I now hold in my hands, a copy of The Inventive Magician's Handbook w/Props by Judge Gary Brown, and please try and ignore anything you've read or heard me say previously. I had a feeling I was going to be a big fan of this book when it came out because I had many conversations with Gary during his process of writing it. I even saw some of the tricks long before he thought he'd be writing another book. But even with these little glimpses, I was not prepared for what came in the mail.
I knew from the beginning, a professional magic book that came with the props was going to be huge. The last time that happened was the original Tarbell Course in magic when it was a mail order course. You're not receiving as much stuff as the Tarbell Course, but what you get are a number of very clever magic effects that are unusual and fun to perform. This is PART of what you are receiving. The actual content of the book is multi-layered. You'll read about the history of inventiveness or creativity in our art. You'll learn techniques and strategies that various creators use to create their effects. You get several chapters on Gary's own tricks, where he explains the process of creation, and then gives you the full description of the effect, along with the handling and the script. The general idea behind the book is to help you, the reader, understand that you don't have to settle for what's out there in magic, or tired old tricks that have been seen a million times, but rather you can invent new plots, new presentations, and new routines by using these various tools that Judge Gary suggests.
If you think he's going to teach you how to reinvent the wheel, or come up with brand new never before methods for tricks, he's not. He will address that. But he will also address the far easier approach to developing fresh material. Case in point, he included a routine based upon a Max Maven idea. He has permission from Max's estate to include this. It's an absolutely brilliant routine that you will LOVE. But more than that, once you see how to completely revamp the original routine, you'll understand how to do so yourself.
As for the props, you are receiving a separate package with all the props needed from the book. You won't need to supply anything for the tricks, with one exception. The chapter on Hypercards will require you to provide your own playing cards. Hypercards is not really a trick, but a magical give-away that you can custom create yourself. So with a few old playing cards and some scissors you can make one of the optical wonders. All of the routines, have scripts, but these are not the standard fair where the script is basically explaining the moves the magician is making. Rather, these are well thought out, audience tested stories, that push the narrative and the trick along from beginning to the final moments. To demonstrate the power of these stories, they could stand alone without the props and still be interesting. But WITH the props you add meaning to what you are presenting.
There is one negative with the book and that is the limited quantity that have been made. A great number of books printed and available are already gone, having been sold during the brief pre-sale. They had to stop the pre-sale because books were going so fast. Frankly, It was an expensive book to produce. Larry Haas, the publisher, spared no expense in producing a first class book and prop kit. The tricks in the prop kit are printed with original artwork. And then neatly packaged, each with it's own protective envelope. That adds more time and effort into the production of the final item. And the book itself is lavishly illustrated, it simply looks amazing. You'll have no problems following along to learn the routines. A bonus is also included, videos of Gary performing the various effects so you can see yourself, what they are supposed to look like. But trust me, you'll want to try them if for no other reason than to understand that underlying method of their creation. But they are so novel, you will WANT TO TRY these effects, because of how clever they are.
The book went beyond my expectations. It's an enjoyable read and you'll have fun with the included tricks. But mostly, it's extremely valuable to learn and understand the principles of inventiveness so that you can later use them in your own magic life. The Inventive Magicians Handbook w/Props is a breath of fresh air and a resource that every magician needs if they want to stand out from the crowd. They go on sale Oct 1st 2024, and are only available through TheoryAndArtofMagic.com. Don't wait. This book will sell out FAST!
I recently interviewed Gary about his book for my podcast, you can hear that episode here. https://magicdetectivepodcast.com/e/ep-104-author-interview-judge-gary-brown/
