Reviewed by J C Sum.
I was first introduced to Tom Stone’s work through his various ebooks by Shaun Ashley See. He demonstrated tremendous thinking of classic material with many new innovations in handling, techniques and utilizing misdirection and movement. Basically, awesome work all around! Then I watched some videos on YouTube followed by his “Caught on Tape” DVD. Ning calls him another Tommy Wonder which is not too far off from the truth.
This tome essentially features a whole bunch of material from Tom Stone. It is nothing short of great. Quite a few of the routines are featured on “Caught on Tape” so I would advise you to hunt that DVD down too. But being a huge supporter of learning from books, this is fully adequate as well. I would compare this book to Tommy Wonder’s Book of Wonders.
Some of the standout routines are:
”A Toast for Charon” is a fantastic opening act that features coin productions, cloth & pence sequencek, vanish and surpise production for an amazing routine. You will need solid chops and excellent communication (misdirection) techniques to perform this as well as Tom.
“Ambivalent Travellers” is the best version of Jennings’ Travellers plot. It also makes it a doable routine for most competent sleight of hand magicians.
“Champagne” & “Princess Salome’s Drink” are awesome routines for the close-up magician who works cocktail parties, pubs or restaurants. Really great lessons in misdirection and focusing an audience’s attention.
“Gold Wielder” is his Linking finger rings routines. I have researched this routine for a long time and while it does have its merits, I felt it looked a tad contrived in performance. I think Jim Steinmeyer has an excellent routine in “Technique & Understanding”.
He also has an entire collection of handlings, inovative solutions and creative methods for many classic plots in magic such as his devious ways of stealing loads. He ends the book with several essays on his thoughts and theories on magic.
Highest recommendation for the serious close-up magician. We have 3 copies among our team alone. Buy this book before it sells out! 5 out of 5 stars.
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