Andy Martin

The Perfect Book for the Beginner

The Complete Magician by Marvin Kaye (or the Stein & Day Handbook of Magic as it is known in the USA) is a wonderful book for the serious beginner who wants to perform magic as a hobby or as a profession.

What I liked most about this book when I first read it 27 years ago was that it didn’t just focus on tricks and sleights. It did provide some great routines in each of the main areas of magic, including a wonderful section on Children’s magic which I was performing most of at the time, but it also had chapters on patter, style, perparing for the big Stage show, routining and all the other things that make up a real performance. These other aspects of magic are often overlooked by the beginner.

The book also ends many chapters with a brief description of commercially available effects and gives sources of dealers and magical publications. As a budding young magician these of course inspired me to want to save up my paper round money to buy more magic!

I found this book a wonderful entry into performing magic for real audiences and for many many years used ideas and magic directly from it. Soon I will read it again and feel sure it will still provide me with some useful tips and ideas that I have forgotten.

(Notice: Although the printed word is basically the same in both versions of this book, the Complete Magician is a far superior quality book, with a bigger format, better quality paper and numerous black and white photographs. So if you can, get the Complete Magician instead of the Stein and Day Handbook of Magic.)

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Almost The Best Cash Paddle Around

Jay Leslie makes some fine wood and brass effects. This cash paddle is no exception. Great feel to it and the mirror is nice and shiny – not those cheap old things you see elsewhere.

I think you need to keep an eye on young Jay since his stuff has a very nice feel of high quality to it!

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The Best Money Paddle!

This is easily the best Money Paddle I have owned. Better than the Jay Leslie one, which I thought was real nice too.

Its made of black aluminum and the mirror is shiny and real looking, and its very well machined, with notches for the rubber bands and a good weight to it. Joe Porper makes some real nice pieces!

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More than just Out of This World!

I read this book initially over 25 years ago, and remembered to this day the story that Mr. Curry relates about the time Winston Churchill was late for a War Cabinet meeting because he was busy watching a magician perform "Out of This World". But this book has so much more than Curry’s most famous card trick, which is does indeed explain.

I guess it was aimed at the layman or beginner in magic, but as a performer and collector of magic for over 30 years I still found it a very interesting and rewarding read. He has chapters on many aspects of our art relating all the way back to the Cups and Balls. He covers stage illusions, close-up, escapes, seances, mentalism, and more.

One of the things I really like about this book is that Mr Curry will detail some historical effect or principle and then describe a more up to date and easy to do version of the effect or principle that can be perfomed. Most of the magic in the book is possible to perform without complex sleight of hand or specialised props.

It is a mix of history, showmanship and magical effects, by one of the true greats in the art of magic. I for one believe this should be on every beginners and advanced magic list!

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Eye witness tales about Magicians all around the world

Written in 1932 this book by John Mulholland takes you on a virtual tour of many distant lands as he tells tales of magicians from almost every culture and part of the world.

It is quite amazing to think how much Mr. Mulholland travelled with magic so long ago. It has some great stories and anecdotes that are very entertaining reading. It is not a book of tricks, but rather of cultures and people and the types of magic they have performed.

I’m sure 75 years on much of this is no longer quite the same, but it is still a thrill to read about the old days when you can help thinking there was a bit more "art" to our magic. One quote by Jack Gwynne is worth repeating:
"Mr. Gwynne, I have seen your act and I think it is perfect."
"Thank-you," Gwynne replied, "I’m glad you liked it. I feel that it has many flaws, but after all it should run smoothly, for it takes but twelve minutes to do and I have worked twelve years on that act. Allowing a year’s rehearsal for every minute’s performance it would be astounding if it were not smooth".

Can you imagine a modern magician spending so much time on one act? Maybe this is one of the reasons, that there are so many bad performances out there …

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Simple and Effective Penetration

This clever piece of Mini-Magic represents the completion of my Alan Warner Mini-Magic collection that can be viewed in all its glory here. It is a old chestnut, and one of Alan’s earliest Teak pieces, but very well made by the master craftsman himself.

In this version there are no funny moves or sleights. The block is loaded, the bar locks the block in place, and then on the command of the magician the block falls!

Its nice to complete the collection Alan, thanks for making it all possible!

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All other mummies pale next to these Beauties!

So with great anticipation I received my Mystic Mummy from Richard Gerlitz yesterday. I was unfortunately put off by something that no one else sees, the bottom of the base was unfinished. Richard, of course, immediately rectified that and the very next day shipped out a painted and finished base – which all subsequent bases will have. That is service the Gerlitz way!

Now that I have the base out of my head I can sit down and really take in these beautiful Mummies. And they really are beautiful. I have taken 6 sets of photos so far and still not happy with them. But the ones I have will have to do! Not only do they look like a work of art, but there are no moving slides or switches, and no sounds to worry about. My wife loves them too!

This is the last Gerlitz piece I can afford for a while, but what a way to go! Richard Gerlitz really has created the best version of this effect that I have seen. Compare these with the Taytelbaum Mummies that susposedly sold for $3500 a few weeks ago on ebay and I’d take these any day of the week.

Richard you are a beautiful man! Thanks for your quality and dedication to your art!

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This is a bloody Miracle!

Well … none of us need any more packet tricks. Or do we? This trick from Elmwood Magic uses a whole deck, but it is certainly a packet trick. Its easy to do, with no sleights, no double face/double back cards, and even when you have the cards in your hand it works quite amazingly.

Now to get as slick as Paul Richards will take a lifetime of practice and smooth talking, but you could be up and running with this baby in about 30 minutes after reading the instructions – and look good!

The basic routine goes like this: openly count off 6 cards face down, show the rest of the deck to be clearly mixed (reds and blacks) and you can shuffle them if you want. Place the body of the deck aside. Now show the six cards that were placed face down and show that you have 3 reds and 3 blacks. You now proceed to cleanly deal one red followed by one black – at the end the reds and blacks are separated again. You can repeat this to the cows come home and really show they are interlaced. But each time they end up separated. As a kicker for the end of the routine you turn over the rest of the deck, and they two are now in separate piles of blacks and reds.

A great trick with a kicker ending. The deck is left set-up for Paul Curry’s Out of This World, and part of me thinks it would make a natural lead in to that amazing effect. Maybe too many reds and blacks but its a thought.

Not all packet tricks are the same, and this one is definately one you will use!

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So good you can do it twice!

I must have tried 10 or more card to wallet effects, but this has got to rank as one of the cleanest, easiest, and most stunning of all. On top of that you can repeat it immediately to the same group – and that is where the "Wallop" really kicks in.

When you get this, and you should, don’t think like a magician, follow the routine and you will have a huge hit on your hands, that is just so much simpler than any of the other wallet effects you have tried.

Of course there are no sleights whatsoever. A very impressive piece of magic!

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Easy to do and very convincing.

This is a very clean and logical red and blue card trick that has shades of that old chestnut the Brainwave Deck, but which is easier to do, cleaner, and can be repeated.

You start by shuffling the deck face down. As you shuffle you and your audience notice that one card has a blue back. You say that is the Lone Stranger card. You place the stranger card on the top of the deck and turn the deck over to ask the audience to point to any of the face-up cards. They choose any card and it is immediately shown to be matching the blue Stranger card. Without any funny moves the effect can be repeated immediately.

Very clean and simple to do, just the way we like them so you can focus on that all important presentation and routine!

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