Reviews of products by Jim Sisti

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Magic Menu volume 5, number 27 (Jan - Feb 1995)

Overall customer rating: ★★★★★

reviewed by Paul Budd (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 26 September, 2026)

Considering the staggering volume of issues spanning The Magic Menu (and overall weight within the canon of magic literature), reviewing a single episode of this publication seems borderline silly. I chose to do so for a few reasons:

1. I think this is roughly the 6th issue of 'The Magic Menu' that I've read front-to-back (maybe not quite that many even). I believe I have spared the world my comments on this publication, but felt inclined to offer them now (Fall 2026 -- eons after Jim stopped publishing this series). I have a smattering of electronic versions AND paper versions of this publication.
2. Overall: I just think magicians alive today need to know what an important thing this publication was. It was good. It was talked about because it was popular.
3. I am moderately certain (within the scope of bar/restaurant magic) this very well might be the absolute first published issue (up to early 1995) in the western hemisphere devoted largely to bizarre magic in a restaurant setting. Yes, that is niche -- but it was special for its time. I am a magic magazine/serial nerd and I've read a lot of written stuff about our art.

So: enough of that blathering. This is a great issue -- full stop. Jim, as he was prone to do, offered bits of sage advice and if heeded, would serve a performer well even 30 years on now! I love the contributions from his guest contributors and one even commented (with minor shock) that he'd would be asked about "bizarre" magic in a restaurant setting. But: he handled his assignment swimmingly. While this is no 300-page work, it belongs in your library, if only for this (arguably) 'First of its kind' nature. Buy it. You'll like it! It's a keeper, through-and-through.

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The Working Professional's Chop Cup

Overall customer rating: ★★★★★

reviewed by Michael Lyth (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 31 January, 2016)

Ex-radio disk jockey turned pro restaurant magician in Connecticut. Jim Sisti has been performing magic for over 25 years. A prolific writer and inventor, his books on magic and magic effects are marketed all over the world. He is also the publisher of The Magic Menu. Are the words on this site telling briefly of Jim which says it all and the routine is very much worth the small cost