"The Real Secrets of Magic" by David Stone : THE BOOK

Sep 1, 2007
457
0
San Diego
THIS IS A TASTE OF ONLY THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS OF THIS BOOK, I WILL NOT REVIEW THE ENTIRE BOOK.

and im only in the introduction so far

Introduction

This is where....*fan fare* David introduces the book and himself. He says what this book is about and why he wrote the book. He warns you that he writes with passion, and the introduction shows it. The introduction starts out with david stone's comedy, which turns out, is very funny for a frenchman. (KIDDING) He hooks you right away, explaing the difference between close-up and table hopping, this opened my eyes and i realized, yeah, there is a big difference. He explains also that this book may be filled with obivous advice, but even though its OBVIOUS, many of us DO forget it.
-OVERALL 9/10 for great opening, funny, and comes with a hook that made me want to read

Chapter One: Getting Back to Basics

Here is where davd talks about the history of magic in a few pages. These are based on actual facts but david throws in numerous jokes about the history which left me in stitches, very funny commentary. In this section youll learn a thing or 2 or 20 about the history of our fine art. very interesting read.
OVERALL 10/10 for hilarious commentary and jokes to go along with the history of magic.

Chapter Two: The Magic Artist

In this section David starts out by explaining to him what makes a proffesional magician and what an ameteur is. It was a very interesting read for the beggining of this chapter. He brings up several points on the differences and what makes someone which. He then talks about the difference between the magic artist and the magician. These are very good points and opened my eyes to the differences between the two. He does this very well and explains very clearly what he thinks the differences are. He then goes into detail on what he thinks the magic artist should have. These are very good and CAN'T be argued since all of the traits he lists are ALL positive and are only beneficial to the magic artist. He also explains what a magician is like opposed to the magic artist, what one will do and what the other would do.
He then goes on for a few pages talking about finding your "character." What he says about finsing youre character is very true and should be studied and more importantly APPLIED. Connected with this is being remembered. He connects your character to being remembered by youre audience. He says, "The audience will go away saying to their friends, " last night i met X and he did some incredible magic." opposed to " i saw a great magician last night." He explains more on how to get the first reaction. He also talks about finding youre style. To find out what your character and what youre style is going to be. He ends this chapter talking a little bit about integrating comedy into youre magic.
OVERALL 9/10 for explaing how to find out what works for you and how important presentaiton and style are in the art of Close-up Magic

Chapter Three: Working Conditions

Here David talks about the problems you can encounter at either a restraunt or private parties. He also talks about what kind of Close-up magic venues there are, table hoppng and strolling magic. Some of the obstacles he addresses are noise, interruptions, and time. He not only gives examples of each obstacle and what they may be, he also adresses how to deal with them so they work out fine and don't mess up youre performance.
OVERALL 9/10 for invaluable advice on dealing with interruptions


OK, heres my scores.

Writing Style- 9, superb, he keeps you entertained through out the book and the book is almost never boring to read.
Humor- 10, I LOVED the jokes in this book, i thought most of them were funny as hell
Information- 10, The information in here is good and solid. He says up front how the information may not work for you, but it works for him. This is true with MOST magic information, it comes down to the performer and the situation. A lot of this is common sense, BUT, most common sense is actually looked over and not taken into consideration when performing. The information in here is GREAT though
Indepth-iness- 9, with pretty much all of his chapter he goes very indepth. He doesnt really leave any rock unturned.

OVERALL
- 10, This book is great and covers MUCH more than restraunt work, it's one of the field guides to magic. The book is more about close-up work in general than restruant work.
 
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Dec 6, 2007
112
0
Knoxville, TN
It is a good book, with decent stories.
However it's poorly/cheaply bound and will eventually fall apart over the course of 2nd/3rd readings.

I was a little disapointed by that.
It's the same size as a small paperback novel.
 
Sep 1, 2007
457
0
San Diego
oh YES YES YES YES YES
it is, usually its something like this is icing on the cake, but honestly

i think the dvds are the icing on the cake for this book. its fantastic. GET IT NOW
 
Dec 6, 2007
112
0
Knoxville, TN
I think kirk charles "a complete walk around guide to close up/resturuant" is a more pragmatic, detailed guide to knowing what to do for scoring gigs.

This book is more just entertainment to me.
 
Oct 2, 2007
67
0
I think kirk charles "a complete walk around guide to close up/resturuant" is a more pragmatic, detailed guide to knowing what to do for scoring gigs.

Is that book still in print? It was written in 1987.
Don't you think things have changed a bit in 20+ years? :)
 

Justin.Morris

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2007
2,793
888
Canada
www.morrismagic.ca
I have to say that (aside from the language and crude references in the book) I'm really enjoying it. A lot of it seems like common sense (but you know what they say about common sense...), but there's also so many other great tips and things to think about. It's a must to add to any close up worker's book collection (keeping in mind, it's not just restaurant work. He covers all sorts of working conditions/scenarios).

j
 
Sep 1, 2007
457
0
San Diego
ok, im about half way through and i think im going to stop updating the reivew...i gave you guys a taste of the first couple of chapters....ill upadte the first post one last time with some more info about it. i hope it helped in SOME sense
 
Jul 2, 2008
28
0
Austin, TX
Is that book still in print? It was written in 1987.
Don't you think things have changed a bit in 20+ years?

To put it succinctly: no. The angles when working tables are still the same, hecklers are still a little drunk, food will often show up right at the CRUCIAL CLIMAX of your routines, and waitresses still want you to get the hell out of their way. The mechanics of walkaround are the same, the only real difference I might point to is that out of 100 spectators, maybe 4 will say "I saw a YouTube video about that trick."

Then you can do a chocolate coin matrix and the candy oughta shut em up! :)
 
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