Abracadabra!: Secret Methods Magicians & Others Use to Deceive Their Audience

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I find this book by Nathaniel Schiffman to be a realtreat. The reader will really be able to get behind the scenes. Goodjob. Herbert L. Becker

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I find this book by Nathaniel Schiffman to be a realtreat. The reader will really be able to get behind the scenes. Goodjob. Herbert L. Becker

Rating:
Summary: Breaking the magician's code, but doing a thorough job of it
Review: I like this book. If you are curious about how magic is performed, how to become a magician, and various other aspects of magic, this one won't disappoint.

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Summary: Do not start with this book!!!
Review: If you start with this book to learn magic, only in that way will you be disapointed. But if you have at least some years experience in magic will you appreciate this very interesting book and valuable thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: Good as far as it goes.
Review: Mr. Schiffman writes an interesting book but has a tendency to get a little side-tracked. His observations on brainwashing, advertising, marketing, and the camouflaging of the Lockheed plant during WW2 were interesting, but not why I bought the book. If he would have not strayed as far from the title, I would have enjoyed it more. The author also has a minor tendency to go into great detail where it is not required and to glance over other really interesting subjects. The book contains a detailed bibliography and glossary that make a good reference.

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Summary: What goes into a magic show
Review: My first idea was to write an encyclopedia of "things to look for in a magic show" to show readers how they could figure out how the trick is done. But I soon realized there was lots of careful planning and psychological influencing of the audience that goes into a well-done illusion. In the end, the book contains both the encyclopedia, and the explanations of how magicians try to maniupulate our minds.

Rating:
Summary: awsome! Fantastic! very good source!
Review: Nathaniel really knows what hes talking about basically every bodys a magician including the Gover ment he tells it in a way that i have never seen before i have tons of illusions books with drawings but this book is the iceing on the Cake! wow! unbelieve cool! the lear jet secret in the book was amazing! it all made scents theres one part i had right its the very loud music to cover the movment of the plane thats really cleaver! i was on the right track! who knew amazing! if you want to know how everything is done then this is the book!

Rating:
Summary: As bad as it gets!!!
Review: Random thoughts. Lightly organized. Pseudo intelectualism. Pedantic. All that effort wasted to explain card tricks and look smart at parties.

Rating:
Summary: Slightly Better than Herbert Becker's, and that's not much !
Review: This book was created by gathering a number of random thoughts available from the Internet with very little effort made to verify sources. Go to the WEB yourself and search on "Magic": the results will be as insightful. Waste of money !!! Books by Mark Wison, Bill Tarr or from the Dover collection are highly recommended over the collection of... STUPID and INCOHERENT thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: A fine look at trickery (legit and otherwise)
Review: Though as commentators below mention, this might not be the best text for beginning magicians (and Schiffman's prose style is a bit choppy at times), this is a valuable overview of the world of magic: the history of professional magic, how illusions work, the elements that go into a stage entertainer's performance, and how the same techniques are applied by New Age gurus, faith healers, spirit mediums, fraudulent religious leaders, and others to manipulate and hoodwink the public. A valuable addition to the literature of the skeptic movement as well as an intriguing peek behind the curtain for the curious.