Reviews: Read What Nick Lewin Is Saying

Take Five

reviewed by Nick Lewin
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 20 May, 2023)

Many of our readers will be familiar with Breggar from his long-running column in 'The Linking Ring'. He is now acknowledged to be something of a master of the "sleight-lite" school of magic. His ability to construct routines that replace "knuckle-busting" sleight-of-hand with subtleties and cunning is second to none. Michael creates magic that is entertaining and fun to perform.

Breggar has many books and marketed tricks to his credit and 'Take Five' is the latest to hit the magic world. It is a superb collection of five tricks culled from Michael's performing repertoire. Every one of these effects is powerful and entertaining, these routines have all been featured in Michael's Magic Castle act. Not only are the tricks good, but Breggar has woven them into a delightful Jazz influenced framework in his book.

I am a hard-core fan of both magic and music and thoroughly enjoyed Michael's cleverly written narrative that uses jazz references and parallels. One of my favorite pieces of ear candy is the Dave Brubeck tune that gives this book its title. So, all you hep-cat conjurers and jive-crazy prestidigitators are in for a double treat with Breggar's latest release!

Let's talk a little about the magic in 'Take Five'. "BR-ACAAN" is based on an idea by Barrie Richardson. I greatly respect Richardson's work, and this routine gives a nice twist on the classic ACAAN theme. "Sympa" is a very jazzy makeover of Nate Leipzig's "Sympathetic 13," and it is a very cool routine that I have had a lot of fun performing. "Decisions Decisions" is an excellent routine with a double-punch finale; check out Michael's performance of the effect at the Magic Castle above. My favorite routine is "Sherlock" which has a (you guessed it!) Sherlock Holmes "deduction" theme wrapped around a Harry Lorayne effect. Rounding out the 'Take Five' playlist is "Order in the Cortex," a neat and dandy card effect that will amaze any audience.

As you can tell I am very enthusiastic about Breggar's latest book, the price is right, and every magician will find at least a couple of routines to add to his repertoire. In fact, with strong and relatively easy effects, they might even find themselves Taking Five of them! I give this release a five-star rating and highly recommend it.