more of them to your act is going to be a good decision?
In the mid 1960's I was a high school student who dutifully carried a #16 Abbott's Magic Co. catalog with my class text books and I studied through its mystic pages like a theologian with a Bible. I dreamt of being able to obtain a Girl Without a Middle or the Asrah Levitation. Who could actually afford the most expensive item, the Buzz Saw Illusion? The Abbott's catalog also offered lots of publications, but I couldn't find anything about choosing and performing illusions. No matter your age, if you dream of performing some big act and want some advice, tips and insider information, then this volume is for you. My writing comes from decades of real-life experience. I have spent my life performing magic and illusions for audiences of all sorts and make-ups.
I must emphasize, though, that in my career I am not out to impress other magicians. As I will point out later, fooling magicians is sometimes easy and what impresses other magical artists often leaves a real audience bored and yawning. I make my living in the real world. I'm proud to have appeared professionally in thirty-three states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Europe.
This informative ebook is about selecting, obtaining and performing stage illusions. If you enjoyed David's long-running column in Abbott's The New TOPS Magazine then this is absolutely for you. You'll learn which the best illusions are for first-time illusionists. You'll learn about the various builders and why you may not be able to save any money by building an illusion yourself.
David comments in particular on the Guillotine, Bow Sawing, Chair Suspension, Broom Suspension, Sub Trunk, Zig-Zag, Modern Art, the Doll House, Sword Cabinet, Thin Sawing, Buzz Saw, Hindu Basket, the Aga and Asrah Levitations, the Chests of Mystery, Palanquin, The Modern Cabinet, Tabouret Illusion, Geometrick, The Enchanted Temple, the Temple of Benares and more.
David covers illusions in a 360 view. He addresses taxes, insurance, assistants, ATA cases, shipping illusions for performances, performance notes, illusion costs, dealing with builders and the inevitable corrections to a prop you must always deal with to make the prop really "yours" on stage. Included are also a few controversial topics such as magical ethics, membership in magic clubs and more. Interspersed throughout are "Intermission" features which are timely, instructive and outright funny.
1st edition 2009; 67 pages.
word count: 52771 which is equivalent to 211 standard pages of text
