Oh, I love buying new sneakers.

You might be curious how I search and find my correct sneakers. Sometimes it is price. Normally it has to be red and fun to wear. I like Converse and Keds but I recently found a new sneaker to wear that I haven't seen in years. It is a pair of Airwalk Men's Red Canvas Men's Legacee Sneakers. They are just like Converse and they also have a rock bottom price.

How to learn magic, Amazing Magic Tricks Apprentice Level

Oh the wonders you will find in the public library. Today I found Amazing Magic Tricks Apprentice Level by Norm Barnhart. It is part of a set of four books by the same author. I would have started with the  Amazing Magic Tricks Beginner Level, but that was not available.

This book and the other appear to be very short. The Apprentice Level book only has 32 pages with 10 tricks. The book is loaded with photgraphs and explanations about the tricks. 

In the first couple of pages, Norm relays the main rules of magic, such as secrets and practicing. He does add another note about Magician's Assistants. He does go through the common rules with some explanation. He also talks about creating a case for your magic props and also making a magic wand. 

I actually liked a bunch of the tricks here. There are tricks very appropriate for the younger kids but also can apply to adults just as well. At least two of the tricks employ the use of an assistant which helps kids as they start magic. There is also tricks with making up folders or bags to accomplish many things. Two tricks I liked were a a popped balloon is blown back up and another where a puzzle is magically solved.

There is a small glossary in the back and some site you can go to find out more. I was a little skeptical about the online content but I actually thought it was very age appropriate. It showed more magic tricks and referenced more magic books. This is a great book that I found in my local library and I have included a link in case you cannot find it in yours.

How To Learn to be a magician. 50 Nifty Super Magic Tricks

While in the public library today I found the book 50 Nifty Super Magic Tricks by Elizabeth Wood and Shawn McMaster. I was happy to find this book because I know Shawn McMaster and I know his as a great magician and friend.

The book 50 Nifty Super Magic Tricks is 80 pages with illustrations and the tricks are rated with a difficulty indicator. 

It starts out with the rules of a magician that every magician should abide by and then dives right into trick number one. There is no specific order to the tricks and illusions but each one is well represented by images on the same page.

There are tricks in the book that a lot of working magician use in their acts. The Big Squeeze is a trick that I have from Abbott's Magic Shop that I keep in my bar set. 

There is a section on the Cups and Balls but I would not recommend learning this particular trick from this book since it doesn't have a complete routine. There are better resources for the Cups and Balls.

Some great things in this book are;

Four Aces a trick where the aces vanish from the deck to the table.  

Colorized an effect where a card changes from dropping a deck down on a table. 

Breakthrough where a performer is tied with two ropes and can magically escape. 

50 Nifty Super Magic Tricks is a very easy book to read and will give any young aspiring magician some ideas for a show.

I do not know if you will find this book in your own library. I found mine in the section 793.8

If you cannot find it, there is a way to get it from amazon.com below.

How To Learn to be a magician. Magic Step By Step by Tom Russell

Here is another wonderful book to find in the library. I found it in the children's library in a whole section of books on magic. This book also is great for adults. It is called Magic Step by Step and it's authored by Tom Russell. It is 80 pages but don't let the small size fool you. It gets into the magic right at page 9 and goes through trick by trick from there.

Starting with Disappearing Acts, it shows making a thimble disappearing in a method that is used by accomplished magicians. It also shows great table vanishes like a salt shaker as well as sugar cube and coin magic.

In the Cards and Coins section. It first shows a trick my using the one way design principal with a deck of cards. With the trick Spelling Bee, it shows how to setup a deck of cards to spell to certain cards of a suit. There are also mathematical tricks along with a couple of stunts.

The next section is titled Ropes and Rings. I have a soft spot for Rope and Ring magic and I am happy aspiring magicians can learn some moves that I perform in my act. One effect is the one handed knot. Doing this move can be used as a stunt, a bet or just a flourish. The book describes how to cut and restore a rope, a genuine classic. There are a couple ring tricks using a large ring (2-5 inches) such as Ring Flip and Locking Ring. The section concludes with a rubber band and finger ring penetration.

There also is a section on Mental Magic. In this section it is all about reading minds or predictions. It is hard to describe the tricks without giving anything away but they are quality pieces and will depend on the performer how they would be delivered. I personally do not do much mentalism because I am a comedy performer and it doesn't fit my character but there are good tricks here.

Last there is Outrageous Others. This part continues with moves like the french drop, two paper clips joining from a dollar bill, broken toothpick, the egg drop soup stunt and others. There is one piece called Find the Rattle which is a very good trick that was also seen on Penn and Teller Fool Us tv show.

I found this book in the New Orleans Children's Resource Center in the Non Fiction 793.8
If you cannot find this book in your library, I have included the link below for purchase