Kenton Knepper's
"Krystal Visions"

Peter Marucci's
"Bizarre Bazaar"

Craig Browning's
"Cranial Consternations"

Michael Matson's
"My Magic - My Way"

Michael Jay's
"Thoughts on the
Passing Scene"

Rich Tenace's
"Stage Stuff"

Scott Guinn's
"Pro-Files"

Jon Thompson's
"Thinking Allowed"

Shane's
"One Eye, Inward"

Dan Paulus's
"Real Magic"

Michelangelo's
"Stages of Illusions"

Andi Gladwin's
"Close-Minded"

Andy Leviss's
"Shared Thoughts"

Tyler Wilson's
"More Than Words"

"At The Shop" Reviews

"In Your Hands" Effects

"Proving the Impossible"
 Challenge

"Other Visions"
Guest Contributors

Free Visions

Visions Store

Visions Links

Contacting Visions

Submitting an Article

Privacy Statement

Administration Info

"Sleight Indiscretions" by Brian Lewis
Suggested Retail BP£7.99 (Approximately USD$15.00)
Available as an ebook download from Magictricks.co.uk
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Man, I hate reviewing "Sleight Indiscretions", the new ebook by Brian Lewis. I've put it off for some time, if you have to know the truth of the matter. Oh, not because the book is bad -- far from it -- but I'd really like to use some of these reputation-makers before everybody else gets their hands on them. Okay, so I'm greedy; Lewis' material does that to me. The material is just that good.

But I'll do my duty, however grudgingly.

In short, "Sleight Indiscretions" by Brian Lewis is one fantastic collection of card magic. Lewis has packed this ebook with the kind of powerful, workable, commercial magic that we dream of. New plots, old plots, everything is something to read, learn, and love performing. On the first read of this book, I was taken with a lot of the material; after I read it again, I found it harder and harder not to start adding Lewis' stuff to my act wholesale. You'll likely find yourself in the same boat -- there's too much good stuff here.

Take "Rorschach's Card". In this one, a card is chosen by a spectator who "mentally projects" the selected card to another spectator who sees it form out of a messy collection of lines and such on another card. There's so much neat thinking here -- the method, the presentation, and the revelation are all superb -- I fell in love with it immediately.

"The Possessed Card" is another one that hooked me, and I loathe the particular gimmick in question. Still, the thought of having a freely chosen card rotate when held between the fingers and then again when it was just sitting there on the table blew me away. And yes, it does look just plain weird.

"The Old 'Card At Any Number' Trick" is delightful in it appearance, but more wonderful in what Lewis uses to pull it off. The effect is simple and engaging: two decks are brought out, one chosen by the spectator and shown to be all different and shuffled. Another spectator calls out a number which the first spectator deals down to. The other card case is opened and a single playing card is found inside. Naturally, the cards match. This is simply wicked and you'll kick yourself for not coming up with it first.

"Final Transmission" makes great use of the "dual reality" principle to achieve a very slick spectator-only mental miracle. "Oil and Jokers" is the old "Oil and Water" plot ending with all the cards changing to Jokers for the climax. And on and on and on with the neat stuff in this ebook.

The book itself is weightier than the meager price tag would lead you to believe, with 89 or so pages and over a hundred photographs. The book is divided into very deliberate sections: mental card magic, card tricks, "silly stuff" (containing a single bit which could fit in either category, really), sleights, and flourishes. The latter two categories are most welcome as they describe some of the sleights used by Lewis in the routines. With all of that going for it, and the very clear writing style Lewis brings to the table, none of the material is outside the realm of someone who has been around cards for a while (though beginners will have a bit of a struggle here and there).

If there is any drawback to "Sleight Indiscretions", it is in the number of gimmicked cards you're going to need to pull off some of the routines. None of them, though, are necessarily hard to construct ("Rorschach's Card", for example, involves a great deal but will only take a few minutes to construct the gimmick) and most of them are common in the first place (double-facers, double-backers, blank decks, etc). Purists will not like the idea of having so many routines requiring gimmicks and gaffs, while those of us less finicky will have no problem opening their drawer and pulling out the gimmicks and going to town.

Overall, Brian Lewis does an excellent job with "Sleight Indiscretions", packing it with some great material and some equally great thinking. For the price -- which is ridiculously low -- you're getting a steal.

"Sleight Indiscretions" by Brian Lewis
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
This is, on the surface, a collection of card tricks. Going deeper, there are some wonderful ideas and work here. Some of the routines are heart-stopping and completely outside the box. Even the weaker material is still commercial and solid. Lewis gives way more away here than he should, but his generosity is most welcome.

Quality: 10
Lewis has a very open and friendly writing style, making reading this a real pleasure. His instructions are clear and concise, and he spends a good bit of time on the more subtle bits just for good measure.

Illustrations: 10
Though his writing certainly doesn't need the support, there are several excellent photographs added at just the right place to make learning any of the material as easy as possible.

Presentation: 10
Here Lewis scores big. His presentations are lively and compelling, both verbally and visually, while keeping everything workable and entertaining.

Originality: 10
Lewis really put on his thinking cap here and came up with some wonderful new ideas. Even when the plots start off as familiar things, such as "The Haunted Deck", Lewis manages to turn them on their heads. It's great to see such thinking.

Shane