Magic Tricks

I greatly admire Tamariz as a major creative force in magic as a performance art. His published works are modern classics of both original thinking as well as philosophy of magical performance. This slim volume, Letters from Juan, however, just doesn't rise to the same level as Sonata, Mnemonica, Five Points, Verbal Magic, Magic Way and Magic Rainbow. I have all of these volumes and they are filled with marvelous concepts and presentations.

When I read that Letters from Juan was specifically 4 of his creations that he had never published before, I jumped at getting a copy. There are indeed four presentations that do not appear in any other publications, but I am not impressed by them. The first is a simplistic chosen card revelation call "The Shovel," the second is a "Finale" for any Mnemonica routine, the third is a extensive color changing knife routine, and the last is a very nice, but difficult, oil and water routine. This last routine is the only element of the book that has any chance of being included in my personal repertory for performance.

I am sure that when Tamariz himself performs any of these 4 routines, it is a magical and enthralling event, because of his personal, exuberant performance style. After all, his famous routine with a little wooden car is both hilarious, magical and well worth studying as an excellent example of how to get maximum entertainment value from a small and simple prop.

I will not say "don't buy this book," but will say that there are much more useful works that have been previously published by Tamariz.