2020 looks set to be a magical roller-coaster with some great line ups on forthcoming magic conventions The Session, Blackpool and Magic Live! and my first UK Card Con! Last year saw some amazing new effects and magic books, some of which I put to good use in my best of list below.
Top effects of 2019
Level One has got to be my number one! Having seen this at first hand, demo’d by its talented creator Christian Grace at Blackpool. This is becoming the new Omni deck, in a good way. Its pure genius. You might spot somebody in the preview trailer below.
There is also a great Facebook group for Level One. Facebook secret groups are becoming an excellent tool for magic creators and magicians to share their ideas. Really looking forward to see what Christian has planned next with Vanishing Inc.
NKTW. I’m a big fan of the original and was pleased to see NK continue in delivering the goods with a new edition. Rory and Chris look to have some more NK projects in development, with Rory planning a follow up to his gem of a book, ‘Only Ideas’.
Siamese Waltz. This is a superb version of Anniversary Waltz by the card gaff extraordinaire, Bennie Chickering. I was very excited to learn that Bennie will be having one of his new effects also released through Vanishing Inc soon. Check out some of his work via Bennies site here, Way to go Bennie!
Spectro Touch. Joao Miranda’s creations are like James Bond gadgets. I’ve already put this awesome PK effect through its paces on stage, so picked up another! Joao Miranda and his team deliver consistently with the magical goodness!
Celebrity Presage by Svenpad. This is my first book test purchase. I’d never been swayed by book tests, until Steve Valentine showed me ‘Booked!’ and I was sold. This truly is a great effect with multiple routines.
RD Insta by Henry Harrius. I’m a bit late to the Rubiks cube magic party, but upon seeing Henry’s cube magic on social media I gave it a shot. This will feature in part of my new act for sure.
TGR 2.0. I love Tumi Magics visual eye candy, and always look forward to seeing what Erick has in store for Blackpool. I’m sure it will be sweet with Candy Cash!
Top Magic Books of 2019
I had a lot of books this year that caught my eye, so here’s a mention of some of them.
Magic Rainbow — Juan Tamariz — This magic tome on performance and theory is as madcap as its creator. It’s a totally different outlook on magic that is worth spending time on.
Maximum Effect 2.0 — Ken Weber. The entertainers go-to bible with updates! A superb guide book on how to improve your act from scripting, staging and beyond. This should be on every performers shelf!
Eugene Burger: From Beyond. Eugene truly speaks from beyond, with some excellent performance downloads accompanying this book on his gypsy thread and other unpublished material. A follow up is on its way.
Pure Imagination — Scott Robinson. I’m still going through this sumptuously produced book from Vanishing Inc of a smorgasbord of card effects.
The A,B,Z’s of Magic -Rob Zabrecky. If you want to learn about creating an original solid act, this is the book by a true master performer. A great series of books from Vanishing Inc ‘Astonishing Essays’, this is my favourite to date. Also check out Rob Zabreckys bio ‘Strange Cures’.
The Code by Fenik — full of killer card routines that I’ve started to put into effect. Thank you also to Feniks translator, Alejandro Hinojosa Cantu, for tips on the excellent Miracle routine!
The Neat Review. A great compendium of magical related articles. An excellent interview with Asi Wind in issue two!
The Shift- Volume One. Ben Earl has produced a stylish book that covers effects, performance and theory. Volume 2 on its way!
I’m a big advocate of attaining magic knowledge through books. That’s where the real magic resides!
As the new year was approaching, Theory 11 announced an awesome collaboration with Star Wars with these cool looking cards.
Theory 11 also ran competitions over the holidays to make a Star Wars themed trick to nab some of the empire/resistance decks. See my Dark Side below with the Derren Brown boxed set of playing cards!
The new year finally sees the rebirth of Jerry’s Nuggets. After a massive success on Kickstarter, these world renowned decks have been reborn in a variety of finishes.
Finally, to kick off the new year, check out these splendid Art of Magic Calendars! Thank you to Scott Wells, of the excellent Magic Word podcast for the heads up on these magical calendars, celebrating the art of magic in vintage posters for 2020!
Happy New Year!
