Tavern Magic 1
by Michael Wild

You'll hopefully be pleased to know that Totem has seen the light of day over this side of the pond (UK). I saw a friend of mine to day who is an excellent card magician. He asked if I had been working on anything new magic wise. I told him I had recieved a great manuscript the day before and proceeded to show him "Totem". ... you know that look you get from other magicians who are trying to stay cool and not look too amazed... Job done my friend, job done...great routine....thanks mike for sharing that one. This is a really good manuscript the writing is clear and concise and I like the way that the effect, preparation and methods are broken down into seperate parts along with a few performance notes at the side of the page. The other thing I found useful was the fact that the pictures are on a seperate page. I printed the document to read it and having the pictures in order at the side as I read the routines was a great help to understanding how the routines go. The routines themselves are well thought out and have the feel of being tried and tested by the author.

...Very powerful ideas there. Just finished reading the China Changed routine. very good. Got thinking back to the Kaps Chinese coin trick with the lager coins as production items. Great text!

Thanks very much. I have had the oppportunity to read and be impressed by Tavern Magic 1, and am looking forward to reviewing the next installment tonight. I am happy to say that I found the material in One refreshingly well thought out, and well explained. You have succeeded in elaborating on some fairly fine points regarding scripting and psychology without becoming pedantic or presumptious. You state your case and let the piece speak for itself. I must say that you have published more on the "half transposition" effect than anyone else. You do seem to understand this odd effect (where a coin transposes with another that is nonexistant or out-of-play a moment prior) and that's rare. The applications seem effective. I had expected to see the ususal abuse of gaffed coins, and was delighted to see that your routines recognize and exploit the unique advantages of the gaffs. They all pass the "could you do the effect without the gaffs without changing the routine?" test, since the answer in each case seems to be "No." As I noted on the Café, I liked the patterline for "Appreciation of Silver" and find it to be quite convenient for explaining the last coin in a hanging coins routine. Before I forget, congratulations on the look of the materials. The pages were well laid out, very readable, and the addition of the "Presentational Notes" in a side column was a very nice idea. Again, thanks and props, dude.

I was very impressed by the e-book itself, the layout, the art work etc. You write very well also. ...Very good routining. ...Well thought out. ...I can tell it must play very strong. The routines flow. I am very impressed by your thinking.