High Spots book
I can say that without a doubt, Caleb Wiles' new card book "High Spots", published by Vanishing Inc., is a must buy. I haven't been this impressed by a new book in a very long time. I was fortunate enough to see Mr. Wiles perform the effects in the book at last month's "The False Deal" convention in Oklahoma City, where he wowed everyone present with his clever routines. Caleb's card magic is a mixture of the creativity of David Regal, the savvy of John Bannon, and the outré of Max Maven.
None of the routines require heavy work, yet the audience impact is very great indeed. The explanations are clear, the accompanying photos are always referenced by text on the same page (the lack of which is a pet peeve of mine); and the overall design and layout of the book is eye-catching and easy to read. Each effect is presented in an Effect, Sleights, Setup, Performance, Comments, and Credits format with the occasional Clean-up and Alternate Handling sections. Crediting is thorough, however common sleights such as the Elmsley count are not explained in detail, which kicks this book into the intermediate skill classification. For me, having to wade through explanations of simple sleights becomes burdensome after a while, so I'm glad the author and/or editors chose to leave them out. More obscure sleights like Larry Jenning's Rhythm Count, J.K. Hartman's Secret Subtraction, and Noel Stanton's Pivot Color Change are explained within the context of each effect.
My personal favorites from the book include "26!", a spectator is subliminally influenced to shuffle one half of the deck to match the order of the other half -- a cheeky swindle of the finest sort which literally had me gaping like a codfish when I saw it. Computer geeks will get a kick out of "iDeck" and "Replicator", two effects which feature mirthful computer-themed patter with cool card magic. Then there's "ReSwindled", Caleb's variation of "Re-set" that may be familiar to readers of Joshua Jay's column in Magic magazine and owners of Paul Harris' True Astonishment DVDs. There's also a stand-up routine named "Word Perfect", a fiendish visitation of the "Deep Astonishment I & II" themes that really should be marketed on its own--thankfully, for us, it's included in the book.
"High Spots" features eleven of Caleb Wiles' well-crafted routines and comes stapled in an enameled cover, with 72 pages and just under one hundred clear B&W photographs. Edited by Tyler Wilson, Joshua Jay, and Andi Gladwin, with design by Michael Eaton and Andi Gladwin, "High Spots" is truly high up on the scale of great card magic.
