Subject: Close-up Magic
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Magic of Michael Ammar, The
SYNOPSIS: The Magic of Michael Ammar is a broad collection of Michael Ammar’s professional close-up and stand-up material from the 1980s, bringing together routines, techniques, essays, and practical advice that had previously appeared in sources such as the Command Performance series, Encore I, Encore II, and The Manual of Magic Psychology. Ammar’s goal is not simply to teach tricks, but to…
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Rune’s World
SYNOPSIS: Rune’s World: The Magic of Rune Klan is Joshua Jay’s presentation of the close-up and comedy magic of Danish performer Rune Klan. The book is intentionally unconventional: part instructional manual, part examination of Rune’s creative philosophy, and part graphic novel. Its unifying idea is that Rune develops each routine around the desired audience experience, allowing…
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Repertoire II
SYNOPSIS: Repertoire II is Asi Wind’s second major collection of professional performance material and the sequel to his 2018 book Repertoire. It contains more than twenty-five techniques and routines developed after the first volume, including effects Wind has performed on television and in his Off-Broadway show Inner Circle. The book emphasizes polished, audience-tested card magic, with detailed attention…
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Repertoire
SYNOPSIS: Repertoire gathers twenty-one routines developed and refined by Asi Wind over approximately two decades of professional performance. Written with John Lovick, the book emphasizes Wind’s distinctive style of making highly structured magic appear unusually fair, direct, and almost effortless. Previously published pieces are revisited with updated methods, presentations, contingencies, and details developed through years of…
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Phoenix Series
SYNOPSIS: The Phoenix: Issues 1–300 is the complete run of the influential biweekly magic periodical published from January 1942 through February 1954. Walter B. Gibson helped establish and initially edit the magazine with Bruce Elliott, who became its principal editor during the run. Conceived as a successor in spirit to Theodore Annemann’s The Jinx, each compact four-page…
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Out of Control/Totally out of Control
SYNOPSIS: Totally Out of Control is Chris Kenner’s influential collection of original close-up magic, combining highly visual card and coin routines with an irreverent writing style, cartoons, puzzles, and unconventional presentations. The book documents Kenner’s practical, inventive approach: effects are designed to be direct and memorable, even when accomplishing that clarity requires demanding technique. The coin…
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Openers
SYNOPSIS: Openers is an anthology of more than forty performance-tested routines contributed by professional magicians, each chosen because the contributor uses it to begin a show, close-up set, or walk-around encounter. Rather than concentrating on one magician’s style, the book presents many approaches to establishing attention quickly, introducing the performer’s personality, involving spectators, and creating a…
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Offbeat
SYNOPSIS: Offbeat is a collection of sixteen audience-tested routines and nine essays drawn from Nick Diffatte’s working repertoire as a professional comedy magician. Rather than presenting a large assortment of undeveloped ideas, the book focuses on practical pieces that Diffatte has refined through repeated performances for real audiences. Each routine includes the necessary handling, preparation, scripting,…
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Now you see it, Now you Don’t!
SYNOPSIS: The Second Now You See It, Now You Don’t!: More Lessons in Sleight of Hand continues Bill Tarr’s illustrated course with more advanced techniques for cards, coins, billiard balls, silks, cigarettes, and other small objects. Like the first volume, it relies heavily on Barry Ross’s sequential drawings, with concise text explaining each grip, movement, concealment,…
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Now you see it, Now you Don’t!
SYNOPSIS: Now You See It, Now You Don’t!: Lessons in Sleight of Hand is Bill Tarr’s heavily illustrated introduction to practical manipulation and close-up magic. Using more than 1,500 step-by-step drawings by Barry Ross, the book teaches the hand positions, grips, transfers, vanishes, productions, flourishes, and switches needed to perform classic sleight-of-hand effects with ordinary or…
