Donny Orbit is a Colorado magician with some pretty neat ideas floating around in his head. In this eBook, Donny shares six of those ideas. The eBook is fairly small (16 pages), but there are some nice effects contained inside. Here’s a rundown of each one.

Superman- This is an offbeat effect where a drawing of a lump of coal changes into a drawing of a diamond when the magician crumples the paper into a ball. He offers to repeat the experiment. This time, when the paper ball is uncrumpled, the drawing is gone. In its place has appeared a real diamond. This is a neat trick that is really easy to perform. While I wouldn’t carry around the notebook for this one effect, if you already have one in play, this could make a nice addition to your routine.

Future Burn- The magician introduces an envelope sealed with wax. He explains that there is a prediction inside. He hands the spectator one of his business cards to draw a picture of a hand on the back. She marks one of the fingers with a large ‘X.’ The envelope is opened to reveal a picture of a hand with an ‘X’ over the same finger. The magician relates the story of how he burned himself with the wax when he sealed the envelope. He holds his hand out for the spectator to see; there is a blister on the same finger the spectator freely selected.

This isn’t really my kind of thing. If you like the effect, you will find the method to be very practical. I can see this going over very well in a performance of “bizarre” magic.

Souped Can- This is a Card At Any Number/Weighing The Cards routine. Two spectators select cards which are lost in the deck. The first spectator names a number; suppose it is 17. The cards are counted and the selection is found at the 17th position. The cards are assembled once more and the magician explains that he will attempt something even more difficult. He cuts out a small packet of cards from the center of the deck. These cards are counted. There are exactly 17; the final one being the second selection.

There is a third phase where the spectator deals the cards and finds both selections once again. This phase seems a little disjointed from the first two. Personally, I would stop after cutting the named number of cards. If you’re familiar with the classic “Counting On It” effect, you won’t find much new here in terms of method.

Just in Case- This is a bold but effective “card under box” routine. Three cards are selected and returned to the deck. A card is revealed under the card box. It’s the wrong one. The indifferent card is tabled and a second card appears under the box. This time it is a selection. The indifferent card then changes into another selection. Finally, the deck vanishes from the magicians hands leaving only the final selection. The deck is then found underneath the card box.

There are many similar routines in print, but Donny’s sequence is smooth and natural. If you’ve got the guts and the abililty to direct your audience’s attention, this could be a blockbuster performance piece.

Foiled- The magician covers a Fifty Cent piece in tinfoil and proceeds to make a‘copy’ of the coin by rubbing the design into the foil. The real coin is placed on the table and the foil is peeled away revealing a second coin has been ‘minted’ from the tinfoil itself! Cautioning that the coin is in fact a fake, the magician crumples the coin into a tin foil ball and hands it to the spectator!

This uses a common gaff that you probably already have. It owes a great deal to Paul Harris’s “Shape of Astonishment” trick, although the effects are quite different. This is another cool effect to pull out the next time you’re sitting around the kitchen table with friends, but I wouldn’t use it in a formal show.

Cherry Thing- This is a really cool effect if you ever find yourself in the right situation. Basically, the magician displays a cherry and rips off the stem. He places the stem in his mouth and ties a knot in it with his tongue. When he removes the knotted stem from his mouth, he attaches it back onto the cherry. All may be examined. This could be a reputation maker the next time you’re hanging out in a bar with some friends. The handling is simple and it is the kind of thing that can be prepared on the fly in just a few seconds.

The eBook is nicely laid out with color photographs showing important steps in the tricks. The writing is also easy to understand. If you like effects that are a little off the beaten path, this might be for you.

Recommended.

- Available for $20 from www.Lybrary.com