I’ve received a couple of promo emails recently that reminded me of a book I saw at Magifest: Tarbell 9
Well, kind of Tarbell 9. But, not really. It’s actually named You Are All Terrible, Vol. 9
At Magifest, at the Tannen’s booth in the Dealer’s Room, there was this purple and white book that had the same cover design as the normal Tarbell series. I had a very brief spike of excitement and wonder, which almost immediately got replaced by the question of “wait, how?!”
When I picked up the sample copy that wasn’t sealed, I quickly realized that it wasn’t a Tarbell book, just designed to look like one. I didn’t really pay too much attention to it after that, I didn’t have interest in a comedy style book at the time. Receiving these promo emails reminded me of it, so I did finally read the description of it.
Get ready to enjoy a gut-busting adventure through a world of magic, comedy, and Venn diagrams
Having seen Harrison Greenbaum perform his stand-up at Magifest, I have an inkling of what to expect from this book. Overall, it looks like it’s a theory lecture. I’m not sure if it’s targeted to all magicians, or just stage performers though. But, I'm still going to pass on it.
Speaking of promo emails, I impulse-purchased Socks when Vanishing Inc. landed it in my inbox.
For over a year now, I’ve avoided buying the trick. “Not my type of magic,” I kept telling myself. Then again, I’ve been trying to branch out and try more than just card magic.
Ironically, it’s a card trick with a kicker-ending. Or, it’s a mentalism trick that uses cards… with a kicker ending.
I decided to buy with the full intention of performing it, but I paid for it to support the creator (Michel Huot). I’ve seen the performance of the trick live and have already come up with a “how to” perform it, even with variations. I have several routines I perform where I use custom cards I’ve drawn, so the only thing for this would be some wacky socks. Turns out, you can buy just the socks for this too. But, I went all in and purchased the full product.
It will be neat comparing my performance idea to how Michel created it. Who knows, maybe it’s completely different!
I’ve been watching Malone Meets Marlo by Bill Malone lately and absolutely love it.
I like Marlo, and I really like Malone, but this combination is just fantastic. I’m still only on Volume 2 (out of 6) and have already learned a ton. Coincidentally, I have most of Marlo’s printed works… and haven’t read nearly any of them yet.
The best part about this series, and why I think that it’s actually better than a lot of other videos, is that Malone is teaching someone else’s tricks. Since they’re not his own, he’s also showing his variant handlings and including ideas from others who have expanded on the original over time.
I picked up a new in-the-hands false shuffle from Volume 2 called Ravelli’s Waterfall Shuffle, by Ron Wohl. It’s a beautiful, visually perfect (in Malone’s video) shuffle that doesn’t need a cut afterwards. He also teaches it, and I think in more detail, in Here I Go Again. While I do own that series too, I haven’t watched it yet — though it’s on my list to skip forward to this specific shuffle’s lesson to get more details. I’ve been practicing it off-and-on during meetings at work and have had to pick up half the deck from the floor a few too many times, so clearly it’s not as easy as he makes it look.