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A Tall Tale - Lecture Notes Without The
Lecture
Sean Lobban
Kindle Edition
Reviewed by Colin Dymond
To
begin with I was slightly confused as to what this was meant to be: lecture
notes to a lecture that never happened, a “how to” book for magicians or an
autobiography? I soon gave up worrying and just went with the flow and found it
to be an entertaining mix of all three.
Sean takes the stance that the reader is probably doing OK without his help but
if you want you can read this anyway and you might find something useful. I must
admit that to begin with, that was what I was thinking. But as I went through I
found lots of useful points. Sean makes a big deal about constantly reviewing
every part of his show from costume, props and even his name! We all see
ourselves through rose tinted glasses.
There are some great anecdotes about his journey in magic. He shares his ideas
about repeat bookings and what the bookers are really looking for in a magician;
it’s not about the magic!
Noisy parents, every entertainer’s favourites, are discussed with a few useful
insights into why they are talking and what you can do to minimize the
disruption.
Sean has worked internationally and has appeared on TV. Like most things in
life, things that appear the same can turn out to be very different experiences
and Sean paints a good picture of the idea and the reality of these situations.
There are just four routines in these notes/ autobiography but they are all good
takes on familiar tricks. I particularly like Dove Pan Change Bag and a Kid.
The best thing about A Tall Tale is his work on being a professional and all
that it entails. If you take the time to read through it, it’s less than 100
pages, it won’t take long, and then have a review of where you are I’m sure we
could all improve our bookings.
I thought this was a worthwhile read even before I found out the price. At just
£4.11 it’s a no brainer!
Score: 4 out of 5 eggs.
Available from
www.amazon.co.uk
© Colin Dymond, August 2013