Ammar, Michael: The Magic of Michael Ammar ©1991 L&L Publishing Hardcover, w/dj, 8.5x11", 306 pages

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Comments (magicref): Edited by Mike Maxwell, Illustrated by Hannah Ammar, Greg Manwaring and Robert Hirsch. Another excellent presentation by Michael Ammar. Good, solid close up routines with good instruction and advice. Highly recommended. With introduction by David Copperfield, foreword by Michael Ammar, preface by Mike Maxwell.

Contents:

i Introduction: David Copperfield
ii Foreword: Michael Ammar
iv Preface: Mike Maxwell, February 1991

1 Chapter 1: Cups & Balls
1 Stand Up Cups & Balls. Full routine with hints and tips, featuring the Charlie Miller penetration, Vernon Wand Spin, Williamson's Striking Vanish, and more.
26 The Dai Vernon Wand Spin: close-up details of the wand spin with ball transfer

33 Chapter 2: Utilities
33 Retention-Of-Vision Vanish: for coins
35 Amazing Coin Vanish (Rick Anderson): utilizing the Downs palm
38 Fingertip Coin Vanish (John Carney): coin melts away at the fingertips
40 Ultimate One Finger Spellbound: a coin color change at the fingertips (a Spellbound move)
44 Corner Switch: for cards
46 Bottom Deal Force: one of Michael's favorite card forces
48 Wiped Clean #1: showing both hands empty though concealing a coin
51 Wiped Clean #2: another version
54 Clip Card Vanish: vanishing the pieces of a torn card with the aid of a paperclip
56 Cut & Restored Rope Replacement: a finesse for the cut & restored rope
58 Side-Steal With Top Card Cover: for cards
60 Thumbtip Finesse: for use with a bill change or billet switch, four techniques described

67 Chapter 3: Psychology: Eight Philosophical Essays on Magic
67 Essay #1 In the Men's Hut: On the inner circle of magic
69 Essay #2 Super Group: brainstorming sessions
74 Essay #3 I've Got Rhythm
76 Essay #4 The Unspoken Performance: with the Action Zone
80 Essay #5 Lying: The Unconscious Dilution of Impact (Magic and the art of deception)
82 Essay #6 Get More Rubals from Your Magic: Rubal as a measure of satisfaction
84 Essay #7 I'm In Training: practice vs. training
86 Essay #8 Have No Mercy: Push the limits

89 Chapter 4: Social Workers
89 This'll Flip You Out: A can flip top is broken and restored on a spectator's finger
93 Coin on Ceiling: a coin is flipped and sticks to the ceiling
95 Card Matrix: A variation on Coin Matrix where the CARDS assemble over a corner coin.
99 Snort but Sweet (Bob Chesbro): Where a cigarette is split in 2 and snorted up the nose!
102 Silver Certificate (Lou Gallo): dollar to silver dollar transformation at the fingertips
105 Coin in Pen Cap (David Williamson): a coin is tapped with a pen and found INSIDE the pen cap.

107 Chapter 5: Restaurant Magic
107 New Wave Coins Across (Mike Gallo): with 3 coins in each hand, the coins travel one at a time from left to right.
111 Reverse Matrix (David Williamson): 4 coins in 4 corners are covered by 4 cards. They appear to assemble in one corner, but at the end are found in their original places.
115 The Vanishing Glass: A stemmed wine glass is placed on the palm and covered by a silk. It melts away and vanishes.
119 Coins Thru the Table Kicker (Mike Gallo): After 3 coins have passed thru the table and last is attempted, the 3 under the table pass UP instead.
122 Now Cut that Out (David Williamson): A coin removed from a purse is vanished and appears under a selected card. This is repeated. The coin is returned to the purse and the card to the deck and they are found to have changed places.
125 Switching Sandwiches: 2 selected cards are removed form the deck using sandwiched "forceps" only to change places
130 Torn & Restored Cigarette #1: very open presentation
132 Torn & Restored Cigarette #2: another version
135 Ring Band-It: A borrowed ring is visibly linked on rubber band and visibly snapped off twice.
145 Did You Order Salt or Pepper? The salt in a clear fast food salt packet visibly changes to pepper several times. The packet when put away reappears and finally changes to a salt shaker.
149 Bluefield Debut (from Frank Everhart's Chicago Opener): Spectator thinks of a card and removes it and returns it to the deck. Magician predicts where in the deck the card is and cuts to it. It is place in the middle of the deck, but returns to the top and now has a blue back. A twin prediction card is found in the card box. To prove it didn't matter which card was chosen, a second card is selected, and the prediction card changes to it.
154 Broken & Restored Rubberband Finesse
158 The Linking Headbands Pinch: presentation for Dan Harlan's Linking Rubber Bands using Headbands.

161 Chapter 6: Reputation Makers
161 Pencil Through Quarter: borrowed marked quarter is penetrated by pencil three times and handed out for inspection. With Tradeshow Climax (quarter stuck on pencil)
169 The IceMan Cometh: Card is selected and the corner torn, the rest is burned. Card box is opened, and a block of ice drops out with the selected card inside (the corners match!)
172 Card Cubes: A spectator's card is found in a folded up condition. It then suddenly appears inside an ice cube!
175 Let's Hit the Bottle: An examined 1/2 dollar penetrates the bottom of a corked Champagne bottle and is then removed.

183 Chapter 7: Stand Up
183 Silk to Egg: routine with a real egg surprise and silk pulled from a hole in your hand.
189 Indoor Baseball: A selected card becomes needled to a dartboard baseball game
193 Signed Bill in Light Bulb: bill vanishes and appears in a light bulb (has to be broken, of course)
199 Billy the Hypnotized Balloon: super needled balloon routine with ring in balloon
208 The Two Card Trick: two cards are noted and lost in the deck. The deck is turned end for end and one card appears and is then transformed into the 2nd card
211 Haley's Comet: Cigarette lighter is produced. A large ball of fire appears and descends to the floor where it bounces back up and turns into a ball. The ball is bounced, it vanishes, and the lighter vanishes as well.

215 Chapter 8: Magic Management
215 General Instructions: A collection of sheets to photocopy for use with managing your magic shows
215 Custom Cue Sheets: summarize effects, patter, conditions, etc.
219 Show Sheets: date, history of performances
222 Personal Project Planner: Brainstorming, top priorities, etc. to maximize your time with magic
224 Booking Sheet: all the info you might need

227 Chapter 9: Classic Renditions
227 The Thumbtip Bill Switch: Ammar's finesse of the Koslowski/Klause handling
238 Crazy Man's Handcuffs: locked rubber bands melt apart

249 Chapter 10: Bonus Chapter
249 False Count with Coins: get one coin ahead or show more coins than you have
251 Multiple Coin Production: 4 coins produced from hand
254 Double Color Change: Card selected and lost in deck. Wrong card found is waved, turns to correct card. On 2nd wave, the back changes color.
258 Kointakey: 1/2 dollar changes to a key
264 Inversion (James Lewis): Card selected and replaced protruding. Claim is that a wave will turn the card upside down, but instead it turns the entire deck upside down.
268 Incredible Coins Across: 3 coins are shown and vanish one at a time to appear in the spectator's hands.
273 The Vernon Theory of Artistic Advancement (Michael Ammar): Essay
274 Challenging your Experiences (Michael Ammar): Essay
276 Where Do You Stand? (Michael Ammar): Essay
278 On Magic Competition Part One (Michael Ammar): technical preparation
280 On Magic Competition Part Two (Micheal Ammar): mental preparation.
283 Pencil Thru Quarter Finesse (David Williamson): an ending

287 Chapter 11: Excerpts from the "Inner Circle Audio Series"
287 Making Magic Memorable: the development of Style
289 Principle Number One: Involve Them
290 Principle Number Two: Emotionally hook the audience
291 Principle Number Three: Freeze the effect permanently at it's moment of impact
291 Principle Number Four: Borrow objects, alter them magically, then return them in their permanently altered state
293 Principle Number Five: Create moments that are clearly unplanned or unpredictable.
293 Principle Number Six: Find one thing and try to do it better than anyone.
294 Principle Number Seven: Do either of two things
294 Principle Number Eight: Keep it Slogan Simple

296 Chapter 12: Excerpts from the "Inner Circle Audio Series"
296 Negotiating Higher Performance Fees
297 Find Out What the Other Side Wants
298 Seek More Information
298 Reach for an Understanding
299 Gambits
300 The Flinch
301 Delayed Approval
301 Call to a Higher Authority
302 The "Go For It" Gambit
303 The Salami Technique
303 Piggy-Back Booking
304 Develop Walk-Away Power
304 Give 'Em a Second Chance
305 Build a Safety Net Into Your Pricing