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"The Cheetah's Handbook" ebook
by The Underground Collective
Suggested Retail USD$22.00
Available from The Underground Collective
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

As of this moment, I'm renaming "The Cheetah's Handbook", an ebook compiled and edited by Jamie Badman and Andi Gladwin. Herewith, that book shall be referred to as "The Why-Didn't-I-Think-Of-That Handbook." That title is as descriptive as it is appropriate.

"The Cheetah's Handbook", a limited-edition ebook in PDF format, contains thirteen effects from ten different contributors. When I saw the list of contributors, I should have known what I was in for. On these electronic pages are some of the best effects from some of the more creative members of our community: Jamie Badman, Andi Gladwin, Colin Miller, Kostya Kimlat, Tyler Wilson, Liam Montier, Jack Parker, John Bodine, Rob James and Luke Dancy. Now, the odds are you're familiar with some of those names (some have even appeared on this site from time to time), and likewise it's a good bet you know what to expect.

Expect a little more, because that's what "The Cheetah's Handbook" delivers. And expect to say "Why didn't I think of that?" more than once. Prepare for a lot of forehead slapping and uttering of the mystical incantation "Duh" as you go through this marvelous collection of material.

The material is fairly varied, though the concentration is on cards. The coin work, the mentalism, and all the other odds and ends add to this collection nicely; this is one of those cases of you will find something here which makes the modest money spent more than a little worthwhile.

And that material is just plain good. In some cases, it's phenomenal. Usually it's fairly easy to pick out my favorites from a book or video, but Badman and Gladwin make that all but impossible. Still, there are some pieces which are definitely worth mentioning:

"2x2" is Jamie Badman's card-to-pocket routine where two signed cards travel to two separate pockets, then do it again just for good measure. Now, I loathe palming in such cases, but here the misdirection and the logic are so perfect this one became a keeper for me.

"Kopy Kat" is another of Badman's creations, this time a multi-phase prediction routine combined with a "Do as I Do" climax for good measure. Rather than being clunky as such a marriage of ideas should by all rights be, the result is a killer bit of card magic held together by some clever handling.

Colin Miller's "Hollywood or Bust" is the routine for me which made this worth the money. In this one, which is hard to explain without tipping Miller's wonderful thinking here, is a great piece of mentalism which can be made as fun and entertaining as you like. This one when straight into my repertoire and I'll end up doing it often.

"Matrimoney", by Tyler Wilson, sounded so strange to me ("Celebrity Deathmatch between 'Coins Across' and 'Ring Flight'? Oy) it was the last thing in the book I read. Sometimes I can be an idiot that way. In reality, this is a very slick, very commercial climax to the Coins Across plot which you can add to your existing routine with little trouble. If you're not already doing a routine, Wilson includes his version of "Tenkai Pennies" which in itself is slick.

"Cain & Cord", a devilish piece by Jack Parker, is a two-phase card and coin routine where a coin disappears to reappear underneath a chosen card. At least, that's what should happen but doesn't until the climax finally is resolved in a very unexpected way. To say this one is clever and the climax unexpected would be an understatement.

There are other pieces, of course, and they are all good. There are excellent card locations, revelations, bits with cell phones and (of all things) bar codes in grocery stores... there is a great deal of quality material in here which will have you thinking and playing and working. More important even than that, though, your spectators will have fun watching these routines and that's no little thing.

Let's see... creative magic, some wonderful themes, a ton of great ideas, all resulting in entertaining magic. What more could you ask for? All in all, "The Cheetah's Handbook" is a winner.

"The Cheetah's Handbook" by The Underground Collective
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
Thirteen effects, mostly cards but with a smattering of coin tricks and a dash of mentalism, that are all creative, entertaining, and worth every penny of this very cheaply priced ebook. None of it is terribly difficult and all of it is certainly workable with a little practice. This one is a keeper.

Quality: 10
The quality of the instructions is, in a word, perfect. Badman and Gladwin have done an excellent job compiling and editing this great collection.

Illustrations: 10
Illustrations are rarely needed (and often would just complicate things) but when they are needed, some excellent high-quality photographs are provided in just the right places to make learning those trickier bits much easier.

Presentation: 10
As with any collection, the presentations run the gamut from narrative to illustrative. All told, though, it's not what you say but what the spectators see with most of the work here, and what they see is magical to say the least.

Originality: 10
Popular themes get twisted and melded and fused together. New themes get explored in a level of depth that let you make them yours in a heartbeat. Yeah, these guys are definitely creative and, with that, original.

Shane