Reviews: Read What David Martin Is Saying
What I Learned From Making Way Over 250,000 Fun Balloon Creations
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by David Martin (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 19 August, 2026)
You can't beat this price. I've been a student of magic for 40 years, but three months ago the "latex bug" bit me something fierce and out of the blue. I seem to have a knack for it. Right now, I am practicing and studying all I can on this subject but I do aspire to one day in the very near future to do this for money. I knew absolutely nothing about how to run a small business like this, but with the insight I gained from this, I am no longer filled with questions. In fact, I have more answers than I do questions at the moment. I know with this insight that I can make this a success in my local area.
Even if I don't reach the status that Carl reached in his career, I know it will be a journey with experiencing and an extremely fun, rewarding one also. Everything Carl shares in here is worth your time and attention and his enthusiasm has hyped me up to the point where I'm slowly but surely building a small humble walkaround business. It's great that if I ever have the opportunity to expand to the point Carl did, that I have access to his expert advice in this area also. His experiences he shares in this work are pure gold. The photographs are inspiring. It is my hope that the student gets inspired by this knowledge in a similar vein to me. It's no longer a question of if I will go down this commercial path with balloon twisting. It's just a matter of when. I just want to give this study a little time that it deserves before considering getting paid for it. Right now it's all about trying to add my personality to my existing future menu and building confidence, speed and consistency. I do look forward to the future work and experiences though and that is a blessing. Reading through this book is super quick but it's utterly amazing what you can learn from here and how much it could possibly affect the reader the same it did me.
Also, there's solid advice in here outside of balloon twisting regarding sound equipment and business sense. That alone makes this small investment on here a no brainer.
No designs are taught but you will learn from a true professional how you can turn this passion into revenue. I'm still utterly shocked by the price of this book. Super fun, informative, inspiring and quick read. Highly recommended!
One Balloon Zoo
Overall customer rating:reviewed by David Martin (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 19 August, 2026)
I've been into balloon twisting for around three months now and seem to have a knack for it. Like with my magic study, I started gravitating towards media that can help me hone my skills in this area. Out of all the books I've read thus far, One Balloon Zoo by Jimmy Davis, checked all the boxes for me. The only downside I could say is that the ways of pumps are not covered, since this is a book from an older time, Jim Davis teaches you techniques via mouth inflation. Not a deal breaker by any means. In fact, it's a great skill to learn for a "just in case" situation. It's just a personal choice I've made in my balloon work early on, to not inflate by mouth if I can help it. With Jim's teaching though, I can and might if one of these days I need too.
Jim is a great teacher and I wish this author had more published work to digest. The ad copy says that Jim adds personality to his work and that is absolutely true. Even the basic animal (dog) that you'll learn at the beginning of this book has a special touch in regards to how the finished product looks. In my opinion all the designs are still worthwhile to learn to this day and although I'm not a big fan of the Monkey design in this book, I've found that if you make the body with smaller bubbles, to leave yourself with a big tail that you can curl up, it will satisfy a future request for a monkey. It's a very easy design also.
I think the most difficult thing I learned in this book is the technique to thin your balloon. This technique would actually be more expedient with mouth inflation, but it does translate well with a simple hand pump as well. It can be a pain with a hand pump though, but worth the effort to try and master. The two designs in this book that use this are the Elephant and Aardvark/Anteater. I haven't read another book thus far that teaches this technique and in my opinion this old school knowledge is worth the price of admission. The Elephant presented here has a striking semblance to Disney's Dumbo. It's also got a rustic, charming quality to it (like the other designs presented here). I love the fact that with the thinning technique, I can have a long thin trunk and a big head for my elephant, with ONE bubble. It adds to the design and is just one example of how Jim Davis's personality is evident.
The text is clear and easy to understand. The photographs are excellent and make me wish I could've seen Jim in his prime. The interview at the end of the book is also fascinating. With the exception of the thinning technique, everything in this book is beginner accessible. Basic designs that ooze Jim's personality and showcase his thoughtful expertise are on full display for the passionate student. I had fun making all 12 of these designs and it started my mind racing and thinking about how I could go about personalizing my own work in the future. The big value of this book is learning directly from Jim. It truly is a blessing to learn from him and if you think that these basic designs are below you...you're missing out on valuable knowledge that you can carry over into more complex designs in the future.
I just found out also, through a little research that this is book one of a trilogy! I have the other parts of the trilogy coming in direct from Magic Inc. and I'm excited to continue expanding my One Balloon Zoo toolbox! Unfortunately, this is the only Jim Davis book in the trilogy. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in balloon twisting regardless of skill level. I'm so happy to have discovered Jim Davis and this series. I hope if this review inspires future students to take a gamble on this, that they see what I do in this thin but potent volume. Another quality Magic Inc. publication and there are many!
15 Exciting Minutes with a Borrowed Deck
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by David Martin (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 09 January, 2021)
One thing I've learned studying our craft for the last 33 years is that if you wish to discover something "new" to study, one must look to the past.
I just purchased this gem of a book yesterday and already I am compelled to shout as loud as I can that the title of this book does not lie. I have already slightly tweaked the methods used in a few of these gems and I will also develop my own presentations for these until I'm ready to perform this act from start to finish for family and friends.
I know doing so will provide my audiences with a sense that perhaps there are some things in this universe and life that we aren't meant to comprehend or understand and that's great and very beautiful. All of this with a pack of cards that may be borrowed.
Highly recommended!
Cathy Shadows: Doing It For Real
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by David Martin (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 27 December, 2020)
For a small sum of money you are getting a short and quickly read PDF. Even though it's a quick read, the advice that "Cathy Shadows" gives is really great if one wants to learn some mental exercises to do some classic plots in mentalism for real. My only advice to a student of the esotric arts before purchasing this is to keep a very open mind while studying these exercises. At the very least you'll learn how to make a mentalism routine or single effect more theatrically compelling through simple means.
Holistic Hamman
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by David Martin (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 30 August, 2014)
This synergistic routine is par excellence!
If you, the reader, have never been introduced to Bro. John Hamman; then get ready to learn some great Hamman effects that you will perform every chance you get. If you're like me and own The Secrets of Brother John Hamman and The Card Magic of Brother John Hamman; don't think for a second that this manuscript won't benefit you as well. Even the Hamman enthusiast will be inspired to see how these effects are blended together to create a VERY STRONG synergistic routine that will leave your audiences stunned!
What starts out as a simple game with four queens turns into a whirlwind of stunning card magic. Cards vanish, transpose, and transform with no apparent manipulation. What a fantastic homage to Bro. John Hamman!