I dare to say that this is one if the most underestimated books on card magic.
For people that consider themselves "move-monkeys", the dinner has been served. There are many sleights in this book, including some really odd ones such as a bottom deal done at the fingertips and a "Tilt" move executed from the front.
My favorite item in this book has the most awesome title ever; "Two-Card Fan Lift Switch, Reversal, Palm". It's exactly that: a two card, fan lift switch, a reversal and a palm. It sounds nuts, because it is nuts.
There is also a great amount of routines utilizing the sleights taught in the book. Amongst variations of classic plots, you will find several original to Mr. Krenzel. For example, one interesting routine in the book is a Collectors routine done backwards: three selections vanish from in between the aces, instead of the other way around!
Ever heard of "The Mechanical Reverse"? This book contains Krenzel's original writeup for the move (although for the history buffs, there is some dispute over the fact that Ron Wohl published it before Krenzel). It's a great covered half pass that should be in every card magician's arsenal.
Ken Krenzel's description of the Classic Pass has been regarded as one of the best, and it really is thorough. Several other shifts original to Ken Krenzel are also discussed in the book.
As you can probably tell, this book isn't for people with a mild interest in card magic. This is for the fanatics who get turned on by Two-Card Fan Lift Switch, Reversal, Palms and other such technical card magic. I love the book and if that kind of move excites you, you're going to love it too!
Contents of Card Classics of Ken Krenzel
- The Natural Double Lift
- The Natural Multiple Lift
- As an Ambitious Card Ending
- The Natural Multiple Lift Plus
- "Stop Me"
- All the Way
- One-Hand Stop
- The Drag Lift
- The Pressure Hideout
- To Indicate the Future
- Spectator Sympathy
- Two-Card Fan Lift, Switch, Reversal, Palm
- The Invisible Bottom Reverse
- The Finger Stab
- The Invisible Reverse Transfer
- The Direct Reverse
- Magnetic Aces
- Get the Message
- At Any Number
- Three Transfers
- The "One-Card" Double Lift
- A Card Sandwich
- The Four-Ace Trap
- Turn Blue
- The Optical Sandwich
- Mental Matrix
- The Peek Corner Crimp
- The Magic Bullet
- Caught Red-Handed
- The Ultimate Tunnel
- Variation of To Catch and Ace #6
- The Princess
- KK's HHH (Hand-Heel-Holdout)
- Kaleidoscope 10-Hand Poker Deal
- The Impromptu Zig Zag
- The Impromptu Sympathetic Ten
- The Multiple Cop Progressive Aces
- Mechanical Spell
- Mechanical Poker
- KK's Handling of the Panoramic Shift
- The Panoramic Shift Add-On
- The Panoramic Plunger
- The Miracle Multiple Peek
- The Pivot Pop-Out
- The Eerie Spin-Out
- Impromptu Haunted Deck
- Rip-Off
- Instant Appearance
- Cut Propulsion
- Ken's Riffle Shuffle Stack
- The "Strange" Riffle Shuffle
- The Tilt Sandwich
- The Front Tilt
- Ken's Kolor Finesse
- The Purist's Mini Hofzinser
- Force-Eps
- Force-Eps Royal Marriages
- Down-Down-Down
- The Card Catch
- Fan Steal
- The Squeeze Steal
- The Broadside Steal
- The Classic Pass
- The K-E Pass
- The Mechanical Reverse
- The Vanishing Collectors
- The One-Card Middle Pass
- One-Card Middle Pass #2
- One-Card Middle Pass to the top
- The Block Cover Pass
- The Block-Cover Pass Immediate Spell
- The Block-Cover Pass Two-Card Control
- The Dribble Pass
- The Dribble Force
- The Thumb-Grip Bottom Deal
- Slow Motion Bottom Deal
- A Middle Deal
- OMM Handling
- The Slip Shuffle
- Last Card Push
- The Instant Drop-Switch Get-Ready
- The Floating Cut
Reviewed by Erik.