Magic & Mentalism: page 28

As previously recounted, I've been making notes and sticking Post-its in all my books for decades, so I still have hundreds of great tricks book-marked, annotated, and logged. The first two Hidden Gems ebooks proved far more popular than I could have reasonably expected, so here we are with Volume 3 and another 100 great tricks that most of us have sadly forgotten about.

These are tricks that define the very concept of 'hidden in print'. In each entry, I list the trick, where you can find it, why I love it and why you should look it up. I always describe the effect, occasionally the presentation,...

More excerpts from my notebooks, listing fantastic tricks that have caught my eye over the years. The first three Hidden Gems ebooks have been very, very popular so here we are with Volume 4.

These are tricks that define the very concept of 'hidden in print'. In each entry, I list the trick, where you can find it, why I love it and why you should look it up. I always describe the effect, occasionally the presentation, but never the method. Most are in books that you already own (or should!), some are in magazines that you can easily get access to and the odd one or two entries will send...

More excerpts from my notebooks, listing fabulous tricks that have caught my eye over the years. The first four Hidden Gems ebooks have been incredibly popular so here we are with Volume 5.

These are tricks that define the very concept of 'hidden in print'. In each entry, I list the trick, where you can find it, why I love it and why you should look it up. I always describe the effect, occasionally the presentation, but never the method. Most are in books that you already own (or should!), some are in magazines that you can easily get access to and the odd one or two entries will send you...

Highlight Magic contains top flight routines for close-up, parlor, and stage. While not every effect requires some knowledge of sleights, some require mid-level skill. Nelson Hahne did the pen and ink illustrations, and as usual, his work is top notch, too.

Contents

• Foreword.
• From the Publisher. Introductory comments from John Snyder, Jr., magic dealer and past president of the IBM.
• THE SPIRIT OF THE COBRA. Three cards selected and returned to deck are tossed into a lidless box. Patter about a Cobra and a card peeps over the edge of the box and rises. Other cards are seen to be surprisingly...

Excerpt from the foreword by Duncan Fletcher:

The magic of India comes to life in Dr. Carrington's colorful look at the fables, feats, and magic of the mystical fakirs of India.

You'll learn the inner workings of the Basket of Death, Mango Seed to Tree, Buried Alive illusion, Flying Rabbit, the Dry Sands Trick, the Beans and Scorpion Trick, Snake Charming, and more.

Want to add something different to your act? Perhaps one of your primary assistants can adopt the role of a Hindu fakir and present one or two of these effects as an added attraction in your existing magic or hypnosis show.

For magic historians, Carrington provides...

This book includes detailed work on the "Cups and Balls," and the first version of the "Stack of Pence" (i.e., "Stack of Quarters"). It is probably the first English book written from the viewpoint of a performing magician. Any serious magician should read this book, not to learn a lot of new tricks, but to realize how much has been known for a long time. This book is part of our history. I understand that $60 or more for a paper reprint is hard to justify, but now for a few bucks there should be no excuse to not read this wonderful little treasure.

1st edition, 1634; 52 pages.

3. The Epistle...

• Foreword
• Bennett's Silken Sorcery Routine
• Perfected Silk Production
• Take Five
• Eight Ball Routine

1st edition 1978, 80 pages; 1st digital edition 56 pages.

"It is a great, great read, especially your recounting of how Mr. Lawstone substituted workshop sheets for the actual apparatus." - Christopher Kenworthey

Inside his catalog he included three free tricks that you could try on your friends. These were decent tricks and were some of the first tricks I ever did. They have been re-written and included in this release. His...

Containing a complete description of the mysteries of magic and sleight of hand, together with many wonderful experiments.

Excerpt from the introduction:

• Card Tricks And Magic
  • Useful Rules To Follow
• Tricks With Cards
  • To Call For Any Card In The Pack
  • To Make Another Person Draw The Cards You Call For
  • To Name The Cards Of A Pack Concealed Under A Handkerchief
  • To Call The Cards Out Of The Pack
  • A New Method To Name All The Cards In Succession Without Seeing Them
  • To Discern One Or More Drawn Cards
  • The Knaves And The Constable
  • To Show A Card Now On The Top, And Now At The Bottom Of The Pack
  • The Same Trick In Another Manner
  • The Same Trick In A Still More Surprising Manner
  • The Double Confederates
  • The Card In The Pocketbook
  • Of...

A classic effect from the early days of magic catalogs. An effect that every kid wanted to order so he could impress his friends. Ads for this trick appeared in early Boy's Life and in comic books. It's an effect that is still effective today but is almost forgotten.

It is a little known secret that is even being used by some rock bands today to make their eyes flash during concerts.

Here is the ad copy from an early Vick Lawston magic catalog.

When David Devlin was in high school he never had a job. Not a summer job, not a part-time job, no nothin'. All of his friends did, but not David. That is not to say that he never had money. He always had plenty of cash in his wallet. He never stole money. He earned it. But how can this be if David did not have a job of any kind? The fact is that he scammed and hustled it from the friends who had jobs.

If you love scams, hustles, cons, bar betchyas, flim-flam, stings, snow jobs, bamboozles, chicanery, shams, fixes, baloney, and other dirty tricks then this book is for YOU!

In this eBook,...

If you love scams, hustles, cons, bar betchyas, flim-flam, stings, snow jobs, bamboozles, chicanery, shams, fixes, baloney, and other dirty tricks then this ebook is for YOU!

In this follow-up to his popular eBook How to Sell Bridges, David Devlin teaches the finer points of some of the many scams and hustles that have made him a lot of money. He also discusses some of the more elaborate cons that have been used throughout history and the cons who pulled them off. Also discussed are cons used today including selling ridiculous products, phony business "opportunities", scamming major corporations out of thousands...

A selection of close-up routines.

Excerpt from the introduction:

• Introduction
• Gamblers Secrets
• The Poor Man’s Rainbow
• Way Out
• Jazz Cards
• Chopped Cards Through Table
• Copper And Silver Plus
• Magician Gets his Wish
• Tall Fat Lady
• Nu Way Coins Across
• Impossible Prediction
• E Zee Center Tear
• Meet Junior...

A forgotten trick from the past that was first invented by Howard Thurston and used in his big show. The effect is that the magician invites up a boy from the audience and without touching the boy, he gestures toward the boy and the boy's hair stands on its end running from the front to back the back of his head, like a magical ripple. The hair falls down back to normal.

The magician raises his hand and the boy's hair once again stands on its end to the amazement of the audience. The magician quickly drops his hand and the boy's hair once again falls down, being normal again. The boy can then be used in...

A magician stands before the crowd. He borrows a dollar bill from a spectator. The bill is given to another spectator, who is working as the security guard for this trick. The pseudo-security guard records the serial number from the bill onto a large dry erase board so everyone can experience the magic to come. A third spectator is given a paper bag and a knife.

The magician then asks for the bill to be placed inside of a small dish. The bill is dowsed with lighter fluid and then ignited with a barbecue lighter. The bill bursts into flames and eventually settles into a burned mess of ashes. ...

In the pages of this booklet Billy goes fully through the great material which earned him such a tremendous ovation at the Supreme 2nd Magical Weekend.

Contents include:

• The True Secret of Magic - Introduction.
• Cut & Gone Rope (a rope is cut and then disappears).
• The Williamised Spider
• Torn and Restored Airmail Letter. Simple; Amusing; complete with all the patter, this was one of the hits of the lecture. It could be a hit in your show.
• Eye-level, One-Man Card Vanish (crazy trick, yet absolutely baffling)
• A Variation on a Theme - A rope and a ring. The audience are let in on the secret,...

• 50 Cent Drinks
• Beer Bottle Mover
• Bottle Cap Trick
• Match Box 40
• Change Game
• NIM
• Date On A Coin
• Dime Wine
• Eleven Makes Nine
• Heads I Win
• Just Lie to Me
• Just Stand Up
• Lift Your Foot
• Light a Used Match
• Mirror Mirror
• No “A” In Free Drinks…
• Odds Win
• Olympic Cap Thrower
• Pick Up The Bill
• Psychic Mathematician
• Ready for a Shot Sobriety Test
• Shot Smart
• Snifter control
• The Coin Pyramid
• Time Is Definitely Money
• Walk Through the Business Card
• Word Einstein
• World’s Fastest Drinker
• Match Toss
• Bonus Bet

1st edition 2020, PDF 25 pages.

Adair has always been a prolific creator of magical effects. Several stage magic and card magic effects are explained with beautiful illustrations. Some of the effects you will find explained are:

SEE - THROUGH FOLDER
This is a quick appearance of four silks in a simple folder. The silks appear visibly and are seen through a window in the folder.

SILKEN BUTTERFLY
A pretty conceit with a plaque, showing a picture of a butterfly and with four cut-out holes on the butterfly wings. Coloured silks represent the colours on the butterfly, they are removed, placed into a beaker from which they...

Excerpt from the introduction by Kevin James:

This is a magnificent magic ebook. Some put it among the top 10 or even the top 3 magic books ever written. It was translated by Barrows Mussey, of Amateur Magician's Handbook fame, from the German original Das Wunderbuch der Zauberkunst. It has many photos and beautiful illustrations and covers all disciplines of magic.

With an introduction by Fulton Oursler and an unpublished chapter by Harry Kellar.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Magic with a variety of objects including silks, thimbles, rope, candles, match boxes, and others.

• A Handkerchief Vanish
• Knot Monte
• A Pencil Penetration
• A Billiard Ball Penetration
• A "Catch" Handkerchief Effect
• A Slate Idea
• One Hand Thimble Production
• Mystic Candle Lighting
• Match Box And Pencil
• Match Divination
• The Selected Band Jumps
• Ring And Rope Ideas No. 1
• Ring And Rope Ideas No. 2
• Ring And Rope Ideas No. 3
• Rod And Strings
• Magic Magnification
• Cut And Restored Ribbon
• Cigarette Monte
• New Rising Match
• The Name Speller
• Hypnotic Tape
• Conjuring Booklets By Tom Sellers ...

Cards, coins, ropes, and rings.

From Lothar Malmberg's introduction:

• Introduction
• Turn Over Revelation: Two selected cards are revealed in a spectacular way!
• Boom-Boomer!
• Twice Cato: Two cards are...