Transformations
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In Transformations: Creating Magic Out of Tricks, Lawrence Hass uncovers some of the higher secrets for creating strong, entertaining performances of magic. Drawing on over fifteen years of experience as a performer and as an award-winning teacher of college courses on magic performance, Dr. Hass shows that being an excellent magician does not reside in knowing lots of "tricks," but rather in the thoughtful application of psychological and theatrical principles that transform our best tricks into experiences of magic. As world-famous magician Eugene Burger has said: "This is a wonderful book written by a very talented performer. It is full of secrets. . .that will make you a better, more engaging magician." Pages 185 - Hard BoundAlong with seven clear, engaging essays on magic performance and eleven fully-realized performance pieces from Larry's repertoire, Transformations also includes a previously unpublished routine by Eugene Burger and forewords by Jeff McBride and Marc DeSouza. "This is a wonderful book written by a very talented performer and master teacher. It is full of secrets: great tricks and thoughtful scripts, and also the subtle strategies of presentation and psychology that will make you a better, more engaging magician. Prepare yourself: you and your magic are likely to be transformed." - Eugene Burger "In the following pages, not only will you gain a deeper insight into the history and mystery of Larry's search for magic, you will also learn secrets for transforming your own performances." - Jeff McBride "Dr. Hass has a revolutionary approach to performing, teaching, and learning magic. He focuses. . .on making magic meaningful. . . . I have seen him perform many of these routines for several different audiences. They never fail to elicit a tremendous response." - Marc DeSouza
I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. I finally decided to go with its value to me. This is why I'm giving it five stars. I think it's an excellent book. There are some good tricks explained--and very well explained they are. And there's a lot here of value for those interested in theory--which should, but obviously does not, include everyone who wants to be a better magician.Some of the material here is going to be slow going for a lot of readers. Dr. Hass is a philosopher, some of the material is purely philosophical in nature. You don't have to have any background in philosophy to read the book, and get valuable material from it. But I think some readers will complain about the amount of theoretical material, and its depth, if they don't know it's coming.I will say this: "Triumph" is the trick that got me hooked on card magic. Frank Garcia's handling, with Daryl's display move, has been my favorite trick for years and years. I've put a lot of thought, and a ton of work, into it. And when I read Dr. Hass's handling, I started to wonder...do I really want to do it this way? (I don't know yet--but I'm thinking about it.)Needless to say: a lot of audiences aren't going to care if you throw in a philosophical reference, or present Paul Harris's "Ultimate Rip-Off" in terms of priests tearing the trickster limb from limb. But if you can pitch at least some of your magic at a little higher intellectual plane than saying, "Give me your hand--no, no: the clean one!" then why on earth wouldn't you?Someone--a philosopher, maybe--said something about a book being like a mirror. Think about it before you decide to buy this book. For me it was worth the price.
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