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Details: Cards. Wonder. Roses. Cell Phones. Sleight of Hand. Hot Coffee. Matchbooks. Miracles. Finger Rings. Wands. Credit Cards. Bottlecaps. Astonishment. Coins. Cigarette Papers. Bafflement. Laptop Computers. Postage Stamps. Sugar Packets. Secrets.

These are the things David Ben’s Tricks is made of.

Tricks contains material for all skill-levels, from technically demanding renditions of the “Cards to Pocket” and “Open Travelers” to self-working “Faux Automata” using cellular phones and laptop computers. In between, close up miracles, parlor tricks and stage effects abound. Standout effects include “Postage Prediction,” a no-nonsense mental effect with postage stamps; “Bad Habits,” an improved, logical version of the “Cigarette Through Quarter” plot; and “Matchless Psychometry,” an up-to-date version of Annemann’s classic “Pseudo-Psychometry.”

Ben has also revealed the inner-workings behind selections from his acclaimed theatrical productions The Conjuror and The Conjuror’s Suite. Tricks also includes the performance scripts for these effects – giving the reader a complete view of how a seasoned professional develops material for the real world.

Within these pages you will gain insight into a host of miracles that David Ben has made his living with for the last 20 years. Detailed are not only the rudiments of each effect, but also the select secrets only available to a working professional who has performed a trick hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Inside, you’ll find the tricks behind Tricks.

Contents:

vii Introduction

3 Part One Miscellaneous Tricks
3 Postage Prediction: remaining postage stamp matches a prediction
6 Just Another Packet Trick: destroyed and restored banknote in sugar packet
11 Bitter Sweet: bitter coffee becomes sweet just by thinking sweet
13 Extension Of Credit: American Express Card is visibly stretched and restored
19 Bad Habits: cigarette through bottle cap
23 Worse Habits: impromptu cup and ball routine with cig papers and a bottle cap
27 Spirit Writing: dead celebrity signature appears on a cigarette paper
30 Ringing In The Gaff: matrix/assembly effect with two busniess cards and suger cubes
33 Wine And Roses: rose suspends in mid-air, supported by an inverted glass and cigarette smoke
35 Out Of The Ordinary: Essay

41 Part Two Card Tricks
41 Remember And Forget: Hofzinser plot
46 Dunbury Drop: three cards are used to find a location, with a seeming miss
49 Window To The Soul: handling of Stewart James 51 Faces North
52 Stop! The Lucky Prediction: lucky charm helps spectator find selection
54 Just Four Variety: poker hand to Royal Flush
56 Turnover Travelers: Jenning’s Open Travellers plot
61 Oil And Water: variation
66 Lost Aces For Experts: variation of Merlin’s Lost Aces
71 Scarne-Bertram Prediction: selection from mixed deck on a table matches prediction
74 Card On Ceiling: Ben’s version
77 Career Management: Essay

83 Part Three Twisted Tricks
83 Devaluation Detailed: half dollar to dime and then vanishes
85 Wonder Coin: coin and card routine
90 Invisible Triumph: variation of Dai Vernon’s Triumph
94 Faux Automata
95 Alpha Faux: mind-reading laptop
98 Zip Mindreading: laptop book test
100 Psychic Cellular: cellphone reveales selection
102 Cocktail Wizard: card selection revealed over the phone
103 Listen To Me: essay

109 Part Four – Platform Tricks
109 Restoration Theatre: unburnt envelope contains a fortune instead of the borrowed banknote, but is transformed
113 Matchless Psychometry: magician returns each matchbook to the proper spectator
117 Abstract Thought: Magic Square used to sum age of thought-of person in room
119 Tossed On Stage: The Tossed Out Deck
125 Design Duplication: performer divines pictures drawn and erased on a chalkboard
128 Everybody’s Card, III: multiple card transposition routine
133 Parlor Secrets: essay

143 Tricks By The Conjuror
143 Alchemy Revisited: Ring On stick
147 The Conjuror’s Dream: miser’s dream with handkerchief and coins that vanish at the end
150 Cards To Pocket: variation
161 Tricks
162 Scripts
163 – Alchemy Revisited
167 – The Conjuror’s Dream
168 – Cards to Pocket

175 Acknowledgements