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Magic Atlas

Joshua Jay

Murphy's Magic Supplies

(Based on 1 review)
At only 17 years old, Joshua Jay has authored a collection of over fifty explosive effects. Joshua Jay's Magic Atlas is a map guiding you through the uncharted territory on the philosophy of magic, as well as six adventurous chapters filled with creative magic. Lance Burton said: "This kid is going places." Michael Close said, "What impresses me the most about Joshua is that he is a student of magic he reads, he studies, and most importantly, he thinks, Joshua is talented, creative and a very personable young man. I foresee great things for him." Hardbound with full-color dust jacket. 184 pages.

Reviews

Christian

Dec 14, 2002

It is a very pretty book and the quality is good. The pictures through out the book are fuzzy and show little detail. This can be frustrating when one is viewing them to get a better idea of the trick that is being discussed.

As for the content, the most interesting things are the discussions of philosophy and psychology of magic. I found some of these thoughts quite advanced for a seventeen year old. The comparisons of magic and fractals, the current win/win paradigm of business applied to magic, and the concept of travel as an analogy for a magic routine. It made for some interesting reading. I would like to see more authors discuss their views on magic as Joshua Jay did in the beginning of his book.

Let’s discuss some of the things I found interesting:

Pulling my string: is an interesting way to stretch a rope. Original and practical

Button Buster: an interesting way to have a jumbo button appear on your shirt.

Fold-up Fooler: a fascinating way to make four coins appear without heavy sleight of hand.

There is a section on various utility moves that covers a pen production, false cut, and some other card moves.

The next section deals with various card tricks. Most are good and require intermediate card handling abilities.

Near the end of the book we are treated with some non-card items, a book test, psychometry, and for those that have seen him in the various conventions, an explanation of his remote control trick.

So what is the final feel of this book?
It is a fine book with some solid information. If you are a collector with a huge library, I think it is a book worthy of adding to your tomes. However, if you are being selective in your purchases, there are too many other very good books out there. Joshua Jay’s book is better than average, but I wish he would have waited until he was a little older and had more time to develop before putting out his material. It is hard to recommend this book when the market is flooded with the opuses of Michael Skinner, Dai Vernon, Marlo, Karrell Fox, etc.

Sergeant
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