By: Jason Y-H
Now I have heard these notes are fantastic. And I am almost sure I
will get them. But I know better than to go and buy something without
hearing MT's opinion. SO, what do you guys think? Is most of this
stuff strong? Somehow I get the feeling that there are one or two
really great ones and a bunch of other stuff that isn't as powerful
(because it is impromptu). And although impromptu is really my
favorite kind of magic, I can't help but think that there is a reason
why a lot of really powerful magic isn't impromptu. Does the fact that
the notes devote themselves to tricks only with no preparation detract
from the quality of all the material? Thanks
Jason Y-H
P.S. I am also considering Tricks of My Trade by Conn. I would love to hear your thoughts on this book as well. Also, I noticed I can only find it at the FASDIU site... can you only get it from Cummins? I'd love to hear your thoughts too Paul!! God, I love this board!
By: Bob K
FASDIU is an excellent book (even though it's called notes). It's full
of strong, commercial impromptu card magic (although there's one or 2
none card things included.
There's no doubt that you won't think every trick in there is strong, but if you only find one or two things that you consider strong then you're missing something. And try everything in there. There's a couple things that I passed by when I first read it- a year or so later I saw Paul lecture and I couldn't believe that I'd skipped over one of them.
: Does the fact that the notes devote themselves to tricks only with no preparation detract from the quality of all the material?
No. And there's at least one that's not impromptu (Paul's version of Wild Card).
Bob K
p.s. I get nothing for giving glowing reviews of FASDIU. I keep asking Paul to give me free stuff and he won't, but I have to be honest anyway.
By: Aaron
For some reason the word impromtu seems to have gotten a connotation
of "less powerful," and it is certainly not the case.
Everything in Paul's notes is a very good, if not great, item. Run, don't walk, to get yourself a copy.
As far as the Doug Conn book, I have to say that I do not enjoy quite as many books as much as I enjoyed this one. Possibly the best color changing deck, and cleanest version of open travelers I've seen. Add these two to all the other great, lay-audience tested(sometimes even with the addition of being not only entertaining, but capable of fooling magicians) items, and you've got yourself Tricks of My Trade, one hell of a great book.
You only do yourself a diservice not buying them both.
By: Alain Aslag Roy
The usefulness of the notes depends on where you are.
They are mostly card tricks (as you might expect), although there are a few coin tricks, including some nice stuff with an okito box.
If you're not well-grounded in card magic, you may find the notes too advanced. I'm not all that advanced myself, and much of the magic is too advanced for me. Also, it is not a place to go to learn new sleights. For example, many of the tricks suggest using moves like the side steal, and there is no explanation provided.
However, I found (after seeing the lecture and buying the notes) that the tricks are high quality and worthwhile, assuming you are prepared. There are a few card tricks that are easier to do, and still excellent. Old Faithful is one of the easier ones, and I have gotten *a lot* of mileage out of it in my performances for friends. (I'm still a hobbyist.) That alone makes it worthwhile to
By: Jason M.
I have the notes as well and there is alot of usable material in
them. But, as Alain said, you will need to be somewhat advanced in
your card-handling skills, unless of course you can get a private
lesson like me :) But I find as I become more advanced in card magic,
I keep coming back to the notes and finding great material and I think
you will too. So quit procrastinating and buy the notes!!!!!!
By: jason england
I often give informal ratings to books by determining how many
"things" I use from them. If I get a single effect, patter line, or
idea, then the book has been worthwhile to me. 2 things...so much the
better, and so on. (My record is probably 5 or 6 items from a single
source.)
I got at least 3 items out of the FASDIU notes. (This may not seem like much, but remember...some of the items in the notes I simply already have methods for. The Multiple selections routine was one.) As a card fanatic with a very extensive library, I can say that getting 3 items from one book that go immediately into the act is rare indeed.
Highly recommended.
By: Paul W. Cummins
Thanks for your interest in the FASDIU notes and in Tricks of my
Trade. I'm just back from New Orleans to find some very nice comments
in this thread about both items, which is, of course, very nice to
hear.
Let me try to explain a little about the FASDIU notes. Most are routines that I have been performing both professionally and socially for over 20 years and still do so today, so clearly they have been "workers" for me. Not every routine will appeal to everyone, but with 26 card and 6 coin items, and based on the feedback I've been receiving for the last few years, you should be able to find a few items that you'll enjoy adding to your repertoire and others that will be fun to play with.
Importantly, these notes are not for those who are very new to card magic. They were written as detailed lecture notes, and as notes, almost none of the sleights are explained (although all are referenced), as Alain mentioned in his post. One example, as mentioned in another post, is the Side Steal, which I use almost exclusively to control selections to the top of the deck. The Side Steal is not explained. So, if the reader doesn't have the booklet I reference (or any book that explains the Side Steal)to understand what a Side Steal is, then the routines that use it may become unclear for them. My intent when I wrote them was that folks would be at the lecture and see an explanation of the Side Steal, so I didn't include a written description. I had no idea that I'd sell over a thousand copies of the notes *outside* of a lecture setting...
What I would hate to see happen is that someone purchased the notes based on the very nice comments in other posts here, and then find that they are not familiar with some of the sleights that I reference instead of explain, making the notes far less useful to them. Certianly my preference is that the buyer/reader be pleased and not frustrated!
That said, I think a reasonably intelligent person could read the notes and figure out the functions of the sleights they may not have heard of, substiting other sleights in their place.
All of the card routines may be performed with any deck that someone hands you with the exception of one, which requires a duplicate card. Bob K mentioned that The Workingman's Wild Card is not impromptu. In a sense, it isn't, because you do need to carry a few props around with you. However, if you have the props on your person, and someone hands you a deck with a back design that matches just one of the back designs in the Wild Card set, then the routine does become one that I consider impromptu.
Descriptions of all of the effects in the notes, along with some information about the Doug Conn book may be found on my web site www.fasdiu.com. If you like, you may also order from the secure page on the site.
Thanks for your interest, and I'll also say that it has been my long-standing policy that if anyone purchases anything from me that they find they are not happy with I only ask that they return the item and I will fully refund the purchase price. So far it hasn't happened, but the policy still stands!
Thanks again for your interest. And thanks to the others for their kind words.
By: Craig
FASDIU is an excellent set of notes, although quite challenging at
times. As Paul made clear in his comments, quite a bit of prior
knowledge is assumed on the part of the reader, which is not to say
that newer students can't handle or benefit from portions of these
notes as well. If you're a beginner but serious about learning
advanced card work, I would still recommend that you read FASDIU for
the many valuable references to controls and utility sleights. If
nothing else, you'll get a feel for the kind of moves, audience
management, and choreography a working pro uses in the real
world. He's done all the research for you so it's up to you to do the
homework. I would imagine that had he included explanations of all the
moves, complete with illustrations (yes, FASDIU has no illustrations
if my memory serves me) FASDIU would probably be the size of a large
hardcover book.
By the way, I have a few questions for Paul:
Are you planning to put more of your FASDIU lecture note material on video soon?
Also, since you mentioned the side steal as a control, do you find it strange that you can get away with side stealing so many times in a row during your multiple peek routine? I personally would feel uncomfortable having my hands assume the steal position that long and often.
By: Paul W. Cummins
Hi Craig,
I have long-term plans to add a bunch of material to the FASDIU notes,
flush out the descriptions and explain many of the sleights (including
detailed descriptions of the Side Steal and Back clipping), add
illustrations, and then to release the material as a hard cover book
with a companion video or two. BUT, this will have to wait until I run
out of other books to write!
I'm currently working on projects with both Mike Gallo and Doc Eason, and I have about four books in the pipeline after these...
With regard to using the Side Steal repeatedly during the Selection and Control phase of the Multiple Selection routine - since the steal takes approximately a second and I'm squaring the deck after having dribbled it for that selection, and since I am addressing the next spectator asking them their name and generally attempting to joke around, my hands are never in the side steal position for very long between selections. I've been doing it this way for a couple of decades and so far so good!
Thanks for your kind comments and intelligent questions!
By: Dave Campbell
Buy them both, you won't be disappointed.
Tricks of My Trade is a great read even without a deck of cards in your hand, and the first trick in the book is worth the price of the book.
The discussions on these web pages were extracted from MagicTalk and are therefore Copyright 1998-2003 by Bryan Dean and used with his permission. While this website may be freely read, it may not be freely copied. If you want to copy any of the information from this web site you need to contact Bryan Dean at bryan@magictalk.com to obtain permission.