Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Timeless Love By Saraya

Disclaimer: Al Lampkin is a friend of mine, and the former president of IBM Ring 193, the ring I attend. That said, hopefully y'all know by now that I work really hard to be as unbiased as possible. So here we go.

What is It?

This is Al's autobiography. I guess he is getting pretty old, so it's about time he wrote one. I've only known him for a couple of years, so I was excited to get to know him more by reading his book. Just a quick glance at the titles of the chapters will get you excited as well:

1. Chapter 1: In The Beginning
2. Chapter 2: Killing My Friends
3. Chapter 3: Blowing Up a Navy Ship
4. Chapter 4: The Hollywood Magic Castle
5. Chapter 5: Bar Magic and School Shows
6. Chapter 6: A Magician I Should Never Have Met
7. Chapter 7: My Brush With Duke Stern
8. Chapter 8: Getting An Agent
9. Chapter 9: The Greatest Fire Eater the World Has Ever Known
10. Chapter 10: Why Eva Gabor Hates Me
11. Chapter 11: Always the Opener - Never the Star
12. Chapter 12: Back on The Road
13. Chapter 13: Too Much Bull
14. Chapter 14: Drowning Could Have Come Easily
15. Chapter 15: Last of the Travelling Medicine Shows
16. Chapter 16: The Fair Circuit
17. Chapter 17: Henny "Take My Wife, Please" Youngman
18. Chapter 18: Starting Over in Salt Lake City

Production Quality

The book is well produced. It's bound kind of like those workbooks that went with your math textbooks back in the day. It's called "perfect bound." Most of the images are actual photographs of celebrities that have been a part of Al's life or that he shared the screen with, etc. However, there is the occasional cheesy clip art here and there, but not too much. The layout, organization and print of the book are just fine and easy to read/follow. Overall production quality - super groovy.

What you Get

Basically you get a bunch of true life real stories written by Al, right out of his working repertoire that is his actual live. He was basically born into the entertainment world. The subtitle of the book, My Rise From Bar Room to Show Room is a little bit of a misnomer. It certainly covers his path, his bar room days and his show room days, but it wasn't really a story of how he got their and as much as it was stories that happened to him along the way. Each story was pretty much a stand alone story that happened to him at that part of his life. The stories are great, funny, easy to read and inspiring. Some where even moving and heartbreaking. All in all, a great collection of events that do a solid job of summing up a large part of Al's career.

So Who The Heck is Al Lampkin and WHY should you care?

Other than being a friend of mine, Al is George Malley in Phenomenon. He's the possibility; sure the tumor helped him along, but we all have the potential. So if you haven't seen Phenomenon, a) stop reading this review and go watch it NOW; b) this analogy makes no sense. So let's take this approach: Al Lampkin has made a life and living as a performer. He's funny; he's good; he's had a great career (and still does).

Do you have those things? Al's autobiography is not a "how to" book on becoming a career magician. However, it shows his journey, and will inspire your own journey. Sometimes just seeing someone else do it is all that it takes to do it yourself. Let Al Lampkin be the Roger Bannister to your John Landy. Like Landy couldn't run a four minute mile until the first person (Bannister) proved it possible, Al can be that person who inspires you.

It wasn't until I saw the Rubik's cube solved in under a minute that I was able to shave a full minute off of my time bringing me to an average of 59 seconds. I changed nothing in my technique. I just got mentally unblocked and was able to focus more. Next thing I knew . . . BAM . . . a whole minute shaved off of my time.

I really believe that Al's book has the potential to be that springboard for you if you're looking for it. It's much the same way I felt after reading Harry Anderson's book, Wise Guy. Watching someone else who has "been there" and fallen and risen and made it through the good, the bad and the ugly is always uplifting.

Final Thoughts

This book is not the most eloquent book you'll ever read. Quite the contrary. It's very simple. That's part of the beauty of it. So whether Al is your Roger Bannister or your 59 second cube solver or your Harry Anderson, know this: he IS the George Malley . . . the possibility that we all can become in our own way. If you want to follow a fellow magi on his 56 page 60 year journey, you could definitely do worse than this excellent adventure (Thank you Bill and Ted).

Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.

Available at Al's Website.