I'm intrigued by this book but have not seen any reviews of it. Anyone got a copy and prepared to give a short review?

I was not impressed. Paul has some great material, but this isn't it. There is an interesting handling of the floating bill, but there wasn't anything else in there that "grabbed me."

I bought the book in part for the coins through table routine, but I found it to be unworkable.

The "Knock 'Em Dead" video is a better purchase, in my opinion.

I agree that Paul's best stuff (and he has some GREAT stuff!) is in his earlier offerings.

Thanks for the input guys - the inevitable question next : any particular recommendations from his previous work?

his lecture notes 'omerta' arent bad at all. theres a really great magician fooler in there that i use to fry the magi whove gotten the best of me =P

Again I agree with darrin--the Knock 'Em Dead video is outstanding.

I have to wonder how Darrin judges "workable". I hope it isn't "unworkable" just because he can't do it!

I have these notes and saw the lecture in New York. I later saw the coins thru table in California at the magic castle.

The material in the book:

A selected card rises from any deck - the performer can then produce the mates of the selected card to end with four of a kind. This looks really good.

A "sucker" floating bill. I haven't seen this done but its an interesting idea.

An Ace assembly. Simple. Direct.

The coins through table. This looks really good - the lay audience who saw it when I did where blown away. It IS technically difficult but practical. NOT "unworkable".

The next trick I use all the time - A card is selected and placed between the red aces - another person holds the black aces. Each spectator "wiggles" their cards and the selection "wiggles" out from between the aces with a heart torn out of it's centre - the heart is between the black aces. Very commercial, very simple to do.

Then there's the coins to purse. I saw this trick blow away magicians and lay people. It's EASY ("workable") but requires the ability to bluff the audience.

The flash paper trick was another high point of the lecture in New York. The paper burns but leaves the name of a card in the ashes - then the joker changes to thier card.

The floating deck looks great. And it's easy. And it ends clean. Paul did this at the bar and sold notes based on this one trick.

Four Aces are lost then found one handed while the deck is behind his back. Earl Nelson was using this in the Parlour a couple of months ago.

Then there's a three coin production and vanish. Looked great - a little angly but if you're not surrounded, it will definitely work.

The sucker effect really fools people - they think he's blown the whole trick before it begins. I use this.

Then there's a move to switch a card on top of a card box. This looks very fair and very open. The switch looked great and there are some good effects using the switch in that chapter. I saw Paul do a new effect - a four for four transposition which I plan to use.

The Bill In Pen effect is also very devious. I saw him do this in California (he didnt have the pen in New York). It's practical, effective and resets immediately. you can borrow any bill, have it signed and the torn piece will appear inside the bill, ending clean and ready to perform again. In other words "workable".

I normally never write this sort of thing but I think Darrin did neither the book nor the readers of this forum any favours with his off-hand and incomplete appraisal.

The book has plenty of good, practical ideas. The flash paper idea is worth the price of the book and the card rise looks really good. The coins through table look great as does the coins to purse.

It just angers me that good magic is often dismissed so casually. Maybe it needs to be on video for you to properly "appreciate" it? I have the adventage of seeing it live and seeing it performed for lay people but the ideas are well described (and illustrated) in the book.

I dont mean to offend. The original post asked for a review and recived some glib remarks with no substance.

Respectfully,

RT

I am going on a limb here and I am going to guess that the last response was paul himself, seeinmg as paul was a huge Vernon Fan, and the user only has 1 post defending this book, which is amazing by the way guys. All of the material is workable, and the book is Wickedly put together, Paul is one of the best creators of awesome technical magic, he deserves a pat on the back for this one.

Ryan

One thing I loved from 13 is his Box Witched. It has so many uses limited only to your imagination. I was disappointed with A New Wave and his Coins Through Table.

I hope not - it would be a rather cheap move.

Yes it would, I am not saying for sure, paul is a great cat, but is it just me or is it strange to anyone else that some random cat named Vernonfan, come's on and writes only 1 enormous post defending this book???? I found it too be strange, it seems like this "vernonfan" is more of a "wilsonfan" than anything, being that he has seen him perform sooooo much and thinks that there isn't one even slightly bad trick in this book, which there are quite a few of.

I think it is un professional and immature if it was paul, But I am giving him the benefit of the doubt here, and just hope he wouldn't stoop sooo low as too come on here with a false identity and fool us all and try to make us feel bad about our "opinions"

Ryan

It's probably one of Paul's fans. Paul would have responded directly, that's his character.

I imagine you are right, and my post may have come off rude, it was just the first thing that popped in my head. Paul is a great guy and I can't see him doing such a thing, it just seemed to me suspicious that some random guy who knows sooo much about paul and his work would go to such lengths to defend the book and cut one of the members up over the tiniest comment.

Ryan