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Cryptical Envelopment
by John Hostler
Overlooked by Al Smith
Subtitled “Five Gentle Frauds for the Close-Up Performer,” this is a 50 page photo illustrated ebook. Published by the author, it’s currently available from—and apparently exclusive to Vanishing Inc Magic. £7.00 or $10.00.
According to Vanishing Inc Mister Hostler is a talented magician, thinker,
and writer, and “we are pleased to present his second ebook exclusively”. John
Hostler describes himself as a Magical Recluse and Semi-Professional Curmudgeon.
A few years ago Mister Hostler published The Rauschenberg Effect. This
too was an ebook, but with an interesting novelty attachment. It was free. There
was a vetting process, devised to ensure only genuine magic fans could get their
tinterwebian digits on the thing. Whether it worked is another matter. An effort
bordering noble, though. This time the process is simpler. Cough up a few quid
and it’s yours.
The material is all cards and all close-up. A table or working surface is
required for all the effects, but it’s not strictly card-table stuff.
Mister Hostler does a very good job of writing/explaining the material, but his
attempts at humour seemed forced and are a bit wearing. I also got the feeling
that he was trying to “write in the style of........” any number of people. I’m
probably dreaming, but I certainly felt I detected shades of Jon Racherbaumer in
the introduction (particularly) and throughout the book generally.
Now with all that out of the way, it’s fair to say that card fans who like to
have their thinking heads stirred will find things of interest. Which is another
way of saying that although from a technical point of view there is nothing
particularly taxing, the stuff does require work. None of the material is
impromptu, though Estimated Prophet can be done with any pack any time.
It does, however, require a lot of “casual” handling, not to mention the ability
to cut to a predetermined number of cards, which probably constitutes something
resembling technical. Alternatives to this less-than-simple procedure are
suggested.
The Slipknot Deck, which has engendered the odd comment here and there,
requires a few DIY skills as well as a few interesting “special” cards. It’s an
interesting concoction, to say the least. Everything’s relative, of course, and
one person’s beef drink, or even yeast extract, is another person’s emetic, but
I must confess to a strong disinclination to even contemplate constructing this
item.
This “construction” theme applies also to Bertha, an approach to the
Fred trick. This is interesting, but requires a bold and for my money
somewhat clumsy switch. I also think the trick has been done better. And more
often. Other construction devices include stacked packs and the introduction of
a duplicate card into the action of an assembly.
Overall I wasn’t overly enamoured of the material, but I did enjoy studying
Mister Hostler’s approach. It’s thoughtful and considered. He’s also keen on
applying credits, which is something of a forgotten (or never learned) art among
many of today’s “creators”.
Anyway, as already stated, there’s much to think about here and let’s face it at
the price, it’s worth dipping a toe in the water. You might be glad you did or
even (pun alert) dead grateful.
© A E Smith, June 2012