Hello all,

Before I get into this brief review, a bit of background. I'm a full time magician and have been 12 years, working primarily schools and corporate events. Recently I've gotten tired of hauling around big props so I'm adopting the pack small, play big attitude. Over the last few months I have purchased a ton of Docc Hilford stuff and the vast majority of it blows me away. The stuff that doesn't blow me away is perhaps a little too ballsy for me at this time but it's real-world practical stuff. Onto The Wizard's Manual...

the basic effect is that a spectator selects a page in a book and memorizes the first word or even details of the entire page, as well as the page number. they then close and hold onto the book.

The performer reads their mind, and reveals (in one possible presentation) that they never actually saw what they thought they saw...and the page is shown ripped out of the book and in an envelope that another spectator was holding onto! The spectator can flip through the book again and the only thing left of the page they swore they saw was a ripped jagged edge. the torn page's edges from the envelope match perfectly.

I know I'm kind of a latecomer to this particular book test, but I still think it's a timely review as Docc has recently made some changes to the old book test, making the work even easier and more natural in my opinion.

I love book tests, and currently have a 1/2 dozen or so now, having sold a few others that I just didn't use. In terms of pure drama, nothing can beat this. Most books, whether funny or dramatic, involve the revealing of the information and that's it. this one, however, has a great kick to the gut ending that no one will suspect, unless they saw somebody on TV do it.

To show the power of this, I'll relate a recent performance: I was performing for 100 teens at a post grad late night ock in and when it came time to have the envelope opened, the teenage boy who was holding the envelope was so freaked out, it took a certain amount of persuasion on my part to get him to do it! And the entire audience of teens SCREAMED. It was soooooooooooo cool!

The beefed up version of this classic now comes with a DVD in which Docc makes learning the simple work even easier, and he covers several presentational ideas as well as an alternate to the headline prediction to garner publicity. Great stuff.

HIGHLY recommended. Probably the best mentalism prop I've ever bought.