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The 80s Called . . . They Want Their Magic Book Back Volume 1 Review
One Book, Twenty two effects, 245 pages, $25 bucks and The 80s Called . . . They want their review now! Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Remember the days of white suits and t-shirts being the hip thing to wear. Or maybe it was neon leg warmers, parachute pants with a pocket full of quarters heading for the arcade because you had Pac Man Fever. Maybe you spent your evenings wondering What's Happening with 'Rerun'or learning the Facts of Life from Mrs. Garrett. For me it was the music and the cube (Rubik's). The decade that spawned some of the best metal in the history of rock also brought us the number one "toy" in the world . . . the best of Art (music) and Science (cube) all from the era of Reaganomics and winding down of the Cold War.
Cheers, Cosby, Family Ties, the list goes on and on. If you're forty-ish, you remember it all. What people may have forgotten, and they lay folk will never know, is wonderful world of the 80s magic book. I won't attempt to make an exhaustive list because there are too many. Start with all the Kaufman books or the Minch books, etc. However, for me, one of the defining charactersistcs of the kind of books that appealed to me back then was the personal touch . . . the feeling that the author was truly talking with you, not "to" you . . . not "at" you . . . with you. This was how I felt when I read Paul Harris books. His books were a treat to read.
This book from Jonathan Friedman screams 80s on ever level. The font choice, the graphics, the pop culture icons and references at the end of each chapter and throughout each chapter respectively. If you don't wish you were wearing a single white glove while reading this, you have no soul. As much fun as this all is, and as nostalgic as it was for me, let's not let that bias the review. We must look at what matters most.
- Effect
- Method
- Ad Copy Integrity
- Product Quality
The 80s Called: Effect
There are 22 effects in this book. They range from cards to coins to keys, guitar picks and more. Most of them are not too technical at all and can be done with relative ease and relatively small amount of practice. Most of the material did NOT feel derivative. It felt more original and not like a rehashing of other effects. There are, however, also several effects that are Friedman's take on a classic, and in every case, I felt that his additions/modifications to the original definitely earned him the right to publish them as true variations with meaning. Here's a brief list of the effects:
Wannabe Ninja: I let you check this one out in the free download mentioned below.
Feats of Strength: Bent, broken and restored borrowed key.
Twenty: A poker/betting routine by John Guastaferro that is fun and uses my favorite thing . . . The Gilbreath Principle
Pencil Paper: The word "paper" is written on the pencil and the word "pencil" on the paper. The words magically change place.
Coins ala Carte: 6 coin moves, formed into a routine, that can be done on their own or pieced together.
Auto Repeat, Disengage: The selected card appears in the spectator's hand as you wave the cards over his hand. Repeat and this time the deck appears in his hand.
Well Traveled: A cards to pocket routine by Cameron Francis
The Kernel: Pop a kernel of corn in your hand . . . with sound and all.
One Little Letter: A weird transposition of two words written in two different places.
George and Abe: A quarter and penny two coin transpo routine with very well scripted patter that ends with the penny fused to the quarter.
White Light, White Heat, White Card: A very smart addition to the Overkill plot (Paul Harris, et al.) by Shaun Dunn. As part of the routine, you actually reveal a truly thought of number. Finally, the thought of card ends up being the only card in the deck. The rest of the deck is blank.
Selectigami: A clever way of revealing a selected card using a couple of simple folds on a card.
Outside the Inside: Another strange transpo of words, ink and items. You write something on the cellophane. Then cause it to melt through the cellophane and onto your card box.
Spoonmelt: A very smart melted and restored plastic spoon.
This is Real: An essay, thought experiment and effect(s) by Francis Menotti where you use an invisible pen to write something. But the writing actually appears even though you had no pen. Then suddenly the pen appears. He takes this to the next 20 levels with a bizarre twisted stage variation that has Menotti written all over it.
Greasy Pretzel Fingers: A bunch of pretzel crumbs are shaped into a revelation of the selected card (this one's in the trailer video).
Hot Air: Floating card box (in the trailer)
The Sloppy Spectator: A triumph handling where the spectator actually helps do the face up/face down shuffling in their own hands.
Guitar-Pick-a-Card: A guitar pick is thrown at the deck to find the selected card (in the trailer)
Magic Eraser: A coin is absorbed into a Mr. Clean magic eraser sponge. The sponge has to be cut open to get the coin out.
Jacked Up: A "chosen" Queen of spades is lost and the magician can't find it. So using a packet of four Jacks of Hearts, he magically turns each Jack into four of the five cards needed to make a royal flush in spades. Thus telling him that the missing card was the Queen, which has magically made its way to the middle of the deck, face up.
Keycutter: Cause teeth the magically appear on an uncut (examined) key.
The 80s Called: Method
The methods rely on everything from standard sleight of hand to simple gimmicks that you'll be able to make yourself. Nothing is extraordinarily difficult to do/make. The methods are practical and workable in real world situations. Most of it is very visual, and some of it is more cerebral. Bottom line: there's not a trick in this book that you won't be able to do (with one exception noted in the product quality) no matter what your skill level. Some of you will need to practice more than others, but it's all very doable, legitimate material.
The 80s Called: Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy does an excellent job of explaining exactly what you're getting. They went the extra mile with this one. First, they have a video trailer which is unusual for a book. Secondly, they give you the first 27 pages for free. You can download it by clicking here: The 80s Called . . . Sample Chapter. This gives you all the intro stuff, history and background of the book plus the first effect in the book. Take a look at that, and you'll get a real sense of what you're getting into when purchasing this book.
The 80s Called: Product Quality
The product quality is excellent. There are a couple of issues that we'll look at in a moment, but overall, this is very well written. It's funny to read. It's entertaining, and it has that oh so lovely Paul Harris . . . er . . . um . . . I mean Jonathan Friedman is talking directly to me. I loved that part of the book. He also, using 80s book layout styles, does a really good job of separating what he's saying to you and what he's saying to his audience.
Speaking of what he's saying to his audience, his scripts are extremely well thought out and creative with the exception of a few cases where part of the script is to actually say "tell you what" or "do me a favor." It's bad enough that magicians already drop those meaningless phrases into their patter without thinking, but to consciously script it is quite the sin. So please ignore those phrases. Of course, that scripting sin doesn't impact the final star rating, but rather is just a warning for y'all.
That aside the presentations, in every case, have a logical well thought out reason for existing that makes sense of the props involved, the reason for doing the effect, etc., etc. Read the Wannabe Ninja in the free sample above and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. His magic makes sense and is the kind of thing that audiences can appreciate and be entertained by.
For the exceptions to this otherwise extremely well done book, first, there are a few cases where he got his left and right hand mixed up. In one case, the text tells the right hand to do something, but the photo shows the left hand doing it. Then in the next photo, it's switched back to the correct hand. As far as I noticed, there was only one photographic mistake. The other case(s) were/was just a text error.
The other mistake is a relatively big one. It's for the trick Jacked Up. No, I'm not upset that he published a trick with same name as one of my tricks. They are two totally different effects . . . not even close. So what's the problem then? Well, based on the way it's written up it can't be done. This is unfortunate because I really liked the effect and the presentational hook.
This effect is actually Jack Cole's, not Jonathan Friedman's. It is published here with Mr. Cole's permission. However, I'm not sure if Cole did the write up for the book or if Friedman did. Either way, my guess is that if you contacted one of them, they could clarify it for you, but as it is, I was not able to work out the handling. The first two steps of the handling of the small packet of cards (bottom of page 228) don't work. I can't say much without revealing part of the secret. I will say this, however, a Hamman count is needed to be done, but do to the order that the cards in the packet are, a Hamman Count will not conceal and show what it's supposed to conceal and show.
You can't get beyond that step to the next one, so you won't be able to do this one trick without seeking further guidance from the author and/or creator. Other than that, this book is extremely well produced.
The 80s Called: Final Thoughts
For your enlightenment, I spent way more time than I normally do on effect. I wanted to make sure you had a small sense of what the effects are before you decide to purchase or not. After that, I made it clear that the methods for these effects are doable and legitimate; the ad copy is accurate, and with one main exception, the product quality is excellent.
All this for the 1980s price of $25 bucks is a small price to pay for everything you're getting. So put on your Velcro Adidas, crank up that Run DMC, throw your Rubik's cube at your giant tube television and snuggle up for a wild, fun ride on The Great Space Coaster as you read Jonathan Friedman's latest book, The 80s Called . . . They Want Their Magic Book Back.
Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic for details.