This book was amazing. I literally knew almost nothing about bill magic. It's been on my mind for a
long time and I finally got it this year for Christmas. When I first started reading it, I really
liked the way it was written from the start. Tim Trono and John Lovick as well as everyone who
contributed are all great. It;s funny and they really do a great job and hooking the reader
As
for the material goes, the stuff really varies. I found that I might not actually perform most of
the stuff, but I will definitely take account a lot of it. I might work on some things and change
them up to fit my personal preference, and you might too. There are a ton of great subtelties that I
never considered before. Some stuff that you see but never realise before is in here too. Like how
to hold a bill the right way, how to turn it the right way, how to hide it etc.
The teaching in
here was pretty top notch. It was simply laid out into 2 columns per page which made it look a lot
nicer to read and sort of inspires you to read it all. John is a great teacher and everything is in
as much detail as you need.
All in all, I highly recommend this book to anybody hoping to start
in bill magic. There is a TON of excellent material in here that I'm sure you will love as much as I
did. It was a fun read and a really smooth read.
3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
WARNING: if all you are looking for is a good, dollar-change, this book is way too much for you.
Don't buy this book and just follow these four steps:
1) decide on the effect you want
2)
decide if you want to go with a gimmick or gimmickless
3) decide if you want to go with one that
uses a thumbtip or one that lets your thumb go commando
4) buy said effect--there are plenty of
acceptable variations you can buy on Penguin magic and elsewhere--and be done with it.
HOWEVER, for magicians who are truly dollar-change obsessed, Switch, by John Lovick, is about as
perfect a book as you could buy.
Full disclosure: when I bought Switch, I thought I was
simply interested in looking into a few good dollar bill switch tricks. When this nearly
encyclopedic, 345 page, elegant, large format, coffee-table-worthy book, expertly printed on heavy
acid-free paper arrived, I was a bit in shock. This was not just a book with a few different
variations of the $100 bill switch. This was the $100 bill switch bible.
That said, after
digging in, I was absolutely blown away!
John Lovick has pulled out the stops and produced
a book that thoroughly covers all the bases. Part I recounts the history and theory of the bill
change. Part II is a thorough look at basic thumbtip handlings (7 in all), complete with a review
of appropriate thumbtip techniques, utility moves, and finesses. Part III gives you three different,
basic tipless variations (3) with its own section on utility moves, techniques, and finesses. Part
IV gives you numerous handlings and methods including palm up handlings, switch methods, and other
miscellaneous methods. And if all that were not enough Part V gives you numerous, successful
routines used by magicians you know and love and some great stuff from lesser known mages who you
may be meeting for the first time. Rounding things out, in Part VI you will get additional ideas,
including variations on the bill change, vanishes, and non-bill ideas using slips of paper that
change places or seemingly morph. Part VII is the coda of this magnum opus, with interesting facts
about money, U.S. laws about defacing, reproducing, and counterfeiting currency (caveat emptor), and
a final section which is a rundown of commercially available stuff that either didn't make the book
or couldn't be included for some reason and important books, routines, and gimmicks not found
elsewhere in the book.
If you are thinking that that's a lot of book to devote to the lowly
bill change, than you are right. It's pretty much everything about the bill change that was
available up to 2006 when the book was published. There may be some strays that eluded Lovick, but
I can't imagine there were many. There are certainly innovations that may have come up since 2006,
but there's more than enough material here to ponder. And if you can't find a bill change that
suits you after going through 345 pages of them, you need to find another hobby...
The
breadth is pretty amazing. We're talking everything from the classic bill change, to torn and
restored bills, to transformations, impossible location routines, mis-made bill routines, multiple
switches. With and without thumbtips and gimmicks and a lot of incredible advice along the way.
Illustrations are simple, line drawings but incredibly clear and have a very cool vintage
quality to them. There are far more ways to fold a bill than I could have imagined and far more
presentations than I ever could have guessed. I'm not by any means an advanced magician--this is a
hobby I've picked up over the past year--but my inner technique nerd has been unmasked and I was
riveted to this book cover to cover.
Those who are not interested in such an in depth going
over of the bill switch are going to wonder why the heck anyone would spend so much time on this
kind of stuff. Again, if you're just looking to do a simple, bill change effect, go out, purchase
it, and be done. If you are interested in shake changing wads of $1s to $100s, this is not your
book either. It really is focused on changing a single bill, although it does include some routines
to change a single bill multiple times. The large format of the book can be a bit cumbersome, but
it does serve a purpose, allowing for larger, clearer illustrations. It's also a bit of a shame
that this beautiful book is so suitable for the coffee table, as you generally don't want your
guests poring over magic books and discovering your secrets.
Handsome Jack has given us a
handsome book that is a real winner for those magic geeks among us who like to dive deep into the
history, philosophy, and subtle variations of a given effect. Lots of wow here. Recommended.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
Good book albeit largely repetitive. A worthy study if you are new to bill switching, however, it
is far from complete. There are dozens and dozens of bill switch presentations that aren't in the
book, including my three favorites, but there are plenty of variations (including a bunch by Gregory
Wilson) to keep you busy. Often an incredibly boring read, but a good resource none the less.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
I LOVE this book! When I first saw it, I couldn't believe such a large book had been dedicated to
"one" trick. After reading a glowing review shortly after it was published, I figured it was worth
a look; since I had a bill switch in my show and figured it could only improve. Now this is one of
my favorite magic books in my library! Nothing is left out of this book! History, routines and
various means of performing the bill switch are all in this book - and more! This isn't just a
magic book you can use as reference for handling and routines. This is an interesting read from
cover to cover! Think you know the bill switch?! Think again! Whether you've been performing it
for years or are thinking of performing it in any capacity - this book is for you!
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
This book leaves no stone unturned. Practically every method ever devised in one book so you can
find and use the bill switch that is best suited for you or your performance situation. I've had a
blast going through this book and refining my switch with tips from some of the top minds in magic.
This is the authoritative source if you ever want to learn to do a bill switch. Easy to read and
understand with incredibly detailed illustrations, so there's no confusion.
300 hundred pages of Bill switch history and practical, workable magic from some of the best minds
in magic. it's a great reference book for your library that you will come back to time and time
again. It's well written and has good clear illustrations.
Great book,alot of great variations for the bill switch and much more..
the writing is excellent, the magic and routines are excellent and well described, the whole book,
which is just about a bill switch, is great.
This is a great book if you want to learn about switching bills, and only switching bills. It is
well written and a beautiful book!
Did I say it looks beautiful on my bookshelf? :)
All I have to say is this: If you don't own this book yet, there is seriously something wrong with
you. Not only is this a compendium of bill change/switches by the best magicians like Klause,
Kozlowski and Ammar but tips on thumb tip use, the History of the creator of the trick Vladimirov,
torn and restore, routines, handling, and techniques. This is a very exhausting and packed book of
over 300 pages. The instructions are easy and the art work amazing, better than the latter magicians
books on the trick. Over a hundred magicians included here as well with over a hundred or so tricks.
And it has what other books don't have: an INDEX. This book is worth way more than the price they
sell it for.