Product Reviews

Interpreting Magic by David Regal 0

Available from: www.DavidRegal.com
Price: $75.00

Review by Michael Close

It has been ten years since David Regal has gifted us with a big book of magic; that book was the wonderful Approaching Magic. His new book is Interpreting Magic, and it, too, is wonderful, with a wide variety of clever routines of all types (suitable for close-up, parlor, and stage), insightful essays, and interviews with a who’s-who of top creators and performers. There is literally something for everyone here.

If you want to skip the rest of the review and head right to David’s website to order the book, here’s the bottom line. If this book only had the magic routines, it would be worth the price. If this book only had the essays, it would be worth the price. If this book only had the interviews, it would be worth the price. To get all three, packed into a beautifully produced, 565-page book is a gift. In fact, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, because I know you will return to it often to find magic you previously overlooked and to remind yourself of the wealth of useful information contained within.

The Long Goodbye - Latta on Coins Review 0

REVIEW BY MICHAEL CLOSE

Just about everyone who gets interested in close-up magic starts with two basic props: cards and coins. This makes sense, because cards and coins are relatively inexpensive objects (although not as inexpensive as when I was a kid), they are familiar, common objects (although perhaps not as familiar as in the days when card games were a family activity and silver dollars and half dollars were still being used in everyday transactions), and there are a large number of books and magazines (and now videos) devoted to card magic and coin magic. 

Card magic, however, holds one significant benefit for beginners: there are excellent effects that require little or no digital dexterity (or, in the words of the prophet, Steve Beam, they are semi-automatic). With the exception of tricks that use props (like the Coin Slide, Nickels to Dimes, Scotch and Soda) there are few self-working coin effects. Offhand, I can only think of one coin trick based on a mathematical principle: Thieves and Sheep (using identical coins). If you want to learn coin magic, you are going to jump

Handcrafted Card Magic — Volume 3 by Denis Behr 0

REVIEW BY MICHAEL CLOSE

Denis Behr is a talented German magician who has presented several fabulous gifts to the magic world. The first gifts are his enormously useful websites, conjuringarchive.com and conjuringcredits.com. I made extensive use of both sites while doing research for my new ebook, Thriving on a Riff. They saved me many trips up and down three flights of stairs to check a source in my library.

Denis has also gifted some wonderful routines to card magicians with his Handcrafted Card Magic series. The first two books are exceptional; consequently, I was delighted to learn that a third volume had been released.

Physically, Handcrafted Card Magic Volume 3 matches the earlier volumes: 6 x 8.5 inches with ninety-two pages. The material also maintains the standard of excellence set by the first two books, with gambling demonstrations, routines utilizing

THE REAL DEAL - A Magician Prepares by Dennis Loomis 0

REVIEW BY QUENTIN REYNOLDS

Dennis Loomis was one of magic’s general practitioners. Like with Alan Shaxon, Karrell Fox, Billy McComb, and Johnny Thompson, if they phoned and asked, “Can you do X, Y or Z?” the answer was, “Yes!”  Then they figured out how to do it.