Magical Thoughts from a Dinosaur – Dr. Jay Unger
Kindle – $24.00, Paperback -$29.13; Hardback - $40.00
"Magical Thoughts from a Dinosaur": Dr. Jay Ungar, "Ragnu the Ok" /: 9798320475189: Amazon.com: Books

The Hype:
Thoughts (Essays) gleaned from over half-a-centuryof Performing Magic. This book is a “compilation” of observations, tips and suggestions for presentation and connectionwith one’s audience. Originally, it was written with the intent of reaching, and helping those interested in performing Magic; however, it may have much wider appeal. Namely, anyone in the performing arts (or not) who wishes to really touch those he or she approaches may benefit from the"ideas" that are explored within.

My Take:
Many years go, at one of my first magic conventions, I noticed a huge group of people laughing and having a great time centered around one man on a couch. Trick after trick, he kept his audience enthralled. And the joy on his face left no doubt that he was having just as good of a time as his audience. This was my introduction to Dr. Jay.

I have had the privilege over the years since to see Jay both perform and lecture. At one lecture he performed Barrie Richardson's AACAN by spreading the deck across the floor of the lecture room. Once again, he was having more fun than his audience.
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If there is one thing that Jay is most successful at is his talent for making his audience love him and in this, his latest book, he shares some of his secrets for grabbing and holding your audience.

Mat Franco won America's Got Talent a few seasons back. In my opinion, another magician on the show (I believe it was Oz Pearlman) was a better magician. I think what really won the competition for Mat was his personality, It was impossible not to like him. In the years since he has also proven what a great magician he really is.

In Jay's previous book, Bringing Magic to Life, he gave his take on a number of tricks by others. He showed how to take a routine and make it our own. If you read all the ads for magic, there are quite a few items that are just old tricks with a new coat of paint. Jay is a very skilled painter.

Jay has also been the doctor for a geriatric center for years. In his position there, he had to learn to be patient, make sure his words got across to patients who weren't always the best audience and he had to be entertaining. He learned his lessons well and it comes across in both his performances and his writing.

The book is loaded with amusing vignettes and is printed with a larger font making this a fun book to just sit back and enjoy. However, you will not be able to read it without picking up pointers and ideas.

If you want to learn the secrets of making your audience love you, this is a book that deserves to have a place on your bookshelf. Highly recommended.

When I had a magic store in the 90's Jay was a regular customer who always took time out to show anyone in the store a few tricks he was working on. A great guy and magician. I'm sure it's a book with a wealth of great information.

This one looks interesting. Checked the Amazon page. A list of contents would be helpful, I guess.

I want to like this book. I think there is some good content here. But, at least in the case of the hardcover edition, no one checked the proof before submission for printing. It is riddled with obvious typos and layout problems--the number of random line returns is ridiculous as one example. And who sets an entire book in italics? Who does this?

The messiness of the production is incredibly distracting and undermines the good material available here. What a shame.