Review of Pack Flat Illusions for Kids & Family Shows – Book

Reviewed by Bernard Sim

If you were to read Dan Wolfe’s Foreword at the beginning of this book, you won’t need to read this review. I had the honor of reviewing this book before the book was released and I’m glad I had the chance to read this book.

I’ll be frank, I don’t have much experience in illusions and I guess most people who buy this book may not have experience with illusions and are thinking of adding illusions to their gigs. This book’s designs are meant to be easy to grasp and understand so it won’t pose a problem.

There are a total of eight illusions explained in this book. Drawings with dimensions are included to help you visualize the illusions. The size of the illusions ranges from small – production of a stuffed toy to big – production of a child. Some designs are simple and you may even build them yourself.”The Gift Box” is one such illusion. This box allows you to produce anything that is small and light, for eg. a teddy bear which you can give away after the production. The box is easy to construct and you can even use a shoe box for this effect.

Other illusions included can be used to produce the birthday cake or even a birthday child! I can imagine how proud the child would be when other kids asked how did he materialize from the empty box.

Some of the props require a carpenter to fabricate if you don’t have the necessary tools and materials. The carpenter doesn’t need to be experienced in fabricating magic props as J C has included all the necessary drawings and dimensions. The only requirement is for the carpenter to be precise in the measurements as it is important for the illusion to look deceptive.

An assistant is not a must for all these illusions. J C has included performance ideas in this book. He has even included patters in some illusions. Like all his releases, J C has always included the proper credits and history behind each design.

I guess close-up workers will not bother for this book. If you are actively doing kids/ birthday parties shows, it’s about time to upgrade your show with illusions. Your clients will definitely be impressed if you can include illusions in your shows.

Not recommended for the close-up worker but highly recommended for the rest.

Rating 4.5/5