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Another great book from Arthur Buckley. He discusses some theoretical aspects of magic and then goes into detailed instructions of moves and routines with coins, cards, and billiard balls. I can highly recommend this book.
1st edition, 1948, Arthur Buckley; original 222 pages; PDF 185 pages.
- CHAPTER ONE
- Photograph of the Author
- Dedication
- Introduction by Theo Bamberg (Okito)
- Foreword by the Author
- The Principles of Magic
- Manipulation
- Substitution
- Duplication
- Camouflage
- Imitation
- False Partition
- Concealed Mechanism
- Falsification
- Arrangement
- Preparation
- Misdirection
- Concealment
- The Entertainment Value
- Showmanship
- Sleight of Hand
- Something New
- Invention
- Talking Acts Versus Silent Acts, and Pantomine
- The Practice of Leaving the Stage Unattended
- Assistants from the Audience
- Fakes and Accessories
- Gimacs
- The Plot
- Timing, Rhythm and Pace
- Footwork
- Presenting the Act in Public
- CHAPTER TWO - Magic with Coins
- Sleeving
- The Muscle Pass with One Silver Dollar
- Chinese Coin Mystery
- A Coin, A Ring and a Handkerchief
- The Bounce Vanish
- The Rear of the Thumb Palm
- The Pencil and the Silver Dollar
- The Turnover Pass With One Coin
- The Pinch Pass With a Single Coin
- A Very Pretty Disappearance
- Allan Shaw's Vanish of a Coin
- Front and Back of Hand Transfer of a Coin
- Three Methods of Producing a Coin
- Downs' Palm (first method)
- Downs' Palm (second method)
- The Vanish of a Coin From the Fold of the Pants Leg
- Second Method
- Third Method
- To Pass Four Coins From Hand to Hand, Through Your Head One At a Time
- The French Drop and the Eye-glass
- The "Roll Down" Production for Four Coins (Buckley Method)
- The Downs "Click Pass" Viewed from a New Angle (improved)
- An Illusive Pass (original)
- The Click Pass and the Table
- The Spread Vanish (Allen Shaw)
- The Color Changing Discs (original)
- A Fine Coin Transfer Pass (by Downs)
- The Throw Away Vanish of Five Coins (original)
- The Appearance of Five Coins One After Another At the Finger Tips (Allan Shaw)
- The Surprise Appearance of a Coin (by Ron Leonard)
- The Magnetic Pass With One Or Several Coins
- Silken Silver (by Frank Cruse)
- Borrowed Money
- John Mulholland's Slide Pass With a Single Coin
- Another Very Effective Production of Five Coins in the Left Hand (original)
- The Lynn Pennies (by Terry Lynn)
- The Steal (my method)
- Passing Several Coins Through the Table At Which You Are Seated
- The French Drop (improved)
- Another Original Five Coin Pass
- The "Miser's Dream"
- Finale To "The Miser's Dream" (by W. J. Alkinson)
- Coin Through Handkerchief (original)
- A Coin Vanish and Reappearance By That Clever Artiste (Carlyle)
- The Steal (by Cardini)
- Twenty-one Cents (by Ross Bertram)
- Coins Pass One By One From the Left Hand to the Right Hand
- The Transfer of a Silver Dollar From One Hand to the Other
- John Platt's Chinese Coin on Pencil Illusion (with permission)
- Five Silver Dollars and a Handkerchief Routine
- An Invisible Journey (improved)
- The Eureka Vanish (by T. Nelson Downs)
- Production of Five Coins One By One At Fingertips and An Original Change Over
- The Thumb Pass With a Silver Dollar
- Split Fans and Coin Production (original)
- A Production of Twenty-four Coins in a Series of Fans, An Original Routine (by John Brown Cook)
- "The Multiple Roll Out" (by John Brown Cook)
- A Phantasy in Silver - A Complete Act with Coins, Fully and Carefully Explained and Illustrated
- A Phantasy in Silver - A Complete Act as it was presented by the Author at the I.B.M. Show, Chicago, on Jan. 17, 1948.
- CHAPTER THREE - Magic with Cards
- Magic With Cards
- Foreword to Chapter Three
- Opening For a Card Act
- A Finish for a Card Act
- The Buckley False Shuffle
- Cards to Pocket, With Ten Cards (with improvements)
- The Count (original)
- The False Count for More
- My Card in Cigarette Illusion (with improvements)
- The Thirty Cards and Two Assistants (with improvements)
- Ten and Ten
- The Vanish of the Last Two Cards in Presenting the Ten Cards to Pocket
- Method of Double Cutting Cards
- The Triple Climax (original)
- An Amazing Card Illusion, Just Think of a Card
- The Crimp (one hand)
- Exchanging a Card in Passing
- The Peek Location
- The Hofzinser Force
- The Slap Shift
- Sighting While Fanning the Cards
- CHAPTER FOUR - Magic With Billiard Balls
- My Original Billiard Ball and Card Harness
- Pointers
- The Production of a Ball From Behind the Left Hand followed by the Take Away Vanish
- A Ball Held in the Finger Palm Position by the Left Hand is Secretly Removed by the Right Hand in Passing
- The Wrist Roll
- The Production of a Ball on the Fist
- Moving the Ball Down from the Fist Position to the First and Second Finger
- The Production of a Ball Between the Middle Fingers from the Palm Without Aid from the Thumb
- The "De'Biere" Production of a Ball
- The Ball Roll from Finger to Finger
- The Ball Roll with Another Ball Concealed in Your Palm
- The Knee Roll Vanish
- The Strike Vanish
- The Wrist Roll and Palm Off Vanish
- Concealing a Ball Behind the Hand While Both Palms Are Shown
- Color Changes (first method)
- (second method)
- (third method)
- (fourth method)
- The Ball and the Handkerchief
- Production of Eight Solid Balls at the Finger Tips Without a Shell
- Concluding Remarks
word count: 67205 which is equivalent to 268 standard pages of text
Reviewed by Gregg Webb
★★★★★ Date Added: Thursday 08 May, 2025I recently read a short review of this great book, and revisited it. I read it several times long ago, but this time through I felt compelled to mention how good it really is. I performed professionally for about 16 years, but on and off many more. Even when not performing, I am involved with writing about the art. The main reason I've taken a new interest is the inclusion of billiard ball magic explained in a wonderful way. While the other items are covered with interesting writings, the work on billiard balls interested me the most because it is probably my favorite branch of magic. While I often mention
Gaultier and
Hull in regard to B. Balls, I must remember to include this book in the group to study if fascinated by this field. The price is surprisingly low in this downloadable version.
Reviewed by jordan Byrd (confirmed purchase)
★★★★★ Date Added: Tuesday 15 April, 2025A classic. Easily worth the purchase. Hidden wonders galore.