Penn & Teller Read Magic Books, Too!
Find Their Performance on Your Shelf
Sometimes we think famous magicians have super-secret sources for the tricks they perform on TV. But actually, they have the same sources we do: reading books, buying individual tricks, and learning from other magicians.
For me, there’s always a special joy seeing a magician perform a piece from a book. A trick that’s never made it as a download-of-the-day - something they likely uncovered for themselves, or something that someone in their network pointed out to them. It means they did some work to make it theirs.
I’m excited to share that The Bad Boys of Magic™ did just that this past week on their own show, Fool Us. They performed Torn Uncut Card Sheet from Blomberg Laboratories, written by Andi Gladwin. If you have the book, you can find it on p. 130.
It’s a very clever piece of magic, elevating a puzzle into a genuine magic moment. It checks all the boxes:
It’s easy to do
It has humor built in
It uses an interesting prop
There’s a clearly defined “before” and “after” state for the magic
And you leave your audience with a visual moment they’ll remember
If you don’t already have Blomberg Laboratories, I hope you’ll consider it. It’s got soooo many clever pieces of magic with string, rings, rubber bands, spoons, coins, cash, pictures, numbers, and of course, plenty of card tricks. Maybe I need to do a review on it soon…
You can check out the full performance on YouTube via the link below.
Throwback Thursday
I really can’t believe how quickly we’re approaching 4 years of Erudite Magic! 😱 The official first upload date was May 10, 2020, so that anniversary is just around the corner. I want to do a livestream with some guests to celebrate, but I’ll be traveling on the anniversary date, so maybe we can plan something for later in the spring. Stay tuned for that.
In the mean time, here are a few videos from this week in previous years. When I watch back through these, I definitely see progress in terms of the production values, quality, and finding my own voice. It was a fun trip down memory lane, and if you haven’t already seen these reviews, here you go.
P.S. It’s scary to see how much you age when you have videos of yourself from the past 4 years!!
April 2023:
This review wrinkled a few feathers since it wasn’t an overwhelmingly positive review. At the time, we didn’t know the author, but subsequently, John Hostler informed us that he was the “Reed Swans Collective.” Not British, and not a group. Oh well, I guess I’m not really psychic.
April 2022:
This is a gorgeous book by Squash Publishing, and it’s in its 2nd printing, now with a red cover. If you like magic history mixed with learning the tricks behind the subject, you’ll enjoy this one.
April 2021:
I went all out in my presentation to convey what I considered the feel of this book - elegance. I dressed up for the review, and even considered doing it in a British accent. 🤦 I’m so thankful I chose to keep my own accent…
Save Your Money!
Part of my goal with this newsletter is to give you, well, news. I mentioned in Sunday’s video that Bob Cassidy’s books are coming back into print with H&R Books. I wrote to Charlie this week to confirm, and he reiterated that the first volume is being sent to the printers now. So, if you’ve been on the lookout for this mentalism treasure, don’t pay someone a ridiculous amount. Wait a little while and you can have your own brand new copy. I’ll share here as I get more information on it.
In addition to mentalism, I’m also hearing reports that The Card Magic of Nick Trost will soon be back in print. I’ve always had a soft spot for this book in my heart, and I’ve performed my fair share of material from its pages. According to my sources, the expected back-in-stock date is just around the corner: April 15 (tax day!). So again, stay tuned.
Speaking of Money…
Last night I was at Ring 23’s magic auction, and I picked up Jack London’s Almost Real Prediction. First printed way back in 1973, the cover shows that it originally cost $10. Whenever I see a dollar figure from a long time ago, I always wonder what that means for a modern buyer. The US government maintains a CPI calculator, which lets you calculate the modern equivalent of an older dollar amount. For the chronically curious (myself included!), $10 back in 1973 translates into roughly $70 in today’s money. Wow!!
Can you imagine paying $70 for a small pamphlet that is all of 22 pages, typed up with crude drawings and staple bound?! We think that increased prices for magic is a new concept, but I firmly believe it’s been going on a lot longer than we realize.
In reading through The Jinx recently, I saw that a subscription used to be $0.25. As of February 2024, that same quarter would be worth $5.75. Compound interest is the real magic of the universe!
I’m going to make this concept of pricing in the magic world into a full episode on Erudite Magic at some point in the near future. But meanwhile, I’m curious: what’s the most you’ve spent on a magic book?
Follow the Sultry Sound of My Voice
At the top of this email, I hope you noticed the audio recording of this entire newsletter. That way, you can listen to it like a podcast if you don’t feel like making your eyes do the hard work of reading. You’re welcome.
More to Come
I hope you’re enjoying this newsletter! I can’t promise that it will be twice a week, but as I come across information that I think is interesting or relevant, I want to have an outlet to share it with you.
I keep coming up with more ideas to share with you, but I’d also love to hear your advice. What do you want to see here, and how can this be better for you?
Most of the content will be free, but as you’ve already seen, I’m posting some exclusive content for paid subscribers. I really appreciate everyone who has already shown their faith and support through the paid option. This is a labor of love, and I want it to be of value to you. If you don’t want to spend the $8/month to get access, don’t worry, there are other ways to get beyond the paywall, like sharing this email with your friends to get referral credits.
Regardless of whether you’re a paid subscriber or a free subscriber, please know that I value you as part of the community, and I can’t wait to continue sharing magic together. Until next time, my erudite friend - keep reading!
This was a great post, Jeff. Thank you.