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Dominatricks
by Tyler Wilson
Reviewed by Noel Qualter
Tyler
Wilson is a young Canadian card magician rapidly making an ascent to stardom in
the magic community. My first experience of his magic was at The Session
convention earlier this year where he was widely acclaimed as the hit of the
convention as he proved his magic is different, original and fooling - he
certainly made a lot of new fans.
It seems that these days, DVD is the medium of choice for most people dipping
their toes into releasing material, yet Tyler has sensibly bucked the trend by
opting for a 150 page perfect bound paperback book laid-out and published by
Andi Gladwin.
The book has a strong style which is representative of Tyler’s magic. Few magic
books display the performer’s personality so well and the book is genuinely
funny: something that few magic books can say. I did have concern that this
would become grating after a while, but it truly doesn’t – if anything, it
becomes more entertaining, the more you read.
The vast majority of the material is card magic with a sprinkling of coin magic
and mentalism / mental magic. The standout items for me are “B52 Shooter”, which
is a very novel handling of Triumph that has already been added to my repertoire
and to the repertoires of several other London magicians that I know. Scarred
Warp is a clever spin on Card Warp, where the performer tears a hole in the
covering card for the spectators to see what is actually happening as the card
turns over. This totally fooled everyone at The Session convention – it’s an
excellent idea.
Tyler is a professional close-up magician and this shows throughout the book.
The routines are constructed to be used in restaurant and banquet situations.
Everything is thoroughly explained, including many original presentations and
jokes; nothing is left out. It is obvious that these are tricks straight from
Tyler’s performances and not tricks made up to pad out a book.
Accompanying the book is a studio-shot CD of Tyler performing the sleights from
the book which is a real help to the learning procedure. Also on the CD is a
left handed version of the book for all you lefties. These are all added
features that you wouldn’t expect from a first release so I applaud Tyler and
Andi for their efforts on this, especially given that the book costs just £20.
For those unsure whether this book is for them, there is a free preview chapter
from the book on the publisher, Andi Gladwin’s website at
www.andigladwin.co.uk/products/dominatricks/preview
If you love original close-up magic with clever plot twists then this book is
worth your serious consideration. I recommend this to professional magicians and
hobbyists alike – you’ll find many items of interest.
© Noel Qualter, June 2006