* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment * www.magicnewzealand.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #839 Date: Sunday 5th June 2011 Editor: Alan Watson www.watson.co.nz E-mail: editor@magicnewzealand.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================ 1. Editor's Message 2. New Magical App For The S.A.M. 3. The Personal Magic Library Of Dr. Robert Albo 4. 'Sponsor a Legend' 5. More Remarkable Magic # 37 - Nick Lewin 6. Make It Your Own! - #212 - Kyle Peron 7. Tony Brook In Conversation With Valerie - Part 8 8. EMC - The World's Only Digital Conference 9. British Ring Convention Line Up Almost Complete 10. The Official Website - The Suspended Animation Illusion 11. Magic Week In Colon Michigan! 12. S.A M Dean George Schindler To Be Honored 13. FISM Oceania 14. The Melbourne Magic Festival 15. Tony Griffith - At Homes 16. Magic Collectors Conference Last Weekend 17. "Magicana" Magazine (Vol. 58, Issue No. 349) 18. Close-Up Magic Secrets 19. Brand New Concept In Cold Reading 20. e-zine Archives 21. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- 1. Editor's Message -------------------------------------------- There is so much to talk about here that the best thing for you to do is just download it! Bruce, Mark and Vinny really outdid themselves putting together this new app for the S.A.M. So innovative and smart. I like the tricky photography and the tricks and the time capsule. Actually, I love it all. Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com -------------------------------------------- 2. New Magical App For The S.A.M. -------------------------------------------- Message by George Schindler A magical app for our S.A.M. members and all magic enthusiasts! The Society of American Magicians is the world's oldest and most prestigious organization for the promotion and advancement of magical arts. We welcome all magic enthusiasts! As we advance further into the 21st century, the S.A.M. is proud to announce another first: OUR VERY OWN APP! Thanks to the app team: Mark Weidhaas, Vinny Grosso, and Bruce Kalver, we've made it easy for our members and fans of magic to connect with the Society and get the latest news, access resources about our history, and have some magical fun with our very special magic tricks. . Learn about the organization and its history. . Perform some special magic tricks. . Take a photo with your iPhone and help the ghost of Houdini appear! . Let the Convention tab help you organize yourself for our annual magic conference. If you like magic, you need to connect to us with this fun magical app! MagicSAM app was created for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. This app is available at the Apple iTunes Store. Look for magicSAM or go to: http://itunes.apple.com/app/magicsam/id437980817?mt=8# -------------------------------------------- 3. The Personal Magic Library Of Dr. Robert Albo -------------------------------------------- Message by Byron Walker (US) I have recently acquired the personal magic library of Dr. Robert Albo For a list that are for sale please contact: Byron Walker POB 3186 San Leandro, CA 94578 (510)276-1854 byron.walker@comcast.net -------------------------------------------- 4. 'Sponsor a Legend' -------------------------------------------- Message by Paul Stone Thanks to the generosity of Diana Zimmerman, Writer, Editor & Publisher of the wonderful book 'Siegfried & Roy - Unique in all the World', supporting our 'Palladium Magic' - 'Sponsor a Legend' initiative to help us to fly John Calvert & Tammy, and Jack Kodell & Mary Naylor over to London as Special Guests at the 'Palladium Magic' Show on Monday 19th September, we now have a copy of this extraordinary book to offer as a prize. Only 500 copies of this superb Limited Edition Tribute to Las Vegas Legends, Siegfried & Roy, were produced and are selling fast. These books currently sell at $695 and as soon as all the copies are sold, the value will undoubtedly rocket. Copy # 1 sold at Auction for $3000! All you need to do to be entered into the prize draw to win this outstanding prize is to make a minimum donation of £25 ( $40 ). If you donate £50 ( $80 ) your name will be put into the draw twice, and for a donation of £100 ( $160 ) your name will be in the hat four times. So, the more you donate, the greater your odds are of winning this unique and very sought after book. Most importantly, you'll be helping us to honour these special 'magic legends' John Calvert and Jack Kodell at the world famous 'Home of Variety', the London Palladium Theatre. To make a donation and give yourself a chance of owning one of the most collectible books in magic, go to www.palladiummagic.com/sponsoralegend.html The draw will take place on 31st July 2011. -------------------------------------------- 5. More Remarkable Magic # 37 - Nick Lewin -------------------------------------------- Message by Nick Lewin (US) Working on cruise ships part 4. A couple of columns ago I mentioned a 'Tongue in cheek" column I published in the Linking Ring about this topic and several readers wanted to know what I said and quite how deeply my tongue was placed into my cheek. Judge for yourself as I have slightly amended and updated this column and it will be published in two parts. I worked onboard my first cruise ship at the tender age of nineteen. I had mastered the first lessons in my chosen craft and figured I could handle the rest by practicing during the day before I did my shows at night. Looking back it was a crazy plan but the truly crazy part is that it worked. Cruise ships were the first serious jobs available to me as I was becoming a professional magician. They have remained an ever-present source of employment to me since that first cruise. Maybe it is the half gypsy heritage that I am rumored to have inherited from my mother's family but whatever the reason I still like to travel and love getting paid to do it. There has been a wealth of information published in recent years by cruise ship magicians wishing to share their hints, tips and ideas to cash in on the cruise market goldmine. To add to this stockpile of sharing I have prepared my very own list of advice and 'Golden Rules'. People you will be working with: other performers. Cruise ships are filled with the wackiest bunch of weirdo performers this side of an HBO sitcom. I don't think it is fair to single out any particular group of entertainers but I think it is only realistic to acknowledge that ventriloquists and jugglers are in a league of their own when it comes to general nuttiness. Magicians bring a sense of decorum and sanity to their shipboard activities that are a beacon of normality to rest of the onboard misfits. If you call a magician in his cabin it is, generally speaking, unusual to have one of his props answer the phone and reply that he is sleeping. This is not the case with the average ventriloquist. A call like this to a vent might well result in a fifteen-minute conversation with his dummy about how his partner is stepping on his laugh lines. You can also trust the working magician never to let things get out of hand. Well, okay there was that time a magician smuggled a goat onboard and covered his cabin floor with 6 inches of sand for a beach party. This kind of behavior is a little too rich for the juggling community though, where the performer is more likely to be sitting in his cabin, scratching his head as he tries to figure out how to stretch his twenty minute act into a strong fifty minute show. Ah, all too late, he is realizing that he did need his unicycle. What is the use of an endless supply of apples to juggle and masticate if you don't have a unicycle to sit on while you do it? There are many wonderful singers who work onboard cruise ships but they always seem to insist on talking about themselves which can be very boring to the average magician who just wants to have an open roundtable discussion about how good his act and his new double lift are. There are also some excellent comedians working onboard cruise ships but they don't often seem to mix with magicians. I have a theory about this lack of communication and suspect comedians just hate us because we had happy childhoods. Drop me an email at nicklewin@me.com -------------------------------------------- 6. Make It Your Own! - #212 - Kyle Peron -------------------------------------------- Message by Kyle Peron (US) magic4u02@aol.com http://www.kyleandkellymagic.com A friend had asked me what my process was for coming up with creative routines for my shows. It is a fascinating question and I am glad he asked me it. However, this is VERY hard to answer as this entire concept and process is really the heart of the lecture and workshop I do. I could talk for days and never finish answering it in full. I could fill 5 books and not even touch the surface of the topic of creativity in magic. So here is what I will do. I will tell you a bit based on what I would NOT do. I will cover off on what most do wrong when they develop creative routines and why it doesn't work. The first thing anyone should do is to define what creativity is. You cannot begin to be creative until you define it and also define it for yourself. If you look in Webster's Dictionary, creativity can be defined in a way that SHOCKS most of the attendees at my lectures. Keep in mind I did not make this up. Read it and re-read it. It is pretty amazing. "having the quality of something created rather than imitated." WOW!! So basically we are saying here is that imitation is not creativity at all. Yet how do most magicians go about learning anything? Imitation right? We cannot help but to imitate what we see others doing. What is the first thing most magicians do when they want to learn a new act or routine? They would usually go to their magic books, their magic DVDs, magic mentors or even YouTube? These are the places we go to. We dive into all these sources and gain and watch as much information as we can absorb. We study these sources intently. Now many may ask me what is wrong with this process? Well nothing if you utilize it correctly. However, what tends to happen is that many do not. What starts as a great source of learning soon becomes a person so engrossed in studying every video and every book that they cannot help but too soon become TOO influenced by what they are seeing. It is fine to be influenced. However you cannot allow influence to become imitation. Once it does, you no longer have creativity. What happens is that you build magic clones. If we study too intently from these sources I described, we cannot help but to imitate moves and ideas that have come before us. We cannot help but to imitate the ways in which folks handled movement and patter simply because it is in our minds now. So how does one escape from falling into this trap? Well we allow ourselves to be influenced and then move on. It is OK to go to the magic books and DVDs. Everyone needs to be influenced and to learn and get basic concepts from magic. After all we must learn the techniques for them to become the tools of our trade. The methods of which to do a trick (the double lift or the top change) are tools for which to build. However, a great master artist does not utilize every single tool they own. They pick out just the ones that are needed to create a masterpiece. So go to the sources of magic books and DVDs and build up your "tools". However do not be so eager to go to them for creative ideas. If you ONLY look at magic to create magic, then you are really limiting yourself. Looking at magic for magic ideas is what I call inward thinking. If you only do inward thinking, then you cannot help but to redo the same things that have been done before. Learn to utilize an outward thinking process. Outward thinking is a very powerful thing. It simply means that we can utilize anything other than magic to create magic. Who says ideas for a magic card routine has to come from magic? It doesn't. Only magicians think this way. A great artist or composer gets ideas for the world around them. We as performance artists NEED to do the same thing. Learn to look at the world to gain ideas. A song can inspire an entire idea for a routine. A walk in the park can give you amazing visual ideas for an act that you may never had thought of otherwise. Even the shape of furniture can spark a creative idea. Ideas are around us all the time and every day. If we learn to truly "see" we can see limitless possibilities that can be applied to OUR magic. THIS my friend is where creativity begins. As always, I encourage you the readers to let me know your thoughts. So if you have any thoughts on my articles or suggestions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me directly at magic4u02@aol.com. I would love to hear from you. -------------------------------------------- 7. Tony Brook In Conversation With Valerie - Part 8 -------------------------------------------- Message by Anthony Darkstone Brook - Europe/USA TB : Yes that's true. You have traveled pretty much everywhere and head-lined at most of the major conventions. One in particular in India involved you using your legs in a different way, running from snakes !!! Share some of that story with us .. V : Well, Tony as you say I was booked for a Convention in Trivendrum, South India. The magic there by Indian magicians was acceptable but the most amazing Magic came from a very old Street magician. All 500 participants were outside, sitting on the ground. Of course, as the only European, blond woman, in pants there, they asked me to come and sit in the very middle of the circle. Then he started the show. The Great Street magician started making all manner of things appear very close to me, from his mouth, real snakes, scorpions and so on; I was so scared, I had to run away, so everybody was laughing except me!. Another amusing story. During the Indian convention, I said that I'd like to see some working elephants as I had seen on TV in a program about working elephants in the forests. They said they would take me. I think it must have been a language misunderstanding. After an hour's drive we ended up at a local zoo! There was a poor lonely solitary elephant. I was embarrassed, but to be polite I said, "Oh! that's an elephant! It's so big!". I suppose they must have thought ..What a dumb blonde Swiss girl! TB : That's funny! But also very scary I bet. The scorpions and snakes I mean ..not the elephant! Like I said, you have performed pretty much all over the world and at major Conventions and in Vegas and at The Castle. Recently, as you know, I was talking to another good mutual friend of ours, Norm Nielsen and he told me that he has done with traveling and likes the comfort of his home. Do you see yourself doing more traveling because of the lectures or are you doing less? V : Gilles and I enjoy the comfort of our own home in Paris and it is true we have done a lot of traveling in the past; Europe and the USA. In 2005, the IBM convention in Reno act + lecture, what a great time. And then the Magic Castle for a week, act + lecture, what a beautiful memory and even performing one week in Kevin James' show. I have also performed in India as said, China many times and in Japan where I, two years ago did shows and 26 lectures all around the country, wonderful time. We are still quite happy to travel to wherever we are invited. I am especially interested in doing more lectures and already have some dates lined up in the US for later this year. If anyone is interested, and our schedule permits, please contact Gilles who handles the schedules and I will be very pleased to lecture for any Club or Convention that would invite us. TB : I've already mentioned your lateral thinking abilities. Your original one-person Sub-Trunk effect, your unique "back to the audience" manipulation effects and so much more makes your performances quite compelling to watch and of course, quite naturally very Entertaining. I was personally delighted when you shared some unique ideas with Dan Garrett and me when we hosted "World Class Magic". It was so very nice to see an effect designed specifically for Lady Magicians. A wonderful example of your original thinking. Do you have any ideas that you are working on at present that you will debut shortly? I heard somewhere that there a Color Changing Glove effect in process. V : It's already on the market. I came out with that idea some years ago in my precedent act. It featured Color changing gloves and now I demonstrate them in my lecture along with many new ideas that use my special magnets made especially for me as they have to be sewn. That's why even close-up magicians can take ideas from my lecture. End of Part 8 Send comments to: tbrook47@gmail.com ) -------------------------------------------- 8. The Essential Magic Conference Is The World's Only Digital Conference -------------------------------------------- The Essential Magic Conference is the world's only digital conference for magic and magicians. Rated as "Epic" by its members EMC has been highly praised by Genii, Magic and Magicseen as one of the best magic conferences in the world. EMC features 3 days of live internet broadcasts in high quality video. 33 of the world's finest creators, performers and thinkers in magic will lecture and perform. 16 hours of magic that you can watch online, on-demand and on DVD. EMC is the only conference in which every moment of magic is yours to enjoy and relive forever! Registration includes a set of DVDs containing videos of all conference events mailed to you post-free anywhere in the world. Registration is $90 or 70 Euros. Register Now! For more information and to register go to: http://www.essentialmagicconference.com/ -------------------------------------------- 9. British Ring Convention Line Up Almost Complete -------------------------------------------- Message by Geoffrey Newton (UK) British Ring Convention Line Up Almost Complete The line-up of performers, dealers, guests and lecturers for this years' convention being held at the Southport (Lancashire) Theatre and Convention Centre is truly international. First from the USA comes Michael Finney, IBM International Stage Contest Champion Jason Andrews, and Joe M. Turner. From Canada there is FISM Grand Prix Close Up Winner 2009 Shawn Farquhar and also Wes Zaharuk. Closer to home there's the very talented Rafael from Belgium, Jordan Gomez from France, Vittorio Marino form Italy, broadcaster, lecturer and author Tony Brook from Portugal, RTE TV personality Aonghus McAnnaly from Ireland, and the Gentleman Juggler Jeton from Germany. Vanni Pulé from Malta - who will by then have been installed as the International President of the IBM will also be joining us at our 75th convention. From our own shores the line up continues with, on the children's show, family favorite Richard Cadell and Sooty, and also at this event Safire presenting illusions and their magic light puppet act. Another children's favorite here is David Tomkins (who will also be lecturing on this subject). Paul Joyce appears on this show as well. The 'burlesque' magic of Romany has recently been added to the list of top names appearing at this convention. Well known illusionists Amethyst and Guy Barrett and funny men Mel Mellers and Mark James also bring their own style to this terrific line up for Southport. The convention runs from 22nd - 25th September and details are on www.magicconvention.co.uk -------------------------------------------- 10. The Official Website - The Suspended Animation Illusion -------------------------------------------- Message by John Taylor (Aust) www.suspendedanimationillusion.com A list of all genuine owners of Suspended Animation are on the site. If you are not on the list sorry, you must own a pirate copy. Bill Smith - Magic Ventures www.magicventures.com is the ONLY authorized builder of the Suspended Animation illusion so please do not buy this illusion from anyone else but Bill! Please contact John Taylor direct if you have any inquiries or know of any rip off artists or builders. Info@suspendedanimationillusion.com Please pass this info around and please guys, only support authorized magic builders and performers as we need to protect our art and each other. -------------------------------------------- 11. Magic Week In Colon Michigan! -------------------------------------------- Message by Rick Fisher (US) Magic Week in Colon Michigan! The only free magic gathering on the planet! Why spend hundreds of dollars on a convention when you can get the best in the business for FREE! FAB Magic hosting MagiCelebration 2011 - 8th annual - August 3-6th Free Lectures by Silly Billy, Michael Finney, Paul Romhany. FREE magic auction, 2 Big Stage shows under the BIG TOP tent at 6:00pm Friday and Saturday. (tickets $12 for adults which includes one FREE child ticket under 12) Children's prices are $6! This 700 seat tent theater features some of the finest magic talent on earth! In fact this is the ONLY FREE Magic Event on the planet earth! FREE shows in the FAB Magic shop! Busking competition and so much more! Come see our expanded showroom - now over 7,000 square feet full of magic! Come see why Colon, Michigan is the magic capital of the world! Plus Bobby Maverick will host a busking seminar - $25 per person - limited to 15 and Bobby will attempt his straight jacket escape in front of the FAB shop! For all of the details go NOW to www.colonmichiganmagic.com -------------------------------------------- 12. S.A M Dean George Schindler To Be Honored -------------------------------------------- Message by George Schindler (US) Charles Zuis who died last week was the founder of the "Hall of Famous Unknown Magicians and Clowns in 1988 - His wish was to keep this one day yearly "Parlor Convention" going. This year June 4, 2011 the honoree will be S.A M Dean George Schindler. The small, inexpensive day of magic will have an auction of museum collectibles, a lecture , food and shows. See the website http://www.unknownmagiciansandclowns.com for details on how to get to Schuyler Lake (Richfield Springs, N.Y .) Motels are in the area for early birds or one night visitors. Special Memorial for Charlie. For reservations contact Phil Messina at ptthemagi@juno.com (607-427-7241) -------------------------------------------- 13. FISM Oceania -------------------------------------------- Message by Tim Ellis (Aust) There are only three spaces remaining in the FISM Oceania stage competition and two remaining in the FISM Oceania close up competition. Don't delay if you've been thinking of entering the richest magic competition ever held down under with prizes including FISM 2012 Registration, Competition entry and airfares to the UK. Entry details and information can be found at: http://fismoceania.com/oceania-championships/ -------------------------------------------- 14. The Melbourne Magic Festival -------------------------------------------- Message by Tim Ellis (Aust) The Melbourne Magic Festival kicks off on Wednesday, June 29 with a massive free launch party at The Alchemist. Tickets are free ($1 booking fee), but must be booked, and in addition to discounted drinks on the night, White Rabbit is providing FREE BEER! Book your tickets now at http://www.blacklabeltickets.com/?show_id=51 For more information about The Melbourne Magic Festival go to www.MelbourneMagicFestival.com -------------------------------------------- 15. Tony Griffith - At Homes -------------------------------------------- Message by Tony Griffith (UK) Tony Griffith will be holding another of his at homes on Sunday 13th November 2011. As in previous years this will be held at his home in Bristol. The day starts with coffee at 10.30 a.m. in readiness for an 11 a.m. start, the day ending around 5 p.m. The registration fee is £50 (£45 if payable before the 31st August) and includes, morning coffee on arrival, a super buffet lunch prepared by Tony's wife Judith, and a light tea prior to departure. In addition each person will receive a 'goodies' bag containing a number of items worth more than the registration fee. Numbers attending will not exceed 12 persons. . During the day Tony will cover a whole variety of subjects such as Stand Up/ Close Up Magic in the real world, After Dinner Speaking/Entertainment, Presenting and organising a Talk/Show Presentation, Promotion, Publicity and Organisation, Working in Schools. Due to the very intimate nature of the day Tony will also be able to cater for the individual interests and requirements of those attending. Tony Griffith is a Gold Star Member of The Inner Magic Circle. He has considerable experience in the world of magic having lectured throughout the UK, Europe, the U.S.A, Australia and New Zealand. He is the author of the recently acclaimed Reflections series of books. He has presented his magic for some of the country's leading companies and hotel chains, both at Corporate Events and in the Trade Show arena. He has lectured to The Magic Circle on 7 occasions, and The Magic Castle in Hollywood on 5 occasions, where he has also given over 100 performances. Bristol International Airport is only 15 minutes away from Tony's home. Likewise the motorway system is not too far away. So, if you are interested in having a more in depth look at magic with a very experienced professional contact Tony on 01275 835463 or by email at tony@tonygriffith.co.uk Previous at homes have been hailed by those attending as a Master Class. -------------------------------------------- 16. Magic Collectors Conference Last Weekend -------------------------------------------- Message by David Linsell David Ben and Julie Eng presented an outstanding Magic Collectors Conference last weekend in Chicago. Follow the link for a recap and to see a slideshow of just some of the images I captured during the fun and information packed three days. What can I photograph for you? http://magicol.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/whew/ -------------------------------------------- 17. "Magicana" Magazine (Vol. 58, Issue No. 349) -------------------------------------------- Message by Michael Woolf (NZ) The new "Magicana" Magazine (Vol. 58, Issue No. 349) for June/July is in the mail to subscribers. The front cover features a great shot of Mark Mason, headliner of next year's New Zealand Convention. Bernard Reid continues his historical series on past NZ Conventions; Ken Ring has a great comedy mentalism effect. In his regular column this issue David Ginn features Gene Gordon's routine with the little dog puppet. We have an item from the past on the NZEDDA Magic Studi. Paul Romhany shares his original rubber bands trick "Animal Bands." From Ian Adair this time comes a card prediction using a Devil's Hank. Another Convention feature has a Mark Mason bio. and photograph. Nick Lewin gives us a funny and revealing personal account of his friendship with Billy McComb. "Annie Abbott - The Little Georgia Magnet" is reviewed by Joel Moskowitz, and Wayne "Chicane" Rogers introduces his "Automatic 2-Way Prediction Envelope. We have the first part of an extended "Magicana" interview with Peter Reveen. Another of the next NZ Convention's headliners is profiled: comedy and children's performer Ken Scott. Richard Webster describes a novel method for giving a gift to the birthday child. Andrew Wilson reviews the new book by Joshua Jay. Roderick Mulgan discusses Carl Hermann's variant on "Any Drink Called For" - but this one used flags of all nations. And we have a feature on the 40th performing anniversary of P C Sorcar jr. "Magicana" was founded in 1953 so it is now in its fifty-eighth year of publication. Sent by air from New Zealand all over the world. For subscriptions: email Editor Michael Woolf mail@michaelw.co.nz -------------------------------------------- 18. Close-Up Magic Secrets -------------------------------------------- Message by Diamond Jim Tyler (US) Diamond Jim Tyler's book Close-Up Magic Secrets printed by Dover Books releases this June. The book is 176 pages with over 300 photographs featuring 29 routines and a magic glossary. The effects within this book helped Jim to win awards, have been featured at The Improv, The Magic Castle, The Magic Circle and in twenty countries around the globe. In 2000 Diamond Jim released his first book titled Pockets Full of Miracles. By 2001 that book was out of print. Jim has leased the rights to Dover for a limited time to reprint Pockets Full of Miracles. Dover chose to give it a new cover and new title but the content remains the same. The good news is that the book that has been so hard to find for the last ten years is now available in soft-back form at a fraction of the original price. The book retails for $15.00 US and can be purchased from your favorite magic retailer, all the big name book stores or directly from Diamond Jim at www.diamond-jim.com/originals . -------------------------------------------- 19. Brand New Concept In Cold Reading -------------------------------------------- Message by Paul Romhany (NZ) Brand New Concept In Cold Reading Plus 12 Minute Book Test Act by Paul Romhany and Ken Ring Special one week offer only to e-zine readers!! For information on the effect visit: http://www.extrememagicmakeover.com/personality.html Normally $150 plus postage. For e-zine readers this week only - $125 - email paul@chaplinmagic.com for this special offer. Note: This package is limited to only 150 copies. How To Tell Anybody's Personality By The Way They Laugh And Speak + 12 Minute Book Test Act Reviewed by Cris Johnson My Thoughts: I think this is fantastic. It's no secret that I love everything that I've bought from Paul and this is no different. One of the main reasons why I like this so much is the fact that the two books used in the performance actually focus, as part of the presentation, not only on the thoughts read (i.e. word or passage is read by a spectator and the "mojo guy" reads their mind) but ALSO the actual subject matter of the book is important to the routine and your entire show (if you're like Paul, who has wrapped the subject matter of the books around his entire mentalism show.) This is also why I feel the holy grail of book tests, the Mother of All Book Tests, is slightly overrated - the text of the book means nothing. It's completely random. Even if you throw a book jacket on MOAB, it's not like you can incorporate passages into the presentation that have any significance. Another thing to admire about this is the fact that the spectator can read the Personality book from cover to cover and will never hot upon 'the secrets.' This is a huge advantage over the book test that has been my favorite for the past few years - The Shakespeare Experiment...great book, but your spectator management skills need to be up to snuff! Yet another thing to consider - the subject matter of the book lends itself well to incorporating it into your act for those high dollar corporate gigs that many magicians strive for. Whether a keynote, workshop or sales meeting, the subject matter of the book, deducing someone's personality, is of key relevance to corporate groups. I'm only part way into actually reading the Personality book in terms of the actual content and so far, I'm extremely impressed. As a hypnotist and NLP guy, I can say that this information is right on target in terms of "decoding" the complex human behaviors. Great, great stuff. The knowledge I know I'll get from this (aside from the trick aspect) will give me a ton of material to work with, from the aforementioned workshops to actually making my clinical work easier in hypnosis, because the more I can glean of a person's personality, the better I will be able to work with that client! Pretty far reaching stuff for a book test! Oh, and while the Joke Book is a key to the 'workings' of some of the handlings (Paul provides several), it too is funny as hell. In particular I enjoyed the answering machine messages! The working: OK, so I've raved about this package in terms of concept. What about the workings? Well, since Paul provides the purchaser with SEVERAL different ways of snuffing out what the spectator has chosen from the book (different handlings, some are forces, some are free choices) I can safely say that there is definitely something in here for everyone...there's drawing dupes, offshoots of the Hoy principal, clever forces, cribs, and on and on. Honestly, I was super relieved when I realized how many choices Paul provided, as I remember reading on one of those dreadful forums (so much negativity!) that a book test called The Master Key was trashed because it provided too many choices in terms of 'the working'. I felt this was hogwash - different performers have different tastes and having choices is a good thing. The workings are all on the technically easy side - no memorization necessary, although if you enjoy memorizing, you can certainly dispense with the crib. An important note - for the most part, the workings are based on tried-and-true methods. If you're looking for the latest breakthrough in terms of method, you'll not find it here. This package is designed for the worker, and I feel very relieved knowing that not only did Paul build his book test on the solid foundation of proven methods but he made sure the book was readable from cover to cover - no 'gobbleygook' here! Angles: This being a book test(s), there are no angle considerations that I noticed, meaning you can do this in a house party surrounded - a situation I've found myself in a few times over the years when entertaining adults! The Final Rating: It's not going to surprise many readers to know that I'm giving this a 10 out of 10. Book tests are one of those 'standard' items where new versions pop up all the time and with very few exceptions are any of them worth consideration. Paul's latest offering is stellar and for the working pro, an incredible bargain. -------------------------------------------- e-zine Archives -------------------------------------------- Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e-zine go to: www.magicnewzealand.com click on the red button center right "Archives" When you enter the archive the e-zines are in issue order and are Coded, e.g. 001 Nov06 1999.txt first three numbers (001) denote issue number, then the date (Nov06) and the last figures the year (1999) -------------------------------------------- Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- Our subscriber list is NOT made available to any other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. You can subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Magic New Zealand® E-zine at: www.magicnewzealand.com Magic New Zealand® E-zine is published each Sunday. The opinions expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand® nor Alan Watson vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via Magic New Zealand® E-zine. Subscribers to this publication and authors who contribute to it by doing so agree they will not hold Magic New Zealand® or Alan Watson, jointly or individually liable or responsible in any way for the opinions expressed therein. Magic New Zealand® reserves the right to alter, correct or disregard any articles submitted. Readers are encouraged to submit timely articles or news items which may be of interest to subscribers. By submitting articles to this e-zine, the authors grant Magic New Zealand® the right to publish such articles and such authors confirm their copyright of the material submitted. All works published by Magic New Zealand® are protected by international copyright legislation and articles must not be published for profit by anyone other than the individual authors without the written permission of Magic New Zealand®. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this publication may be freely redistributed, but not sold, to other magicians if copied in its entirety, including the copyright notice below and the above disclaimer. © Copyright 2011 Alan Watson www.magicnewzealand.com www.watson.co.nz www.corporatemagic.co.nz www.magician.co.nz