Scott Robinson's Pure Imagination - Andi Gladwin and John Campbell
$60.00
https://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=64075

The Hype:

For over 20 years, Scott Robinson has been sharing fantastic magic in hard-to-find publications such as The Trapdoor and in booklets only available at his lectures. At last, all his work has been made available in one place. And you can get it today.

His work is an unusual mixture: deceptive, fun and fantastically visual. John Campbell and Andi Gladwin have collaborated to describe forty-six of Mr. Robinson's best ideas. These are tried and tested "workers" that have been used in the trenches for decades. His impromptu Invisible Deck ("Riding The Wave") has become a foundation that almost every version you've seen was based on. The book is beautifully illustrated with exactly the level of information you need to study each effect.

There's something for everyone here, whatever your skill level, although most do rely on sleight of hand. However, routines such as "Different Differences" are just as visual as they are simple to do. Here's what happens: you put three half dollars in a purse, and make them change places with a single copper coin instantly (with the three half dollars instantly appearing in three different places).

The book contains an equal mix of knuckle-busting and easy-to-do material. For example, "Sucker Monte" is a close up magician's dream: a simple Monte routine with no set up or anything tricky to do. Coin magic for children? Yup. Scott's "Tooth Fairy" is something kids will love. However, if you enjoy putting the work in, "Heavy Metal" is an eye-popper where twelve changes using the Spellbound move happen in quick succession. Fans of Wild Coin are in for a real treat. Scott takes this from a little coin trick into a fully-fledged performance piece.

The book itself is one of Vanishing Inc.'s most gorgeous. It's 10" by 10". There's 304 heavyweight, glossy pages with in excess of 740 photographs - all of which are in full color. A satin cover and bound-in ribbon book mark all go to make this tome one of the best looking in your library.

My Take:

Looks like the boys at Vanishing Inc. have done it again. Every book that I receive of theirs for review is drop dead gorgeous. And the variety of great material. If I was stranded on a desert island and could only have one book with me, this would be it.

As the ad copy says, the material runs the gamut from beginner to "Oh my God, I will never be able to do that!" This is some very visual magic, true eye candy for your spectators.  This is some of the finest bookmaking that I have had the pleasure to see and it carries some heft. 4 1/2 pounds, quite a bit for a book only 10" X 10". It speaks to the quality of the paper used and the quality of the binding. Have no doubt about it. This will look very nice on your bookshelf.

Once you open the book, you will see just what makes this such a great book. 46 items all beautifully photographed in full color. Great attention has been paid to make sure the photos illustrate exactly what is needed to accomplish each of the effects.

With so many items, it is impossible to cover everything so let me mention a few that I really liked.  If you watch the trailer, you will see performances of the first two items in the book. The Toy and the Willie Wonka Card Trick. The Toy is just that. You can make it up from any cards in a flash or just carry it in your pocket. The Willie Wonka trick looks very weird and impossible. It will take more practice than the Toy but it is definitely worth the time.

I am definitely not a coin guy but the way the photographs are done shows every nuance and it makes me want to learn some of the tricks. Carpal Tunnel is a very nice coin through hand trick that the copy and illustrations show that with just a little work and effort you will have a neat coin trick that you can pull out at a moment's notice even using a borrowed coin. This is a lot simpler than even the retention vanish which has become a standard like palming with the coin set. But for the hard guys, not to worry. There is a lot of knuckle busting in here to keep you happy. If you are really serious about your coin magic, try Heavy Metal  where Spellbound after Spellbound change is used to create an eye-popping routine.

Since the beginning I have been a fan of packet tricks. A few trips to Hank Lee's shop left my wallet a little lighter and put a huge smile on my face. So, when I see someone of this level include a packet trick in his book, I expect something pretty darn good. in fact, he gives you several. Quick Queens and Aces puts the four aces and the four kings into two packets and has the cards transfer back and forth. The Daley Double features Scott's take on Dr. Daley's Last Trick. Home Wrecker is his version of Hofzinser's Royal Marriage. In the final phase, your volunteer even gets to mix up the packets and it still works! And who doesn't like a good monte routine? In Sucker Monte, Scott wins every time without even mixing the cards.

I have been told that Scott is mainly a coin guy but you couldn't prove that from this book. Both stunning coin and card work abound here. And he even has a coin trick to thrill those of you that work to younger audiences. The Tooth Fairy has the kids pretend to pull out a tooth which he then turns into a coin. He then go on to produce a coin for each child in the audience.

Have you ever been reading the instructions for a very interesting trick and a technique is used that is only named (maybe with a reference to where it can be looked up)? There are a lot of moves in this book and you won't know them all but each and every one is explained both in detail in the text and with photographs. Here are a few you will be learning. The Backward Alignment Move, his Visual Retentive Vanish, Zarrow Block Addition, Jimmy Nuzzo's Palm Reverse, Al Schneider's Twirl Load, the Boss Toss, Ed Marlo's Spider Vanish, Jay Sankey's Wichita Slip, David Roth's Pop Out Move, Stuart Gordon Double Turnover, Fantasio's Fantastic Chip Turnover plus a few more that I have missed here.

Conclusion: I think it is obvious by now that I am in love with this book. This is going to be open in my work area for a long time. A beautifully produced book with an enormous amount of solid routines. You are taught in detail with both the instructions and move explanations. It doesn't get much better than this. My highest recommendation to this new tome from Andi and Josh. Nice work, guys.

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