| |
Random
Acts of Magic: A Review By David Regal
(Genii Magazine, April, 2005)
David
Acer is the author of several books and booklets on magic,
including the Natural Selections collections that I very
much enjoyed. This book is thicker than Acer’s previous
offerings. It contains original effects, variations, and
contributions from some Big Names. Some effects are new
to these pages while others are some of the best items Acer
has released in magazines, videos and the magic market.
All totaled, there are about 200 pages of card magic, and
about 150 pages of other things. It is a fine assembly of
tricks for different occasions, from formal shows to impromptu
quickies, and for the most part the material is not technically
difficult to master.
David
Acer’s reputation suffers, I think, from his surfeit
of wit, leading one to perhaps assume that the magic he
performs is only for those with a comic bent. Of course
this is not at all true. Acer’s best material as a
performer combines his humor with a dead-on sleight of hand
technique and a plot with an intriguing premise. In this
book are many terrific effects, most with a presentation
included that can be augmented or adjusted to suit personal
taste. “Over Easy” is a small packet version
of “Triumph,” including versions by Max Maven
and Joshua Jay. “Time Boards,” created with
Richard Sanders, turns the deck into a time-telling device
and ends with the deck revealing the correct time at the
moment the trick reaches its climax. Even more offbeat effects
include “Child’s Play,” created with Jay
Sankey, in which two crayons correctly predict cards that
will be selected, and “Misguided Angels,” another
collaboration with Sankey that climaxes with an angel changing
direction on the back of a playing card. There are also
some good sleights described here, generally in the context
of an effect, such as “Splittant” (developed
with Sanders), a lovely visual card split, “The Charlier
Control,” an effective illusion by Michel Huot and
Steve Duperre, and “Flipwich,” a variant of
a Ben Harris visual card change with many applications.
One
of my favorite effects included in the card section “Extrovert
at the Card Table” is “Party of 6,” originally
a dealer item, a card effect designed for performance before
a group, such as a club or a theater. Tricks like these
are in short supply, and even though Acer openly refrains
from including his script and bits of business for this
effect (the bastard), it’s easy to see how it could
be a mystifying workhorse of a routine. The basic effect
is: A prediction is made. Six spectators select cards and
step to the front. The six spectators are “shuffled,”
then a final card is selected from the six. It matches the
prediction. The trick as explained utilizes the hoary Hot
Rod Force for part of its modus operandi (as does another
trick in the book), but other avenues will suggest themselves.
Among
the non-card effects are “Unflappable,” a clean
torn and restored matchbook effect, “Ringworm,”
by Richard Sanders, a transposition between a knot on a
rope and a borrowed ring, and “Unburnt,” by
Barry Julien, a pretty restoration of a burned match to
an unburned state.
The
book concludes with a wonderful section: republication of
the first 12 installments of Acer’s popular “Confessions
of a Road Warrior” column from here in Genii. These
columns are funny, informative, and illuminating. One of
the columns asked 25 “industry heavyweights”
to create a list of 10 Favorite Magic Books. I found the
lists fascinating and not just for the reason that it was
literally impossible to count how many times one of my own
books appeared on these lists.
David
Acer’s latest offering will please fans of his previous
books, and I predict will make him some new fans as well.
|
