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canaday Special user Florida 738 Posts |
Clove Culls - Harapan Ong
$24.99 https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/card-magic/close-culls/ The Hype: Alongside the double lift and the pinky break, the cull is perhaps the most important move in card magic. Few people do the move correctly, and even fewer use the move for anything other than secretly sorting cards. That all changes with Close Culls. Singapore's Harapan Ong is a leading expert on all things cull, and here he teaches the move in gorgeous, photographic detail. Everyone reading will learn the move. And then he explores new and exciting principles with the cull. Finally, he puts it all together with a collection of extraordinary and offbeat effects. This is a definitive treatise on this underused but critical sleight. Like all our publications, we have worked carefully with author Harapan Ong to produce an elegant, accurate, and fascinating collection. We treated this booklet as if it were a hardbound book. You'll notice the quality immediately when you read through it, in both the instruction and the layout. The production values are what you expect from Vanishing Inc: cutting edge artwork, slick design, carefully edited prose, all in an attractive booklet. We pre-sold the book at The Session 2014, and we sold through our entire stock in under fifteen minutes. Now it is finally available to the magic world. My Take: A while back, Vanishing released a book called "Principia" by Harapan Ong. I believe this is one of the most beautiful books that they have released so far. Just picking it up lets you know just how different the quality is. Plus, it is loaded with brilliant routines. Mr. Ong is a physics teacher by day and , if there is one thing I notice about magic books written by teachers, it is that they, well, they teach better than the average magician writing a book. They know how to convey thoughts and instructions in a much more literate manner. For instance, Mike Powers (writer of "The Card Corner" every month in th Linking Ring) was a physics teacher and Teller taught Latin. "Close Culls" is nowhere near the size of "Principia" logging in at 118 pages in a much smaller format but good things sometimes come in small packages and this is one of those times. The book is divided into four sections, The Spread Cull, Techniques, Tricks and Experiments. The first section, the Spread Cull, goes through a short explanation of how the cull is done. I personally felt that this was way too short and didn't explain the finer points. However, I don't think this book was meant to teach the cull (there are tons of Youtube videos that will teach it). The true value in this book lies in what he shows you is possible once you do learn the technique. I am a visual person and really like to be taught via a video. At the low cost of this book, it is still a bargain even if (like me) you need some additional help to get started. He then goes on to teach you five basic but strong routines using the technique. He is very good at crediting all sources for his material and ideas. He takes a lot of previously published material and adds his own touch making it both more powerful and deceptive. In the Cavorted Aces, he actually takes the four burglars plot and turns it killer. Full Deck Oil and Water is exactly what it says it is. If you have ever seen Kostya Kimlat do his Roadrunner Cull you know just how powerful this is. Two Heads are Better Than One - a nice sandwich routine using three selections. In the second section, Mr. Ong teaches four of his techniques. The Delayed Cull here is of great interest. It allows you to cull a card from a face down deck, turn the deck faceup without showing the selection and at the same time relocating the selection to the top of the deck. A beautiful piece of work. You will also learn his Cull Switch which allows you to invisibly switch out a card placed into the deck by your spectator. The Buckle Replacement allows you to place multiple cards into different sections of the deck. And the section ends with his Cull Tap Reversal, a very useful technique. It allows you to replace multiple cards face up into different sections of the deck, then move them all to the top and, at the same time, turning them face down. The trick section is comprised of seven routines. Harapan's version of Larry Jennings Searchers routine. The selection is lost in the deck. A Queen is placed near the top of the deck and another near the bottom. The Queens gradually move closer together until they sandwich the selection. I have seen the moving card plot used before and it always floored me. A gorgeous move. The Princess Card Trick Revisited. Does anything really need to be said to describe this one with his own touches added? Switchsand features an impossible transposition. A card placed between two kings changes places with another card that was shown to be in your pocket at the beginning of the routine. Indicated Replacements is his version of Max Maven's Third Degree and demonstrates how his Buckle Replacement can be utilized. The Buckle-llectors once again uses his Buckle Replacement for a Collectors routine. Utterly Mental Reverse, a very powerful piece. Five cards are chosen and replaced into the deck face up. When the deck is spread, all of the cards have turned back face down except th selection. The last section is Experiments, ideas he has had that haven't been turned into full routines as of yet. A Convincing Card Fold is his take on the Mercury Fold. He finishes with his Cull-Our Change which he not only admits that he has never used it in a routine but is not even positive it even works. One thing that is inherent in something like this is the difficulty This is not a move for beginners and the key word here is Practice, Practice, Practice. As I said earlier, I feel the baric teaching of the Spread Cull is a bit cursory but in the this case, that is not a negative. There are many places to learn the basics but this book is loaded with material to use the Cull on. The book is well written and the photos are all spot on. His sense of humor makes an appearance here and there. If you own Principia, you are familiar with that. At $25.00, this is truly a bargain. A plethora of killer material. However, plan on many hours to get this material Ready for Prime Time and not a minute will be wasted. Recommended. |
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