It's Monday and you know what that means... Monday Mail Call!
Throughout the year, every year, I keep a list of books that catch my eye. Why not buy them all then? Well, that's just impractical. That, and sometimes they're sold out everywhere. Around this time of the year, what I've started calling "Black Friday Month", I pull up my list and start searching. Those books that are sold out, typically, still aren't available. The others, well, they're on sale somewhere!
This year, however, I'm excited to say that a book that's been on my list since 2019 has finally become available: Cards Against Reality!
At the time of this writing, it looks like it's still available at Tannen's Magic Shop. Unfortunately, it's full price and not discounted for any Black Friday sales... but hey, at least I was finally able to score a copy!
I already started flipping through Lorenz's book, which as the title suggests is all about card magic, and it looks like it has promise to it. It's tinier than I imagined. Not in page length, but actual size. That doesn't matter too much I guess since after all, it's not the size of the book that matters but how you can use it!
Last week, I made a purchase on Ellusionist and somehow scored a 3 month pass to Magic Stream, "The Future of Learning Magic." I've heard about the site a few times, but never actually jumped over to check it out. When they said "free!", well, I couldn't pass that up!
I haven't counted the videos, but I think there are a bazillion of them. I'll get back to you with a real number when I get into things more, and I'll definitely do a review, but I've only taken a look at a couple of things so far so I don't have a "full picture" yet.
From what I have seen, Magic Stream has a lot of everything. Not "a little bit of everything", but a lot. There's card magic, card sleights, coin magic, mentalism, street magic, even cardistry. Bar bets, gambling demonstrations, and more. Sheesh, this is going to take me a while to get through... I may need to extend those 3 months =P
If you haven't seen it yet, you can buy an annual pass to Magic Stream for only $99.95, or a month-by-month subscription for a little more. I, personally, can't say if it's worth it or not since I haven't gone through everything yet. However, I'll get all I can out of these 3 months and will report back as soon as I have a solid opinion =]
That's about it for last week's haul. I ordered a few things that should arrive this week, so check back next Monday to get the scoop on what things were picked up and my first impressions.
If you have any suggestions for books, tricks, or decks of cards, or if you have questions about magic (performing, routines, sleights, etc.), reach out here.