What can magic tell us about ourselves and our daily lives? If you subtly change the subject during an uncomfortable conversation, did you know you're using attentional 'misdirection', a core technique of magic? And if you've ever bought an expensive item you'd sworn never to buy, you were probably unaware that the salesperson was, like an accomplished magician, a master at creating the 'illusion of choice'. Leading neuroscientists Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde meet with magicians from all over the world to explain how the magician's art sheds light on consciousness, memory, attention, and belief. As the founders of the new discipline of NeuroMagic, they combine cutting-edge scientific research with startling insights into the tricks of the magic trade. By understanding how magic manipulates the processes in our brains, we can better understand how we work - in fields from law and education to marketing, health and psychology - for good and for ill.

A new and simple learn-by-picture method that makes it easy for anyone aged twelve and up to perform all the classic sleights just as they are done by the world's greatest professional magicians. Long-time magician Bill Tarr has teamed up with Barry Ross, an illustrator famous for his instructional sports diagrams, for easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, so that with the help of more than 1,500 line drawings that capture each eye-fooling movement, you'll learn everything from simple sleights you can master in minutes to the great classics of magic. With ordinary objects -- a regular deck of cards, a coin from someone's pocket, a few balls of crumpled aluminum foil -- you'll soon be doing ... Card Fanning Springing the Cards from Hand-to-Hand The Lit-Cigarette Trick The Three-Shell Game The Cups and Balls Three-Card Monte The Cut and Restored Rope The Miser's Dream plus ... Unbelievable Card Tricks Coin and Cigarette Vanishes and dozens and dozens of the world's greatest sleight-of-hand effects!

DIVSimple-to-use book gives versatile repertoire of first rate card tricks. The authors, both expert magicians, present clear explanations of basic techniques and over 100 complete tricks. 121 figures. /div

DIVThe one essential guidebook to attaining the highest level of card mastery, from false shuffling and card palming to dealing from the bottom and three-card monte, plus 14 dazzling card tricks. /div

The most complete treatise on sleight-of-hand coin conjuring, including best traditional methods and modern innovations. Guides you systematically from basic techniques, through integrated tricks to complete acts, 18 in all. 510 clear illustrations.

The ultimate book of magic for kids from a world-famous magician, complete with photographs for easy to follow instructions. From one of the world's premier practitioners of classic magic, with years of experience instructing younger readers in the magical arts, comes this new revision of his complete guide to learning and performing fantastic feats of prestidigitation. Acclaimed by the Los Angeles Times as "the text that young magicians swear by," it's full of step-by-step instructions. More than 2,000 illustrations provide the know-how behind 300 techniques, from basic card tricks to advanced levitation, along with advice on planning and staging a professional-quality magic show.

A man's obsession with a silent-film star sends him on a journey into a shadow world of lies, illusions, and unexpected love Six months after losing his wife and two young sons in an airplane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a clip from a lost silent film by comedian Hector Mann. Zimmer's interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious figure, who vanished from sight in 1929 and has been presumed dead for sixty years. When the book is published the following year, a letter turns up in Zimmer's mailbox bearing a return address from a small town in New Mexico-supposedly written by Hector's wife. "Hector has read your book and would like to meet you. Are you interested in paying us a visit?" Is the letter a hoax, or is Hector Mann still alive? Torn between doubt and belief, Zimmer hesitates, until one night a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes the decision for him, changing his life forever. This stunning novel plunges the reader into a universe in which the comic and the tragic, the real and the imagined, the violent and the tender dissolve into one another. With The Book of Illusions, one of America's most powerful and original writers has written his richest, most emotionally charged work yet.

Magic is an age-old art form, which has the power to amaze and amuse both children and adults alike. This fully illustrated book includes over 120 amazing magic tricks to be used on a variety of different occasions. It offers simple tricks as well as some designed for the more advanced practitioner. History of Mystery: the book opens with an introduction to the most important events and names in magic's rich history, including comedy and close-up magicians, illusionists and television magicians. Card Magic: the scope for performing tricks with cards is enormous. This chapter explains how to grip, shuffle and control cards, how to force cards, do self-working tricks and peform advanced card flourishes. Dinner Table Magic: items found on the dinner table can be used to entertain and amaze your guests. The tricks in this chapter focus on glasses, napkins, cutlery, straws, cups and sugar cubes. Match Magic: the shape and size of matches make them ideal for creating optical illusions and simple magic tricks. With a box of matches in your pocket, you can perform an entire magic show. String, Cord and Rope Magic: the cut and restored rope effect is a staple of the magician's repertoire. This chapter shows how to do this and other illusions such as making a knot disappear at will. Mind Magic: your audiences will believe that you have psychic powers with the routines in this chapter. There are many ways of creating the impression of mind-reading and thought transference. Silk, Thimble and Paper Magic: tricks using handkerchiefs and small objects have always been popular. This chapter shows how to do a variety of sleights of hand with these everyday props. Money Magic: everyone enjoys watching money appear out of thin air! Once you have learnt basic techniques such as palming and vanishing, there are many tricks to perform with both coins and banknotes. This book reveals the secrets of a wide range of tricks, and explains how to achieve a polished performance, with tips and advice on planning patter, rehearsing, and creating your own performance style. Step-by-step instructions with over 1000 photographs make it an indispensable guide for anyone seeking to master this fascinating art.

2015 Reprint of 1944 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition. Not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This remains one of the most definitive works on card technique, providing step-by-step instructions that will teach you the correct methods for the basic manipulations and for more advanced flourishes. Offering the most foolproof methods available, Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue explain such basic manipulation as the palm, the shuffle, the lift, the side slip, the pass, the glimpse, the jog and the reverse. They detail various false deals, crimps and changes and the more advanced execution needed for forces, fans and the use of the prearranged deck.