BOOKS
This book tells the story of a Victorian conjurer who found brief fame and fortune in London before death claimed him as a young man. He will be forever remembered as the performer who introduced to the wider world one of the most acclaimed and astonishing illusions of all time, "The Sphinx."
It is, perforce, an incomplete story, one that has been pieced together from many sources over a goodly number of years. The stimulus for the research was a collection of intriguing and bewildering problems surrounding this performer as recorded in the existing literature of conjuring and even extending to bibliographic puzzles arising from the few books that he authored. In none of these books did he proffer any biographical information; thus everything that is recorded about his background derives from the often conflicting observations of those who claimed to know him.
As the last surviving witness died over half a century ago, it was not possible to cross-examine, and interpretation and conjecture have been inevitable. If there be any consolation in the absence of autobiographical material, then surely it must be that the self-aggrandizement and fictional accretions that have generally characterized the autobiographies of magicians cannot cloud this particular horizon.
ITEM # BK1008 PRICE $50.00
L.I.N.T. by JOHN LUKA
Luka In the New Tops. Introduces the magic world to John Luka’s Mission to champion the needs of hobbyists and part-time magicians! This effort was kicked off in his "Thoughts On ..."column which ran in The New Tops magazine from October 1993 to December 1994.
John’s column was for the majority of magicians who tend to do a lot of pocket and parlor tricks for small audiences and few shows. He knew that most magic shows are informal, sometimes spontaneous events, typically being a performance of a few tricks at a party or social or business get-togethers. So, he chose material for the ninety-plus percent of magicians who are not professionals. 143 pages, 8 1/2 x 11 inches with full color dust jacket.
ITEM # BK1003 PRICE $30.00
SELF-WORKING CLOSE-UP CARD MAGIC by KARL FULVES
"Close-up card magic is performed right under the noses of the spectators. It has an immediacy that cannot be duplicated by platform magic. Seasoned professionals agree there is no better way to learn how to handle an audience than when they are inches away."-Karl Fulves
Karl Fulves is one of the most popular and respected magic authorities writing today. In Self -Working Close-Up Card Magic he shows beginners how to perform 56 tried-and-true, crowd-pleasing tricks for the kind of small, close-up audiences that gather at parties and family get-togethers. The tricks are simple to master. The performer needs only a deck of cards and a few everyday objects like a coin or a rubber band. The kind of close-up performing these tricks requires offers beginners the best possible way to learn how to engage and handle an audience.
Among the tricks are "openers," which quickly get an audience's attention and set the stage for the rest of the act; memory tricks that make it appear the performer has an uncanny ability to memorize cards. Also, gambling tricks that seem to give the performer an expert ability to control the cards in games of chance; and gimmicked" cards that create eye-popping visual magic. Simple step-by-step instructions, accompanied by clear, carefully drawn illustrations, make these applause-winning tricks absolutely foolproof, requiring no long practice or dexterity to perform.
This is an original Dover (1995) publication with 121 illustrations and 128pages.The book is soft bound.
ITEM # BK0899 PRICE $7.00
SLEIGHT OF HAND by EDWIN SACHS
Let's say you are at a dinner party and are invited to do a trick. You have no apparatus on you and nothing prepared. In an absent manner, you place a glass of sherry to your lips, as though bracing yourself for the fray. The glass is half emptied (be careful about this), when a sudden movement is made as though you threw it up to the ceiling; but nothing is seen to ascend, though the glass, with the wine in it, has disappeared. After a short pause, to allow the general astonishment to take full effect, the missing article is discovered inside the coat of your immediate neighbor.
How is this startling trick performed? Find out in this legendary classic of legerdemain. Sleight of Hand is widely regarded by professional magicians as one of the finest magic books ever written. Clearly and minutely, the steps are given for hundreds of astonishing tricks: drawing-room tricks with coins, common objects, cups and balls, handkerchiefs, and so on. Also included are many fascinating card tricks, The Congenial Aces, The Traveling Cards, The Assembly, etc. Stage magic, encompassing the more involved tricks with coins, handkerchiefs and cards is also included in the book. Tricks with watches and livestock, sham mesmerism and clairvoyance, the famous Cornucopia Hat, and an impressive array of miscellaneous tricks including Houdin's Die Trick, The Ubiquitous Glass of Water, The Shower of Gold, The Chinese Rings, The Magic Omelet, The Great Dictionary Trick, and more make this book exciting reading.
Beyond supplying you with tricks, the book is teaching you the techniques of pure manual dexterity known collectively as sleight of hand. It also specifically explains many basic techniques: the palm, pass, false shuffle, change, slide, force; vanishing and producing an object, exchanging articles; and using such essential apparatus as the specially prepared table and dress coat, The Devil's Handkerchief, The Coin Handkerchief, Magician's Eggs, and The Coin-Vanishing Tumbler. Any apparatus required is inexpensive or easy to make.
Be assured that sleight of hand relies primarily on dexterity, not apparatus. And if you are truly interested in magic, you must eventually master sleight-of-hand techniques or give up the idea of being anything more than a beginning magician. These techniques, both basic and more advanced, are all here in the best book on the subject that you could possibly own. This is an unabridged (1980) republication of the second enlarged (1885) edition. There are fifty-seven illustrations, four hundred and eight pages in this paperbound book.
ITEM # BK0504 PRICE $13.00
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