On 2012-10-31 16:00, Mark Ennis wrote:
I had the privilege of reading a draft copy of “Lessons In Card Mastery” and all I can say is GET THIS BOOK!

Darwin’s books are amongst my favorite books as well – primarily because the material in Darwin’s books has been audience tested in countless performances. Darwin has also written two of the best magic books ever written about close up magic – Strong Magic and Designing Miracles. With such a solid foundation, Lessons In Card Mastery has effects that are guaranteed to deliver.

The book is complete with gambling themed effects, skill demonstrations, memorized deck work and even a gaff or two for the non-purists!! Some routines are well within the grasp of the average card student and there are some routines that will satisfy those folks that love to tackle the difficult material. Darwin also provides performance tips, analysis and reasons as to why he published the effect the way you read it.

I have had the opportunity to see Darwin perform many of these effects for magicians, friends and laypeople alike over the years and the results are quite staggering. I couldn’t wait until this book was complete and now that it is, I strongly encourage anyone interested in card magic to order it. There is definitely something for everyone in this book and Darwin will even autograph it for you if you request!

If you are a student of card magic, this book should be in your library. So the next steps are:

1. order the book
2. grab many decks of cards
3. lock yourself away
4. get to work!!

You will be rewarded !!!

On 2012-11-01 20:59, Erdnase27 wrote:
When is the book going to hit dealers worldwide?

On 2012-11-08 11:04, ASW wrote:
I haven't read the thread but Mark Ennis mentioned to me there was a discussion of Darwin's latest book. I have been involved in editing this from very eary stages two or three years ago, so wanted to let you guys know this is going to be a classic outing from the Grand Master.

To be blunt, there's not much that gets me interested in magic these days. And indeed, it's rare I return from my travels in the deserts of the Nejd to log onto a... magic site. But the publication of a new Darwin Ortiz book is just the thing to re-ignite my passion for the manliest of the conjuring arts: card magic.

Darwin Ortiz has achieved a status that is unparalleled in card magic. The premier thinker and creator, he is the ne plus ultra when it comes to commercial magic, honed to a razor's edge through the sophisticated marriage of perfect methodology and an unmatched genius for understanding the way a lay audience perceives the world.

Unlike so many in magic who repeatedly offend good taste and expose a lack of professionalism by pumping out session items and half-baked ideas, Darwin Ortiz has won, over decades, an unimpeachable reputation as THE guy who can be relied upon to deliver the highest quality in commercial card magic that is guaranteed to delight paying audiences.

No secret of course that I am a longtime student of Darwin Ortiz's. I am also a very close friend and member of a tiny group (at one time just me and the great and hilarious Mark Ennis, but now there are a few freshmen we have recommended and admitted to the club) that has the fortune to see Darwin's material: both the new ideas in development, and the long-held material that is yet to see publication. So, let me tell you, you're getting a motherlode here. The strongest collection of Darwin's material, ever. This book features new material, worked up over the last five to ten years, and older material being exposed to the magic community, reluctantly, for the first time. I say reluctantly, but I don't mean Darwin is reluctant. I mean, his inner circle are kind of jealous to see this stuff is making its way out into the wider world. But Darwin doesn't suffer from our selfishness. He's happy to share this stuff because he seriously loves great magic and he seriously wants to see people like YOU master this material, develop your own patter and use it to knock people's socks off.

You'll find effects that require high skill, medium skill and no real skill at all. From groundbreaking memorized deck material (plenty of that) through to unrelenting displays of skill that (for a lay audience) cross the line into paranormal activity.

The book features an item that I was lucky to see develop incrementally over ten or fifteen years (expressing my amazement at the thinking, while chipping in my puny 10 cents worth via long distance calls over many hours), a sledgehammer display of super skill, "Best of the Best".

You'll find a mind-blowing display of order conjured from unquestionable chaos in the sublime genius of "52 Pickup". For improvised miracles that will convince the audience you beat Robert Johnson to the crossroads, you simply cannot go past "One Shot, One Kill". I well remember the hair-tingling experience I had when I first worked through this keeper. Don't miss a step but the second phase is bold, unadulterated... I said it again: genius.

You'll find examples in which Darwin has taken an existing solid item released by another pro and drop kicked it for a field goal through the pearly gates. Your audiences will want to build a temple to you when you smash them with the unrelenting rat-a-tat-tat flourish revelations in "Twelve the Hard Way". These aren't mere tinkerings around the edges (as is common in ebooks, downloads and session items, but quantum shifts in thinking that make the items "need to have" in your repertoire. Another example is Darwin's superb evolution of a clever Eric Mead item, seen here as "Rouge et Noir".

And you'll see re-workings of classic plots that may become the "Great Seal" for these outings. Again, I well-remember the stunned feeling I had when Darwin talked me through (in yet another of our "bi-polar" long distance calls - him in DC and me in the antipodes or some middle eastern souq) his stunningly evil mechanics for the Travelers, seen here in the "Doppleganger". Evil, baby. The ultimate version, but not for slackers.

Other favourites include his super memory plot, designed to make people build a temple to you: "Billion Dollar Brain". And don't miss his game-changing addition to the genre of the multiple selection routine. Thinking a hundred kilometers outside the box, Darwin provides us with an innovative approach to the expository phase that is the first evolutionary shift in this plot since Eddie Fechter kicked it in the ass.

This book is, I think, the strongest offering to date. When you consider that EACH of Darwin's other three books raised the bar in magic, that is saying something. I recommend this book to anyone who loves great card magic and wants to do great card magic. Order it now before they sell out - and order it from the author, so he is encouraged to start penning the NEXT great book in card magic.

Andrew Wimhurst