On The Other Side Of The Mirror
Cushing Strout
In the tradition of Eugene Burger, Robert E. Neale, Ariel Frailich and others, her is a collection of card tricks that will entertain your spectators as much by the magic as by the interesting presentations with which they are clothed.
The tricks are based primarily on prearrangement and most requite no sleight-of-hand; the ones that do require only minimal skill. The tricks use ideas from the likes of Stewart James, Jim Steinmeyer, Jack Avis, Alex Elmsley, Henry Christ, Aldo Colombini, and many more.
The trick plots are multiple and varied. There are predictions, revelation, and forces based on zodiac signs, a spectator's birthday, a do-it-yourself murder mystery, fortune-telling, lie detection and more. There are interesting variations on tricks such as "Further than that", "the Lie Detector, " "the Clock Trick," "The dead man's hand" and other classics. There are story tricks based on learned pigs, Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland.
A unique feature of this book, is that many tricks have been adapted to make use of unusual decks, such as Tarot cards, fortune-telling cards and Alice in Wonderland cards, in addition to ordinary playing cards. There is even a book test with a Holmesian theme, complete with a Sherlock Holmes book and a Sherlock Holmes deck of cards.
On the Other Side of the Mirror is a thoroughly enjoyable collection of entertaining close-up card magic suited to beginners as well as to experienced magicians who want to add something a little different to their repertoire.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
It's clear that Dr. Strout is well-read and studied when it comes to card magic. The tricks in this book are carefully considered observations and alternate handling for many effects. You'd better know your stuff when you crack open its cover, or have easy access to a well-stocked library. This is a graduate-level course on making card magic more than just "tricks," and little time is wasted on explaining what you should already know.
For most magicians, this book will be too dense and terse. For those fascinated with a deeper mining of some of the standards - - rather than constantly seeking new effects - - the 48 pages of this book will end too soon.