Joe Karson's writings cover the whole spectrum of magic, from cards and mentalism to stage illusions and everything in between. Karson was very creative and prolific. Although most readers will be interested in the secrets contained here, this compilation of his publications also serves another purpose. By bringing the material to the attention of modern magicians they become documentation of the credit due to Karson for his creations. Most magicians are aware that the Zombie Floating Ball is Karson's invention. However, there are other effects that Karson created but somehow, over the years, his name has become disassociated with the effects. For instance, in Karson's 1943 booklet, Illusion Magic, the reader will find "The Rubberneck Illusion." This is more commonly known today as the Head Twister, and it is a staple of modern comedy magic acts. But seldom is Karson's name associated with this effect and probably very few of the performers who present the trick have any idea that it was invented by the same man that gave us Zombie.
Karson was also a very entertaining and funny performer (he often stole the show when he performed at magic conventions in the 1940's). And although most of his trick writeups don't include too much in the way of scripting, there is one notable exception. In 1948 he published The World's Fastest Card Trick (also available as individual ebook). This little booklet gives the complete details for performing one of Karson's signature effects. Although it is pretty much just a framework for a simple card revelation, the booklet includes all the nuances and scripting Karson used to turn this simple card trick into a comedy blockbuster. This trick alone could be "worth the price of admission" to a comedy performer.
You can now own all of Joe Karson's publications on one disc. The ebook is organized into three main sections: books, magazine and instruction sheets. (See below in Table of Contents a list of all publications.)
1st edition 2006, 268 pages.
- The Books
- Chan Lin Chinese Magic Mystery Series
- Complete Club Act
- Complete Mental Club Act
- Famous Magic Release No. 1
- Famous Magic Release No. 2
- Hypnotricks (first edition)
- Hypnotricks (second edition)
- Illusion Magic (first edition)
- Illusion Magic (second edition)
- Karson's Rope Thru Body
- Magic A La Mode
- Mentalia Superba
- Miniature Mysteries
- On the House
- Sensational Poison Swallowing Act
- The World's Fastest Card Trick
- Tips on Zombie
- Trix with Round Cards
- The Magazine
- No. 1
- No. 2
- No. 3
- No. 4
- No. 5
- No. 6
- The Instruction Sheets
- Allay Oop
- Hand Thru Body Illusion
- Crystal Card Rise
- Karson's 50-50 Rope Miracle
- Karson's Flash
- Karson's Jewel of a Case
- Karson's Magic Milk Can
- Karson's Oriental Butterfly
- Karson's Rice Trick
- Karson's Rubberneck Illusion
- Karson's Servette
- Karson's Tray and Eggs
- Karson's Triple Triumph
- Karson's 20th Century Suspension
- Karson's X-Change-O
- Phantasia
- Poker Chip Monte
- Strange Interlude
- Voodoo
word count: 78625 which is equivalent to 314 standard pages of text
