The Gyp Artist
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gary Parkin (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 03 June, 2023)
I pondered this purchase for some time. $12 felt like a lot (it still does) and despite the long blurb, I felt it didn't really tell me what I wanted to know. So I thought I'd leave the review I wish someone else had left in the hope that it helps other future purchasers.
The book does not contain the bunco games I wanted. The blurb lists some old cons/swindles and in fact this is exactly what you get. The lecture is good and is slightly updated with mentions of the internet and smartphones. But just because the cons are old, don't think they are not still being used. The lecture tries to present these swindles in an entertaining manner with some, but not all, demonstrated using standard magic props.
Obviously, I've not presented this lecture, so my opinion is based entirely on reading it. But it sounds OK. Presented for the right group, it could go down well.
But what you really get from this booklet, (over 45 pages) is a great example of how re-framing your usual repertoire can affect the presentation and performance. Mr. Larsen, for example, uses Out of This World to illustrate how a tax swindle might work. It's quite inspired.
So while I don't think I'd ever present the lecture as is, I will certainly be using Mr. Larsen's ideas for re-framing tricks. And I shall certainly be using parts of the lecture as filler material as well as looking up similar items in other books on cons, swindle and bunco.