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Posted by: Steve Beam (Mar 29, 2007 6:19pm) |
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Well, you're hitting me where I live. I have books in process at the office, in my luggage, in the car, and in the house. Right now I'm reading:
- David Stone's The Real Secrets of Close-Up Magic
- Darwin Ortiz's Designing Illusions
- The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy
- The Essential Robert Houdin
- Thomas Henry's Hidden Numerical Forces
- Foundations - Eberhard Riese
- Life, Death, and Other Card Tricks (Neale) - This one has been problematic. I've been reading it for years. I get 2 tricks further into it each time and then I'm interrupted for months. Also, it's one of the ones in my suitcase so I only tackle it while traveling, and because it's thicker than the others that reside there, I generally reach for the thinner ones. (I'm really enjoying it, two tricks at a time.)
As for the most enjoyment, it's relative to where I was in magic at the time I read them. As a kid, my favorites were:
Royal Road to Card Magic
Hay's Amateur Magician's Handbook
Norman Hunter's Successful Magic for Amateurs
Expert Card Technique
Classic Secrets of Magic (Elliot)
Hilliard's Card Magic (This was the card section out of Greater Magic.)
And probably the Tarbell Course for sheer size (and their card magic sections)
Those seven are all still among my favorites, but I'd have to add many, many more. Those that immediately come to mind (which is meaningless because I would add dozens more) and in no particular order:
Stewart James in Print - The First Fifty Years (Allan Slaight)
The James File (Allan Slaight)
Collected Works of Alex Elmsley (Minch)
The Phoenix (Bruce Elliott & Walter Gibson)
The Magic Of Ascanio - The Structural Conceptions of Magic
Derek Dingles Complete Works
Our Magic (Maskelyne & Devant)
Magicians Tricks - How they are Done (Hatton & Plate)
Vernon Chronicles
The Trick Brain (Fitzkee)
Magic by Misdirection (Fitzkee)
13 Steps to Mentalism (Corinda)
Most magic magazines (Pallbearers, Pabular, etc.)
The rest of Greater Magic (see Hilliard's Card Magic above)
Marlo's Revolutionary Card Technique
Forging Ahead in Magic
Original Magic (Heinemann)
And if I list any more, I'll have to go consult my library and we'll be here all night. I'm not sure Steve has the disk space for a complete listing.
I also spend a ton of time reading books on the theory of magic and a listing of my favorite pamphlets would be embarrassingly long.
If you get the chance, spend some quality time with my paginated friends above. I think you will find that it will pay dividends.
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