This is a review of Knack Magic Tricks (2010) by Richard Kaufman.

David Copperfield asks in the Foreward, "Does the world really need another book about how to do magic?" I was surprised to read his underwhelming one-word answer: "Perhaps." But then Copperfield went on to describe Richard Kaufman, a personal friend since their high school days, as a "real writer and teacher," as someone who "has written or published many of the most famous books in the world of magic," and as someone whose "work is superb." When it came time to select a writer for the textbook of Copperfield's Project Magic, a hospital rehab program for kids and adults, Copperfield chose Kaufman.

Even though Kaufman's Knack Magic Tricks was written for non-magicians, many of the tricks described in this book first appeared in print by magicians for magicians. Credits for the professional tricks described in this book read like a Who's Who in magic: Jim Steinmeyer, Larry Jennings, Paul Curry, Jack Miller, Edward Marlo, Martin Gardner, Harry Lorayne, Max Holden, Wayne Dobson, Dai Vernon, Frank Everhart, Frank Garcia, Shigeo Takagi, Mike Shelley, Al Schneider, Stanley Collins, Jack Kent Tillar, Edmund Balducci, Harry Kellar, Karl Germain, Stewart James, Joseph Kolar, Roy Baker, Howard Lyons, Max Maven, Theodore Annemann, John Northern Hilliard, Albert Spackman, Hiroshi Sawa, Bill Madden, Bernie Trueblood, Bob Carver, Bob Read, Nicholas Night, and Lubor Fiedler.

Tricks by the professionals include card tricks (automatic, simple, intermediate, and advanced), coin tricks (simple and advanced), anytime tricks, string tricks, mental magic (simple, intermediate, and advanced), rope tricks, bill tricks, handkerchief and napkin tricks, fruit tricks, glass and cup tricks, and magic for kids.

Just as good as the tricks from the VIPs of magic are the classic effects explained by Kaufman, such as, Do As I Do card trick, Coin Vanish trick, Spoon Bending trick, Cut and Restored Rope trick, Buddha Bills trick, Cut and Restored Napkin trick, Card in Orange trick, Cups and Balls trick, and homemade Magic Production Tubes.

Much of the clarity of this book is due to the lucid and consistent style of the Knack Make It Easy series. In this Knack book, there are 450 full color photos by Elizabeth O'Keefe Kaufman of props, gimmicks, fakes, setups, and tricky moves accompanying Richard Kaufman's step-by-step explanation of each illusion, sleight, and feat.

Don't overlook the page about Routining Magic in the back of the book. Kaufman shows his readers how to put various sequences of tricks together into routines, creating acts that make you look like a "card expert," "mentalist," "platform magician," or "kids' magician."

The back of the book also includes a number of helpful Internet resources featuring dealers of magic and magic clubs (both public and private). Magician's lingo -- words like equivoque, key card, misdirection, and patter -- is covered in a brief glossary.

There are several other features that added to my appreciation for this book. For instance, there are special interest boxes on many of the pages. "Zoom" boxes supplement the step-by-step instructions by adding in-depth commentary. "Who Invented This?" boxes tell about the creators of the tricks. "Variation" boxes suggest alternative ways to perform or end tricks. "Red Light" boxes warn readers to beware of steps that are easily messed up. "The Art of Magic" boxes put tricks into their historical context.

I especially took note of the fact that Kaufman does not skimp on the importance of personality, presentation, and patter, which are just as crucial as, or even of more import than, the secret methods employed by performers.

Does this book pass my litmus test? I discovered a long time ago that practically every volume I've added to my collection of magic books over the past sixty years has included a chapter on that classic of classics, the Cups and Balls. This is the oldest trick known in magic and still the most popular. A book's treatment of this trick has become my litmus test for the composition as a whole. Is the trick presented as an unremarkable modus operandi or as a smoothly choreographed, catchy little routine? Kaufman kept the classic form of the trick where the balls gather and penetrate through three cups. But then he added a sequence where a piece of fruit is magically produced from each cup at the end. This finale is the professional touch that makes Kaufman's version of the Cups and Balls pass my litmus test. What's even better was my subsequent confirmation of the litmus test when I discovered the way Kaufman added his personal touch to many of the illusions and feats in this book of magic tricks.

About the Author: I first became acquainted with Richard Kaufman as the editor and publisher of Genii, the Conjurors' Magazine, the world's oldest independent journal for magicians. Genii operates MagicPedia, the largest online encyclopedia of magic. A card expert in his own right, Kaufman specializes in the basic sleight of hand methods needed to do card magic. Master the sleights taught in Knack Magic Tricks and you will be on your way to becoming an expert with a deck of cards. Kaufman's writing ability has been perfected through the more than 100 books he has written since 1977.… (mehr)