Expert assessments of new tricks, books, gear, and performances.
From the early 19th century to the present, magicians have devised ingenious methods to defy gravity on stage. Intrigued by this graceful form of illusion, David Haversat has assembled a sumptuous visual record of its evolution.
Dr. Simon Carmel’s fourth book of notable biographies of deaf magicians is a fascinating look at an amazing subculture of our art.
This is a well-made gag which uses yet another property of the cell phone (zooming into a portion of a photograph) to create a visual surprise on a box of playing cards.
Magicians don’t need to still be alive to surprise you. Do you want to read hand-written notes from when Mozart (yes, that one) was studying magic tricks? Thanks to Reinhard Müller and Rainer Buland, now you can.
Enclosed in the 242 pages of Aurelio Paviato’s Studies in Deception is the conjuror’s equivalent of Bach etudes: a dozen complete, professionally stage-tested routines that each focuses on a specific set of sleights and techniques for better structuring one’s magic.
You may well wonder what sort of enhancement to “watch me pull my finger off” is waiting for you inside of the neat red box from Penguin Magic. Or indeed, whether “watch me pull my finger off” has been waiting for $25 of improvement.
Josh Burch has seemingly replaced several different routines, like Scotch and Soda, or the Coin through the Coaster, or even Color Changing Knives, with a set of four special plastic guitar picks.
A signed card teleports to the zipper pocket of your wallet! A minimalist Card to Wallet with a modern aesthetic.
This groundbreaking creation from Angelo Carbone allows you to make any freely-named card rise from a deck on your command. “Notion of the Motion” is a miracle-level effect that leaves people convinced they've witnessed real magic—even seasoned magicians.
It falls into that delicious category where you’ll ask yourself, “Can it really be that simple?” It can. It’s an elegant solution and after playing with it in the mirror, you will be itching to put it in your show.
Some of the best tricks can be found in the bottom of your drawer, or in the back of an old catalog, or in a recollection of a Saturday afternoon at a magic shop. They’re not forgotten. In fact, you’d be surprised that those tricks are still as good as you thought they were.
If ever there was a magic and mentalism show that speaks to the expansive possibilities and crippling limitations of the human mind, it’s Vinny DePonto’s Mindplay.