I will try to be as thorough as possible.
Overall impression : this book is packed with
strong and relatively easy card magic; no doubt about that.
This book is structured as
follows :
_ Foreword, by Michael Close.
_ Introduction. It contains interesting elements
of reflexion; you can clearly feel Juzan knows what he is talking about.
_ Every Card You Take.
A Triumph-like effect with five selected cards. Juzan teaches two ways of doing it, whether you want
to use some gaff cards or not. I could totally see myself use it as a closer or an “encore”.
_
Color Correction. A thought-of card changes color. Really clever.
_ Bilis Extraction Move. A
card move attributed to Bernard Bilis, which allows you to extract a card from the pack while
replacing the deck in the case. Not so hard to do. Opens the door to many applications.
_
Reverse Biddle I. Great follow-up routine to the standard Biddle trick, using the previously taught
Bilis Extraction Move.
_ Reverse Biddle II. Same effect, using gaff cards for a different
handling.
_ Tantalean Punishments. Juzan’s take on the standard Tantalizer automatic trick;
using four selections and a bit of jazzing.
_ Mimic Me If You Can. A do-as-I-do effect combining
two decks (one prepared, one not so much…), Gilbreath principle, and a lot of audience management.
_ The Convcing Glimpse. Juzan’s handling of Marlo Convincing Control, not from a technical point
of view but from a rather logical approach. It made me smile while reading the description; totally
the kind of devious things I enjoy.
_ The Winning Triplets. A spelling effect combining several
principles.
_ Tricky Question. A card travels where the spectator tells you. Requires gaff
cards.
_ Touchdown Prophecy. Recreating with two decks of cards the Calais Campbell’s intuition
when he correctly predicted the outcome of a football game. I had never heard about this story
before.
_ Double Stop. Great mentalism effect with two thought-of cards and no question asked.
_ Dynamite. Based on Tamariz’TNT but with more selections and a totally different ending.
_
Fogbow. Juzan’s approach to the standard Rainbow deck. Clever and meaningful.
_ Spelling
Business. Reflexions and applications of the Ramasee principle.
_ Acknowledgments.
Okay
let’s go into more details:
What you should know:
_ even though this book is clearly
not hard from a technical point of view, you must have solid knowledge of basic techniques. Juzan
will write something like “control the card on top without disturbing the rest of the deck” or
“perform a false shuffle” without explaining these moves in great details. You should be able to
control one or more cards, to false-shuffle and false-cut, and to Faro shuffle a deck.
_ while
some effects can clearly be presented as impromptu miracles, some require a much more elaborated
advance preparation. Will this prevent you from performing them? Only you have the answer! I
personally think that an effect like “Color Correction” is strong enough to find a way to add a
double backer to the deck at any time before. Similarly, a simple deck switch is an affordable price
to pay for closing your show on “Fogbow” and leave your audience KO.
What I loved :
_
When you read the descriptions of the effects, it becomes clear that Juzan has only one goal in
mind: fooling his audience, no matter what it takes to get there: gaff cards, stacks, and so on. And
sure enough, the effects will have devastating impact on a lay audience. Some pieces here will also
fool your magician friends (“Double Stop” is hard to backtrack, “Color Correction” has an unexpected
element of surprise, “Tricky Question” is something you do not see a lot, for instance)
_ the
“Notes & Credits” sections are well documented and credit is given where credit is due.
_
priced at $45, it makes it a nice bargain. After all, it is only $3 per trick or move, and we all
have paid much more for single-trick downloads…
What I would have loved:
_ more
pictures.
_ an epilogue section. I do not like when it jumps directly from the last effect to
the acknowledgements.
To conclude:
Am I happy with this book, and do I recommend it?
Yes
Will I use some of the material here? Yes.
