Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Discuss products and their reviews in Genii.
User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4762
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby erdnasephile » January 30th, 2018, 5:38 pm

Exciting News: Michael Close has just released 2 huge ebooks of his material and theories, largely developed in the last decade: "The Paradigm Shift", Volumes One and Two.

https://www.michaelclose.com/collection ... 0887936046

I've been eagerly anticipating these since I personally witnessed some of the new material and concepts late last year. (One routine in particular caught my fancy, and now I can finally perform it. His repose-chaos-action ideas have already changed a lot of what I do for the better.)

The ebooks are being offered at a discount for a limited time according to the site, so get 'em while they're hot! :D

Joe Mckay
Posts: 2026
Joined: April 13th, 2008, 6:56 am
Favorite Magician: Lubor Fiedler
Location: Durham, England

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Joe Mckay » January 31st, 2018, 2:33 pm

Just ordered! Michael is a great writer and a wonderful teacher of magic. He always has something interesting to say when he puts pen to paper.

And as with his buddy, Bob Farmer, he always buries interesting subtleties and ideas throughout his descriptions. Can't wait to start another treasure hunt through his work.

Daniel Z
Posts: 154
Joined: June 17th, 2008, 8:32 pm

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Daniel Z » January 31st, 2018, 3:04 pm

Got mine. Wouldn't miss it. Mr. Close is a talented, smart and very funny guy... for a piano player.

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Michael Close » January 31st, 2018, 6:43 pm

All the jazzers say I'm a pretty good piano player, for a magician.

Daniel Z
Posts: 154
Joined: June 17th, 2008, 8:32 pm

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Daniel Z » January 31st, 2018, 8:46 pm

Nice!

Joe Mckay
Posts: 2026
Joined: April 13th, 2008, 6:56 am
Favorite Magician: Lubor Fiedler
Location: Durham, England

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Joe Mckay » February 3rd, 2018, 7:50 pm

These are wonderful books. Michael Close is my favourite writer (and reviewer!) in magic. He puts so much thought into each of his effects. You see a similar thing with Simon Aronson as well. I love seeing Michael's brain at work as he irons out the problems in his tricks. Either one he has created from scratch or a trick he has improved on by somebody else. Along the way, Michael often chucks in a cool subtlety a magician friend has sent his way or found a way to incorporate a sneaky idea taught to him by Harry Riser 40 years earlier.

Since Michael keeps working on and improving each of his tricks - he often finds a twist at the end that opens up another pathway to explore as well. So even if a trick of his does not catch your eye, make sure you read until the end. Since Michael is always looking to do double duty with his tricks and squeeze out extra moments that can be of use in other ways. He is the best routiner of magic I have seen. And it is an education to spend time looking at magic from his perspective.

Michael once wrote that he has "perfect pitch" when it comes to analyzing a magic trick. The flaw or illogical moment in a trick will immediately jump out at him. It takes a special type of eye to spot those moments that will jar with a layperson. It is a case of being able to see the wood for the trees. And it becomes harder and harder the more knowledgeable you become as your mind becomes cluttered with principles, secrets and methods.

It will take me a long time to digest these books. But I will mention a few things that caught my eye on my first read through...

The books open with an essay inspired by a book on behavioral economics and cognitive biases. It makes for fascinating reading. Michael has found a way to apply some very profound and systematic ideas to the study of magic. It allows you to think about your magic in a fundamentally new way. And improve your eye when it comes to spotting why certain moments in a trick arouse suspicion. And why a simple change in procedure can remove that heat.

I have always felt the Cross Cut Force was underrated by magicians. Andy over at The Jerx did some research proving this point as well - http://www.thejerx.com/blog/2017/10/8/the-force-unleashed - and I got a real kick out of seeing Michael's new work on this move. There is something delightful about seeing a sleight free move (and the first move most magicians learn) be turned into a magician fooler!

Michael has some great work on the Zarrow shuffle as well. Again this is of use if performing for magicians since this is a move that often has a noticeable tell. Well - applying the thinking laid out in his opening essay - Michael has a handling for this move that will puzzle other magicians.

The two books cover about 385 pages in total. And the above only covers my thoughts on the first 30-40 pages. It really is just the tip of the iceberg. There is just so much stuff to cover. It is easy to see why Michael spent over ten years working on and off on these books. I am too lazy to give a detailed review of the entire books. Added to which - the fun of a set of books like this is discovering for yourself the treasure that is buried within. Besides - it would take months to fully absorb the contents of these dense books.

He is a writer who rewards deep reading. And his writing and thinking is incredibly rich. You just don't see books like these in magic anymore. I love his blend of creativity, sneakiness, attention to detail, sneakiness, understanding of magic history (and theory), sneakiness, and helping of underground information that has yet to see print. It makes for an incredible combination. This is a guy who will stop at nothing to find the most deceptive (and practical) method for a trick. Whilst also focusing on the importance of presentation (and how that can be used to disguise the method) as well.

It is Michael Close everyone! He literally invented the term "Worker" when it comes to magic. Nobody else is thinking about magic on this level. Highest recommendation.

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3302
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Bob Farmer » February 23rd, 2018, 10:55 am

As anyone who knows Mike Close knows, his material is always more than first-rate, more than platinum and invaluable and timeless. I know this first hand. Mike has fooled me WITH MY OWN TRICKS on more than one occasion. He makes a habit of this. He adds some wrinkle, improves something, takes something beyond where I had it and in the result he fools me. He's been fooling me since I first met him. You can't have a better magic friend.

Mike has just published Paradigm Shift, Volumes 1 and 2, as e-books. There are here:

https://www.michaelclose.com/collection ... hael-close

These are fantastic productions in every way. Plus he has included several versions of some of my tricks, the ones he fooled me with.

If you do magic, you need these books--even if you never perform a single effect, you will learn a lot from the wisdom and advice on every page.

Kent Gunn
Posts: 753
Joined: May 15th, 2008, 2:05 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Kent Gunn » February 28th, 2018, 2:58 pm

The Close-meister just rolled through Florida. I got to see him lecture in Orlando.

Buy the goddamn books. Buy them now.

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Michael Close » April 18th, 2018, 1:44 pm

If you're wondering whether our new ebooks are right for you, here's a short tutorial on how to order, download, and navigate them. Click here: https://youtu.be/AVodxHXjQl4

Also, the ebooks have received twenty-three five-star reviews, including a recent one from Penn Jillette. You can read those here: https://tinyurl.com/yayuvdmc

Thanks.

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4762
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby erdnasephile » April 18th, 2018, 7:06 pm

I have been remiss in that I should have been one of those 5 star reviews, but, like Penn, I've just made my way through the first volume, and I wanted to wait until I had read the whole thing.

However, what follows are some preliminary impressions. (I hope that if someone is on the fence on these, perhaps this might help decide if the project is for them.)

What has made the strongest impression on me thus far is how personal the book is--namely, it's markedly different from his previous works because Michael Close is a different person than when Workers and CGS were written. What I find fascinating is that as he has grown as a person and as his life circumstances have evolved, so has his magic to reflect where he is in life. As I write these words, they seem so obvious---why shouldn't our magic reflect ourselves? Easy, right?

However, we see so little of this self-realization either in performance or publication, that the work under discussion shines bright as an example and an inspiration in the darkness. That is, if I haven't put as much thought into my magic as Mr. Close has, I'm not doing my job for my audiences and myself.

The potential stumbling block in a situation like this is that in a work this personal, is any of the material applicable to me? Happily, the answer is a resounding "Yes!". As noted above, Mr. Close is a master teacher, consultant and is magic's equivalent of Marvel's Karnak of the inhumans (How's that for a geek reference?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnak_(comics) ) Accordingly, the first volume consists contains many thoughtful and practical fixes to common "That looks fishy" procedures we see in 99% of sleight of hand these days. Blatant injogs, suspicious forces, furtively covered indices, etc. all get the Close treatment as he uses his refining powers to make things more natural and more deceptive. I've written before that what reallly turns me on are little bits of finesse that make my current routines stronger. If you are in the same boat, you're going to love volume one.

However, despite how good these pearls are, it would be a mistake not to mention that this is a book that comes with demands. Namely, if you are going to really study the volume, you've got to be willing to pay the price if you wish to extract it's full worth. The price in this case is homework. That is: you've gotta take the time to read, study, and think about how the theoretical concepts he discusses in essays early on and how they specifically apply to you and your magic. For instance, Mr. Close spends quite a bit of time on the non-magic book: "Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow" https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Sl ... 0374533555 The pivotal concepts in this fascinating book, form the basis of a lot of the sleights and tricks presented. While the material in the book can be accessed without reading Dr. Kahneman's bestseller, I think the student would be remiss to not run out and start reading it prior to digging in to Mr. Close's book. IMHO, without Kahneman's background information, the real secrets of what Mr. Close is presenting won't be fully appreciated. Another early assignment is to write out your own definition of the magic you hope to perform, a key concept of the Close method that he's talked about before. I feel sorta bad about sounding uppity about this, but if the reader can't be bothered to put pen to paper to work this out, I wonder if this is really the book for that person. Too many publications these days are like a can of Pringles: bland, easily forgettable card trick variation after variation after variation--rinse, then repeat--put the book on the shelf. In contrast, this is a big, juicy ribeye which will put meat on your magic bones (and chops) if you let it.

In short, this is the kind of book that excites me: it's challenging, yet practical, and if the concepts spelled out are internalized, they have the potential to take my (and probably your) magic to the next level. One other thing: while the material can be technically challenging at times, I found most of it to be well within the grasp of the average serious hobbyist. It's certainly not a book for beginners, but intermediate all the way to expert cardpeople should benefit (although I believe any performer would benefit for the theoretical concepts presented therein).

I'll have more to say about Volume 2 once I finish digesting Volume 1 (might be a while! ;) )

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4762
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby erdnasephile » April 18th, 2018, 8:28 pm

And finally (really!), please allow me to address another issue. I'm sure some might be balking at the price tag, especially because no physical product is being traded for your 80 large. I get it: they ain't cheap in this economy, and I love slipcased beauties as much as the next fella'. However, consider what is being offered here. This is a guy who makes his living as a paid consultant to the biggest names in magic to make their magic better. That sort of expertise doesn't come cheap in the real world. To wit: I had a friend who majored in piano performance at the University of Indiana. She once told me she paid way more than a C-not to a world class pianist to listen to her play for 15 minutes. 15 minutes! Michael Close is one of the world's best magicians, and he gives you a decade's worth of work, which you will be studying for months (perhaps years). To me, it's a great deal, and the included videos and added convenience to read during my business travels makes me not miss the printed page in this case. (I reserve the right to revise this comment, if Mr. Close subsequently releases a "deluxe collectors" hardcover version! ;) )

PS: I totally forgot to mention: the ubiquitous Bob Farmer (another hero) has a starring turn in this volume as well. He tips some typically head-bashingly strong stuff--where does he get those toys?!?!

PPS: IMHO, if anyone shares these files with others, they are lowest scum and prove themselves not worthy of the books. Period.

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4762
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby erdnasephile » April 24th, 2018, 2:01 pm

Very strong positive review of these books in this month's Genii by John Lovick.

I disagree a bit with Mr. Lovick in one respect--I actually think abbreviations make reading easier when reading technical literature. However, I am used to this convention from the scientific literature and I'm sure preferences vary.

One way to deal with this in a pdf would be to create popup windows over those abbreviations that would show the meaning when the reader hovers the mouse pointer over the abbreviation in question. https://answers.acrobatusers.com/create ... 19135.aspx

Nevertheless, as Mr. Lovick says, this is but a small niggle in an really outstanding product.

PS: Even though Volume 1 focuses a lot on moves, "Brain Scam" is a very strong coincidence-type effect with a great, funny presentation that fooled me (and made me laugh) when i saw it last year. Highly recommended.

Jack Shalom
Posts: 1368
Joined: February 7th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Brooklyn NY

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Jack Shalom » April 24th, 2018, 6:28 pm

I wonder if there is any chance that there will be print versions of this--either soft cover or hardback?

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Michael Close » April 25th, 2018, 9:24 am

My wife Lisa put in an extraordinary amount of time and effort to make reading the EPUB versions of The Paradigm Shift Volumes One and Two a seamless, comfortable experience. Here's something I wrote from the final chapter of Volume Two: "As I have written and stated many times before, I’m a book guy – but I’m not a purist or a snob about it. I’m as happy sitting in a chair reading a virtual book on my tablet as I am holding a tree-based book in my hands. In fact, at my age and with my eyesight, I often find an ebook to be a more comfortable read."

It's important to keep in mind that the decision to release my material in an ebook format was a deliberate, purposeful decision. I believe that the combination of text, photos, and video allows training that is second only to personal instruction - training that is simply not possible from a printed book. We could sell a printed book with an enclosed DVD of the videos, but that would require you to leave the book to watch the DVD on some other device. With The Paradigm Shift ebooks on your tablet, one double-click takes you to the videos, and hitting the back button brings you back into the book. It does not break the flow of learning. My suggestion is to print out whatever routine you're planning on learning so you can make notes and comments. This gives you best of all worlds. And if you want to print out and bind a copy so it feels more like a "book," the PDF was designed so you could do exactly that.

If you're wondering whether our new ebooks are right for you, here's a short tutorial on how to order, download, and navigate them. Click here:

https://youtu.be/AVodxHXjQl4

Also, the ebooks have received twenty-three five-star reviews, including a recent one from Penn Jillette. You can read those here: https://tinyurl.com/yayuvdmc

Thanks.

Jack Shalom
Posts: 1368
Joined: February 7th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Brooklyn NY

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Jack Shalom » April 25th, 2018, 11:45 am

Thanks, Michael. I somehow missed the embedded video factor in the advertising material. That's certainly a plus for the ebook format. It sounds like a wonderful set of books.

User avatar
Joe Naud
Posts: 338
Joined: March 11th, 2008, 10:27 pm
Favorite Magician: Vernon, Tamariz, Carney, DaOrtiz, Mac King
Location: Southern California

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Joe Naud » April 25th, 2018, 7:55 pm

Is there any information that can be passed along with the table of contents, page count, photo count and video count? Just curious. I’m about to jump into the pool but would like just a little more information.

Peace, Joe

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Michael Close » April 26th, 2018, 9:03 am

Here's a link to the TOC of Volume One:

https://www.michaelclose.com/products/t ... 2340162606

Here's a link to the TOC of Volume Two:

https://www.michaelclose.com/products/t ... 0889574446

User avatar
Joe Naud
Posts: 338
Joined: March 11th, 2008, 10:27 pm
Favorite Magician: Vernon, Tamariz, Carney, DaOrtiz, Mac King
Location: Southern California

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Joe Naud » April 26th, 2018, 9:57 am

Thanks Michael!

Joe

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Michael Close » April 26th, 2018, 4:25 pm

My thanks to John Lovick (MTTJL) for his thorough review (HTR) of The Paradigm Shift Volumes One and Two (TPSV12) in the recent Genii.

The price listed at the end of the article was the introductory price. The regular price is now $79.95 if you purchase the set of two.

Again, MTTJL for HTR of TPSV12.

Close

Pete McCabe
Posts: 2332
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Simi Valley, CA

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Pete McCabe » April 27th, 2018, 12:26 pm

ESBTPS. IAGB.

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4762
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby erdnasephile » April 27th, 2018, 12:56 pm

M...O...U...S...E....!

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two Available Now

Postby Michael Close » April 27th, 2018, 4:43 pm

Pete McCabe: Yes. Yes it is. (Or they are.)


Return to “Light From the Lamp”