Price$45.00
Media TypeBook
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedMar 16, 2003
Art of Astonishment, Volume 2
Harris, Paul
A-1 Multimedia
(Based on 1 review)
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Paul Harris is an amazing magical creator and this book is a wonderful sample of some of his best work. It is put together as a little bit of a best of Anthology. It might have an essay here or a section of a set of lecture notes or a booklet that he put out along with interviews and touches from other creators. For 35 dollars you get a ton of great magic in an easy fun to read format. There is way too much great stuff to outline it all but I will give you my favorites.
Counterfeit Spectator has the distinction, as many of the tricks taught in the book do, of being performed by David Blaine on television. Basically what happens is you cause the signature on the bottom of a dollar bill to change into a spectator's signature. This has some extra prep but it is more than powerful enough to make a great impression.
Putty Buddy and Putty Buddies Pal are 2 effects that use silly putty as props. I will use this as a replacement for sponge balls from time to time when performing for children. What I love about these tricks and others on the book is that for the most part they are fully routined. Each effect has a solid beginning middle and end. I usually perform Putty Buddy, Putty Buddies Pal and England’s Penetration all together. With so much material it is easy to find ways to create your own routines.
The Twinkie Bottle is a great example of a trick that is cleverly routined. Basically it is an ungimmicked pen through coin which culminates in a coin in bottle. This is lots of fun. You may have a hard time finding the perfect bottle for this but with a little bit of searching you should be fine.
Mcgimmick is a sweet levitation that goes right into a vanish. Basically you stick your finger in a milkshake and you are able to lift it off the ground by only contacting the ice cream inside and then you make the ice cream vanish. This is the kind of effect that would work if you were hanging around with some friends at a restaurant or that you would do on video. This isn’t really the kind of thing you’d do for walk around.
Probably my favorite trick in the whole book is Fizzmaster. I use this every chance I get! It works great in almost any situation. Basically you could go to the store and have any can of soda shaken you can then remove the fizz from that can. He also teaches you how to add fizz to any can as well. Yeah! You can take any ungimmicked can and cause the fizz to vanish so it doesn’t explode, you are then left with a perfectly normal can of soda with carbonation and all still in tact. This is one of those rare tricks that pay off to know in real life when you drop a soda can. It’s almost like real magic!
In the section called Connections you learn all of Paul Harris’s work on the linking cards. He goes over a few different routines including the routine that was performed by David Copperfield on the Statue of Liberty Special and the same routine Luis Dematos performed on national TV as well. This alone is worth the price of the whole book.
PDQ#2 is a solid coins across that uses a common gimmick. Much of this happens in the spectators hands.
A Subtle Poker Move is a bold way to switch out a hand in poker.This is a great way to get into an impromptu poker deal where the audience shuffles the cards before hand.
King Solomons Drink has become kind of a classic among professionals. Mac King uses a version is his show as well as David Stone. Basically a coin vanishes into a handkerchief and a bottle is produced.
Side Winder is almost a Dan and Dave like magical routine. If you have ever seen Nathan Kranzo’s Nowhere Palm this effect is very similar. Basically the selected card refuses to be returned to the deck popping out every which way in protest.
Overkill is strong piece of card magic that Paul Harris is fairly well known for. A card is selected and revealed as a prediction over and over and over again.
In Flapjacks Paul walks you through the set up and the aces produce themselves as if by magic. I loved following along with this one because it was like the magic was happening for me!
Englands Penetration is a very strong piece of in the spectators hand magic. They hold out their hand and you drop a dime through their flesh and blood and you can turn around and do it a second time. Oh man I love this! This is one of my go to tricks. It is super visual, easy to do and it uses ordinary ungimmicked objects. This is an absolute gem.
Sliding Ink is a fun effect where you pick up a spectators initials from the back of a card and throw them onto another card and then back onto the original. This is a great thing to throw in when you have a card signed.
Double Decker is a fun color changing deck routine that has a great premise. I’ve seen many professionals use this including Greg Wilson.
Super Sack is a workable version of anything to sealed envelope. This could easily be used with a card to wallet routine.
I use The Uncut Version as my opener from time to time. This is a torn and restored card that doesn’t destroy any for your cards and can be instantly reset. I use this all the time.
You get a whole bunch of Paul’s work on the twilight concept. The idea here is that things duplicate and vanish with the aid of a mirror. He shows you how to perform this with coins, cards and even fingers.
And those are just my favorites. I use so many of these tricks day in and day out. They get great reactions and they are always different. I think this is a must have for magicians anywhere.
You’ve got to get this!
Counterfeit Spectator has the distinction, as many of the tricks taught in the book do, of being performed by David Blaine on television. Basically what happens is you cause the signature on the bottom of a dollar bill to change into a spectator's signature. This has some extra prep but it is more than powerful enough to make a great impression.
Putty Buddy and Putty Buddies Pal are 2 effects that use silly putty as props. I will use this as a replacement for sponge balls from time to time when performing for children. What I love about these tricks and others on the book is that for the most part they are fully routined. Each effect has a solid beginning middle and end. I usually perform Putty Buddy, Putty Buddies Pal and England’s Penetration all together. With so much material it is easy to find ways to create your own routines.
The Twinkie Bottle is a great example of a trick that is cleverly routined. Basically it is an ungimmicked pen through coin which culminates in a coin in bottle. This is lots of fun. You may have a hard time finding the perfect bottle for this but with a little bit of searching you should be fine.
Mcgimmick is a sweet levitation that goes right into a vanish. Basically you stick your finger in a milkshake and you are able to lift it off the ground by only contacting the ice cream inside and then you make the ice cream vanish. This is the kind of effect that would work if you were hanging around with some friends at a restaurant or that you would do on video. This isn’t really the kind of thing you’d do for walk around.
Probably my favorite trick in the whole book is Fizzmaster. I use this every chance I get! It works great in almost any situation. Basically you could go to the store and have any can of soda shaken you can then remove the fizz from that can. He also teaches you how to add fizz to any can as well. Yeah! You can take any ungimmicked can and cause the fizz to vanish so it doesn’t explode, you are then left with a perfectly normal can of soda with carbonation and all still in tact. This is one of those rare tricks that pay off to know in real life when you drop a soda can. It’s almost like real magic!
In the section called Connections you learn all of Paul Harris’s work on the linking cards. He goes over a few different routines including the routine that was performed by David Copperfield on the Statue of Liberty Special and the same routine Luis Dematos performed on national TV as well. This alone is worth the price of the whole book.
PDQ#2 is a solid coins across that uses a common gimmick. Much of this happens in the spectators hands.
A Subtle Poker Move is a bold way to switch out a hand in poker.This is a great way to get into an impromptu poker deal where the audience shuffles the cards before hand.
King Solomons Drink has become kind of a classic among professionals. Mac King uses a version is his show as well as David Stone. Basically a coin vanishes into a handkerchief and a bottle is produced.
Side Winder is almost a Dan and Dave like magical routine. If you have ever seen Nathan Kranzo’s Nowhere Palm this effect is very similar. Basically the selected card refuses to be returned to the deck popping out every which way in protest.
Overkill is strong piece of card magic that Paul Harris is fairly well known for. A card is selected and revealed as a prediction over and over and over again.
In Flapjacks Paul walks you through the set up and the aces produce themselves as if by magic. I loved following along with this one because it was like the magic was happening for me!
Englands Penetration is a very strong piece of in the spectators hand magic. They hold out their hand and you drop a dime through their flesh and blood and you can turn around and do it a second time. Oh man I love this! This is one of my go to tricks. It is super visual, easy to do and it uses ordinary ungimmicked objects. This is an absolute gem.
Sliding Ink is a fun effect where you pick up a spectators initials from the back of a card and throw them onto another card and then back onto the original. This is a great thing to throw in when you have a card signed.
Double Decker is a fun color changing deck routine that has a great premise. I’ve seen many professionals use this including Greg Wilson.
Super Sack is a workable version of anything to sealed envelope. This could easily be used with a card to wallet routine.
I use The Uncut Version as my opener from time to time. This is a torn and restored card that doesn’t destroy any for your cards and can be instantly reset. I use this all the time.
You get a whole bunch of Paul’s work on the twilight concept. The idea here is that things duplicate and vanish with the aid of a mirror. He shows you how to perform this with coins, cards and even fingers.
And those are just my favorites. I use so many of these tricks day in and day out. They get great reactions and they are always different. I think this is a must have for magicians anywhere.
You’ve got to get this!