Merlins of Wakefield - It's always magic at Merlins

Did the magician Cazeneuve and the Queen of Madagascar have an affair? Why do magicians pull a rabbit out of a hat instead of a raccoon? Who was buried at The Great Lafayette’s funeral if it wasn't The Great Lafayette? Who killed Chung Ling Soo? What magician invented the pay toilet? This book, which also functions like a deck of cards, deals with the history of magic, but with an original focus. It does it through the caricatures and biographies of fifty two of the most important magicians of all time. With the book and a deck of cards you can guess what is written on any page that has been chosen at random by a spectator; the caricature of a magician selected by a playing card disappears; the page which a spectator chooses matches the only red card in a blue backed deck; a line of text appears rotated when a spectator turns over the corresponding card. This book will allow you to invent a multitude of new tricks. This book contains more than one hundred magnificent caricatures drawn by Angel Idígoras, a magician and artist, along with the life, stories and miracles of each and every one of these celebrities. From the first prestidigitators to the most famous contemporary magicians: Houdini, Maskelyne, Hofzinser, Saint John Bosco, Dai Vernon, Slydini, Annemann, Cardini, Okito, Lavand, Tamariz, Ascanio and Copperfield. The first deck-like book that is an illustrated history of magic!

A spectator chooses a book and names any page; he looks at the first word at the top of the page. Performer names the word! No questions asked. It really is that direct. Spectator chooses a book and opens it at any page. He notes a word ANYWHERE on EITHER of the two pages facing him. Performer names the word! This can be miraculous if presented correctly........ this book test is a bargain” - Dave Jones See magicweek.co.uk 1st Oct for full review by Duncan Trillo! Everything is supplied. Two specially written examinable paper back books, with full colour covers, detailed instructions and performance suggestions. Simply the best book test around. At the price a miracle and a miracle at the price!

"Hi.,Just bought the "Economicon" off you today. "Absolutely brilliant" PL - Preston

"If I was still doing mind-reading this would be straight in the act" - Duncan Trillo

The name Bob Ostin has long been synonymous with creative close-up and card magic, but until now the true depth and breadth of his original effects and methods has remained hidden. No longer! This landmark volume, The Magic of Bob Ostin, will ensure the author his deserved place in history as one of the pre- eminent creators of the 20th Century. Those who prize commercial, practical magic have long praised Bob’s earlier work, Fingertip Fantasies, as a classic in the field. Yet despite that book’s deserved status, and Bob’s underground reputation as creator par excellence, he has remained something of an unknown to the magic community at large. Well all that is about to change! In an era when so many are striving to ‘invent’ tricks that are fresh, novel and commercial, it is a genuine pleasure to see a master at work. Bob Ostin has been devising cutting- edge magic for over half a century and the material he created fifty years ago is as ingenious, practical and fooling as the new material he developed last week! Always thinking, and more importantly always thinking outside-of-the-box. Bob is constantly working on new magical ‘problems’ as he likes to think of them and inevitably he works out a brilliant yet practical solution, resulting in a ‘worker’ that will happily do double-duty and fool the boys at the local magic club as easily as it will stun a lay audience. One of the definitions of genius is someone who creates (music, literature, art and in this instance Magic!) something that would never have been created had that person never lived. Such a definition surely fits Bob Ostin. Even a cursory glance through this volume will be enough to convince the casual reader of Bob’s creative talents; the more diligent student will be amply rewarded by learning tricks and routines which simply seem impossible! Water that turns to beer, origami men that take on a life of their own, cards that just melt through one another Tricks with cards, coins, dice, rubber bands, chop sticks, liquids, matches, paper, plasters, numbers, photographs, torches, fruit, cars the list is almost endless! Think of any object you like and chances are Bob has a trick (or two!) with it. Containing virtually all his published output from the past 50 years, this book includes the material from his limited-circulation lecture notes, rare manuscripts, dozens and dozens of magazine contributions, the full instructions for every single one of his marketed effects as well as the many gems that have remained hidden in his notebooks - until now. This book truly is a truly is a lasting and worthy record of The Magic of Bob Ostin A Lifetime of Magical Inventions!

In Stanley Collins-Conjurer, Collector and Iconoclast, master historian and author Edwin A. Dawes leads you through the life of happiness and heartbreak of this brilliant magician and collector. A great character of British magic during the first half of the 20th century, Stanley Collins was unique in that his tremendous conjuring skills were allied to high intelligence, musical talent and rapier-like wit. Moreover, in his own elegant style, Collins made important and long-lasting contributions to the literature of conjuring and provided interesting, amusing and frequently hostile views concerning figures and institutions of the magical establishment. He personally knew many of the "greats" of this period, and his views of them make fascinationg reading. In particular, Stanley Collins' conjuring with cards is acknowledged to have been well ahead of his time by some of today's expert cardicians. His "The Collins Aces" routine is still being performed by today's top cardmen. Each volume also contains two never-before-published books by Collins: Wizardry on a Winter Evening (17 pages) and his final opus Gems of Personal Prestidigation (78 pages) which contains his ultimate version of "The Collins Aces." Also included with each copy is a CD-Rom with a 1922 Pathe Pictorial film of Collins performing flourishes

Are You Getting Your Money's Worth? Are You Ever!! 720 jam-packed pages--plus over 20 pages of indexes. Over 250 card effects, over 140 coin effects, 145 other items, plus articles and editorials! Items by hundreds of contributors, including: Dai Vernon, Ed Marlo, Brother John Hamman, Ken Krenzel, Slydini, Frank Garcia, Derek Dingle, David Roth, Trevor Lewis, Paul Harris, John Cornelius, Bernard Bilis, Max Maven (and Phil Goldstein), Martin Gardner, Karrell Fox, Herb Zarrow, J.K. Hartman, Eddie Fechter, Gene Finnell, Bob Fitch, Richard Kaufman, Paul Gertner, Terry Lagerould, Sid Lorraine, Jeff McBride, Tom Mullica, Louis Falanga, Patrick Page, Larry Jennings, Roger Klause and many, many more!

Will you get your money's worth from Apocalypse? Harry Lorayne has always given much more than your money's worth. Listen to a few of the many unsolicited remarks re: Volume II. "I'm the one who wrote to tell you that I would have paid the price of the book for only Two Shuffles Harry (Volume I). Well, I'd do the same for The Sting." "Thanks, Harry, for The Count of Mountie Crystal. I can't wait for Volume III." "I've been in magic for over forty years. I can't remember enjoying any publication more." And many more along the same vein. And in this volume alone there are over 325 card and close to 100 coin effects, routines, ideas, and over 135 more effects: balloon tricks, ring tricks, bill tricks, purse tricks, pen tricks, thumbtip tricks, wristwatch tricks, sugar cube tricks, thimbles, sponge balls, chains, canes, book tests, ice, soda cans, business cards, dice stacking, paper folding/cutting/tearing, paper punches, wallets, credit cards, toothpicks, and more. (Most of them easy to do!) And - about 100 sleights taught within the routines. Plus Harry Lorayne's Lorayne Storms, Editorials, Ellipses(...) and Out To Lunch columns. The card items include: Ask The Deck, Amazing Eights, Earthly Powers (one of the best card tricks ever!), Luck of the Draw, Swell Spell, Transmental, Calculating Deck, The Muleshoe Gambler (worth the price of the book), Oil And Aces, True Triumph, Para-Psychology, Watch Me Work, The Faro Knows, Modern Leaper, Queen's Tour, Roadrunner Aces, Fast Serve Sandwich, How Classics Are Born!, Instant Aces, It's One of These!, Mr. Koenig's Tapestry, Poke Poker, Sequestered Collectors, Real Wild Cards, Rock 'N' Roll Aces, Sandwichange, Variations And Additions, and on and on. The Coin items include: Easy Go, Matchbox Treasury, Pretty Interlude, Cointemplate, Soft-Sleeve Cover, Spellbound-A-Round, Infidel Change, Four-Gone Conclusion, Worth Your Attention, Coin Cascade, No Propellant, "Vanishing" Dust, Coin Favorite, Deeply Proved, Out of Sight-Out of Mind, For a Change, On The Edge, Down The Tubes, Coin Diamond, Twin Eagles, Deliverance, Pocket Change, and on and on. Items by numerous contributors, including: Larry Becker, Alan Alan, Jeff Altman, Ed Marlo, Bernard Bilis, John Carney, Mike Bornstein, Tom Craven, Doug Edwards, Eric DeCamps, Jerry Deutsch, Ron Ferris, Bob Fitch, Karrell Fox, Max Maven, J. K. Hartman, Bill Kalush, Sol Stone, Gene Maze, Meir Yedid, Dean Dill, Tom Daugherty, David Williamson, Charles Reynolds, Bob King, Gary Ouellet, David Regal, Terry Seabrooke, Mark Sicher, Allan Slaight, Richard Vollmer, Randy Wakeman, Jim Swain, Shigeo Takagi, Paul Cummins, Terry Lagerould, Peter Marshall, Howard Schwarzman, Frank Thompson, Aldo Colombini, Walter Cummings, Ken Krenzel, Walt Maddison, Hiroyuki Sakai, Jim Sisti, Juan Tamariz, Roger Crosthwaite, Patrick Page, Eddy Taytelbaum, Stephen Tucker, David Acer, Rafael Benatar, Yudi Wada, and on and on - and Harry Lorayne!

With over 325 card and close to 70 coin effects, routines, ideas, and over 110 other effects with: bills, bottles, boxes, candles, cardcases, business cards, keys, matchboxes, rings, roses, rubber bands, Scrabble tiles, silks, spoons, balls, shoelaces, thimbles, wallets, gambling demos, sugar packet, book tests, chain loops - and more, Apocalypse #4 continues in the tradition of Volumes 1, 2 and 3. The card items in #4 include: An Ace of a Routine, Best Lie Detector, Connect Four, Quick And Direct, Spectator Guesses Better, Expert Full Deck Overhand, Fabulous Change, Royal Poker Deal, Three Before, Three Proofs, Collector's Addition, Heavy Breather, Lightning Aces, Memory Man, My Second Keeper, Amazing Commute, Daredevil's Match, 'Killer' Poker-Deal Demo, Perfect Match, Cheek Turner, Heat, Houdini's Hand, Many Faces of a Woman, Twister, Variations And Additions, and on and on. The Coin items include: Essence of the Coin, Coin In Bottle, Swirl Assembly and Backfire, The Magic Coin, Coin Explosion, Bottle Piggy Bank, The Ambitious Coin, Bounce-Back Sleeving, Curious, Watch It!, Sweet Ten, Cointrol, None-Ahead Matrix, Off On A Bender, Wow!, Copper/Silver Triple Play, No-Table Coins Across, Numismatic Nightmare, Coin-Roll Vanish, More Direct Than Ever, Cent From Hell, and on and on.

This three-volume set of books contains all of Paul's classics, updated and refined, as well as 73 brand-new creations! All in all, these books contain over 900 pages of Paul Harris including a ground-breaking essay discussing the feeling of astonishment as our natural state of mind. Three Hardbound Volumes Each Containing Over 300 Pages. A Total of 222 Effects 73 Brand New Creations "Sooner or later you're going to have to buy these books. Very highly recommended!"- Michael Close

The full set of 5 super books are available for the special price of just....£115 inc P&P within the UK