Sleight of Hand
- ISBN13: 9780486239118
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Covers every significant aspect—from palming to clairvoyance, vanishing and producing an object, using essential apparatus, etc. Explains hundreds of astonishing tricks—with coins, cups and balls, handkerchiefs, cards, more. A book with an excellent reputation among professional musicians for teaching techniques.
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(out of 4 reviews)
List Price: $ 16.95
Price: $ 8.95
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This book has been hard to find in the hardcover edition, since it was originally privately printed. Dover has done their usual great job in producing this edition, and making it available at a price well within the budget of every magic lover and performer.
The book contains enough information to take the beginner through his/her paces to become a finger-flinger capable of amazing audiences of lay people (and some magicians, too) using borrowed props. Not only actual sleight of hand moves, but actual routines built on the sleights and subterfuge are explained, and in many cases, illustrated with clear diagrams.
Not only is this an excellent introduction to the art of magic without gimmics (some call sleight of hand “pure” magic), but it will also serve as the cornerstone of the magician’s working library. Ask a performer to name classic texts on magic, and this title will be one of the ones included. Magazine articles in the conjuring periodicals will often cite a particular sleight that appears within these pages. For that reason alone, a copy of Sachs’ treatise is recommended.
Submitted by: Brett McCarron (http://www.olywa.net/blame
Review by Houdini’s aprentice for Sleight of Hand
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The amount of magic covered in this book is astonishing, a wide range of topics, that do not necasserily use sleight of hand.
A great book to turn an ammateur into a proffesional. Loads of proffesional techniques are covered and the language, though perhaps a little dated is stil easily understood. The odd reference to half pennies reveals it’s age, but it truly is an incredible buy at great value…… if you’ve ever been interested in magic then this is a must buy
Review by John Carney for Sleight of Hand
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Love and Sachs
It may be difficult for some to understand a preference for books over DVDs and instant downloads. It so much easier to learn when you are just shown. What is the point in reading a book? … and an old book at that?
I must admit that part of my motivation may be strictly sentimental. I long for a personal connection to masters of the past. This is what mentors offer us; their experience, the insight gained, the lessons learned. If we pay attention, we can build on this, and seeing it with fresh eyes, move magic forward.
But it isn’t necessary to have a single, personal mentor.
I can find dozens of willing mentors, patiently waiting for me to visit them, through the printed word. Some having been awaiting my visit for years, and others, for a century. They want to connect with me as much as I want to connect with them. They beckon me to lean in closer, so they may whisper in my ear, a bit of technical finesse; an overlooked move or method; a unique presentation for a familiar effect.
As I read the sum of their experience, I am constantly looking to pick up tiny clues as to how I might break through, and somehow be enlightened, to be better. Not just with moves and tricks, but with those thousands of tiny, indispensable bits of advice that encourage and instruct. Those that only a seasoned mentor can offer.
It is said that if you want to hide something, put it in print. Only the industrious will take the trouble to dig. If we really want to find out “what’s new,” we can start by looking for forgotten stratagems, and underappreciated ideas in older books. The things that no one else has taken the trouble to find or develop. With some imagination we can transform these into things that become new again. In the process, you will have the thrill of discovery, and the satisfaction of giving them new life.
Good performers don’t just “find” good material, they seek it out and develop it from a tiny seed. They see value in things that no one else sees, then they tear it apart and put it together in fresh combinations.
If we hope to excel at magic, or anything for that matter, it would behoove us to understand it as much as possible, and have a wide a span of knowledge to draw upon; personal instruction, books, and yes, even DVDs. But considering only a small percentage of magic knowledge is available on video, we must go beyond the pedestrian or trendy. To improve, we must be a true student of magic, seeking a wide variety of sources.
Dilettantes always look for instant gratification, the easiest way. They are satisfied with only a superficial understanding. They want it fast, and they want it now, with every move, every word laid out for them. They are complacent with turning a crank on their music box. But their rewards are limited by their limited effort. They can never grow.
One of magic’s great classics is Sachs’ Sleight of Hand, and it is one of my very favorites. It is one of the most comprehensive books ever written on the performance of magic. Sach’s has written as if addressing his own personal student, taking them step-by-step through the physical and psychological foundations of sleight of hand. It has a surprisingly eclectic mix of subjects, from stage to close-up magic. The contents include magic with coins, cards, cups and balls, and handkerchiefs, as well as tricks with simple apparatus. There is a book test, several unconventional mental items, and even a section on fire eating.
Beginners in magic are not likely to have much patience with this book. They may be disappointed to find that it is not profusely illustrated. Tricks are explained clearly, but tersely, with much to read between the lines. And the tricks don’t have catchy names like, “Turbo Coins”, or “Extreme Aces,” they often don’t have a title at all, just a fresh paragraph. Sometimes there is the suggestion of a new idea in a single sentence. Students will get out of it what they put into it.
Much like Erdnase’s classic Expert at the Card Table, Sachs’ book cannot be appreciated by the casual reader. You must dig for those little gems hidden throughout. Many of the popular tricks of today, are slight variations of these centuries old routines. Of course, everything must be updated and customized to the times, your ability and style. But that is just as true as something that has come out last week.
Magicians often complain of being unable to learn from written descriptions. The fault is often in a lack of commitment by the student, but other times, it may be the fault of the author. Doing is a skill, teaching is another, and effectively teaching through writing is something else entirely. It is not an easy thing to write clearly, teaching in an engaging and accessible way. You have nothing to worry about here.
Sachs is an excellent, entertaining writer. He chooses his words carefully, and there is so much condensed within them. This is one of the few books that I can read, as a whole, cover to cover. Many of the tricks themselves don’t interest me at all, but Sachs’ descriptions contain practical lessons on everything from audience management to practice and rehearsal, and many other things that would take years to learn on your own.
Of Sachs’ wonderful book, the great Harry Keller said, “I beg to say that it is far and away the very best work of its kind ever published,” and no less an authority than David Devant said, “My den contains a large collection of books on magic, but none has a cover so worn as Sleight of Hand, by Edwin Sachs.” Devant loved the book so much, he even contributed an extra chapter of his own routines which appeared in later editions.
Included is a wealth of magic that may be performed impromptu at the dinner table or parties. Sachs describes a startling routine with a borrowed penknife rising in and out of a bottle, which can be easily adapted with a soda straw, pen or other common object, to workable in a variety of impromptu situations. Hats have been out of fashion for fifty years, but are now back. Sachs explains some startling tricks with what is once again a common object. In my book, The Book of Secrets, I described a most excellent impromptu trick with a table knife and a few pieces of paper. I had passed over this trick many times, as “that old trick.” It took Charlie Miller performing it for me to really impress me, and set me to work on it. This ancient trick is now a staple in my repertoire.
Of course, time and fashions change, and along with them, presentations and techniques must follow. But the fundamentals remain; how to misdirect: how to please people, how to handle spectators and hecklers; rehearsal habits; character and script. It’s all there in Sachs. There are also excellent entries on presentation, and all the peripheral skills necessary for great conjuring.
And yes, there is the sentimentality. The visceral pleasures: the smell of an old book; the fascinating old woodcuts; the paper and the beautiful colored cover stamp of the older editions. I like the way it feels in my hands. I can feel Sachs reaching out through the ages, through that quaint and wonderfully dense prose. Reaching out and showing me how. Telling me his story.
He can now rest comfortably, knowing that someone has listened, and found the value in his words.
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Excerpted from Magic by Design, by John Carney.
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Review by for Sleight of Hand
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I have bought this book in order to find a usfull guide in sleight of hand…instead I have gotten a lot of unusfull text with ONLY 57 illustration. Think twise before bying this book.