Magic Tricks

I have been a fan of Phill's work for some time and Mitox is amongst my favourite books on the art. It was great to watch Phill perform and go into detail on routines that I have already been doing for quite some time with fresh ideas and subtleties that I have taken away from this and can apply to my own work.

I have spent the past two days re-watching and rewriting my impromptu act which is now 60% Smiff.

He begins with a close-up set that uses nothing but a stack of business cards, a pen and a a standard pack of cards to create a low tech, hard hitting close up routine that lasts 10-15 minutes. This, for me, was my favourite part of the lecture. Hand on heart, I either already do or will use all of the material within that section. I am seriously considering replacing my peek wallet in favour of 'the biz', it is that good!

Next, Phill moves on to his stage routine which for me was of less interest simply because I perform close-up. However, 'The thumbscrews book test' and 'Quinta' were stand out for me. The book test is very clever and seems completely fair and more to the point has a premise that completely justifies the use of a book.

Quinta, is a genius method of forcing that is congruent, invisible and guaranteed to hit.

Finally, Phill shows us a little something that will win you enough drinks to at least pay for the lecture if you are willing to just go and give it a go.

The only negative for me was that you could clearly see that Phill was a combination of nervy and self doubting which meant with an audience of about 10 magicians some of his material fell flat in that environment. I hasten to add that some of this is material that I perform myself so I know first hand that it kills.

If you can see past that though you will get 3 hours of solid material that delivers as well as nuances and subtleties that you can instantly apply to your own work.