 This issue of The Little Egypt Gazette is for serious card men and beer drinkers only. This is the magazine Larry Jennings was gonna publish, but even he didn't have the cojones. This hard-hitting, no-nonsense journal is for the Real Man who can stand his ground at the bar of the Magic Castle's Grand Salon, quaff six or eight Heinekens, flawlessly execute "Open Travelers" or "Slow Motion Aces," and then walk out into the Hollywood night with that great-looking babe who came in with the low-cut black velvet dress and the English accent. If you aren't this guy, if you don't know your Erdnase bottom palm from an ace in the hole, then amscray back to your TV Magic Card tricks and your fruity drinks with little umbrellas.
Darwin's Inexpensive Illusions, by Gary Darwin. Foreword by Lance Burton. 25 pp. $30.
I've not seen this advertised, and I obtained mine from H & R Magic Books. Illusions are a difficult proposition: they require special
transportation, staging, lighting, music, angle considerations, trained assistants, and considerable
show business talent that transcends that required of closeup workers. They are also quite
expensive to build or purchase. While he can't help you with all the ancillary requirements that
burden the would-be illusionist, Gary Darwin comes to the rescue regarding price. In this slim
softback book, and relying on two basic illusion principles, Gary sketches the detailed workings
of over 40 illusions via over 150 illustrations. The entire book is hand lettered and drawn, of
sufficient clarity and enthusiasm that the budding illusionist should have no trouble mocking up
these items and trying them. As we mentioned last month, both Lance Burton and Melinda
started their illusion phases with hand-built illusions, and you can too. (But a big hint: in
addition to needing a lot of talent, it also helps if you look as good as Lance or Melinda!) The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser by Ed Brown, $45 from Richard Kaufman.
(Autographed slipcased edition: $90) 270 pp. Forewords by John Thompson and Charlie
Miller, with over 400 drawings by Earle Oakes. Due from the printer on December 12 (it's there
now), this major new work will feature eight coin routines, Harry's golf ball routine and close-up
billiard ball routine, "Hornswoggled Revisited," "Walnuts and Glass," and card tricks including
the likes of "Five-Card Monte," "Erdnase Aces," "Marked Cards and Dealer's School"
(including Harry's most cherished secret: his marked deck), and "Devilish Miracle Revisited."
This is the first large collection of Harry Riser material and is long overdue.
The Art of Astonishment by Paul Harris, from A-1 Multimedia. $125 for the three-volume
set, each over 300 pp. How can you not want this one? 222 effects, 73 of which are new. Over
2000 illustrations. And it's Paul Harris. As a young man in San Diego, I had the fun of
watching Chuck Martinez and his rather wacky friend Paul impress the magic world with those
first Paul Harris books. Today, some of my most requested effects, and the most fun for me to
do, are Paul's.
Michael Skinner Classic Sampler, from L & L Publishing. $35 (Signed slipcased edition:
$79.95) 120 pp. Not the mega-book we might have hoped for, but at 27 effects this is still the
largest collection of Skinner material to date and should find a wide and highly satisfied
audience.
Dai Vernon's Inner Card Trilogy, from L & L Publishing. $35. (Limited edition, slipcased,
signed by Dai Vernon -- via Ouija board???: $150) 240 pp. This is the reprint of the original
Ganson books -- Inner Secrets of Card Magic, More Inner Secrets of Card Magic, and Further
Inner Secrets of Card Magic. These are mandatory reading for anyone interested in card magic.
Magie Duvivier, by Jon Racherbaumer, from Richard Kaufman. $40. 179 pp. Reviewed in
our September issue. Easy, fun material from a rather surreal French magician.
Hugard's Magic Monthly, Volumes 11,12, and 13, from Magico in New York or your
favorite dealer. $49.95. 440 pp. These Hugard's reprints have been terrific fun, one of the best
magazine reprints since The Phoenix and The New Phoenix. Check with H & R Magic Books
for a great package deal.
Stanyon's Famous Magazine: Magic. OK -- either three volumes, slipcased with a 50-page
index and rare color print from Richard Kaufman for $250 (only 50 sets left) or a single volume
from L & L Publishing for $125. Check the ads and figure out which edition is right for you.
Collectors can turn to H & R Magic Books for a package offer. Regardless, this 1900 to 1921
journal is filled with thousands of tricks and articles that convey the breadth of stage, parlor, and
close-up magic in turn-of-the-century England.
The Books of Wonder by Tommy Wonder and Stephen Minch, from Hermetic Press, Inc.
$90 for the two-volume set. Approximately 340 pp. each volume. This highly popular set sold
out in its first five weeks this summer, but was just reprinted a week ago. Get it before it
happens again. (Note: With so many hot new books coming out this season, Stephen Minch
opted to hold off release of anything new in December. But watch next year for new offerings in
the Giobbi Card College series, plus books by Ken Krenzel, Milt Kort, and Juan Tamariz.)
Workers 5, by Michael Close. $40 from your favorite dealer. Mike reports this is selling like
crazy, and he hasn't even advertised it yet. 170 pp., the largest of the series with more than two
dozen routines plus Mike's incisive essays. Especially of interest for Mike's memorized deck
routines. This is supposedly the last of the Workers series. Check H & R Magic Books for a
package deal on the entire set.
Magic and Methods of Ross Bertram ($45) and Bertram on Sleight of Hand ($65). From Lee
Jacobs Productions. Two fine books reprinted this year. Check last month's "Oil and Water"
routine for a sample effect.
The Expositor, by William Frederick Pinchbeck. $45 from Stevens Magic Emporium. The
first truly American magic book. Explains the secret of the learned pig. (Volume 2 will explain
the secret of fireproof women?)
Sleight of Mouth, by Harry Allen. $20 from L & L Publishing. "A collection of hilarious
one-liners." Some read this book and screamed bloody murder. I read it and laughed. Recently
reprinted.
The Web, by Jim Pace. $10 from L & L Publishing. This is the only card trick/prop on this
list, and it's a honey. The effect is too shocking to foist on strangers, but this is a great card trick
if you want to scare the hell out of your friends.
Illustrated History of Magic, by Milbourne and Maurine Christopher. Foreword by David
Copperfield. $49.98 from Heinemann (available in general book stores). This is a hardback
reprint, very nicely done in a new format, of the 1973 Christopher book. Maurine Christopher
has added a new Chapter 23: MDavid agic Superstars Poised for the 21st Century. This chapter
includes articles and photos of David Copperfield, Siegfried and Roy, Paul Daniels, Lance
Burton, Melinda (nice photos!), Ricky Jay, Princess Tenko, Harry Blackstone, Jr., Jeff McBride,
and Doug Henning.
David Copperfield's Beyond Imagination -- "more original fiction by the master illusionist
and 16 literary masters." $23 from HarperPrism. Last year's David Copperfield's Tales of the
Impossible clearly sold well enough to warrant a sequel. My favorite title in this one is "The
Fall of the House of Escher."
And if you really want to impress the love goddess in your life, don't fail to show off your
magical literary taste by mentioning Little Egypt Card Tricks ($22) or Little Egypt Gazette: The
Lecture 96 ($15), available here (Steve Bryant, 1639 Sycamore Court, Bloomington IN 47401).
Both contain astonishing material you will do. If you don't like the above finish, another alternative to the palm-a-card-off/do-it-in-their-hands finish of Danny Dew's is to ask the spectator to hold out her hand. Deal the top four red
cards face up into her hand. Then flip the black cards face up in your hand and spread them,
holding the last two as one. Then place your packet face down onto the face-down deck and
take the red cards from the spectator and place them on top. As for the rest of us, the youthful Columbine is off to Oklahoma for the holidays, and the
warehouse where we paste up these issues is inexplicably lonely without her. Over a six-pack of
Bud Light, Golem and I kicked around various ideas for this November issue, including whether
or not to run the diagrams for Jim Steinmeyer's Origami Box or to save them for the April issue,
but the beer took over and we wound up retiring to a far end of the loft, where, despite some
scary sputtering and humming from Golem's antique TV set, we managed to tune in a Clint
Eastwood film festival. Boys will be boys.
The best magician for holding his ground at the bar at the Magic Castle and performing
absolutely lovely card magic is Larry Jennings, and I wrote this issue with him in mind. One of
my prized possessions is a Heineken bottle containing a four of hearts with my name on it, a
souvenir of watching Larry do his famous "Card in the Beer Bottle" effect for me one night at
the Castle.
I hope to be in Louisville on November 23-24 to attend Magic Dealer Days, a mini-convention put on by Collectors Workshop, Al's Magic (Al Cohen), and Stevens Magic
Emporium. Entrance is only $10, so please show up and say hi if you are in the Louisville area.
This is at the Holiday Inn Louisville South, 3317 Fern Valley Road, Louisville KY (502) 964-3311 for reservations. Call Rich Bloch at (202) 364-3020 for details.
In closing, don't forget to set your VCRs for The World's Greatest Magic III on
November 27 (the night before Thanksgiving) on NBC from 8-10 P.M. This should be one of
the best yet.
Happy Thanksgiving. |
Welcome to the November issue of The Little Egypt Gazette. It's a special "Light"
issue -- there is no extended book review or card trick -- and is being offered as we take a break
to catch up on a few real life obligations. This issue contains a few news items and other
comments that would have become stale if we had waited until the next real issue in December.
If this is the first issue of the magazine you've ever seen, please turn back to the September and
October issues for a better idea of what this project is all about.
URL UPGRADE -- Suzanne, the Minneapolis-based magician
whose online brochure we've been praising ever since this magazine started, recently acquired
her own domain name, www.suzmagic.com. (Rumor is that she had to change her URL because
Golem was e-mailing his pathetic affections to her daily. Joycee Beck finally sold her own
computer over the same issue.) If you had previously bookmarked Suzanne's page, it's time to
update your bookmark. If you haven't visited with Suzanne on the web recently, our current
Links page will take you there. 
Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays, by
Steve Martin. 150 pp. $20, from Grove Press. Note: All performance rights are reserved;
performance requires advance permission and payment of royalties or other terms. This slim
volume -- certainly one of the most entertaining books I've read in a while -- contains four brief
plays by Steve Martin, a magician who also writes, directs, does standup comedy and television
appearances, and acts in movies (as with most magicians, the day job keeps him pretty busy).
Longest of the four is Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the highly successful play that was produced in
Chicago featuring a meeting between a young Albert Einstein and a young Pablo Picasso at the
birth of the 20th century. In addition to this and a dark little comedy called WASP, there are two
extremely brief one-acts of special appeal to magicians -- The Zig-Zag Woman and Patter for the
Floating Lady. The first concerns a young woman who stands around inside the Robert Harbin
illusion in order to attract a young man. The Twister illusion also figures into the plot. Patter
for the Floating Lady chronicles the last moments between a magician and his
girlfriend-assistant, and utilizes the Steinmeyer pole levitation. Both these plays are excellent
examples of how something meaningful can be wrought from commonplace magic props.
Miss Farnsworth, our buxom administrative assistant who left us this year to perfect her tan,
recently jetted into Las Vegas to fill in for Phoebe for a week in "The Levitation." As she was
floating above the Monte Carlo's stage, Lance, hovering comfortably beneath her, mentioned that his new 1997 calendar
is available, for $13 including shipping. Call (800) 626-9673.
