The Real Secrets Of Card Magic

by Paul Gordon
PDF eBook

Overlooked by Al Smith


The Real Secrets Of Card Magic by Paul Gordon 93 pages PDF ebook, photo illustrated. Introduction by Mark Worgan. Published by Natzler Enterprises £15-00. Foreword by Mark Worgan. Poetry by Rudyard Kipling. Available direct from Paul Gordon at info@paulgordon.net.

The original “proper” book was published in 2009, sold out very quickly and hasn’t been seen since. Now it’s back, this time in PDF format.

Public Information Notice. If you’re looking for tricks don’t; there aren’t any. A lot of people, some of whom ought to know better, don’t like no-trick books. They can’t see the point. Oh well.

Right, there’s no tricks, so, if there’s no tricks, what’s left? Well, in lieu of tricks we have advice, opinion, thoughts, PG tips, ideas, stories and as the saying says, much more. Subjects covered include what card magic to perform, patter, presentation, getting work, and as the saying keeps on saying, much more. It’s a self-help book, really.

So, no tricks, but if you’re interested in some of the finer points of performing close-up magic, specifically close-up card magic for layfolk, for money or fun, you could do worse (much worse) than dip a toe or two in here. And it’s an entertaining read, if nothing else.

A fair slice of the entertaining read part of the book is personal history, the adventures of Paul Gordon, in fact. Hefty slices are concerned with Paul Gordon publicity and read like a CV, with endorsements from more than several magic names. And at least one who isn’t a name. “About The Author” is typical of this and gets the book under way. It’s an uncredited third-person narrative and precedes both introduction and foreword. This should not be taken as a criticism. As remarked, it’s entertaining and it’s also relevant.

Once we’re up and running, probably about half of the book is concerned with the meat of the subject. Down to earth information about performing close-up magic. And, it makes a nice and very welcome change to get a UK perspective.

A fair slice of the book doles out information and advice by means of a Question & Answer format. The answer given to “Is there a meaning to card magic?” is on the button. That’s because it’s exactly what I think! Basically, the answer is no, it’s all pointless, but as we all know pointless doesn’t mean worthless.

His thoughts on one-side only angle palms and lapping type situations and memorised stacks in walkabout close-up are spot on. There’s some good stuff on phone technique, that is, how to conduct conversations with potential clients and, most important of all, perhaps, always have access to a phone. You never know when an enquiry will come in.

Publishing books is not a cheap pastime, even harder is selling books, when they don’t contain any tricks, the uphill struggle gets harder. Shame, because with half a dozen tricks and the info in this (and similar books) we’re in with a chance of doing a professional gig. But with a hundred tricks and none of the info in this book, we might as well not bother.

Anyone interested in doing close-up magic at any level, will benefit from study of this book. It really is the real work. Well, some of it. The really real work is like the grail; always a few steps ahead, just out of reach.

 

© A E Smith, April 2012

 

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