Reviews: Read What Others Are Saying
174 ★★★★★ reviews
121 ★★★★★ reviews
78 ★★★★★ reviews
124 ★★★★★ reviews
Ted Lesley's Working Performer's Marked Deck Manual
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Elijah Williams (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 06 September, 2024)
Let me start by saying how overwhelmed I feel trying to tell others about this system without exposure. I'll just say the following:
We are all SO blessed that Chris (whom I've never met) would go to great lengths to allow us to have access to something truly special AND making it affordable. I'll never forget how big an explosion went off at the Magic Castle when this became available. The ability to mark ANY card or .... well. I'll just say the product you will receive will allow you so many decks to make and the way you want them. Lastly, do yourself a favor and buy the booklet too. You'll be glad you did.
The Sphinx Index
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Nathaniel Thedford
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 01 September, 2024)
This is absolutely amazing to me. Just reading the index of this collection is flabbergasting. I have just purchased this, however, from the reading journey that brought me here and the sources they all came from, I know I made a good investment. I gave up Magic as a young boy and never picked it back up. It took me another 37 years to realize just how "magical" that life really is.
All my thanks definitely go to all of the staff at Lybrary.com who put this together to make it available online.
Abracadabra!
Enchanted Ball Manipulation
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gregg Webb (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 27 August, 2024)
Billiard balls has been my favorite part of magic. I haven't had a new book in a while and this one is great. I know the name James Swoger. The book has a good cross-section of techniques and effects and I like the use of the pockets - a ball penetrates the trousers, etc., and ends up in the pocket because as you bring the one out, you can palm out more to get ahead in your routine. Color changes, vanishes, multiplications, a multiplying routine and a gold ball routine and more. You can't go wrong.
TCF: Tarot Counting Feint
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Yukishige Kadoya (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 25 August, 2024)
All of Bob's booklets are well worth studying for any serious magicians. His Blank Jack is an outstanding Worker. There are other excellent routines hidden in there as well. This book and TCF: The Counting Feint must be read together. At $15 for the two books, they are a bargain! Highly recommended.
Corner of Piccadilly
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Peter Bernard (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 23 August, 2024)
Easy to learn and loads of fun. I got wide eyes and a “wtf” look from my teenage grandson. 10/10
Magician's DIY Tips and Tricks
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by FRANK ANDREWS (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 19 August, 2024)
I didn't think I'd find anything new here, but just two tips in this terse, useful booklet saved me $100 almost immediately. Recommended!
Shuffled Not Bored
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Cal Horelick (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 16 August, 2024)
Don't waste your time. I purchased this and it was a waste of time and money. I had in my files Aldo Columbini's predect-a-bility and it is 100 times better than this. This was very very boring and Aldo's version was way more fun. You can thank me later. Cal Horelick calg52@gmail.com
Bammo Crambazzled Dossier
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Lou Lepore (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 15 August, 2024)
Great stuff. Worker material
The Systematic Seer
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christopher M. Reynolds (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 13 August, 2024)
I live in California, where the recreational use of marijuana is legal. I smoke a lot of pot - vast, Cheech & Chong-level amounts of pot. With that said, my memory isn't what it used to be. I can barely remember the last sentence I wrote. Thank goodness for Ken de Courcy.
Genius often lies in the simplicity of great art. The secret method behind Ken de Courcy's "The Systematic Seer" is simple, almost to the point of being insulting. It's as easy as remembering a phone number, and that's no hyperbole.
It's not a magic trick but a complete method of stress-free divination for those new to the art or easily tongue-tied while attempting to spout some silver-tongued psychic rhetoric.
When I first learned the secret method, I felt cheated out of my seven dollars. But it was only jealousy. I was mad that I hadn't thought of it myself.
The Systematic Seer was released in 1976. Since then, other writers and performers (like The Deceptionary's Doug Dyment) have taken de Courcy's idea and expanded on it. But the original suits me fine.
After a few hours of memorization, I put it into practice.
Sometimes, I read palms on my lunch break at work. Making up bullshit off the top of your head every day can be exhausting. Using the Systematic Seer method, I could give instant readings to people after learning only their first names.
Like I said, once you learn the secret, you'll hate yourself for buying it. But the results are fantastic if you put the information into practice (like I did).
Whether you're a mentalist, magician, or fortune teller, you'll want to add this to your repertoire. The only prop you need to carry around is your memory.
Buy it. Use it. This works.
Secrets of a Psychic Reader
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Curtis Foster
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 12 August, 2024)
I purchased a physical copy of this from Richard Webster off Doug Dyment’s Deceptionary.com years ago for $35. Charles Garner was my little secret for a long time but I guess the jig is up and people recognize him (whoever he really is) as someone with some very important things to say to certain types of people (i.e. people like us). I won't mention any of the many gems I picked up from him in his books; you’ll have to mine them out of his two books like I did. Regardless, a lot of who I am (my persona), what I do, and my goals are what they are because of what I learned from Charles Garner. With some material so good, the less said the better… and I’ve already said too much.
Ageless Artifices
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by John Kauth (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 08 August, 2024)
These are more novelties than tricks. They are best suited as casual conversation starters in a bar or around a dinner table. You have probably seen all of them at one time or another. With that in mind, since you receive printable versions of all the tricks, this is much better value than purchasing the separately pre-made ones. I have seen these on magic websites for $3 to $5 each. I like stuff like this because they can be adapted into new and more complex tricks with some imagination.
Chris Wasshuber runs a wonderful website with tons of useful information. In his review guidelines, he suggests leaving some brief bio information in the magic reviews. I am 76 years old. Five years ago, a cruise ship had a magic show. I purchased his promotional kit with a few tricks. The magic bug bit hard. I now own the Tarbell books, 13 Steps to Mentalism, and many, many books and videos on Magic and Mentalism, which I have studied. I lean toward Mentalism as a fancy sleight of hand is difficult with arthritis. I mainly do thirty-minute shows for senior citizens living in my area.
Menta Color
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by John Kauth (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 08 August, 2024)
This is probably one of the better bargains on Lybrary.com. It beautifully illustrates a mathematical principle that I have seen used in other tricks. You will recognize the name when you see it. When this method is embedded in more complex tricks, it can be not easy to follow and understand. As a stand-alone trick, this is not amazing. As a teaching method for mathematical principles, it is outstanding. Lots of possibilities to invent new tricks based on this using photos or symbols.
Chris Wasshuber runs a wonderful website with tons of useful information. In his review guidelines, he suggests leaving some brief bio information in the magic reviews. I am 76 years old. Five years ago, a cruise ship had a magic show. I purchased his promotional kit with a few tricks. The magic bug bit hard. I now own the Tarbell books, 13 Steps to Mentalism, and many, many books and videos on Magic and Mentalism, which I have studied. I lean toward Mentalism as a fancy sleight of hand is difficult with arthritis. I mainly do thirty-minute shows for senior citizens living in my area.
Incredo Book Test
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by John Kauth (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 08 August, 2024)
This book test introduces a simple, clever method I have never seen before. You may groan at the method as it is so simple, but it is worth the price. The description is accurate: Any book can be used, but shorter books are best. There are no duplicate books with switched covers or the usual methods of forcing a page. There is no force. With a slight caveat described in the method, any page can be chosen. In 1958, this booklet sold for $10, so it is quite a bargain today.
Chris Wasshuber runs a wonderful website with tons of useful information. In his review guidelines, he suggests leaving some brief bio information in the magic reviews. I am 76 years old. Five years ago, a cruise ship had a magic show. I purchased his promotional kit with a few tricks. The magic bug bit hard. I now own the Tarbell books, 13 Steps to Mentalism, and many, many books and videos on Magic and Mentalism, which I have studied. I lean toward Mentalism as a fancy sleight of hand is difficult with arthritis. I mainly do thirty-minute shows for senior citizens living in my area.
Number 5
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Marc Rehula (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 07 August, 2024)
This is a surprisingly adaptable little, uh, thing? It can be a magic trick, it can be a numerological reading, it can lead to a Tarot reading, it can be all of them. Whatever you want. I'm a fan of Raj Madhok's Life Force Triangle (originally from Syzygy), but now in the 21st century, it's trickier to use (see John Carey's update of the effect). Number 5 can serve a similar function as an opener, and has even more potential to initiate a conversation that can help you to move to other magic or other readings.
Expert Card Technique
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Matthew Shannon (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 04 August, 2024)
The PDF file arrived within about 10 minutes! Very satisfied vs twice the price on Amazon. Thank you for the solid service.
Cut and Restored Balloon
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Joe Libby (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 03 August, 2024)
This is one of those obscure tricks that's a real gem. The balloon restoring itself when you blow it up is very visual and should surprise your audience. The gimmicked balloon is pretty easy to make. If you are looking for something different in balloon magic tricks, you may want to consider this one. Recommended.
Autobend Silverware
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Joe Libby
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 03 August, 2024)
Devin used to make and sell this very visual effect. But this ebook has very clear directions so you can make your own autobend spoon (or fork) for a few dollars. The effect will take a little practice, but it is not difficult, and Devin includes a lot of information on handling and presentation. Thanks to the phenomenon Uri Geller created, people expect magicians and mentalists to bend spoons, so this should play well in all kinds of venues. Highly recommended.
Double Impossible Prediction
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Ben Williams (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 28 July, 2024)
Wow! This card trick is absolutely incredible. I love the thinking and combining of card principles. Using the spectator deck to produce a miracle is thrilling. The magician makes two predictions (no switches), and then the spectator shuffles the deck. It seems impossible, yet it's easily achievable. I've performed this five times and astonished everyone, including a seasoned gambler and cardman. This has become one of my go-to tricks.
The Pitchman's Svengali Routine
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Dana Perkins (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 24 July, 2024)
I've seen and read different Svengali deck pitches performed, and what I like about this one is that while it shows a variety of different tricks that can be done with the deck, it never reveals how the deck actually works. Yet the words and the handling steadily move the spectators in the direction of "I need to buy one of these decks!"
The Little Green Lecture
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Ridgely Hunt (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 23 July, 2024)
I bought this for just one thing: Clocking the Deck. Obviously, there is way more here. Glad I have it.
Flea Circus
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Louis Lepore (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 22 July, 2024)
There are better ones on the market.
Crazy 8, Crazy Cash
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Louis Lepore (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 22 July, 2024)
Great stuff as always.
A Very Great Deal
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by hal barlow (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 18 July, 2024)
The method and effect are good, but nothing new. It is the presentation and funny tag lines that make this a five-star. You will actually want to perform this just as it is written. It is not hard to do, and very entertaining.
Across the Bridge
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Bastian Meitner (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 15 July, 2024)
I really like this trick, the principle does most of the work and you can focus on the presentation. I say "most" of the work because you'll have to get used to it...
Only downside is that you need a bit of space on the table.
The Gimmick MagiZette: Volume 4, Issue 2 (Oct - Dec 2014)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Chet Cox (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 15 July, 2024)
Solyl and I are friends, separated by an ocean and a common disrespectful relationship with the English language. I doubt this would prejudice my opinion of the Gimmicks MagiZette.
This review is applicable to almost every issue of the MagiZette, as the quality, education level, and entertainment levels are of consistently high value, lessened perhaps by my inability to provide a column on a punctual, consistent basis. Blame a nomadic lifestyle, which has only recently settled.
Besides the columns that review magicians and their magic, various magic “tricks” of good quality and fairly simple skill, there are the occasional and clever comic panels and interviews. Where the Gimmick MagiZette truly shines, is with the priceless background and history of one of the birthplaces of our crafty art/artful craft. It would be a great benefit to see these articles bound into a compilation of the origins of effects and styles of the wizard’s craft, which includes some very important, yet little-known biographical stories and interviews of giants of magic. —- All this for only two bucks an issue makes Solyl’s magazine a bargain and a historical treasure! Highly recommended for those winter reading hours!
The Ultimate Magic Square (King of Hearts)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Alexander Shulyatsky (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 15 July, 2024)
This is a very clever trick!
Magic with Faucett Ross
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by David Nethery (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 10 July, 2024)
The content of this book gets FIVE STARS. It's a great, classic book, full of practical material and some interesting historical tidbits about famous magicians who Faucett Ross befriended and rubbed elbows with (Dai Vernon, T. Nelson Downs, etc.)
I would probably rate this edition lower in terms of the quality of the photos in the e-book edition. I had this book for many years in hard copy form, the original book as published by Supreme Magic Co. (alas, I no longer have that hard copy, but am seeking out another) and I remember the quality of the photos being much better. The original book's photos were not exactly high-resolution photos by modern standards, but pretty good. The scanned photos in this e-book look harsh and low-resolution. It's difficult in some of the scanned photos to tell what it is you're supposed to be seeing. I know because I had the book at one time, but for someone seeing this book the first time in e-book form they may find some of the photos difficult to understand.
Aside from that I would highly recommend this book.
Dieversion
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Ray Jack (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 08 July, 2024)
Pollyanna is a new thing I discovered after I read this pdf. Very nice presentational hook. I especially enjoy performing Wax Novelist and Conjured Tomb - they create a big impact with almost nothing - all you need is a single die, either with you or with your participant, in person or online. This is top level thinking. The card reveal in the 3rd routine is real cool. The routines using colors and planets are a great combo of simplicity and impact - all using a single die. And the acaan idea using just the single die and a deck of cards looks good, although I am yet to try it out. Overall a great set of routines using just a single die.
Balloon Detective
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Joe Libby (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 06 July, 2024)
I bought the physical version of this effect when it was first released. Then I sold it not too long after. What was I thinking? Now I've rectified that by buying this ebook.
This is a great mentalism effect for kids (and adults). If you do advanced balloon sculptures, you can use these balloon menu cards and the instructions as a model for making your own unique set. You can even use this effect if you don't do balloons at all.
The personality reading effect Devin describes is a good use for these menu cards too.
TCF: The Counting Feint
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Yukishige Kadoya (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 03 July, 2024)
While the first edition was very informative, including historical credits, this revised edition is even better. "Capehart Countdown" and "EL PREDICTO MYSTERIOSO" alone are worth more than the price of this book. The list price of $10.00 is a perfect bargain. If you want to learn about self-working masterpieces with cards, this book is for you.
Bammo Mojo Vudu
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Rafael Moral (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 29 June, 2024)
I absolutely love this effect! It is very ingenious and simple, however, it opens up a lot of room for actual presentation. Bob Farmer also provides a brilliant idea for patter and using a clever story to provide a reason for every part of the trick. Thanks Bob, for sharing this gem!
Your Secret Weapon: The Corner Short Card
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christian Mach (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 28 June, 2024)
This eBook is clear, well-written and includes well-chosen photographs.
The technical part is complete and suitable for beginners. I did not find any routines that I will do. One star less because the price is too high for a subject already dealt with several times otherwise.
The Gambling Magician
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Dan Sherer (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 25 June, 2024)
It's mostly fine, though it's not really an act per se, (the first section is a "Card Shark Routine" which I assumed was meant to be a full act, but I suppose that I may have made an assumption). The explanations are at times incomplete (I don't understand how the second trick in the routine is meant to work). I do wish that more of the book was workable with a standard and unprepared deck, but there are some decent tricks and gags in there. Ok for the price, but if you want to do what seems to be the main draw of the book (a gambling expose-style act), there's better material out there.
Your Secret Weapon: The Corner Short Card
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Ben Williams (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 24 June, 2024)
I knew a little about corner short cards but didn't realize just how much of a game-changer they could be. This eBook breaks it all down - the two types of corner short cards, how to locate them in the deck, and even how to make 'em, which turns out, is super simple. Follow what's in this book, and I swear your card magic will be taken to the next level. You will always have a secret weapon in your deck that you can use anytime to create miracles. The photos are top notch. They really help you understand what the author is saying. If you're into card magic like me, you gotta get this eBook.
Free Will Switch
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gregg Webb (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 24 June, 2024)
The first person I saw use everyday objects for this was Charles Reynolds, Doug Henning's consultant. Not the dealer item, which used wooden discs with symbols which were marked adding an extra layer of deception. I also heard that it was in Greater Magic. Anyway, this version has a clever handling which favors which item gets left behind during the first choices, and some interesting switches at the end where the spectator can exchange the positions of various items.
I have written about this trick several times in my newsletters, but this one is not a bad way to learn the trick. I even came up with a stage version called Freed Will which uses 3 young ladies and a chair and a spectator does the choosing and holds the prediction about who will sit in the chair and who will hold your hand and who will hold the spectator's hand. The chair takes the place of a little box used in Charles Reynolds' version.
I think the objects used are open to more variation. Charles used a little ivory skull, a die, and an unusual old and foreign coin. Why not learn this trick, but feel free to experiment with various items.
The Exception
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Darren Purshall
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 14 June, 2024)
I want to preface this by saying that this routine was taught to me by the creator. So, while I did not purchase it, I am in possession of the method. The creator provided me with a review copy.
And it most definitely is the “The Exception.” This trick fooled me so badly. I spent about four weeks on and off trying to crack it, with no avail. When the creator finally taught it to me, I thought to myself, “I’ve never seen anything like it”. Even though part of the method isn’t new, I’ve never seen it used like this before. It’s an exceptionally fooling card trick with lots more potential making it more fooling than it already is. I’ve already added bits myself to make it even stronger and easier to perform for me. The Unnamed Magician is definitely on top of the game with this ingenious gem. So so fooling.
- The best impossible card location I’ve ever seen.
- Great method and a well thought out routine.
- Easy to perform.
- In the PDF you get a second effect and a bonus effect.
- Great Value for the money.
- What more could you ask for?
You will enjoy reading and performing this effect, which will fry the brains of all the onlookers.