Last month's May issue considered Gene Anderson The Book, The Lowdown and other new periodicals from Karl Fulves, Penguin's lecture Eugene Burger Live 2, and a cover reveal for McGrave's Hotel.

June 2016

"Here comes summer, drive-in movies every night, ..." or so began the old song. I hope to see you soon at one of the conventions. Indianapolis is still a question for me because of family issues, but I hope to attend MAGIC Live a little later.

We've a light issue this month, with looks at a new book from John Hostler, a fab new web site from Dan and Dave, and a fab old web site from Joe Stevens. All most enjoyable. Meanwhile, some of the tantalizing books of Summer 2016 are due out soon. How did So Sato do his Follow the Leader?

See you at the beach. And as if you didn't need them, here are 13 reasons to read Lucas Mackenzie and the London Midnight Ghost Show.

(Note: The image at the bottom is a custom-made journal, from vintage children's books, a gift from Maleficent.)

SLEEPING BEAUTIES -- Over the past handful of decades, John Hostler has distributed his magical creations through the likes of Genii, MAGIC, and Linking Ring and through his limited-edition manuscripts such as The Rauschenberg Effect, Cryptical Development, The Triskadequadra Principle, and Tell Monte. Fortunately, he has recently awakened his little darlings from their resting places and collected them into a new hardback, Magnum Opossum. It's a fun collection, with oddball, out-of-the-box methods employing unexpected props and Diaconis-level math along with practical sleight of hand. The surprising methods remind me of the best of the material I used to enjoy in Pallbearers Review.

Creepiest cover of 2016?

A few items for your consideration:

Imagine Ink. a wacky peek is used to reveal a word that you planted in the spek's head and then later prove that he never wrote down at all. Great presentation.

Dim Mak. A creepy sequence: A repeated Ambitious Card phase, a Haunted Deck phase (no threads!), and a phase in which your thumb melts through the deck as if the deck were made of butter.

Bertha. The Fred trick that concludes with an examinable deck.

The Triskadequadra Principle. A fascinating sort-of corollary to the Gilbreath Principle that involves, say, banks of four cards rather than two and does not require shuffling a set of cards into a reverse version of itself. This principle is of historic importance, and several inventive uses (including bar bets) are provided.

Sanada Meets Elmsley. Such an improbable ruse, in which a photo of your hand secretly and invisibly makes possible a mentalism effect.

Convoid. You open a large flap in a dollar bill to demo how a penetration was accomplished, then hand the bill out for inspection. This could have been a Paul Harris marketed item.

Tell Monte. A wild ride combining Paul Curry's Penny for Your Thoughts, Hummer Monte, and the Koran Medallion trick into a miracle routine.

Five Card Mental Leap. The item I am most likely to perform from this book. It combines Vernon's Five Card Mental routine with The Princess Trick . Easy and sure-fire, no special cards.

This is a large format 144-page hardback, 172 photos, $45, available directly from the author at magnumopossum.com (where you can read much more about it).

TWIN PEEKS -- Ever since they burst onto the scene, and arguably even created a scene or two, Dan and Dave Buck have been at the cutting edge of cardistry, magic, magic conventions, and coffee brewing. To all this I would add web design. It is embarrassing to be telling you this with 20th-century html, but the new Dan and Dave web site, Art of Magic, is one of the coolest to yet grace the internet.

The site offers a wealth of large-format photography and video and is ideal for loitering, learning, and shopping. Navigation is a dream. You can click into such categories as Close-up, Parlour, Cardistry, Street, Sleight of Hand, or Mentalism. Alternatively you can select Magicians and access bios and downloads from the best of the best (70 at current count). Much is free. You can select Articles, currently featuring such content as video of Paul Harris and Bruce Cervon performing full segments on "The Magic Palace." You can select Podcasts and listen to interviews with the likes of Rob Zebrecky and Ricky Smith (the two I chose first).

Buy by the item or the whole collection.

Shopping is downright fun, mostly instantaneous (downloads), reasonably priced, and of first-rate content. Video promos accompany every item in the store. Whether you fancy a Grant Carden blind shuffle ($2) or Steve Forte's Gambling Protection Series ($80), you're bound to find something in your price range. You can cherry pick individual items or purchase complete collections. It's like an iTunes store for magic tricks, with immediate delivery.

Juan will teach you his magic.

I've barely scratched the surface of my own desires, but am intrigued by much. Of my favorites, there is plenty to give me pause. A generous supply of Bill Goodwin material includes his dazzling Cannibal Cards ($8). David Ben teaches Ross Bertram's Coin Assembly ($6). I enjoyed Will Houstoun's Special K ($4), a standup Inversion routine. Asi Wind never fails to amaze me with Catch 23, his four-spectator coincidence effect, part Kurtz Chair Test and part Bank Night. I thought he would never release it, but it's here ($50). And I've promised myself a look at Juan Tamariz's A.A.ESC.SF Oil and Water routine ($8).

Asi reveals his deepest secret.

It's tempting to drop names, but I'm not hip enough to know all the new ones and am intimidated by those I do know (Engblom, DaOrtiz, Williamson, DelGaudio, Hollingworth, Guimaraes, Carpenter, Kopf, England, Prace, Kimlat, Pierce, Asher, Carney, Vernon ...). You get the idea.

Beyond the riveting content, the site is simply beautiful. If you had purchased previous content on DanAndDave.com, you will find it waiting for you at the new location. All is just lovely. Now, for a look at that Tamariz trick ...

BURIED SECRETS -- Long before such high-tech, high-art web sites as artofmagic.com, Joe Stevens blazed his own unique trail on the internet with his Gemini Network. Frequent contributors included Pete Biro, Aldo Colombini, Karrell Fox, Simon Lovell, Roger Klause, Mike Rogers, and T.A. Waters. My own contributions to Joe's network eventually saw publication as The Little Egypt Book of Numbers (still available from H&R Magic Books at a steal).

I recently had cause to check on a Mike Rogers routine, and, to my surprise and delight, found that most of those original posts still exist. Just go to stevensmagic.com and click on Gemini Archives. Much treasure lies there.

Vintage Mike Rogers.

By the way, Stevens Magic Emporium is now Stevens Magic Global. Joe is running a nice bit just now about Muhammad Ali, whom he had met.

Custom journal / novel, Son of the Phantom.