Reviews: Read What Others Are Saying: page 15
177 ★★★★★ reviews
124 ★★★★★ reviews
78 ★★★★★ reviews
125 ★★★★★ reviews
Conjurer Dick
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Steve Sanders (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 09 February, 2023)
A fascinating glimpse into the life of a working conjurer at the beginning of 'The Golden Age of Magic'. Eruditely written by Professor Hoffmann in a humorous style which is still very apt today. An interesting read, a must for all those with an interest in the history of magic.
Tops Treasury of Illusions
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by joe danciger (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 02 February, 2023)
A classic for builders.
Twist plus Bonus
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by hal barlow (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 01 February, 2023)
Not an improvement in my opinion. The added climax is weak and illogical.
Beyond Reloaded
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by hal barlow (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 01 February, 2023)
Overly complicated in my opinion. The ACAAN effect loses clarity and impact due to the structure of the routine. I feel the audience could get confused quite easily.
Elbow, Knee, and Neck
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Paul Lelekis
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 26 January, 2023)
I have seen Daryl perform this at a Convention and at a lecture at ring 42 in Clearwater...it is a really cool routine - and easy to do!
Diception
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christopher Weber (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 25 January, 2023)
Diception is a really great trick and a fooler for sure! The setup on the video takes a couple of viewings for sure and takes a little time to get it right. Once you get it all together, you're good to go. The basic presentation is very good as it is and you do get a couple more ideas to enhance the presentation, but again, the basic presentation is excellent as is. A terrific trick that lets you concentrate on the presentation since there are no real slights and it's basically self-working. I would have given it 5 stars but again, the setup part of the video was a little hard to follow after a viewing or two you'll get it with no problem. It is a one-trick deck that can't be examined but it is a good one to have if you do table hopping. Resets instantly with a different outcome each performance which is always a plus! Let's say this trick gets 4.5 stars. 5 for the trick and 4 for instructions. Awesome price for what you're getting!
MINT III Unauthorized
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Howard Port (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 25 January, 2023)
While I was much more into magic years ago (performing at The Forks Hotel and attending many FFFFs) I haven't performed in years and am now more of a hobbyist. My true love has always been cards and I really enjoy all of James' books. This one is especially good and begins a trend that goes through all of his M.I.N.T. books: effects from Ed Marlo are presented then James gives his take on the effect with perhaps technical variations, different presentation, and/or history. James was lucky enough to have spent a lot of time with Marlo and many other magicians and he has drunk deep from the well. I recommend these books for any thinking card man who wants to learn from Ed Marlo and Wesley James, two magicians with broad knowledge and the ability to take things a step or two further than others. (I never got the chance to see Marlo perform, but Wesley James gave a wonderful performance and lecture at our club years ago. Ever since I have gathered everything I could of his writings.)
Third Eye Peek
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christian Fisanick (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 23 January, 2023)
Mark Stone's Spy Cat wallet is a favorite of mine. In the Spy Cat eBook, Mark shows you how to make an incredibly effective peek wallet, or modify an existing peek wallet to improve it, for a small price. Now he's released Third Eye Peek, a business-card peek that uses essentially two gift cards and two rubber bands. And it's excellent, super easy to make and, like the Spy Cat, super deceptive with no dodgy moves. Even if you're lousy with arts and crafts, you'll be able to make this peek device in less than five minutes because Mark holds your hand with clear instructions and color pictures. And when you're done, you'll have a small peek device that you can carry with you everywhere in your wallet.
There are so many new peek devices on the market, like POV, Room 66, The Peak, Blindz, and Slick, that all cost more. Some are good; some are not. If you're looking to peek a business card without using an expensive peek wallet, it's hard to beat this Mark Stone gem. It's simple, creative, and gets the job done. Highly recommended.
Annotated Secret Professional Pseudo-Hypnotic Methods
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Shane Lootes (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 20 January, 2023)
Awful waste of time book regrettably, nothing practical at all that you don't already know.
Commercial Gems Volume 3
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Brian Reaves (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 18 January, 2023)
Mel delivers some great jokes here and two of the routines are easily doable in a pinch. The Q&A Teapot routine requires a little work and probably will fly by most non-British audiences who don't see teapots very often, but the other two are fun. I wouldn't call any of them mind-blowing or incredible finales, but these are nice asides to have ready for the right audience and situation. Mel's sense of humor is evident here and I can only imagine how much fun he must be live. For the price, you're getting a couple of great routines and one you probably won't use as-is, but all of it can be adapted to your performing style, I think.
Toronto Kufference 2011
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Brian Reaves (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 18 January, 2023)
This is a varied collection of effects. Some of them are good, and some are just an interesting read that you'll probably never perform. The glow stick trick in particular requires a good bit of financial commitment on your part for a single trick that may be strong for Patrick but I don't know who else will go to the expense. There are card tricks and mentalism in here as well, and as I mentioned, even the tricks you won't do might give you a few ideas for something else.
Balls
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Brian Reaves (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 18 January, 2023)
In the right situation, this is nice. You can do it alone, but the assisted version is much stronger. Once you construct the props necessary, you'll be set to go from that point forward (except for the prediction, of course). This is a cheap alternative to the expensive prediction chest models out there that accomplishes the same thing using a very similar method, so if you're just wanting to see if it fits in your act before investing in shiny expensive props, get this. The single-person version of this isn't as strong as some other methods out there though.
R.C. Buff's The Best of Buff
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Daniel Rowan (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 11 January, 2023)
The Best of Buff is a collection of rope tricks – most without the use of gimmicks or special rope preparation. The effects that I thought were particularly interesting and largely unknown are as follows.
The Pretzel Knot – Buff suggests you create the pretzel knot on the knee. This results in an easier and tighter tie.
Mustache Rope Cut – A way of cutting a once cut rope again (seemingly in four pieces) to restore the rope to its full length.
A Ladies Influence – Tying two ropes together side by side with a slip knot. A man tests two ends of the rope and shows that the knot is tight. A woman easily pulls the other two ends of the rope and the knot melts away. This can be used as a test of strength with a dad and a young child. As a lead in to a Grandma’s Necklace effect this would be excellent. The Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks has an entire chapter on rope tricks using multiple ropes. It is easy enough to use standard methods to tie the slip knot. The slip knot given for use with the trick is unnecessarily complicated and unnatural in my opinion.
A Sliding Knot Sequence – Using a slip knot tied using the Hunter Puzzle Knot as an easy method to gain slack for a sliding knot effect. The slack is obtained easily as the left hand is in perfect position to grab some slack.
Thumb Penetration – An impromptu thumb penetration that I had not seen before.
I was very happy with this booklet. It contains a lot of useful stuff. The patter was dated and probably would be considered crude by today’s standards but describing the rope as a solar clothes drier is a good line in this era of carbon neutrality. 5 stars.
Card Control
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Eric Fry
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 09 January, 2023)
This e-version's photos are far superior to the ones in the Dover print edition. And the text is much more readable in this e-version.
Trip Mentale
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Matteo Perlini
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 09 January, 2023)
Dal punto di vista tecnico, "Trip Mentale" è un effetto di mentalismo propless in cui viene divinata una nazione solo pensata. Sono presentate diverse varianti, tra cui versioni con un numero diverso di partecipanti. Nel libro sono incluse tantissime finezze psicologiche e linguistiche che rendono la routine estremamente potente e che possono essere riutilizzate in molti altri effetti.
Dal punto di vista esperienziale, "Trip Mentale" è un modo per connettersi alle persone in modo così profondo da poter condividere emozioni e sensazioni. E, letteralmente, viaggiare con loro nella loro mente.
Se sei interessato al mentalismo e ti esibisci in italiano, non c'è alcun motivo per non avere "Trip Mentale". Il metodo è solido, l'effetto è potente, il libro più che economico.
New Pentagram Magazine Volume 1 (March 1969 - February 1970)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Craig Brooks
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 07 January, 2023)
I am going to review three of the issues I downloaded with one generalization. All of the material in the New Pentagram was wonderful, as in its predecessor The Pentagram. That having been said there is a very minor issue in three of the volumes. This one, volume two, and volume twenty. They all had page duplications that can make it appear that there are a few pages missing. There are no pages missing, but the page numbers 43 and 72 were duplicated in volume one. In volume two the page number 36 was duplicated, and in volume 20 the page number 89 was duplicated. To clarify, the numbers at the bottom of the page were duplicated and not the pages themselves.
Limitless: more than 50 effects using the Romero Box
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Kevin Fleetwood (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 05 January, 2023)
I got started in magic back in 1975 when a magic shop opened in a nearby city, I have done close-up magic for over 30 years and have seen lots of new magic created the Romero box is something I will use it has lots of possibilities. I have been making my own gimmick boxes for a while now but never one like the Romero Box. Switching, vanishing, and producing cards has always been what I want to do. If you are knowledgeable in magic you can build this. It's not hard. I have been making two of the box gimmicks this is basically the same except the gimmick is inside he shows a couple of pictures of the gimmick at the end so you would know where to put the magnets. I'm going to get started building one now, I have a few ideas to use with this. I give it 5 stars.
Nu Way Out Of This World
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Fredrick Turner (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 04 January, 2023)
Let’s start by saying that this is the routine that Eugene Burger used for most of his career. It’s direct, straightforward magic. Well worth the small investment.
The Gaff Factory: A comprehensive dry-mounting tutorial
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Fredrick Turner (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 04 January, 2023)
I found this ebook extremely helpful in learning the dry mount process. It’s thorough and detailed to get you started. You’ll need to experiment and practice to get the quality of cards you’ll want to use. Since the book’s publication, some of the specific materials are no longer available however you can quickly find substitutes.
Exhale
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Stuart Millward (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 01 January, 2023)
Needs proofreading badly.
Silent Two-Person Codes Revealed
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Larry Finley (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 31 December, 2022)
Actually, I don't remember ever purchasing this but obviously, I did. It has some pretty neat stuff and if it was under $10 then it's worth it.
Spirited Pasteboards
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Larry Finley (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 31 December, 2022)
This is excellent and has one of the first de Bruijn methods used. Like all of Leo's works, this is very good and a must-have.
Si Stebbins Pro
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Larry Finley (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 31 December, 2022)
I am delighted with this product.
SSPro: To keep an easy "next card calculation" the SSPro has a modified version of the original Si Stebbins thus it is definitely faster and easier to calculate the "next card" than some other stacks but to do this "next card calculation" SSPro could not use the Harry Riser pairs concept thus SSPro is a little slower at the "ACAAN calculation" IMO. The whack-a-mole trade-off.
Bottom line: If a fast easy "ACAAN calculation" is primarily what you want then go with a shadow stack such as 7QS or the Sequoia stack. If a fast easy "next card calculation" is primarily what you want then go with the SSPro.
Karma Deck Pro
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Larry Finley (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 31 December, 2022)
Very good. I especially like the clock face analogy and the ability to calculate ACAAN.
The Master of Misdirection
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Josef Fortier (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 29 December, 2022)
I read the Fulves Slydini book as a teenager, which had an enormous effect on me. This book spells out much of the ideas I absorbed then but fleshes them out. The book is a wonderful window on "lessons from Slydini" by someone who has thought about those lessons a lot.