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Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts |
So a couple of weeks ago I am minding my own business, surfing the Green Monster while working on executing the Veeser Concept with spring flowers. I wandered into the Nothing Up My Sleeve subforum, a place of devilry with coins that I stumble into with no little trepidation on occasion. Suddenly, my Veeser was interrupted by a thread by Bill Citino - who no doubt CAN Veeser spring flowers - about a new e-book for which he was asking for reviews. I haven't written a review here since 1867 so I thought, why not? I do perform some coin magic and I recognized Bill's name from the NY Coin Seminar DVDs as well as here on The Café. I hasten to add that I do not refer to myself as a coin magician, rather, I'm a guy that performs some coin magic. Don't get me wrong, I love coin magic though card magic is my first love. So what better way to write an honest review than to read Bill's book while expanding my horizons! So, here we go!!
[NOTE: I'm not writing for Millenials here. I am Generation X and proud of it. So, you young'uns will not get a "TL;DR" from me]. SLEEPLESS NIGHTS: MORE CONJURING FROM A SLEEP DEPRIVED MIND Bill Citino Self published 75 pp., (2018) Production value: This e-book has a very clean layout and if it was a physical book - and Bill advised me that it is intended to be printed - it has the nice clean look that you would expect from Vanishing, Inc. The font is Times New Roman and while best practice in digitl document creation usually recommends a font without serifs, the text is very readable. (That was fun! I got to use my Master's in design to make a quasi-intelligent comment)! The book is illustrated by Justin P. Vitti and his work is splendid. In magic we have had some truly great illustrators from Tarbell through Kaufman, Schmidt, and Tony Dunn to name a handful. In many ways, an illustrator can make or break a book and in this case, Justin's illustrations truly enhance the textual content which is already superb. Editing credits go to Curtis Kam and Ryan Bliss; their editing is excellent and I wanted to give them kudos because all too often, unless it was the master Jean Hugard, editors seem to get forgotten. Great job guys!! Target audience: Magicians at all skill levels. There's a self-worker in here, a beautiful but excruciating knucklebuster, some intermediate skill routines, a.k.a,., "routines Vlad can perform," a very beautiful one handed vanish - of a coin you silly persons, not his hand, and, a card trick! I strongly urge magicians at all skill levels to read the introductions and closing remarks. Of course we want to get to the magic, but, Bill offers invaluable insights to his insomnia induced creative process and for me at least, good discussion throughout about performance which, I will write with flame suit donned, is too often overlooked by readers. Magic is after all a performance art and Bill's focus on performance reminds me of the best advice from people like Paul Green, Harry Lorayne, Simon Lovell (sans lemmings), Jim Sisti, David Regal, David Acer, and other authors who actually perform for people they don't know. Instructional approach: The ways we teach and learn are not set in stone - thank you Professor Howard Gardner. Learning and teaching occur at different times and styles for each person involved in the processes. The trick for the author is to find that "voice" that most effectively transmits what needs to be learned and the very best authors actually place themselves in the shoes of the learner thus placing themselves in that role, taking part in an internal dialog of, "if I was learning this, how best COULD I learn it." For me and for many the standard by which magic instruction is judged is Harry Lorayne. As many know Lorayne's style is conversational and as you read him, you sense that he too is going through that same internal dialog I mentioned. Reading Lorayne is like having him right there with you. Bill's writing approaches Lorayne's immediate style very well. When I review a book I will read it at least twice without props in hand because I want to be able to visualize what is going on. As with Lorayne, I found Bill's writing allowed me to clearly visualize what should be going on at any given point in the routine being taught. When I picked up some coins - and cards - for the third reading I felt I had a very good feel for what Bill was teaching me. It's good to read more magicians who care about instruction and the art and craft of writing. The magic: There are eight items in the book and there is at least one routine for everyone. Remember that each and every routine has been audience tested and honed to a fine sheen. Let's look at each item in brief. 1. Edge Pop: Fans of Edge Grip work will LOVE this item. David Roth and Dr. Michael Rubenstein among others have created veritable miracles with it and Edge Pop does not disappoint. The audience sees the magician hold a coin at his fingertips and it vanishes in full view. I worked on this for a few days and actually got it looking pretty danged good, I can only imagine how fantastic it would look in a coin magician's hands. Bill was inspired by Kainoa Harbottle's Retention to Edge Grip 1 Vanish. With Dr. Harbottle's kind permission, Bill teaches the move. He feels that knowing Harbottle's move is very helpful in learning his vanish. Folks, it looks like trick photography even in my hands. One evening at band rehearsal, my mates asked me to do a quick bit of magic. I pulled out a coin and did Edge Pop. Their eyes popped. Bill cautions that with all things Edge Grip, angles are especially important. He finds that it works best in a restaurant situation for four or five people. It also works in a more formal setting. It can work with larger groups but the angles must be widened. This really is so very beautiful and I wager that many of you will add it to your arsenal. (there is a long list of credits for all the routines in the book so I will discuss crediting later in the review). 2. Imaginary Money (Curtis Kam). I'm a huge fan of Curtis Kam even though I have palms of Downey versus palms of steel. He's known for hard hitting magic that is often very difficult in terms of method. In fact, when I read the table of contents and saw a contribution from Curtis, I thought, "oh well, I can at least have fun reading it as a mere mortal should." Well guess what? It ain't knucklebusting at all! There is not one single sleight in the whole routine but wow, it plays so well! Effect: The magician approaches his next group of spectators and offers to demonstrate the difference between imagination and reality. He continues, “I have two objects that I would like to show you. One is at my fingertips. You can’t see it because it’s imaginary. The other is in my fist. You can’t see it because I don’t want to show you, at least not until later, but it’s very much real.” With that, the magician asks Adam to hold onto the real object in his closed fist until later. Following this, he addresses Brayden and describes the imaginary object at his fingertips, “At my fingertips is a tiny imaginary coin purse. It has a black leather bag and a brass clasp.” He continues, “Inside are three tiny imaginary coins, a penny, a nickel, and a dime.” While saying this he ‘opens’ the imaginary purse and removes the three imaginary coins one by one. He sets each down in front of Brayden. Brayden is given a choice of the three coins, where he picks the penny; the nickel and the dime are ‘placed’ back in the imaginary purse. Brayden is asked to ‘toss’ the coin into the air and ‘place’ it on the back of his hand similar to a traditional coin toss. When prompted, Brayden verbalizes that the coin landed on its head side. At this point the magician states, “You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this,” he then recounts all that has transpired. Continuing, “We are going to make imagination reality,” the magician snaps his fingers. Upon directing attention back to the hand ‘holding’ the imaginary purse, there now is a very real purse matching the earlier description. It is opened and the contents removed…a nickel and a dime! There is no penny. Attention is drawn back to Adam,who has been holding an object from the start. When asked to open his hand, there is a large penny shown heads side up! Thus truly connecting imagination with reality. Thoughts: Coin magic isn't exactly known for sleightless methods/routines; they do exist but are rather rare. Some of you may be familiar with Docc Hilford's self-working Nightmare Coins. I love that routine because it weaves a rather dark tale and the appearance of the chosen coin creates an almost eerie effect. While Imaginary Money is not "dark" it nonetheless produces this wonderful sense of utter weirdness that astounds. Now, all of that said, I beg you to please follow all of the tips. I know that in my experience with card magic, the phrase, "it's self-working so you can concentrate on presentation" is uttered far too often and it's a crock of poo. I will resist going into a diatribe about it though because I know that may of you are suffering eye hemorrhages from my as usual long posts. I will say however that in this routine the devil is in the details; it's even important that you get the heads or tails orientation correct. I hope that this routine will shift the erroneous paradigm that one need only concentrate on presentation. I believe - and I would rather use Steve Beam's term "semi-automatic" - that these sleightless routines require as much painstaking study as the knucklebusters. To close, one of the strongest card routines extant in my opinion is Darwin Ortiz's brilliant Zen Master; it's semi-automatic. 3. Copper/Silver Transpo(tation) One of the coin routines I regularly perform is Curtis Kam's Inferential C/S from Apocalypse. I love the plot of transpositions. Handled properly such that the audience knows which is where, transpositions are among the most visual, hard hitting effects in all of magic. [I'm not a fan of illusionists but I do like when they perform transpositions. I have the hair to be an illusionist but not the dosh]. This lovely routine of Bill's is as the fun title suggests, a transposition and a transportation. Effect: The magician introduces a copper coin and a silver coin. He takes the silver in the left-hand and the copper in the right-hand. Then, with a shake of his hands the coins are seen to have transposed; the silver is now in the right and the copper is in the left. The transposition happens once more. In the end the copper coin jumps out of the right-hand and into the left-hand to join the silver coin. Both hands are otherwise empty and the coins may be handed out for examination. Thoughts: This routine is a blast to perform. It's one of those "the magic happens unbeknownst to the magician. There is a lot of magic happening and the routine leads inexorably to a strong finish. Though there is quite a bit of sleight of hand in this routine, none of the sleights are really Curtis Kam palms o' death and desolation difficult and should be in the toolbox of most magicians. This one was a joy to perform! I almost felt qualified to be somewhat of a coin dude. 4. W.T.F.!? A C.S. B. Quickie: Bill writes that he was never really a fan of CSB routines until he read Geoffrey Latta's CopSilBrass in Richard Kaufman's CoinMagic. I'm glad that Bill changed his mind because he has created a very magical CSB routine just for us! Effect: Three coins are displayed to the spectators, a silver American Half Dollar, a copper English Penny, and a brass Chinese coin. The foreign coins are replaced in a coin purse or just held in the spectator's hand while the magician retains the silver coin on his palm up right-hand. With a wave of the left hand over the silver coin, it visibly changes to the copper and brass coins. The purse is then opened or the spectator opens his hand to show that the silver coin has transposed. All coins may be handed out for complete examination. Thoughts: That visible change of the silver into the brass and copper coins is, no matter what Bill writes, actually trick photography. Sorry Bill, the jig is up mate. I guess you were hanging out with some "extreme street illusionist." Okay, I'll behave. No, I won't! It really looks like real magic. I've performed this for some folk and I learned some new expletives born from their screams as their neurons melted. If you can can expletives and especially new ones in your vocabulary then you know it's a **** **** ** **** *** **** routine. (The censored fourth expletive is a rather tasty one from Mongolia). 5. Trading Places: Okay, deep breath here. This routine seems powerful. It really seems like it would slay the punters. Ah, yes, you are asking, "why is Vlad writing 'seems?'" Well, this routine IS firmly in the school of palms of excruciating, debilitating, I want my mommy difficult. There, I said it. I am not worthy to pick this routine's nose. (Thank you Pythons)! Effect: The magician introduces a coin purse and empties its contents, three silver coins and three copper coins, onto the table. He mentions that a demonstration in pickpocketing will be given. As this is said, the valuable silver coins are openly placed back into the purse. It’s snapped shut and handed to a spectator to hold. One by one the magician takes the worthless copper coins and magically changes them to silver indicating that he is ‘stealing’ the silver coins out of the purse. Following the final change of a copper to silver, he takes the purse back from the spectator and opens it to show that all three of the copper coins are now inside. All may be examined. Thoughts: Here's the thing: Bill writes that this routine is based upon David Roth's Purse and Glass and Geoffrey Latta's Coins, Purse, No Glass - and a few others. Bill's issue with other methods of this plot is that he doesn't like the use of extra coins. I have to confess that for me and for some of you, the use of extra coins is no big deal so why should you or I learn a method that is more difficult when the audience wouldn't (obviously) know. Some masters like Annemann preached that effect is everything and method be d****d. Others have argued method augments effect. I wrote to Bill about this routine and he confessed that this routine may be the most controversial because of the observation made here. While I cannot perform the routine, when I was reading it I did see that no moves are contrived, that each phase is motivated/makes sense and there is the fact that you start and end clean. It will be interesting to read thoughts about this from readers of the book. 6. It's Just an Illusion: Bill writes that this routine essentially began as a sort of jazzing things together in a live performance. Every move clicked and the phases flowed. He continued to develop the routine and it has become a staple of his repertoire. Effect: The performer offers to show the spectators “The World Famous 3 Coin Illusion.” Three coins are removed from a purse and the purse is set aside. All three coins then visibly vanish at the fingertips; the hands are shown empty throughout. With all of that done the performer motions for a spectator to open the purse, which has been sitting there since the very beginning…All three coins are found back in the purse! The whole routine was indeed an illusion! Everything is examinable. Thoughts: I like this one because while to we magicians it's a coins to purse routine - at first blush - it really is a one at a time coin vanish routine and the reappearance in the purse is a kicker rather than a more straightforward coins to purse effect. Anyhow, I learned this and performed it. The people for whom I performed this were blown away by each vanish. When they then opened the purse, well, remember what I wrote earlier about new expletives? Yep! (One part of the routine uses a Muscle Pass though you CAN substitute that but the Muscle Pass just seems to flow more nicely. It's not a Shoot Ogawa ballistic missile Muscle Pass, and, remember, I can perform this routine. 7. An Overtly Ambitious Inverted Illusion: Here it is! My pasteboard coated heart pounds with unbridled excitement because, oh yeah baby, it's a CARD TRICK and it's a really GOOD card trick. Effect: The magician offers to demonstrate how one deceives the senses. A card is selected and returned to the deck. The magician turns what appears to be a single card face-up on top of the deck. The spectators confirm the card’s unmistakable singularity. Yet, the magician goes on to show that he actually turned over half of the deck. These cards are righted. Following this, he turns the entire deck face-up, which the spectators confirm. Yet again, their senses were deceived. When the deck is spread to show that all, but one are face-up. The face down card is revealed to be the spectator’s original selection! The magician offers a further demonstration and performs a brief Ambitious Card sequence. In the end, the spectators are informed that the preceding events never occurred! With that, the cards magically revert back to their original state, all are face up with the exception of one face down card in the middle. The spectator’s selection! Thoughts: The long title should have added Triumphant because it is sort of a cousin of that plot as well. Bill's inspiration for the routine is David Acer's Overtime. Shameful self-plug here: Bill says he's a fan of my threads that encourage folks to look to their own libraries for hidden gems. Well, the shame is on me because for some reason I had entirely missed David Acer's routine so thanks Bill and I'll send the money via PayPal so that you will maintain your silence over my shame. Back to the routine then. I love routines that just allow you to do crazy things. John Bannon is an inspiration in that regard with his Fat Block Discrepant Switches and such. So David Acer's routine is cool and with his permission, Bill teaches it. Bill's addition is brilliant and brings the effect to a strong climax that closes the circle. This is a really fun routine to perform. Bill's phase require a bit more sleight of hand but it's not difficult and it's really a fun routine. 8. Money STILL Doesn't Grow On Trees: This is an expanded write up of Bill's "Money Doesn't Grow On Trees" with a copious amount of new ideas. Effect: The performer approaches his next table. In quick succession, three Half Dollars are produced from different areas of the body. As the third Half Dollar is produced it suddenly vanishes, along with the other two coins. The hands are genuinely shown empty. Following this, the performer reproduces the coins from where they originated. All may be examined. Thoughts: This routine is clean and uses a little extra something that makes the illusion look utterly impossible. I feel that there are so many great ideas to be harvested in this routine for other routines already in your repertoire. Ah yes, there is a Muscle Pass here too but again, it's not a Shoot Ogawa Trident missile Muscle Pass.As Bill writes, "Don't freak out." The mechanics of it are the same as in the earlier "It's Just an Illusion." There is a boatload of stuff method wise and all worth learning. Closing thoughts : Yes I know, I write too much. I'll wait while you staunch the eye bleeding. I wrote that I would touch on crediting. Crediting debates rage all over the Café. Magic, being the most technical of the arts straddles the line between art and science. So too, I can think of no other performing art except possible academic articles on film or live theater that possesses a veritable planet of creators and collaborators. There are some very hallowed magician/authors who wouldn't know a credit if it hit them in the bum. Some are deceased and I will not speak of the dead because I am half-Irish and I don't need no stinking banshees wailing about. Bill Citino is Captain Crediting. He painstakingly cites each and every inspiration for his creations. Creators who came before that are cited in this book can rest assured that their intellectual progeny are praised and protected. And I have to mention something that made me smile. King Bill chose not to use the pedantic "Credits" in the credit section. Rather, he employs "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants." Indeed, like Sir Issac Newton's proclamation, Bill's use of the sentence would make the old apple guy very happy. Credits, or in this case, annotated bibliographies are a lot of work. I still shudder in pain when I think of mine in my Master's thesis. But that work is so very important. It demonstrates the true communal nature of the exchange of ideas from one creator to the next as well the synergy of learner and teacher/mentor. As noted, Trading Places may garner some discussion. I feel badly that I could not explore the question more deeply but, as my skill set precludes me from actually being able to execute the difficult methodology, I feel utterly unqualified to offer more than my paltry thoughts as I did. So, to whom do I recommend this book? Pretty much any magician! Look, even if you never touch a coin beyond flipping one for the next round, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS is one of those books that is a self-contained course in getting the most out of your magic as a technician AND as a performer. As I write this, Pop Haydn's CHICAGO SURPRISE comes to mind. Pop's book is really a mini-study of what one should be doing as a magician. Ron Bauer's Private Study Series also comes to mind. I should also add Harry Lorayne with his "afterthoughts," and John Guastaferro's excellent work. There's a lot of great magic in the book and I highly recommend it. Again, coin magic is not my forte but Bill's excellent instruction enabled me to learn a few that I'll be adding to my repertoire. That's saying something. Bill? Get some sleep but only enough so that you can get insomnia again and create more! |
fonda57 Inner circle chicago 3078 Posts |
I must get this. To
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Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts |
Quote:
On Sep 15, 2018, fonda57 wrote: I really think you'll love it my friend! So, how 'bout dem Cubs?! I want to see a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. It will be a great battle between between two of baseball's most storied franchises. I hope this post finds you well!! |
Rick Holcombe Special user 624 Posts |
I also got a copy of Bill book and highly recommend it. There is a good variety of both material and skill level.
Here is a quick rundown of my thoughts: -Edge Pop- This is a neat little idea. I’m still kind of struggling with it, maybe because I use dollar coins. I just can’t get the coin to “shoot” deeper into my grip. I just end up squeezing it in there as the arm swings up. But, I’m still playing with it. -Imaginary Money- This is an awesome little routine. It’s things like this that people may pass over, but I’ve already had the chance to try this out on a few people and it is definitely strong. It’s also something different, but still using coins. I think I’ll just keep this one in my back pocket ready to go. -Copper Silver Transpo(tation)- This is a great routine! You get a lot of magic out of minimal effort I’d say. Kind of reminiscent of Hellbound Spellbound, but way easier and I think just as strong considering the coins switching places aspect. -WTF?! CSB- Love this. I had that “why haven’t I done this?” kind of reaction. I know exactly where I’m going to be using this. -Trading Places- This is HARD! But I want to do it so badly. I honestly try to avoid Classic Palm if I can, especially with multiple coins, but this make me want to practice. I’ve already dusted off my Barbers again and making progress; just need to get it silent. -It’s Just An Illusion- I really like this one too. I love 3 coin tricks in general, but this has some clever thinking during the opening sequence. I’m thinking about following this with “Trading Places”. After the final reveal of the coins in the purse, just go to the pocket and ditch the shelled coin and the other coin, then come out with the three copper coins. -An Overly Ambitious Inverted Illusion- This one is cool. I love combination plots with this (and other effects too!). Nothing really complicated here, even for a coin guy. -Money STILL Doesn’t Grow On Trees- This is a real performance piece. I’m familiar with the original version that I saw on the NYCMS DVD, so I’ve got a good head start. I’ve never used the principle described here, but I like the advantages it gives you. Sleepless Nights is really great. There's about half of it maybe I was able to pick right up and do within an hour of practice. I really like the variety of stuff included in here too, and not just from a plot perspective, but from a difficulty perspective as well. I like reading something that has new stuff I can try right away and then some more difficult things that will give me "homework" to work on. This is where I really stretch myself and grow my skill set. |
Bill Citino Special user Doylestown, PA 837 Posts |
I’m super late to the party with this, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to review the book. I appreciate everyone’s kinds words and more importantly am very happy that people are enjoying the material and finding use for it. Thanks to Vlad, Rick, Sean and Ken for taking the time to review the material!
Best, Bill |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Ebooks, PDF's or Downloads » » REVIEW: Sleepless Nights by Bill Citino (4 Likes) |
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