Etcheverry, Jesus & Arturo Ascanio: The Magic of Ascanio The Structural Conception of Magic ©2005 Paginas, Spain Hardcover, w/dj, 296 pages

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Comments: With Rafael Benatar, Stephen Minch, Juan Tamariz, and Miguel Gomez. The first volume of four covering Ascanio's works. This volume includes much of Ascanio's theory of magic and is not a book of tricks. The four volumes are:
Volume 1 The Structural Conception of Magic 
Volume 2 Studies of Card Magic 
Volume 3 More Studies of Card Magic 
Volume 4 Knives and Color-Blindness (The Color Changing Knives) 

Contents (from book):

10 Acknowledgements
12 About the English Edition
14 Promissory Note by Stephen Minch
16 Foreword by Juan Tamariz
20 Foreword by Miguel Gômez
24 Introduction

33 Part One: Thoughts on Magic

33 Thoughts on Magic
33 Some History
35 My Approach to Magic
36 The Concept of Perfection
40 The Search for Originality
41 Presentation
42 The Cover
42 Theoretical Conception of Magic
42 - Routining Principles
44 - Performance Principles
45 The Mechanism of Perception
46 Technique
47 Perform, Study and Search
47 Epilogue

49 Conception of the Magical Atmosphere
49 Technique
50 Naturalness
51 Disarming Looseness and Nonchalance
52 Misdirection
53 - Facial Expressions
53 - Gestures
54 - Speech
54 Timing
54 Patter
54 Psychology
55 Conclusion

56 Analysis of an Effect
56 The Mechanism of Perception
58 Routining and Performance
58 Routining Principles
58 - Stress the Initial Situation
58 - Conditioned Naturalness
59 - Anti-Contrasting Parenthesis
59 - Parenthesis of Forgetfulness
60 - Slow Execution
60 Performance Principles
60 - Timing, In-Transit Actions
61 - Misdirection
62 - Technique
63 On Misdirection
63 - Misdirection in the First Degree
64 - Misdirection in the Second Degree
65 - Misdirection in the Third Degree
66 The Fundamentals of Timing
67 - In-Transit Actions
68 - Elements of In-Transit Actions
69 - The Importance of In-Transit Actions
71 The Value of Technique in Magic
71 - First
72 - Second
73 - Third
75 Know Yourself
77 The Psychology of Palming
77 - The Importance of Palming and Its Difficulties
78 - Covering the Palm
78 - The Pre-Palm
78 - The Palm Proper
79 - Withdrawal of the Free Hand
80 - Holding Out
83 - The Replacement
83 - Conclusion

87 Part Two: Interviews

87 An Interview with a Genius of Magic (Juan Tamariz)
92 Ascanio: A Biographical Interview (Docampo)
111 Arturo and Juan Chat (Juan Tamariz)
129 Essays (Aurelio Paviato)
129 - On Art, a Discussion With Ascanio
137 My Character (Docampo)
143 Arturo and Juan Chat Again (Juan Tamariz)
174 One More Time...Arturo and Juan Chat (Juan Tamariz)

195 Part Three: The Structural Conception of Magic

195 Presentation
195 Outline of This Series of Lectures
197 Presentation
199 Presentation as a Quality of the Magician
201 Virtues a Magician Should Exercise
203 Presentation as an Aspect of a Trick
204 Presentational Resources to Create Emotions

209 Cover
211 Means and Resources of Cover
214 Direct Features of Cover

221 Construction
221 Concept and Goals
223 The General Scheme of a Trick
225 - The Sudden Revelation
226 - The Gradual Revelation
228 Principles of Construction
228 The Theory of Parenthesis

233 Technique
236 The Features of Technique
237 The Value of Technique
243 The Importance of Technique

244 How to Study Magic
244 To Whom is this Lecture Addressed?
245 Magic as a Subject of Study
246 Efficiency in the Study of Magic
248 Allocating Your Time
250 Deciding on Subjects
252 Sources of Knowledge
253 - Books
261 - Oral Tradition
266 Practice on your Own and Rehearsal
270 Mental Practice
270 Performances in Front of an Audience
271 The Process of Learning a Trick
271 Phases and Strategies of the Learning Process
276 Summing Up and Ultimate Goal

281 Part Four: Creativity

281 Creativity
283 Types of Creativity
284 Favorable Circumstances for Creativity

293 Photographs: 3 pages of B&W photos
296 The Structural Conception of Magic Lecture Series: dates when the lectures were originally presented, from 1985-1990