If you have taken the time to read my previous reviews of Euans work then you will know that his publications are not to be taken as a completed work but really a snapshot of his progress as he develops his ideas. For the avoidance of doubt, that is my interpretation, and not neccessarily the authors. I could imagine that this could be off putting to some who have a different expectation, but as someone who has read his previous booklets I find it an engaging method of exploring card work. It’s a refreshing style and is even more engaging thanks to his inclusion of a card problems section. The style is not so much a lecture but a discussion.

Can I suggest that if you are new to Euans work then this may not be the best starting point. Unfortunately I don’t really have any objective reasoning behind this. That isn’t to say that the writing is not articulate or that this booklet is not a self contained unit; I simply feel that one of the earlier booklets may be a better introduction. IMHO your best introduction to this mans thinking would be “Free From Filler”, which is again available from his website.

The booklet is A5 ring bound unit with Euans now standard layout of thoughts on sleights, followed by effects and now with the added bonus of a more comprehensive card problem section. At some 46 pages long there is plenty to think about.

It starts by describing a variation to his own rotary palm sleight (nice), two variations on a Lennart Green sleight, a tabled false shuffle and finally some thoughts on Erdnase. Next comes the meat of the booklet in the form of 10 effects, described in detail with his cunning communication breakdown.

My favourite effects being:

“What another Poor Piece of Routining” – A nice handling of C2P (pretentious .. moi). I instantly took this away and developed my own, which I rather think is part of the joy of these booklets. Its asking you to think!
“Sig Tig” – Signature Transposition.

To be honest I didn’t get as much out of the effects in this booklet as I have the previous works. That is of course a matter of taste, and I am sure many will disagree. Of course this is similar to the comment I made about Cardboard Capers, which I now find myself going back to again and again. For my money the real value lies within the pages of the next section.

The final section covers a sequence of card problems and thoughts. From what Euan says this was popular amongst his readership, and I for one am glad to see it included. If your intested in developing your own ideas and variations, this is inspiring collection of thoughts and footnotes. Euan states at the beginning of this section that:

“this section was a lot longer, however I cut out a large chunk of text … I decided was pretentious crap.“

It’s your decision obviously Euan, but I can’t help but think I was short changed. I expect pretentious crap in my magic texts … infact I demand pretentious crap.

Overall:

IMHO not the best starting point to Euans work but a quality addition to his thinking. If you’re a fan of european card work then buy this; once you’ve bought all his other works of course. It is a valued addition to my growing library, and if like me you take this subject (too) seriously then you’ll enjoy the work of this informed and imaginative author. If it doesn’t inspire you to create something of your own, then your probably dead.

Its also nice to see Euan resist the urge to make any personal attacks and flag up the contribution that both Paul Gordon and Harry Lorayne have made to card magic.

Related posts:

1. Free From Filler By Euan Mccall Bingham.
2. Cardboard Capers By Euan Mccall Bingham

There are many accepted classic texts in card magic and this is almost certainly one of them.

I’ll now take this statement further and say that volume 2 has to be one of the 10 most important books on magic ever written. I have by no means read every magic book written, but I’ve seen enough to know quality when I see it. This, the second and final volume in Mr Elmsleys collected works, is quality and certainly deserves its place in my own personal top ten.

It differs from the first volume, not in its focus on card magic, but in the principles employed and again there will be something for everyone here. This volume should provide you with years of material and inspiration for your own work. As with the first volume the text is a collection of material submitted by Mr. Elmsley along with records and notes kept by his colleagues and close friends. Stephen Minch has done an expert job of selecting and describing the effects as well as providing observations that give you a real sense of what Mr. Elmsley was about.

Flourishes are a matter of style and personality. For me to make rules to govern another’s style would be impudence.
Alex Elmsley (1993)

Above is one of my favourite Elmsley quotes, and has become my default XCM defense. This is where this volume begins; with a small number of flourishes for card, coin and billiard ball. Next is a series of mentalism effects using a variety of methods and presentation styles. Some of these are very strong, and at the very least the principles outlined could be used in any number of effects.

The next two sections are a selection of card effects including Mr. Elmsleys classic Point of Departure, Diamon Cut Diamond, En Voyage and Between Your Palms among many others which you will recognise as the basis for many reworkings. The next section provides coin workers with a solid set of coin based effects including a very nice coin/card gimmick which is worth playing with.

The next section provides a massive selection of effects based on the faro shuffle as well as guidance on the sleight itself. From my other reading this is generally accepted as the best work on the faro shuffle currently in print, and you can see why. Having read this section you’ll want to get your decks out and start perfecting that faro.

The penultimate section takes you through the stay-stack which was independently invented by Mr Elmsley along with others. This provides a sequence of great effects based on this principle. As with the faro, I am not a great fan of deck stacks but you can’t help but be impressed with the scope of the effects that can be achieved. Bikes at the ready.

Finally, the reader is taken through a full description of Mr. Elmsleys Dazzle Act with which he toured the US in 1975. Dazzle by name and dazzle by nature. This is a lesson in routining and you can understand why most magicians of that time remember that lecture tour with great fondness.

Again despite the price of £34 this book is actually cost effective as it contains 103 effects. For the economically challenged thats just less than 34 pence an effect, and this is a strong collection from a deep magical thinker.

Stephen Minch has done an outstanding job of collecting together and presenting the thinking of Mr. Alex Elmsley. If you’ve moved on from beginner and actually want to start studying your art, I can’t think of a better place to start than both of these outstanding volumes. For those who are interested in buying this volume, can I advise to get it quickly as it is going out of print, and magicbooksbypost was the last place which had them in the UK.

Overall:
A classic must have text for card magicians.

this review was also published on the Talkmagic forum

Related posts:

1. The Collected Works Of Alex Elmsley Vol 1. By Stephen Minch

Ideally you should get somebody else to do the critisism for you; preferably somebody whose job is theatrical direction or production. Failing that, find any ordinary human being. Failing a human being try a magician.
Alex Elmsley (1975)

The above quote is typical of Mr. Elmsley and is probably why I like his work so much. This quote comes from the first section of the book which covers magic theory and performance. Although short this section is a must read and I can’t help but think almost everyone will gain benefit from his “Automatic Producer”, a method for reviewing and improving your own performance.

The second section is of course a set of count based card effects including the ghost (elmsley), evergreen and nevergreen counts. Your introduced to the Ghost Count by way of the classic “Four Card Trick”, the granddaddy of most packet tricks around today. Despite its age (1954) its still a wonderful effect and its great to see it in print as taught by the originator. One thing that struck me while reading through the effects, was that despite their age they are very fresh. This is quality material that is usable today, not some stuffy historical reference. I know enough about magic to understand that nothing is new, but I was surprised just how fresh this work is.

The third section contains comments and variations on sleights. From shifts, to changes, to palming and even a pass. There should be something for everyone here. This isn’t where should learn these sleights from, but should introduce the reader to some interesting variations.

The fourth section contains effects that don’t use playing cards, cunningly titled “Minus Fifty Two”. A nice collection of effects including torn and restored newspaper and a full cups and balls routine (including Mr. Elmsleys unusual kicker). Since I’m a cardie at heart this wasn’t of immediate interest, but Stephen Minch has wrapped each effect with a commentary and historical perspective which is deeply engaging. Despite my initial lack of interest, this section was read from cover to cover.

The remaining five sections (half the book) return to card effects. You’ll find a treasure chest of routines and original thinking in here including Mr. Elmsleys take on classic effects like the Ace Assembly, Triumph, Cards Accross, Ambitious Card and many more. There are also many inspired original effects to be found.

Despite the price of £34 this book is actually cost effective as it contains 110 effects. For the economically challenged thats just less than 31 pence an effect, and this is a strong collection from a deep magical thinker. No filler here, or at least none I could find.

Stephen Minch has done an outstanding job of collecting together and presenting the thinking of Mr. Alex Elmsley. If you’ve moved on from beginner and actually want to start studying your art, I can’t think of a better place to start than this outstanding book.

Overall:
A classic must have text for magicians. If you think this review was full of praise, wait until you see the one for volume 2.

Effects: 9/10
Quality: 10/10
Value For Money: 10/10

NOTE: For those who are interested in buying this volume, can I advise that you also buy Vol. 2 at the same time as it is now out of print and getting increasingly difficult to get hold of.

this review was also published on the Talkmagic forum

Related posts:

1. The Collected Works Of Alex Elmsley Vol 2. By Stephen Minch

As I stated in my previous review of Euans work, he has a direct economic style of writing. No fuss or filler, just a straight explanation of what needs to be done. I would say that the effects in this booklet are a little more advanced than “Free From Filler”, but well worth the practise, (or will be once I get my skills up to scratch). I didn’t like the range of effects as much as Euans other works, but I think this is down to my personal preference rather than anything else. I can’t help but think I’ll come back to a few of them at a later date. Heres a few of my favourite effects:

Instant Switch: A very strong transposition effect.
Snapping the Aces: A handling of Vernons classic.
Ultra Violet: A selection is replaced face down in the deck. You riffle and the decks visually turns face up except for the selection.

I have to say I’ve been playing with Ultra Violet for the past few days, and it has to be the real gem in this collection. Thankfully, Euan provides 4 different handlings for it, so that should please pretty much everyone. Even a lame card hack like me.

Overall:
Good booklet of card effects. Worth it for UltraViolet. I’m trying to not say, worth the price of the book alone.
Just discovered that you can download the Instant Switch effect from his website.

Effects: 7/10
Quality: 7/10
Value For Money: 8/10

this review was originally published at Talkmagic Reviews

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1. Free From Filler By Euan Mccall Bingham.

Euan has a straight forward writing style and quickly gets down to describing his card effects. He doesn’t mess about; most of the time he doesn’t bother to explain the effect. Straight into the moves, and you can tell he loves the art of card magic. His influences are in strong evidence too, notably Duffie and Sadowitz, and he always gives full or partial credit where appropriate.

Euans effects are just how I like them, short and punchy. If your looking for a 10 minute tour-de-force your not going to find it here. If your looking for direct card magic, you’ll find it in abundance. At this point I would normally point out a few personal favourites, but I can’t. Goto Euans site and take a look at the table of contents. The title of this booklet is bang on, Free From Filler. In addition, the booklet includes some sleights which should be of interest to most, including notes on the pass and the rather interesting Scorpion Change.

Do you get the feeling I liked this. Everytime I get a new delivery through the door I am at pains to quickly identify that one good effect out of the collection which justifies the price I paid. I did it with Euans work too; its on page 1, 2, 3 .….

Okay there are some downsides. If your expecting a full on description of each effect with pictures, your not going to get it. It may also stretch your magic library in terms of the references, something I think Euan secretly enjoys. I get the feeling that Euan isn’t presenting a set of finished effects (although he is) but simply presenting his current thinking. Rather than, aren’t I great, do this he seems to be saying this is what I’ve come up with, over to you.

His blog is also amusing and informative, but be aware it does use the richer aspects of our language.

Overall:
Great stuff. I’m just a little p*ssed that I didn’t find out about Euan before he sold his back issues of the crimp on ebay.

Effects: 10/10
Quality: 7/10
Value For Money: 9/10

Euan, can you make the cheque out to .… Actually, cancel that, just stop giving away your effects for free on the boards.

this review was originally published at Talkmagic Reviews

Related posts:

1. Cardboard Capers By Euan Mccall Bingham
2. Review: 20 Things Marlo Didn’t Publish

Ben has also revealed the inner-workings behind selections from his acclaimed theatrical productions The Conjuror and The Conjuror’s Suite. Tricks also includes the performance scripts for these effects — giving the reader a complete view of how a seasoned professional develops material for the real world.

Within these pages you will gain insight into a host of miracles that David Ben has made his living with for the last 20 years. Detailed are not only the rudiments of each effect, but also the select secrets only available to a working professional who has performed a trick hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Inside, you’ll find the tricks behind Tricks.

Review:
David Ben is Ross Bertrams only protege, and has won critical acclaim in his home town of Toronto with his presentations of parlour magic. This book contains a collection of material from Bens working repertoire covering card, coin, mentalism, credit cards, bottle tops and much much more. If you discount the over exuberant “compared to Paul Harris’ legendary set Art of Astonishment” this may be one of those instances where the blurb matches the reality.

The material is strong and the production value of the book is great with well written explanations, historical perspectives and solid illustrations. There really is a lot of good material in this book. My personal favourites being:

Worse Habits: A very nice impromptu bar top cup and ball. Without the cup or the ball. (I’m keeping this in reserve for any future cup and ball competition.)
Scarne-Bertram Prediction: An explanation of an impossible prediction performed by Scarne on television in the 50s.
Card on Ceiling: The classic effect using a Bertram handling.

However, there is one problem with this book. With the wide variety of effects and the wide variety of skill levels required it is difficult to see who the target market is. If your a beginner you will find a good range of effects but you may not have the skills to perform them. In addition, David makes heavy use of references so if your magic library isn’t up to scratch then you will have problems following some of the explanation. If your more advanced then the wide range of effects implies a lack of depth and therefore may disappoint.

On reflection, this is a book for the advanced performer who has a creative streak. I found the material very interesting and it kicked off a number of ideas for exploration. Although there are effects that you may add to your day to day routine, I think its real value is as creative source material.

Overall:
This is a great source of ideas and provides insight into another creative performers process. If you actively create your own effects, you’ll get a great deal out of this book. If your a beginner then be warned, there are lots of good effects here, but some will be too advanced or you won’t have the appropriate reference material. Its still a darn good collection, though.

Effects: 8/10
Quality: 8/10
Value For Money: 8/10

this review was originally published at Talkmagic Reviews

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