Title: Tractare by R. Shane
Medium: Book, soft back, 153 pages
Arena: close up of all kinds
Available: Any shop, distributed by Murphys Magic Supplies


Where do they come up with the titles for these books? Tractare….never heard of it before, isn’t even in the dictionary. The back of the book says it is Latin for ‘to handle’, makes sense to me. This is the second book, I missed the first, by R. Shane, the first book is called Automata and I may have to track that one down. The full title of this book is:

Tractare Not quite a move, less than a sleight, all of amazing

Nice! The idea is that Mr. Shane presents simple tricks from days gone by and then adds his twist to the presentation, an improvement we hope. This idea is interesting to me because I often need to be led to the door of creativity, once there I’m okay, but getting there is the problem. In this book we get a look, as I said, at the original presentation, which is fully explained, and we go along with the thought process in salvaging these dusty old jewels and giving them a new shine and new setting. It is fascinating to read and Mr. Shane is a thoughtful and creative magician with a streak of fun in him. Mr. Shane is a very good writer. He communicates extremely well and while at it his style is entertaining and kept in good humor. I don’t know who he is but I have a feeling I would like him very much. I was in the nice position of being familiar with all of the routines he based his work on and he did an outstanding job with the routines. I doubt he is married because he obviously spends a lot of time thinking. For those who need illustrations go elsewhere, the total pictures and drawings in this book is zip, zero, nada, they are not needed cuz this is pretty simple stuff.

So far we know Mr. Shane is a very good writer, he is basing the book on taking old routines and polishing them up and giving us his new , and improved, presentations, and that he is a creative guy with a good sense of humor. What about content? Let’s take at a few items, if I omit something it isn’t due to anything beyond my own laziness.

Irresistible Force:
This is a very good force that would be great for many routines. Easy to do once you understand it, which isn’t hard, and it is also pretty slick.

Gypsy Remains:
The old Gypsy Switch is covered here, a switch ignored by a lot of people, I learned it from Ammar.

Now lets do the math, if X is Irresistible Force and Y is Gypsy Remains then what is
X x Y? The answer is…..Beyond: A Shatter of Time. Beyond is a great routine combining the force with the switch to build the foundation for a fantastic mentalism routine that can be done for a group of friends. Killer. Mr. Shane discusses other uses of this concept as well.

Possibility Zilch:
Thoughts on Paul Curry’s Probability Zero. Mr. Shanes routine can be done with business cards and when I did it for the wife and her friend it flew past them. The other routine with this, Phobia, is a fun’un as well.

Through With Things:
Mr. Shane takes one of the greatest bar stunts and figures out how to use it in a routine! Good thinking again on Mr. Shanes part and for those of you not hip to this stunt it is a good one involving corks passing through each other but done here with matches and other things.

Priceless Mystery:
We get to work with Grants The Million Dollar Mystery here. Grants original work is very strong and you may have seen Ammar use the idea for his bill to peanut routine. Mr. Shane presents his thoughts on this routine and then gives his handling which is very nice and entertaining.

Dishware Run Amok:
Oh boy! This section alone is worth getting the book. In here Mr. Shane goes over routines using balls and bowls and cups and….you get the idea. He takes The Benson Bowl routine and Red, White, and Blue from Tarbell, and more then looks at what is wrong with them and how to present in a more modern and entertaining manner. Really good stuff in this section and you can do some of this with a coffee cup and paper rolls!
This is a major chunk of the book.

Tabla Rasla….Yes and No:
Nice routine with a business card production from blank stock. People have been doing this one for years and now it is improved upon.

The Little Things In Life:
The old two in the hand one in the pocket concept is presented here. Mr. Shanes ideas are excellent and I want to think of how to make them my own in presentation. Very interesting and something to study.

String and Thing:
Slick move with a ring on string. A lot of you will know this one but Mr. Shanes thoughts are worth reading and his routine very good. This has long been my favorite ring and string move.

Non Stop Flight:
A card some how gets from one envelope to another. Mr. Shane gives his thoughts again, why not, it is his book after all, and also a really cool presentation for it. Good solid mystery stuff here.

Gee, I guess I only left out a couple things. I just want to say I really enjoyed this book. Well written, good magic, excellent presentations. What more can you ask for?

Thanks Santa,
great and detailed as always.

Andy

Thanks for the nice review Magic Santa!

Shane, (actually not his last name, kinda like "Madonna") is the creator and host of the online visions web site. A lot of neat folks like Kenton Nepper and Craig Browning write for that site and it is ALL free! Lots of neat stuff to check out!

And drop in and say "Howdy" to Shane if you like what you see (His site, his books, etc etc )

Dean

Thank you. For some reason I didn't think R. Shane was the real full name but I wasn't sure what to call him. Leaping Lizard is the publisher for those keeping score. Is the first book still available? I'm heading out to the IBM convention soon so I may check there. What is the web site for visions?

http://www.Online-visions.com Some browsers I can type it in and get right there... Other times I have to do a search and then click the link.... no clue as to why.

Both of Shane's books are still available... Automata and Pentalogy.

Cheers