I have been meaning to post a review of this book for some time. I first read some of Christopher's routines in his Parade in the Linking Ring. I was very impressed and bought his book very soon after it came out. I was not disappointed.

Christopher's routines have a mental leaning, but most importantly, he ties in very interesting presentations. He leads off with a description of his Inside Out Perspective, tieing in concepts from "nature and metaphysics" in working with some classic effects.

My favorite routines are "Getting There", which uses double writing, a simple credit card case and a very deceptive, but simple card switch. Presentationally, I love "Being There" which uses a theme of shared dreams, storytelling and multiple senses. His presentation is set in an oriental garden, but other possibilities abound. "Zenner Bend" combines ESP cards with a spoon bend.

He has developed a take on the Annemann/Maven "Divine Write" card box which is dead simple and eliminates tearing a card box apart.

In short, I love Christopher's thinking and his presentational skills. Buy this book and anything he writes.

Mark Ross

Mark: Thank you for the kind words! Anyone interested should check out the full page ad. in this month's Linking Ring. Cheers.

Christopher

I'm going to post what I wrote for my column that has yet to make it online :

Inside Out by Christopher Taylor: Where has this treasure been hiding since 2004? I never heard about this until a few months ago. Imagine taking a guest on an imaginary trip through a maze leading to a secret garden and all their choices match the directions that have been previously recorded by the mentalist. On another imaginary trip, involving another imaginary garden, the guest is taken to China. They observe a Chinese gentleman, The Bell Ringer, as he goes to ring a ceremonial bell. They count how many times the bell peals and when they return from this head trip, the number mysteriously appears on the magi’s arm. Then there is Qi Coin where an entire audience is brought together to provide the energy to bend a coin held in a guests fist. It doesn’t matter if you know a dozen ways to bend a coin; Christopher’s presentation is priceless. I could go on and on with examples. Christopher uses creative visualization to enhance many of his effects and I was immediately able to put some of his thinking to good use in my current repertoire. Christopher is so wonderfully imaginative that I can’t believe I didn’t hear more about this when it was released. But it isn’t too late and I recommend this collection of seamless presentations that grab an audience and pull them in without reservation.


I'm most of the way thru Christohper's new book, Unconventional and it is every bit as good. More on this later!