Close up Illusions, By Gary Ouellet

This book is published by Camirand accademy of magic Inc. It is quite an interesting piece of work. As the title implies, it's focus is on close up illusions.

First, a word about Gary Ouellet. He was chosen as one of the century's 100 most influential magicians by MAGIC Magazine. He has produced many magic shows, including World's Greatest Magic, Champions of Magic to name just a few... Obviously a man who not only loved the art, but also brought a lot to it. This book is a very good example.

In it, you will find quite a few close up tricks, ranging from coins to cards, to dice stacking, to sponge balls, etc...

But the most useful things in it, in my opinion, are the various close up hints at the end of some chapters. One of them gives the recipe for a hand lotion that you can make yourself, and is great if you have dry hands like me.

There is also a lot of information on presentation. For anyone wanting to know how to improve his/her performance, there is some very useful wisdom in these pages.

Here is the listing of the chapters:
1- Close up Theater ( presentation ideas..)
2- Greatest effect in magic (Finger palm, vanish, eye movement...)
3- Flashy Wonders (Flash deck, deck vanish,..)
4- Double Trouble (Break system, DL, Crook Concept, ...)
5- Secret of the Three ( Toss transfer vanish...)
6- Sponge ball miracles
7- Magic Lecture
8- Classic Force
9- Eureka! ( essay on piracy and theft of ideas...)
10- Paradise count
11- Final coin Flight
12- The infidel Change
13- Coin drops
14- Silverdust Routine
15- Paste Board Pageant
16- Touch Force
17- Ambitious Card
18- The silver sequel
19- After dinner speech
20- The slider ( Top change..)
21- Challenge factor
22- Finger on card revisited
23- Showcase
24- Rock and roll dice stacking
25- Miracle signed card to purse
26- Words to a beginner
27- Japanese jewels
28- For Ascanio
29- Hint Heaven ( series of hints...)
30- Netherworld
31- Anxiety factor
32- Northern sleights
33- Enigmas for posterity
Special bonus: The angle Pivot system ( an other DL...)

As I previously stated, this book is more than just tricks. There is some definite inspiration and wisdom in these pages to help you build a better presentation. These hints come from a man who has worked with magicians like David Coperfield and Lance Burton. It is not just theory from someone who has never performed. It is help from a person who "has been there, done that". All in all, I very much enjoyed this book, and I believe you will too.

Have a nice day!

Louis Jutras
Magicien montreal / Montreal Magician
fete enfants

Raven, the

The Raven is quite an interesting apparatus. It is this wonderful tool which David Blaine used to vanish a coin in a spectators hand. Basically, you can wear a short sleeved shirt, show your hands empty, take a coin, show it, vanish it in front of your audience, show your hands empty again. There is no doubt it is a beautiful vanish. There is some talk among magicians, however, that the same effect can be achieved with sleight of hand, such as the revolution vanish. Personally, I like the raven. While there is no question that good sleight of hand technique can achieve similar effects, the Raven is still a useful tool. More than just vanish a coin, it can also be used to vanish other things, such as dollar bills, cards, etc... Yes, you do have to "prepare" cards and bills so that they can vanish, but it is easily done. The raven can also be used to do some PK effects, such as stop watches, but it is not necessarily where it shines. To use it to it's full potential, I recommend getting the Raven DVD. It gives very good information on how to wear it, show your hands empty, and most importantly, good effect ideas.

Have a nice day!
Louis Jutras
magicien montreal / montreal magician
fete enfant

BKM Wallet (Apparatus)

« BKM wallet »

BKM stands for Balducci, Kapps Mullica. At roughly 110.00$ CDN, it is a fairly expensive wallet, but in my opinion, it is worth it. For those of you who know the principle of the Mullica wallet, I have to say that I tried making myself one with a cheap 15$ wallet. It was not worth the trouble of finding one of the appropriate size, look, cutting where needed, etc… This one is well thought out in its construction, it is made out of quality leather, it is examinable (in part…), and is usable in it’s apparent intended purpose: As a wallet!!!

The BKM is more expensive than some other wallets, but it does combine the advantage of being usable with the Balducci/Kapps method, or the Mullica method. This allows you to do the same trick twice, using two drastically different methods. This is ideal for those “show me again!” situations. The documentation that comes with this apparatus is concise and clear. It even shows a method for the “Kapps” version of “card to wallet” that does not involve palming. The “Mullica insert” is very easy to use, even for those of us who are not that dextrous. This does not mean, however, that you will be able to use this apparatus without practice. Rehearse until you can do it while sleeping!!! This may seem obvious to all experienced magicians, but it is worth repeating to everyone. Even though the methods may be simple, rehearsing is essential to being able to present the trick in competent manner.

The BKM wallet is available at most magic shop and online.

Have a nice day!

Louis Jutras
The Montreal magician / Le magicien de montreal

“Encyclopedia of rope tricks”

“Encyclopedia of rope tricks”
Stewart James, Dover Edition

This book is, in fact, a republication of the third printing (1945) of the work originally published by ABBOT’S Magic Novelty co. It is also interesting to know that it is in fact the first of three books, the other two being available exclusively from ABBOT’S.

This book is roughly 400 pages long, and has some really amazing effects, all of which have been contributed from various great names in the magic community, such as Harlan Tarbell, Nevil Maskelyne, Grant, Brema, etc… The illusions are well illustrated and easy to follow. The skill level needed varies from beginner to intermediate. However, most of the routines presented are rarely seen on stage, even though they can be quite appealing to all audiences. If you are interested in performing rope tricks, it is therefore a very nice source of material that is not overused.

The book is divided in nine chapters, each relating to one particular aspect of rope magic. They can be studied individually in the order of your preference, the various sections being independent one from the other, so to speak…

Chapter one deals exclusively with knots, giving no less than 19 different ways to tie knots that vanish, or can be made while holding and not letting go the ends of the ropes.

Chapter two deals with penetrations with two ropes. They include such tricks as ropes through neck, ropes and rings mystery, rope releases, walking through ropes.

Chapter three contains 25 sections for penetrations using one rope. Among the various subjects treated are different versions of the leg tie, rope through neck, handkerchief release, vest turning trick, ring on rope, knotted ring on rope, rope through stick, etc…

Chapter four talks about a subject, which personally, I was a little bit more familiar with: cut and restored cord. There are 24 different variations on this subject in this chapter. These tricks vary from tricks using rope, yarn or strings, all of which can be done without too much preparation. Which brings us to the two following chapters: Chapter five has 17 tricks for “cut and restored rope”(impromptu), and chapter six has 16 routines for cut and restored rope with unprepared ropes.

The illusions in chapter five can be performed anywhere, at any time, as you would assume with the word “impromptu” associated with them. The illusions in chapter 6 can also be done n various types of venues, but may take some preparation.

Chapter seven deals with cut and restored rope yet again, but this time with a prepared rope. It contains 29 variations on this concept, such as Grant’s Super rope trick, Tarbell rope mystery, Doc Nixon’s rope mystery, Eddie Clover’s triple cut routine, etc…

Chapter eight contains miscellaneous rope tricks from such notables as Percy Abbot, Freer, Grant, and Hanson.
Chapter nine is composed of seven variations of the hindoo rope trick

Pease feel free to leave me any comments, whether you liked this review or not… It is always a pleasure to hear from you!

Have a nice day!

Louis Jutras
The Montreal magician / Le magicien de montreal

«Complete guide to card tricks and techniques»

«Complete guide to card tricks and techniques»
Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue

This book has already quite a reputation amongst cardicians, and the reason is quite simple: it is a very good work of reference for all things related to cards. It is divided in 6 parts.

The first part deals with sleights. In it, you will start out learning about lifts (double, triple…), getting ready for the lift, the turnover. You will then graduate to false deals ( you name the type, it is in there!), side slip, the pass ( seven different versions…), palming, false shuffles, false cuts, changes, etc… This par contain 16 different chapters, and all deal with one type of sleight in particular, going into details of how to execute them, along with as many variations as space permits.

The second part deals exclusively with flourishes. It is only eleven pages long, but contains the only written version of the interlocked production that I have ever seen. It also shows various color changes, top and bottom changes, springing the cards from hand to hand, pressure fan and fan flourish.

Part 3 deals with technique. Lots of information is given on the palm, various ways of forcing cards, secret counts, etc…

Part four is quite extensive, just like part one. It contains fourteen chapters, all of them dedicated to a particular type of card trick. There are chapters for rising cards, one hand card magic, discoveries, mental discoveries, reverses, tricks using double and triple lifts, etc… . This is the only part of the book where you find actual applications of all the different sleights and techniques that were taught in earlier parts.

Part five talks about miscellaneous points of interest for cardicians, such as peeling cards, making double-faced/backed cards, different types of shuffles, false counts and deals, etc….

Part six is constituted of two chapters:
- Misdirection
- Presentation

All in all, as I have said earlier, this book is an excellent resource for anything related to card work. The only drawback that I found with it is that there are very few drawings and images to illustrate the various sleights and moves, sometimes making it rather hard to understand and execute the moves properly. Couple that with the fact that the links between theory and practice are not necessarily obvious, this makes this book a reference for the more experienced magicians. As a beginner, I remember reading this book, practicing some sleights, and not knowing why I was learning them or what use I would have for them. This certainly turned me off card magic for a while. But now that I am quite bit more experienced, it certainly has become one of my favourite books. Beginners would be better off with «Royal road to card magic», or the wonderful series «Card College» by Roberto Giobbi, but more experienced workers will appreciate the «Complete guide to card tricks and techniques» as a reference.

Have a nice day!

Louis Jutras
The Montreal magician / Le magicien de Montreal

«Magic Tricks made easy»

«Magic Tricks made easy»
By Patrick Page, 1977

This is one of the first books that I remember getting when I was younger. It was not what got me started in magic, since I had already quite a bit of interest in the subject. But it had the advantage of being available, relatively easy to understand (so I thought…), and showed four different types of magic:

- Tricks with cards,
- Tricks with coins,
- Tricks with handkerchiefs,
- Tricks with paper.

The first part of this book taught three moves with cards: the hindu shuffle, the glide, and the top stock shuffle. Looking back, I can tell you that the explanations leaved quite bit to be desired, the tricks explained have potential to be really good, but not the way they were shown here.

The same can also be said of all the other sections of this book. The section on coins taught a few basic things, like classic palm, thumb palm, front and back palm, etc… But was severely lacking in showing how to use these techniques effectively. Again, most of the tricks shown can be made to be entertaining, but not in the way it was shown in the book.

As you can tell by this review, I am not particularly impressed by this book. I believe it is still available here and there on the internet, but I would not bother with it. Lots of much better material is available to anyone serious enough to study magic.

The only things I vaguely find interesting in this book is the final section on paper magic, which has interesting effects like paper tearing (not my favorite version, but it is workable…), paper ladder, tree and fence, folding money…

Have a good day!


Louis Jutras
The Montreal magician / le magicien de Montreal

The Magic of Ascanio (Vol. 1)

Before I begin, let me point out that «The Magic Of Ascanio» is actually 4 books:

1- Structural concepts of Magic
2- Studies of card magic: Ascanio’s favorites
3- Studies of card magic: Ascanio’s Classics
4- Knives and Color-blindness

For this particular review, I will concentrate on the first book.

If by buying this book you intend to find various tricks with cards, you will be very disappointed. No tricks at all, of any kind. What you will find, however, are various lectures that Ascanio gave at various points in his career as a magician. It is a very complete analysis of what makes magic «magical». The book is made out of four parts.

The first part deals with various thoughts on magic, as approached by Ascanio. He talks about such things as history, originality, presentation, cover, perception and technique. He also introduces notions pertaining to the conception of a magical atmosphere (Technique, misdirection, Timing,…), and goes into the analysis of effects ( routining principles, performances…).

Part two is constituted of various interviews he gave with various people like J. Tamariz, Docampo, and Aurelio Paviato.

Part three dives straight down in details relating to: Presentation, cover, construction, technique, and how to study magic.

Part four deals with creativity.

This book is roughly 300 pages long, and does raise very important points regarding how we do magic, and how it is perceived by our audiences. It is like a university degree in «Magical Performance». Although Ascanio is mainly concerned with card magic and close=up, his lectures and analysis of magic find applications in whatever sphere of magic you operate in, whether it is stage, close-up, professional or amateur. This book is like having your own personal coach telling your how to improve yourself and your magic.

Have a good day!

Louis Jutras
Montreal Magician/Le magicien de Montreal