It's Monday and you know what that means... Monday Mail Call!
I just got back from visiting New York City for work. I had planned to visit Tannen's and Don't Blink and bring back some goodies -- at the very least a story -- but I never made it to either store. Work, and mainly socializing, took the majority of my time this trip, so unfortunately the magic shops had to wait.
When I got home, however, I had a few things waiting for me. I wouldn't necessarily call these Black Friday purchases, though I did order them around that time.
First up, I received my latest shipment from Kings Wild Project. I haven't opened the box yet, but according to the delivery order email, it might be two of the same decks... that, or it's one from this month and one from last. I'm not sure! I have, currently, 15 unopened monthly boxes from Kings Wild, plus another large box from them, and I plan on doing a big unboxing and review. However, this also means that I've gone for over a year without actually looking at, or using, my decks that I've received from that subscription. At this point, it feels a little bit like a gym membership that sits unused.
Coincidentally, Kings Wild is changing up their subscriptions in the coming year. They're only offering a single subscription deck and it happens to be the one that I don't currently get -- nor am I interested in. So, it will all kind of work itself out. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, my upcoming unboxings and reviews would end up driving traffic to their shop and folks won't be able to sign up for a similar subscription. But, at least they'll be able to buy the decks directly!
Greg Chapman is the latest author to have books added to my shelves! That's right folks, books as in plural.
I came across a post on Instagram from @lost_angelus that had a simple photo:
I had never seen these books before, never heard of "Greg Chapman", and also didn't follow @moveunderfire52 who was mentioned in the post. So, I started checking things out and that's when I saw that there were a few neat books that intrigued me.
All in all, I picked up the following Chapman books:
- The Devil's Staircase
- Details of Deception
- Faro Fundamentals
That last one though, Faro Fundamentals. It's an interesting choice, in my opinion, since I already own The Faro Shuffle by Marlo. They're both small booklets, similar in size and appear to have similar chapters. Though, Chapman's book looks like it has routines in it, whereas Marlo's only covers the technique itself. I decided to pick it up anyways to get an alternate view on the faro shuffle, and with the hopes that it contains novel ideas. We'll see!
Last but not least, I joined the "One Ahead" club when they had a sale for Black Friday. It's a paid subscription where you get access to a lot -- like, almost daily -- of really well written articles. There's a weekly newsletter, tricks, and everything. I was coasting by on the "free" tier for a while and reading the newsletters, but it always left me wanting more. When the discount came around, it broke me down =P
When I signed up, I also received a booklet called Magic Musings by Rory Adams. I haven't gone through it yet since I just got home and it was just delivered, but I'm looking forward to sitting down with it.
Are you a member of One Ahead? If so, what do you think of it?
Well, that's about it for today folks. A bunch of books, and two unopened decks! Not a terrible set of packages to come back from vacation to. Now I just have to find the time to dive into all of them!
Stay tuned for the next iteration of Monday Mail Call, there's a lot more to come!
Oh also, if you'd like to offer suggestions for books, tricks, decks or if you have questions about magic (performing, routines, sleights, etc.), just reach out here.