Some More Tricks Review
Some More Tricks by Anthony Owen
Price: $25.95
Available From: Your favorite dealer
I realize as I sit down to write this I never actually wrote a review for the first book in this series, Some Tricks. I feel strange writing a review for part 2 before part 1, but I’ll get over it. Guess I’ll just have to add it to my list.
I was and am a very big fan of Some Tricks, and became a fan of Some More Tricks after just one read. Although there are only 6 tricks in the book, you are buying more than just the secret. What you get is a well thought-out routine, complete with patter, blocking, and motivation.
Some of the routines require you to do some pretty extensive set up and/or gimmick making. For the most part, this is a one time thing. However, if you’re not into arts and crafts and scavenger hunts and aren’t willing to send away to specialty shops for a couple things, you’re probably not going to perform many of these routines.
The two pieces I more or less bought the book for are Big Survivor and Recaffinated Coffee. Big Survivor is an excellent piece with an easy (and surprising) method. It’s one of the “scavenger hunt” tricks, but what you’ll need is easy to find and probably inexpensive. I like the thinking behind it, and see it playing well to a large audience.
Recaffinated Coffee wasn’t what I thought it would be. It’s interesting to see the thinking behind it, but it’s not something I’d likely ever make up and perform myself. Chances are nobody else will either. If you do make it up, it’s not something you’re going to be performing at the Waffle House at 3 in the morning. You’d pretty much have to be doing it either in a formal show or for video. It’s still cool, though!
I was pleasantly surprised by Ring on Notepad. It’s very direct and easy to do, and the “moves” required are built into the routine and covered with well motivated actions. In a way in reminds me of something you’d find in Workers, not because the trick is the similar to anything in there, but because he’s taken a relatively simple concept and fleshed it out with patter and blocking to create a wonderful piece that plays well.
If you’re looking for interesting, creative magic that goes beyond “pick a card” then look no further. Even if you don’t use anything from this book, you’ll still enjoy seeing the creativity behind these routines.
Andster