Michael Close's New Book

[Guest]

As with all of Mr. Close's material, the book is very well written and the jokes are extremely funny.

Some people can tell jokes and some can't. If you "re-tell" these jokes and people don't laugh, then you are telling them wrong.

The same can be said of performing classic magic tricks. If they aren't amazed, you're doing them wrong.

[Guest]

Last night, one of our local magicians had his annual Christmas party, and the subject of Michael Close's book came up. Everyone who had it gave it a top review.

I'm sure that at least a dozen of us will order the book, based upon the review at the party.

[Michael Close]

All righty then, it's time to change my guerrilla marketing strategy.

Would everyone who owns the joke book please talk about it at whatever New Year's Eve party you attend? I guess electronic word-of-mouth is not as good as face-to-face word of mouth.

The joke book just broke through into the top 200 sales ranking on Lulu. My kid (whose appetite grows every day) would love to see it get into the top 100. :) Thanks.

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[Brian Marks]

Originally posted by Michael Close:
Would everyone who owns the joke book please talk about it at whatever New Year's Eve party you attend?

I don't know. I will be in Times Square. Thats alot of talking I got to do. Maybe a cop will lend me a bullhorn.

[Guest]

I picked up a copy from Mike a couple of weeks ago on a visit to Vegas. Terrific book !!

I've been talking it up in the Chicago area since I got back and I know of at least 1/2 dozen ordered so far. I'll keep spreading the word.

BTW Mike showed me some terrific palming work at Boomers. Everyone should also order his palming e-book.

[Michael Close]

Happy New Year

I have several important announcements about my joke book That Reminds Me: Finding the Funny in a Serious World.

That Reminds Me was written with an eye toward a larger market than just the world of magicians. Although the book has anecdotes and personality pieces that relate to magic, you dont have to be a magician to appreciate it. The book will soon be available through major retailers such as Amazon.com and Borders. The book has been revised slightly to provide some credibility for people who dont know who I am (and that pretty much includes everybody on the planet). Penn Jillette has written a wonderful Foreword for the book, and Harry Anderson and Jackie the Jokeman Martling have provided blurbs for the back cover. You can still order the book through the link above, or from my website www.forworkersonly.com. Magic dealers will soon be able to order wholesale copies of the book through their normal suppliers of general public books.

One comment people have made about the book is that its the next best thing to sitting around listening to me tell jokes. For all of you who wish you could do that (and for those of you who dont particularly like to read) we now have That Reminds Me available as an audiobook. The book has been abridged slightly (the jokes that relied on visual punch lines had to go), but to make up for that, Ive included some jokes that I forgot to put in the book. There are over five hours of MP3 audio, broken into chapters for easy loading into your portable music player. This is the perfect way to pass the time during a long road trip or while exercising. The zip file is large (200 MB), so youll need high speed Internet access. The audiobook sells for $29.95. (To be honest with you, I think the new material in the final four minutes of the last chapter of the book is worth the price of admission.) You can purchase the audiobook here:

http://www.forworkersonly.com/product_i ... cts_id=210

Thanks a lot.

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[Dustin Stinett]

Congratulations Michael! It's all great news.

Dustin
(Knew there was a reason he included the publishing of that book in his '07 review.)

[Guest]

My best buy 2008: That Reminds Me as an audiobook.
Im laughing out loud when Im write this tiny message. Goosh, I can listen and read at the same time, I must be a freak.

[Guest]

This is Gold, Michael,Gold...
I just downloaded the mp3 files and I am laughung and lauging.

I have 5 jokes that are so visual that it is impossible to write them or tell them over the phone.
I will be in Vegas for a short show next week
I will try to call you

Lior

[Keith Raygor]

The audiobook gave me an opportunity to listen to your book while driving, so thank you for making it available. I loved the dialects and characters - its a wonderful talent I envy.

My favorite part of the book was your chapter on Bob Read, and hearing your respect shine through. Thank you for bringing that character back to life for us in your stories.

[Michael Close]

There are few people whose talent I respected more or whose passing affected me as deeply as Bob Read.

I just received the "new" Bob Read DVD from L&L. This is a reissue of a Videonics tape. There are many things wrong with what was captured on tape: apparently, the cameraman was a former trombone player (you'll understand when you see it); the audience is wretched; and Bob is obviously unhappy with the performing conditions. Having said that, it sure was great to see him doing his thing.

I'm looking forward to seeing the four-DVD set from England. I understand that they will not be available in the States until the end of the month.

Close

[Guest]

Just a few thoughts about a great book.

This is, oddly, one of the hardest reviews (and one of the worst) I think Ive ever written. Im an unabashed fan of Michael Closes work and his writing. His voice is unique in magic: it pleases the ear and inspires the mind. And Ive had no problem in the past reviewing his books and videos. So it surprised me quite a bit when I tried to put down my thoughts about his latest offering and came up lame. It may be because other, smarter people have already said much of what can be said about it in review on Lulu.com and I wanted to say some thing new, something fine and clever. But I cant. So Im stuck telling you how I feel.

The first time I ever heard Mike Close tell a joke, was during the credits of one of the videos he did for L&L a few years back. The joke was the tale of a man who hears a disembodied voice saying nice things to him as he sits alone in a tavern. That joke, and a couple of hundred others, are in That Reminds Me Finding the Funny in a Serious World.

The joke took me completely by surprise for a couple of reasons: first because Id just seen a whole bunch of really good magic, and wasnt expecting to hear anyone tell a joke, and second because its a really great joke, with one of those punch lines you dont see coming, no matter how many jokes youve heard, or told.

The other thing that made the joke memorable for me, was that Mike took his time with it. He wasnt in a hurry to get to the payoff, and the pacing and matter of fact tone of his voice just didnt sound like he was barreling towards a punch-line as most joke tellers do.

Thats the sort of thing that makes a great story teller, the ability to make listening to the tell, as entertaining as listening to the punch line. Michael Close, is a great story teller, and in That Reminds Me he provides some insight into how to tell a joke, with specific examples including voice inflection, dialects, and gestures.

This isnt just a joke book for people who like to read jokes. This is a book for people who tell jokes, or want to.
Recommended reading.

[Michael Close]

Concerning my above comment about the cameraman on the Bob Read DVD:

If he wasn't a former trombone player, he was the Director of Photography on Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Stewardesses.

[This joke is just for Doc Dixon.]

Close

[Guest]

Originally posted by Michael Close:
Concerning my above comment about the cameraman on the Bob Read DVD:

If he wasn't a former trombone player, he was the Director of Photography on Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Stewardesses.

[This joke is just for Doc Dixon.]

Close

MIke,

My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And yes, Count Floyd thanks you.

You're the best.

Doc
PS: I'm in town for a few days. Hope to see you tomorrow night at Boomers. You bring your baby pictures. I'll bring mine.

PPS: Just to be clear, I don't mean pictures of you or me when we were babies.

[Ian Kendall]

In a 'that reminds me' moment; little known fact number 35 - Francis Ford Coppola's early films included a 3-D soft port piece entitled 'What the Butler Saw' and was purportedly the scene sees through a keyhole.

The irony? Looking through a keyhole does not provide 3-D vision.

And now, back to the stewardesses.

Take care, Ian

[Card-Shark]

I bought the book and first I was surprised by the production quality of a printing-on-demand book.

When I read it I really had to laugh out loud several times. And the stories around the jokes where great. As I am from Germany and english is not my native language there are perhaps 5 % of jokes where I did not get the punchline and another 20 % of jokes that you cannot translate into german language as the word jokes only work in english language. But I had a great time reading this book. I surely will reread it in a few weeks to laugh again. And perhaps I will get the last 5 % ;) .

Great book, highly recommended.

[Jeremy Greystoke]

I'm a happy purchaser of the print version of That Reminds Me. I also bought the audiobook version last week right before driving over to Pigeon Forge, TN for the Winter Carnival of Magic. The audio file was successfully downloaded and installed on my .mp3 player.

Michael kindly mentions at the top of the audiobook that driving while listening to this isn't recommended and that he takes no responsibility of anything that might happen while trying to listen and drive.

Sage advice.

I didn't follow it, and damned near drove off the road three times because I was laughing so hard.

Heed his cautions...the stuff is incredibly funny and well worth the download price.

Thanks, Michael!

Jeremy

[Mats Kjellstrom]

Funny, many funny things. I love the jokes. The mature/adult jokes are almost to strong. Haha, a good laugh is all you need in this weird world.

[Michael Close]

I'm glad Jeremy's okay. Although the "driving while listening" warning at the beginning of the audio book seemed egotistical to me, I included it anyway, because I was genuinely concerned that a surprise guffaw would jeopardize someone's driving ability.

Concerning Mats' comment that the adult jokes are "too" strong: I think I have played fair with the readers. Those jokes are grouped together in next-to-last chapter, and the reader is given fair warning of what's coming. (And this warning is also given much earlier in the book, in the About This Book chapter.)

At Blackpool, the last half of my lecture consisted of stories and jokes from the book. I warned the audience that some of the jokes would contain adult words, and if this was a problem that they should leave. No one did, and we all had a fine time.

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[Matthew Field]

DANGER!!

Do not read Mike Close's new book when eating or drinking.

I did, and laughed so hard milk shot out of my nose.

Matt Field

[Terry]

I'm glad Jeremy's okay. Although the "driving while listening" warning at the beginning of the audio book seemed egotistical to me, I included it anyway, because I was genuinely concerned that a surprise guffaw would jeopardize someone's driving ability.

It's not the surprise guffaw that is the problem - it's the laughing so much that tears come to your eyes and would blind you.

Concerning Mats' comment that the adult jokes are "too" strong: I think I have played fair with the readers. Those jokes are grouped together in next-to-last chapter, and the reader is given fair warning of what's coming. (And this warning is also given much earlier in the book, in the About This Book chapter.)

I've used some of the "adult" jokes at work and it only took a little work on my part to either omit the offensive language or find another word.

Sort of like working through a trick. . . .

Mike - you have provided me with many an evening of laughter - thanks so much!

[Gordon Bean]

I had such a great time reading this--and do hope there might be a sequel/addendum some day. As I posted at the Lulu site, I found out that it's definitely not what you should read in a small house when the rest of the familys sleeping!

[Michael Close]

My thanks to Gordon Bean for his beautifully written Lulu review.

Lisa and I are very pleased to announce that That Reminds Me: Finding the Funny in a Serious World can now be purchased on Amazon.com. Heres the link:

http://tinyurl.com/4z6cxo

For many of you this will be a much more convenient way to order the book.

If youve written a review of TRM, you could do me a big favor by cutting and pasting any or all of your review in the customer review section. (Click on Create Your Own Review about a third of the way down the page.)

Thanks. And a special thank you to everyone who emailed me telling me how much they enjoyed the book. I really appreciate it.

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[Dave V]

I took my chances and burned the audio files to CD so I can listen in the car. No accidents yet...

[Dustin Stinett]

Being the Dark Fascist Overlord that I am, I have taken it upon myself to delete all the posts that had nothing to do with the subject of this thread. They were irrelevant.

Dustin
(Can think of another thread that might be able to use the same treatment)

[Michael Close]

Ive hit a small snag with the retail distribution of That Reminds Me. If any magic shop owners have had problems obtaining the book through their normal sources and would like to carry the book, please contact me directly at mail@michaelclose.com. I think I can offer you the book at a reasonable discount.

Thanks.

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[Bob Farmer]

Mike:

We need the That Reminds Me joke-a-day calendar ready for Xmas 2008.