Magic Tricks

Having been in magic for several years, I was looking for a book that fed my hankering for some non-slight effects. I am a fan of the Spanish school of Magic (in particular Arturo De Ascanio), so thought I would check this book out.

The Great - there are some truly intriguing mathematical principles that Mr. Rioboo walks through, that left me looking up at the ceiling muttering "How on earth does someone think of these things?...amazing!". His Black Hole Principle and his carefully thought through Spelling System are two of the best examples.

The Good - Several effects are well worth your time. However, I would say that even though all the details are laid out, the effects still felt more like sketches, and will require a strong effort from the magician to add their own plot/scripting, etc. to make them feel complete. It's similar to Tamariz' Mnemonica, where lots of ideas are shared but putting all the details together will be left to the performer. I prefer (at this stage in my development), a much greater level of detail shared, step by step).

The not so great - I enjoy very thorough essays that delve deeply into a magic topic (see Tamariz Magic Rainbow, Maskelyne's and Devant's Our Magic, Derren Brown's Absolute Magic etc.) Unfortunately these essays were a disappointment...interesting ideas but not fully explored. Perhaps if I had seen how few pages were set aside for these essays, I would have known not to expect too much.

The Meh - a couple effects require the user to put the deck behind their back or under the table as part of the presentation. That to me is an automatic no-go. It may be my lack of presentational abilities to sell that as a legitimate thing to do, but my audiences would automatically roll their eyes...and it just feels like a kids trick. Even Penn Jillette performed one of Rioboo's effects and had to use a cloth over his hands...which to me looks ridiculous and unmagical. That's my own take on these so your mileage may vary.

A good book, just be aware to put the time into really fleshing out the effects presented in the book. The blueprint is there, but much more effort will be required (at least from someone who's done magic for 3 years).