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The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser
by Ed Brown, illustrated by Earle Oakes
Published by Kaufman
and Greenberg
£30. Approx.
Reviewed by Anthony Owen
It has been said that you can tell a great deal about someone from the friends they keep. This is certainly true
of Harry Riser. From his close friendships with Dai Vernon, Charlie Miller and Stewart Judah you would
probably guess that this new big beautifully produced 272 page book is packed with great sleight of hand
magic. And it is.
The text is peppered with references to the output of this magical trio and their influences - Erdnase,
Hoffmann, Robert-Houdin, Hofzinser - and other late 19th/early 20th century conjuring classics. Due to this
background and the fact that Brown wrote the bulk of this book twenty years ago, it stands out from the
current stream of new material appearing developed by close-up performers working in the
wham-bam thank you ma'am, high-speed, hit-'em-hard, 'real world' of 'wandering', 'hopping' and 'stomping'.
However, I'm sure with a little intelligent thought, some of the routines in this book could be adapted by
readers to such situations, particularly the in-the-hands stuff like Three Card Metamorphosis, one of my
favourites from the book, in which the faces and backs of three cards transform several times; Wild
Homing Card, a multi-phase, multi-change Wild Card routine; Hornswoggled Revisited, a classic short change
routine which Riser has finally given a climax and The Golf Lesson, a neat entertaining sequence to produce
five solid golf balls of varying colours. The latter routine, almost unchanged, would make a wonderful
unusual feature for a banquet table wanderer or stand-up performer willing to put in the necessary effort.
The rest of the material requires table space and would be best suited to a 'parlour' type setting in which the
performer is in full control of the situation. Those who say that such situations don't exist in the modern day
real commercial world - away from magic societies, conventions and magicians' homes - are only showing
that they've never been booked to perform under such conditions. And, of course, at least eighty percent of
those who call themselves 'magicians' only ever perform at magic societies, conventions or at home.
The introduction explains the basis of Harry's magical philosophy and the title of the book, which comes
from the Robert-Houdin coined terms: 'feints' ("a false show, a pretense, an imitation, a simulation") and
'temps' (translated as a "favourable moment"). Riser's multi-purpose Gambler's Top Cop is used to
effectively illustrate these terms and principles. However, for me, the general feel of the material in this book is best
described by Brown's introductory comments about the last of the thirty two items - Riser's Close-up
Billiard Ball Routine - in which he says that "it is not a manipulative effect in the traditional sense of the
word. That is, it is not an exhibition of skill or dexterity, nor is it a series of simply visual displays. Rather the
handling is low-key, subdued, and natural." Low-key, subdued and natural are words which well describe
Riser's performing style, judging on his recent appearance at The Magic Circle, and certainly sum up the
material in this book. This is not a book of in-your-face skill, but of presentations and routines, filled with
care and affection, in which the art conceals the art and the performer's focus is on the intelligent
plots.
Although, no doubt, many readers will delight at the natural and ingenious handlings for classics like Cups
and Balls and the Cap and Pence, my favourite aspect of this book were the presentations given to many
well known close-up sequences to provide them with a more audience-friendly 'framing' than the usual
'displays of skill' close-up . My favourite examples of this were The Distraction Factor, a great card effect
which leaves a spectator with a bizarre impossible keepsake; SemiAutomatic Gambler, in which the classic
Ten Card Deal (performed recently by Ricky Jay on his Tx documentary) gets a long-needed climax; The
Jumping Bean Coins, at last a presentation for Coins Across which goes beyond 'How many here? and how
many here?'; The Practice Deck; Dealer's School (this utilises Harry's Marked Deck
system for a regular Bicycle Rider back design, another highlight of this book); The
Legendary Five Ace Poker Hand; Royal Flush Assembly; Wild Homing Card; Cheating the Cheater; Hofzinser Hole Card
Transposition and the, already over-sold, Golf Lesson.
Sadly, the many photographs in this book of Riser with many magical greats are
un-credited and, at times, the description is a bit wooly, but, on the whole, this is a great book
and lovers of classic sleight of hand should require no further encouragement to invest their money and time in Mr. Riser's repertoire.
© Anthony Owen, July 2000