Dream books!

An archive of important topics previously discussed.
Joe Mckay
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Dream books!

Postby Joe Mckay » July 30th, 2001, 6:54 pm

Perhaps Richard would be interested in hearing what we would like to see published...Here's my contribution...

Big fat books on Lubor Fiedler, Winston Freer, Gaetan Bloom and Ricky Jay...

Also, why hasn't anyone tried to get Diaconis, Freeman and Zarrow to publish more stuff?

And finally, does anyone know any more about the big book on Jack Birnman that was mentioned in The Looking Glass magazine?

[ August 06, 2001: Message edited by: Joe Mckay ]

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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » July 31st, 2001, 7:20 am

I would love to see a book with Jack Birnman's stuff as well. The reason I focused on cards was because I watched Jack Birnman perform some of his stuff before a John Bannon lecture over 10 years ago. Not only was his material intersting, but Jack had a really charming approach and was very likeable.

Yves Tourigny
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Yves Tourigny » July 31st, 2001, 11:48 am

How about an Aaron Fisher book? :)

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Ryan Matney
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Ryan Matney » July 31st, 2001, 1:04 pm

I agree that a large book of Lubor Fiedler and Winston Freer would be interesting and possibly attainable. I read that a lot of Freer material has been gathered, so that one may actually happen.
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » July 31st, 2001, 7:50 pm

According to Lee Asher, from the www.downloadmagic.com message board, Aaron Fisher's book will be coming out in the near future.

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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » August 1st, 2001, 4:48 am

I'd like to see a big book from Paolo Morelli. He's no more with us: before leaving this world, he told me he was sending his material for publishing to Mr. Racherbaumer. After his death, nothing happened. Does anybody (Mr. Racherbaumer, for example) know if Morelli's book will see the light? By the way, Paolo Morelli was the best cardician I've ever met. A true genius, and a fascinating artist. He left a mythical notepad with some of his best creations: I'd pay hundred dollars for a good look at those notes!

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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » August 1st, 2001, 5:44 am

I would like to see a new book by Bob Diebeek(NL). There is one"Aenigmas Rtsel" published by the German sic!-Verlag. Wonderful things that all work(Bob showed them to us, when he was an active member of our club in Wuppertal). I know that there is a lot of other material that was to be published containig lots of andecdotes about great European magicians of the past(Okito, Recha, Chefalo etc.)as well as clever inventions of Bob
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HighQ
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Re: Dream books!

Postby HighQ » August 1st, 2001, 9:00 am

Lubor Fiedler, John Bannon, and Terry LaGerould, all need great big books!

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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » August 1st, 2001, 2:23 pm

I am looking forward to the book on Jimmy Grippo. I have seen tapes of him on The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show and I have talked to people who saw his live performances. He was an incredible magician.

Jon Racherbaumer
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » August 1st, 2001, 7:35 pm

To Andrea: I met Paolo Morelli only once in the south of France, near Cannes. It was during a small convention and Paolo came up to me and introduced himself. He radiated a certain aura. We had a session for almost an hour. He showed me many interesting things;he seemed particularly interested in gambling-type moves. He was supposed to send me some material; however, he never did and the notes he spoke about never materialized. This was about 8 years ago. I subsequently looked for him at various magic functions in Europe and Italy, but never saw him again. I'm saddened to hear that he has since died. (He chain-smoked cigarettes.) Any details regarding this? In many ways, Paolo seemed a very mysterious and skillful person.

To Don: I have a great deal of Grippo's memorabilia, including his coat (with its index). I also have many video tapes of his performances. I've begun work on his book; however, it will be a challenge to capture the essence of Grippo's approach, his thinking, and the exact techniques he used by studying existing performances (not teaching)on video. When the subject of your book is deceased, one cannot ask important questions or witness various methods and handlings.

The same problem existed to a lesser degree with the Don Alan book. Although I spent a lot of time with Don, I did not have access to his props, and Don wanted to emphasize other aspects (such as timing and routining), not technical details or finesses. This was his call. Consequently, the book is largely unfinished.

Certain critics,of course, thought that the book was a disaster and a disgrace...a total botch. Nevertheless, there wouldn't be any legacy whatsoever if this book, such as it is, wasn't written.

Don once said, with much irony in his voice: "Timing is everything."
His big legacy-book should have been published in 1970.

And where were his so-called friends? They should have offered their help--not only when it came time to write his book, but during other times when he was needy.

It's also likely that many magicians will deprecate and trash the Grippo book when it comes out. I expect this to happen. Regardless, I will write what I can and let the chips fall where they may.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 1st, 2001, 9:56 pm

Okay,
To answer some of the questions on this post:
1) The Aaron Fisher book is being published by Stephen Minch. It is NOT scheduled for 2001.
2) The expert on Winston Freer is Gene Matsuura in San Francisco. If anyone is going to do a Freer book, it will be him.
3) I have tried to take Gaeton Bloom into doing a book for decades. For some reason Gaeton thinks Jeff Busby is a nice guy, and Busby told Gaeton years ago that he wanted to do his book. End of story. Busby is a cockroach, liar, and crook, and of course there has been no book on Bloom.
4) Ricky Jay has no desire for anyone but his close friends to know ANYTHING about what he does. He thinks that no secrets should be explained to the magical masses. Consequently, the likelihood of a book by the Pope on card tricks is more likely to see the light of day than one by Ricky Jay.
5) Ditto for Steve Freeman and Persi Diaconis: they are friends with Ricky Jay and share the same philosophy. That accounts for the reason that Persi's seminal handling of "The Hotel Mystery" has never been published, and he won't allow it to be published, even though dozens of derivative handlings have been published.
6) Jack Birnman's material was taken by Harry Levine, a magician from the Boston area. He wiped the hard drive on Jack's computer clean after downloading all the material. He also took the photographs I shot of Jack's hands which detailed all the slights. It's highly doubtful the book will ever be published.
7) John Bannon is a hard-working attorney who does not have time to write another large book. Perhaps a smaller book is in the offing.
8) If the Jimmy Grippo book teaches nothing other than the real work on his card index, it will be worth its weight in gold. Do a good job, Rock! :)
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Jeff Haas
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Jeff Haas » August 3rd, 2001, 1:48 am

Richard, when I last talked to John Bannon about his new book (tentatively titled "Cardzilla"), he was debating with R. Paul Wilson what format it should be done in...he wants to re-create the look of an older magic book. Should it look like Stars of Magic? etc etc. I got the impression it was mostly written, but there were no photos taken yet.

Steve Hook
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Steve Hook » August 3rd, 2001, 4:36 am

1) Geoff Latta (still too busy with computers?)

2) Bob Kohler (he of the Big Brain and much professional experience!)

3) Harvey Rosenthal (wasn't his book going to come out soon.......a while back?)

4) Harry Levine (Birnman photos not withstanding...)

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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » August 4th, 2001, 2:39 pm

Personally, I'd like to see a bound version of the Goldstein Color series similar to Burger's Mastering the Art of Magic.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 4th, 2001, 5:53 pm

Rick, Maven is unhappy that he put some of that material in print, and so there is little chance of see any of those booklets reprinted, either separately or redone as a large book, at any time in the forseeable future.
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » August 4th, 2001, 8:02 pm

I agree with Mike M. A big fat Bannon Book. Bannon is an excellent guy. Love both of his books.

I'd love to see a Carl Cloutier book on regular, non-sleeving, non-topitting magic.

Steve Hook
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Steve Hook » August 5th, 2001, 2:51 am

Richard: re Max: Unhappy with the material or unhappy that he let some of it out?

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 5th, 2001, 10:58 am

Unhappy that he let it out!
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Tim Trono
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Tim Trono » August 5th, 2001, 11:17 am

I had heard that Geno Munari was doing a Grippo book. Is this something separate from what Jon is working on?

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 5th, 2001, 3:02 pm

Geno Munari hired Jon Racherbaumer to write a book on Jimmy Grippo. All we have to do is think about Grippo's work with the card index on the Tonight Show and drool over the prospect of a book that details it.
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David Acer
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Re: Dream books!

Postby David Acer » August 5th, 2001, 7:18 pm

With regards to a Cloutier book, Carl asked me recently if I would be interested in writing the project. We will likely begin working on it this Fall. And now, back to surfing for porn.
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Joe Mckay
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Joe Mckay » August 6th, 2001, 6:50 pm

Actually, in my original post I forgot to mention another "dream book", and hopefully it is one that may become a reality; ie. Richard, any news on the Jeff Sheridan Card Manipulations book, which I seem to remember being mooted a few years ago?

PS Thanks alot for your excellent work on GENII !!!

[ August 18, 2001: Message edited by: Joe Mckay ]

David Acer
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Re: Dream books!

Postby David Acer » August 6th, 2001, 8:15 pm

Richard, I think it's high time for a book on the card magic of Melinda.
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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 6th, 2001, 10:24 pm

David Acer: Who will publish the Cloutier book ... Guy? I assume so. Hope to hell for Carl's sake it isn't A-1!
I have never seen Melinda do a card trick. If I weren't married, I have might have something to say about your suggestion, but I am, so I can't!
Joe McKay: Yes, we have taken all the photographs of Sheridan's hands for the card manipulation book. Hope to have it out in about 6 to 12 months.
In case anyone's interested, my dream book is the card magic created by Hofzinser, written by the man himself. It all exists in his handwriting in archaic German scrawl and belongs to Volker Huber of Germany. I hope to hell he publishes it one day.
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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 7th, 2001, 6:04 pm

bump
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Guest » August 8th, 2001, 9:25 am

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jon Racherbaumer:
[QB]To Andrea: [...] he seemed particularly interested in gambling-type moves. He was supposed to send me some material; however, he never did and the notes he spoke about never materialized. This was about 8 years ago.

Jon, thanks for your kind reply. Paolo Morelli developed a lot of strange (and sometimes bizarre) effects with cards, using methods which are, as far as I know, well-kept secrets. Sometimes I had the strange feeling he was really a sorcerer: true miracles were happening in his hands! Believe me, he was no less than a genius. I'll try to collect more about him, and, if you are still interested, I'll send you my notes. P.S.: I beg your pardon for my rusty english.
Andrea

Robert Kane
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Robert Kane » August 12th, 2001, 10:07 am

How about a book on the work of Ascanio (in English)? I would love to learn more about his work with the color changing knives.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 12th, 2001, 3:35 pm

Ascanio is entirely responsible for so little of his work being published in English. I tried for MANY YEARS to negotiate a contract with him for a big book, and he was absolutely impossible to deal with. He was one of the greatest cardmen who ever lived, but he was an egomaniac of staggering proportions, who was also the type of lawyer who thought everyone was trying to screw him. He made it impossible. Then Stephen Minch negotiated with him for years to try and get a contract nailed down. He was no more successful than I.
Much of Ascanio's work has been published in Spanish, however, if you can locate the books and read them.
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Robert Kane
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Robert Kane » August 12th, 2001, 4:34 pm

I am so sorry to learn that it never worked out with Ascanio. What a loss for those who cannot read Spanish (myself included).

How about a compilation of Charlie Miller material from past Genii's/Magiciana (sp?).

Or, the Michael Skinner issue of Genii was awesome. The history/anecdotes and very well-written trick explanations (of great tricks) was a smash hit as far as I could tell. Could that concept be expanded on? The Skinner book by Busby is ok, but it's not a full on hardbound presentation and the L&L one is ok, but it is a bit light on content. I think the magic world is screaming for a really good book on Skinner.

Just a thought...

Rafael Benatar
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Rafael Benatar » August 13th, 2001, 7:32 am

I knew Ascanio very well and absolutely agree with what Richard says. The same thing happened with Frakson Books. After his death, however, Laura Avils from Paginas (what used to be Frakson Books) managed to make a deal with Ascanio's widow. On the other hand Jess Etcheverry, from Bilbao, a close friend of Ascanio, had been working for years on compiling everything with Ascanio's help. They decided to join forces so Laura Avils would publish Etcheverry's compilation in three hardbound volumes, about 300 pages each, two of which are already out in Spanish and the third one is due out later this year.
The good news is that these books are already being translated into English, beginning about now. Merrill Collier is translating the first volume and I am the technical editor. The first book includes all of Ascanio's theoretical writings, complemented by a transcription of a series of lectures that were recorded on tape. The subjects covered in those lectures are: presentation, cover, routining, technique, and how to study magic, a lecture for each. There is also a full lecture on a single trick, Cy Endfied's Aces for Connoissieurs, analyzed in depth, aside from various magazine articles and interviews. The other volumes include several books and lecture notes that were carefully written but lousily published, and the book on knives.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 13th, 2001, 10:37 am

Rafael,
Who is going to publish the new Ascanio books in English? :confused:
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Rafael Benatar
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Rafael Benatar » August 13th, 2001, 7:38 pm

I think Paginas (Laura Avils) wants to print the books in Spain and then sell them through a distributor, but I think she hasn't decided yet.

Chris Gillett
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Chris Gillett » August 13th, 2001, 9:38 pm

Another Genii exclusive. Thank you for the information, Rafael.

Eric Chico
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Re: Dream books!

Postby Eric Chico » February 28th, 2024, 9:26 pm

Lots of time has passed and some of these have come to fruition. Anybody working on a compilation of Gary Plants' magic?

magicfish
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Re: Dream books!

Postby magicfish » September 30th, 2024, 10:18 am

Dealing With It
A compilation of material from John Bannon's Genii column.


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