Not gonna be like the others and say how aesthetically pleasing the book is. I could care less, Im
here for the content, and thats what this candid review was, and is, based on.
I've read
the book in its entirety writing this review.
With that said...HERE WE GO! :
Pros:
-Book was very VERY well written and easy to understand. Stephen Minch does an
exceptional job with the details, and good photos to go with it.
-Vanni offers good
handlings on improving age old effects/effects we currently do to make them better. A good example
of this is a) The Rested Palm Technique, which is sexy. Another is b) The Secluded Card Rise (aka,
Card Rise from sealed baggy). It makes use of easy to obtain props, has extremely strong
entertainment value, and looks just freakin' sexy. I honestly believe Vanni has simplified the
effect to its bare essence, while reducing the props needed, yet creating a dramatic effect.
His books offers a fresh (and unique) insight to some interesting effects, one being the the
first effect in the book, "The card in glass" (which everyone talks about...) and is actually very
practical and easy. A FISM level idea is Prematrix, producing 4 coins from a shuffled pack, hands
shown empty, deck isn't gaffed!
c) From Pages 146-166, he has some unique work on the Okito
box dubbed, "Okito Box Italian Style": and man oh man, its as good as David Roth's work, except 1/2
of it is easier/easy to acquire, the other half requires a knack, but looking through, it looks like
fun practice in both the technique, and misdirection, as Stephen Minch stated will be required in
3-4 of the Turnovers.
Should also note, in the Okito Box section, 85-90% of the work is in the
Turnovers, a crucial technique.
As another reviewer stated, this book will make you wanna
get an Okito Box. Only buy one if you are familiar with one, since Vanni Bossi's book only covers
the crucial turnover technique. Those seeking further knowledge can be referred to David Roth's Coin
Magic book on Penguin, or his DVD sets.
Cons:
-Some of the effects are very
angle sensitive, or are not examinable, and assume that the spectators are not clever in some cases,
("A Germain Twist" is one example, and there is a 20-25% probability the spectators I work with
would/will catch on to such a effect, even if cleanly presented and well practiced.)
-Some
are really cool displays of cards, but with little use or context to using them in the effects.
Couldn't, with my vast knowledge, find a use for many of the counts in the small packet effects I
do.
-Some were very gaff heavy, or very limiting to the type of performance space
-One or more of the effects just didn't..."work". One was the Thumbtip effect in there. I was
overjoyed when I saw it there, read up on the technique, tried it for half an hour only feeling like
a fool knowing it doesn't work for me.
Overall, I can say the a) Okito Box work, b) the
Card in Glass, c) Framing the Sandman (Signed Card appears in a picture frame...which is GREAT for
Parlor), and d) The Secluded Card Rise will be going into my repertoire...but I still feel other
material in the book is a bit lacking/out of place due to the above reasons.
It, and I
know I'll get bashed for this, felt a bit "hollow" with the 4 above effects (I feel) being the main
selling points.
With all the hype, I expected it to be the next classic like Harry
Lorayne's Close-Up Card Magic, or the book Switch by Lovick, or (and it met and exceeded the hype
given) The "Stand Up Card Magic" book by Robert Giobbi. All books listed available on Penguin, ha.
Didn't live up to the hype, Felt a bit Hollow, not enough material a "working magician can
draw from it. 3/5 on my end.
-Dan
Although I gave the book 5 stars, your points are well taken and potential buyers should weigh what you say strongly and consider how to prioritize the absolute utility of the material as a deciding factor in the purchase. On the other hand, the video I have seen of Bossi shows him performing standing, surounded at a casino style dealers table, seated audience to 180 degrees around him. He's not the snazziest finger flinger. Relatively clumbsy if you know what to look for (not to a lay audience I'm sure). Perhaps that confident, casual style helps push through some of the more transparent effects. For instance, isn't Germain Twist similar to Sankey's pulling a card from a ballooned deck? I always asked myself how I got away with the Sankey thing when a three year old (unencumbered by social appropriateness and logic) would easily grab for the obvious solution. Mabe a loose baggie works just as well (haven't tried it). Also I have found the perfect TT. Well, almost... it keeps lighting up when I squeeze it!
Dan:
Do see my comments under My Penguin Magic for my experiments with True Pencil Through Bill.
This is a very honest review and pretty spot-on, imo. I gave the book 5 stars as well, but I did have some of the same concerns for many of the effects. This is NOT a book of cutting-edge "workers." More of a book of classical sleight of hand magic and interesting concepts with some items sprinkled throughout that are practical/commercial.
I don’t know. If you found four good effects for you $65, I say that is well worth your time and money. I always read books with more of a “scholarly” mindset. Not so much looking for more tricks (we all know WAY too many anyway), but ideas that might add to or improve my overall magic. I love this book and have read it a few times.
I agree with tresmanos that if you found four effects that you would perform then it's definitely worth your time and money. Sometimes you can't find one effect for $65.00, or even $100. So in my opinion the review should have been 5 out of 5.
I felt that Daniel gave everyone here a very honest and open review of the book in his critique. He was critical where he thought the "Cons" were warranted, but he also praised it where he thought it was deserving. And he went into some considerable depth to justify and explain his reasoning in both cases, which is FAR more than most reviewers ever do in the Comments section.
If this was truly a great book, I don't think we'd be seeing it showing up on the "OPEN BOX" section as frequently as it does, because, let's face it, a trick ends up in "OPEN BOX" because someone returned it.
I can't help but think that if these Open Box tricks were all so knock-out great, people wouldn't be returning them. They'd keep it on their shelves and return to it time and again. Also, I have Fiction books, I've read them once and I'm not going to read them a second time, but I keep them for the reason people save things: because they remind them of how much they enjoyed them.
As far as his scoring, again, I think he's entitled to score any damn way he wants to. If you feel that you learned 5 or 6 tricks and to you, that was a bargain, great, but that's your opinion, not something etched in stone. But to insist that he agree with you is silly. You have your opinions on judging a book or tricks intrinsic worth and he has his.
Dan's was a VERY fair and VERY well written review. He didn't bash the book, but gave you his considered Pros & Cons with reasoning and examples. Why is it that so many out there attack a reviewer simply because they negatively critiqued a product?
Don't they realize that these items in the Cool Box are there because magicians didn't like the product and didn't feel it lived up to the advertising or description?
People simply don't return products they like and I've also noticed this book keeps popping up again and again on Cool Box which means that not just Dan, but MANY buyers don't think this book was worth it. - - - jonathan
In response to Kaplan's comment about people returning this book, I don't think the majority of items in Open Box are actually returns or even open. When you see the same items popping up again and again it's a pretty good indicator that it's overstock or overproduced older items that are no longer selling and they're simply clearing up some space in the warehouse while making a few more bucks on them.
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A Couple good effects amongst questionable ones...
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