Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

For $95 you get the plans for 35 illusions.

This is a tough thing to review. I can't exactly build the 35 illusions and see if the plans really worked. So rather than build them, I Googled JC Sum and found several of his illusions from this book in action. So, knowing that Mr. Sum is pretty much a household name when it comes to illusion design, and considering that the illusions looked good in the videos and got great reactions, I can only assume that the illusions in the book work.

So, next question, are the plans in the book clear enough to actually turn into a working model of the prop? Well . . . frankly, I'm not sure. I'm not an architect or a designer so some of the "blueprints" were a little tough for me to visualize and fully understand. Again, however, I would imagine that since the illusions have been designed and created, that a carpenter could interpret and do what s/he needs to do to create these illusions.

So, let's look at production value. The book is paperback and heavy on thick glossy paper with extreme details and directions for each illusion. The book is 145 pages and very well made. Due to Mr. Sum's reputation and the live YouTube performances I watched, I have no reason to doubt that the book contains all of the information needed to create the very illusions he claims they create.

As most of you know, I'm a close up guy and a stand up comedy/mentalism guy . . . no big props . . . no illusions, etc. After reading this book, I discovered an illusion or two that I'm seriously considering building experimenting with in a stand up show. The illusions appear to be unique and a bit of a different take on classics or in some cases relatively original. In the product description, you can see a list of all of the illusions. If any of them appeal to you, I think the price of the book is full justified.

These types of illusions generally cost in the tens of thousands of dollars and more. For $100 bucks to get the book, plus materials and labor for a carpenter, you can build these things for several thousand dollars below the normal cost. If you're not interested in performing illusions, I'd still ask you to consider it, if nothing else for the diversity of your knowledge, and you never know, you might just find yourself wanting to do a card trick as you walk through four steel bars.

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