Close Up & Personal by David Regal Magic Book-1st Edition-Coins Cards-Close-Up

Description

Close Up & Personal by David Regal
Title: Close Up & Personal
Author:
David Regal
ISBN 0-945296-25-8
Publisher
: Hermetic Press, Inc
Publication Date:
1999
Hardcover
Book Size: 8 ¾ X 11 ¼
Pages: 264
Edition: 1st Edition-2nd Printing
Book Condition: Excellent-Like New-Appears Unread-bumped corners
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good-Shelf wear & edge folding-small tears
"This Stuff's So Clever its Criminal!" These words were uttered by Max Maven shortly after reading David
Regal's
Close-Up & Personal. Fortunately, Regal has managed to escape prosecution, due not only to his inventiveness, wit and originality in magic, but also to his success as a comedy performer and television writer. David's magic twelve years ago so impressed Harry
Lorayne
, he wrote and published David's first book - Star Quality: The Magic of David Regal.
Lorayne's
title proved prophetic, and after seeing the contents of Close-Up & Personal, his comment was, "He'll fool the hell out of you."
David Regal is a popular performer at The Magic Castle, just one of the locations where he audience-honed the material presented in this volume. Close-Up & Personal contains, in the words of Ken
Krenzel,"An
abundance of novel, offbeat gems." Close-Up & Personal contains seventy-two of David's best performance pieces, described with care and in detail, accompanied by hundreds of photographs. If you seek close-up trickery that surprises, entertains and amazes both the public and jaded peers alike, you must read Close-Up & Personal!
It has a forward by Max Maven and Ken
Krenzel
, who both agree that this is one of the best magic books ever written, and is the highest quality that a book can be. It is about the size and weight of a full size high school textbook, and it comes with a really shiny dust jacket. When you remove the dust jacket, it still looks really nice with an almost canvas material as the cover with golden lettering. The pages are a very glossy material with easy to read font. Everything is laid out well, and this is just the outside of the book!
It is David Regal! The stuff that he puts out is always top notch and he is extremely funny, even in the writing! I agree with what Max Maven said after reading this book, "This stuff is so clever, it's criminal!” David Regal is one of magic’s greatest thinkers. Some items in this book have been published in different form in the periodicals Apocalypse and Genii. Manufacturing rights for all effects in this book, with the exception of “Pasteboard Massacre”, are reserved by David Regal.
Contents
vii Preface—Ken
Krenzel
viii Introduction—Max Maven
x Foreword
Cards
3 All's Fair - Well, this is a mentalist effect with cards. The handling is very complicated, but the trick is very good. Basically a spectator is turned into the magician when predicting the cards that you have put in your pocket. It takes a lot of practice, but I think that it would be well worth it.
6 Leap of Faith - This is really, really practical as it requires nothing more than a deck of cards and no setup. A card disappears from one packet to very visually appear in another. I have a really hard time performing this though, because I am not that good at the cop that he specifies here. The effect is extremely visual and worth the practice you will put into it.
10 Commercial Travel - A version of Open Travelers. Except for the handling looking better (In my opinion) but way more complicated, there really is no difference. He even said in the Effect part of this trick, "Larry
Jenning's
Open Travelers is a classic of magic. It possesses a beautiful symmetry and does not need any additions to make it better. This trick, therefore, is not an improvement on that effect, but an altered effect that you may find fits the bill on occasion." There is a way he says to do this without setup and it is just as good.
18 Clandestine Collections - From what I have heard, this is on "Premise, Power, and Participation." which is David's four-volume DVD set. It is really clever (I keep using that word) and you will smile when you read the method. Or at least, I did.
22 Inclination - This is a really easy routine. No setup, no gaffs, just a plain pack of cards and an amazing display of magic. I am definitely going to use this. The cards appear where the aren't supposed to after just being moved and the patter for this is brilliant.
24 The Luck Test - A poker hand is put into the middle, face up. When the deck is spread, it is a royal flush! This is a cool trick, but I don't really like what is necessary. If you can do this and will put in the time and effort, do it. It will be rewarding.
26 Romeo & Juliet - An impromptu effect with a great story. As far as the trick goes, presentation is what makes this 3-phase two-card transposition really great.
30 Over & Out - A really powerful sandwich effect with a very unique principal; the jacks penetrate the center of the deck to grab a spectator’s card. Fairly simple and a trick I will perform.
33 Isolated Force - A really great force in which the back is never seen and this cannot be fairer.
35 Ten-second Poker - A very weird method for a really cool trick. It has many virtues where the spectator shuffles and deals HIMSELF a royal flush in spades.
37 The Wrong Ones - David Regal is a master of not over proving anything. This routine is a color changing deck,
43 Sending It Through - He has come up with a really nice way of doing this and, I think, it cannot be improved.
46 Hailing the Great Discrepancy
47 Clean Cut - A cutting the aces routine, a lot like the one he performed on the Magician's Special of
Celebracadabra
. The method is, once again, super clever and has some really great qualities about it.
49 For Marlo - This is the trick he came up with years ago right before he went to lunch with Ed Marlo. It is a simple traveling card, but apparently it fooled Marlo, so...
52 Primate - Another sandwich effect, which also has a unique thing about it. I think that it is really powerful and apparently was based on Bill Goldman's "Monkey in the Middle".
54 Swindle
Transpo
- A signed red backed card sealed in an envelope unseals itself to appear in another sealed envelope with only blue backed cards. Another packet trick with a great, yet again, method and presentation.
57 In Praise of the Double Lift
57 The Oddity
58 John Hancock - This trick reminds me of Jay
Sankey’s
Forgery, where in this case it is a signature jumps from card to card.
60 The Joker Works Overtime - This is a fusion of Red Hot Mama and Color Quickie in which you make the joker find and transform into two selected cards. A trick with 4 climaxes that is easy to do like this one is worth looking into.
63 Mental
Transpo
- Card Transpositions-really easy and pretty visual.
65 Neither Fish nor Foul
67 There & Back - Everyone knows this routine, where a ring with a glass on top magically moves over to another glass on the same table. It is really, really magical and the method will, if not anything else in this book, make you smile. This is probably the cleverest thing I have ever seen.
73 Got a Light? - This was on P,P, and P and it is an animated matchbox routine. It can be examined before and directly after, so this is, in credibility, better than any others I have seen.
77 Business Relocation - A business card transposition with a gimmick not unlike that of that money transposition Jay
Noblezada
has had here as an instant download for years of which the name escapes me.
80 Ace in the Hole - An ace is visually pulled out of a hole, then tossed back in, then it vanishes and then pulled out again where as it shrinks. Toss it back in, and guess what, it grows!
83 Fool ’
em
if You Got ’
em
- : I love this routine, and would perform it if you could do it without smoking. Essentially this is a deck switch, without a deck, and the switch is the routine. It has a definite appeal, and if you smoked, would be very practical.
86 Spot Remover - Regal variation on the Sack Dice Routine. This is way more visual than Sack’s (Sack’s was extremely visual, just not as visual) but it is almost a cop out. Doing the paddle move just to pretend you are picking off the spots?
88 Letter Perfect - An alphabet deck. When do you play around with one of these? It is a great concept however, being that the spectator mixes them face up and face down, and all the face down ones are his or her name. This isn’t always practical, but when it is, it kills.
90 My Best Friend - A chop cup ending which is great, but you must have a duplicate cup and spend a good 10 bucks at a pet store.
95 Cards &
97 The Half Deal - This routine is clever. It really reminds me of the Crystal Card routines that came in this month’s issue of Genii, which are also great, but this is where the face of a card is dealt off. It is super visual and really practical.
99 The Script
100 Pointing the Way
105 Mystic Poker
108 Lies - A prediction effect. This reminds me of a trick in
Sankey’s
Twenty Years Of Magic, I believe which was also called guarantee. Pretty easy, pretty strong.
111 The Crystal Ball - The Universal Card is a very underused plot. Often it is not credited to Karl Fulves like it should be as well. This is David’s rendition on it, using blank cards instead of different colored cards.
114 This is My Stop - For this trick you need a personalized coffee mug. He assumes you have a mall with a kiosk that can and will do this for you. I don’t, so I can’t perform this, but it is a really straightforward prediction with a coffee mug.
116 Unlimited Edition - An examinable version of the marketed effect, Limited Edition in which a packet is shown, one card is thought of, it vanishes.
120 I’ve Got Your Number - A selected Claims check appears on the back of a selected card. This is simple, easy and clever. Just don’t know where you would get claims checks.
123 Nailed! - This is like Jay
Sankey’s
Nailed, minus the photo.
126 John
Lovick’s
The Reparation - Yes, this is in this book. The method is great, clever and very good on angles. Anyone can buy this from penguin in DVD form, but no one knew you could get this in book form!
133
Pipped
Off - This is where a selected cards pips are thrown off of it, leaving only a blank card left.
Money-$$
139 Clearly Impossible (Sans Lap) - : This teaches you a coins thru table, with a shot glass, 4 pennies and a method of converting the glass into a chop cup. Yes, a chop cup. This is worth it just to see the method, even if you would never perform it.
145 Clink - This is based on the previous trick and involves the ancient beginners trick, The Coin Fold.
147 Four Plus Four - A reverse matrix- visual and impromptu
150 Poor Man’s Wallet - A really nice gimmick to make it appear that you rip and spectators bill and restore it! This is really, really cool but the practicality of it is questionable.
153 Found $ - Finally a good ending to 2 in hand, 1 in pocket. This is where they all turn into twenties!
155 4½ -
158 3½
161 2½
4 ½ , 3 ½ , and 2 ½ : All of these are coins across routines that use a simple gimmick. (The same one in the coins across that was shared in last months Genii.) I didn’t like any of them because I feel that Coins Across is better impromptu and gimmick-less.
163 The
Great Wall of China
- A very simple effect where a Chinese coin (you know, the type with the hole in it) turns into a wedding band. Only 1 on 1, but other than that it is startling and I feel that there should be more 1 on 1 effect out there.
165 Optical Coin Climax - A jumbo coin appears under 4 cards without pre-loading it on. I think that this has potential but it cannot be used as a standalone effect.
Assemblies
169 Down Under Assembly
172 Logical Assembly
174 Anywhere Assembly
177 Price’s Stealth Switch
178 Streamlined Assembly (Minus One)
182 A Short Leap
183 True Blue
187 Blues Progression
Mental
197 Gambit in a Box - A picture drawn by a spectator is predicted on a card.
199 Penny for Your Thoughts - Self Working effect where an examined glass of pennies, one is chosen and the date predicted.
201 The Fifty-second Card - This is a bit like his Triple Vision except with one card. It is direct and interesting in plot and method. Worth looking at and checking out.
203 All Strung Out - A spectator selects one of several strings which matches the performers. Straightforward to the spectators, not to the magician! This has multiple outs and several forces but it is worth it.
208 A Strong Feeling - A prediction but the script is what makes this different than other pick a card, any card tricks.
211 An Occasional Miracle - Once again, a card prediction effect. This one deals with ESP cards, and again, you are paying for the script.
215 The Man with the X-ray Eyes - A Coin Prediction effect. I guess all these do belong, seeing as this is the mental section, but… This is good but you need a slab of marble to do this.
218 Sweet Tooth - A candy prediction. This has definite virtues and I think people react better to candy then cards or coins. It does have a very nice look to it, however it has a very clever method.
220 Countdown - This is kind of simple, and I don’t really think this is even worth performing. You have to build it up with a script, which is what David is good at, but I prefer routines with more magic.
224 Perchance to Dream - This trick is about a merely thought of word disappearing from a page of writing. He uses Hamlet, but you can use anything and the principle gives you a host of other uses.
Gaffed Decks
232 Diamonds in the Rough
233 The Déjà Vu Deck
236 Triple Vision
239 Photo Finish
242 Pasteboard Massacre
247 Flight of Fancy
250 The Opener
253 Thanks...
254 In Closing...
Please examine the photos of this book. I have included photos of the index, when needed. I have also included photos of especially colorful, interesting or autographed pages. I will be happy to answer any specific question, just send me an Email!
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