"The Collected Other Stuff" book by Dale Hildebrandt
Suggested Retail USD$40.00
Available direct from Dale Hildebrandt
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

"The Collected Other Stuff", a book edited by Dale Hildebrandt, is a collection of his sadly defunct magazine and features some weird, off-beat, and plain unique magical themes and ideas, making this a great book for those looking for something that is definitely not run-of-the-mill material.

If you're not familiar with Hildebrandt's "The Other Stuff" magazine, don't feel too bad: it had (unfortunately) a very short run. The magazine was different to say the least, featuring magic that used anything and everything except playing cards. It was a neat idea and the magazine featured some great thinking by some very talented folks and when it went the way of the dodo it was more than a little disappointing.

"The Collected Other Stuff" contains the issues of the magazine that did see the light of day and allows those who missed out on the clever and strange material the first time around to get their hands on those issues now. Personally, I'm thrilled Hildebrandt did this because there are some real gems here just waiting to surprise the reader and more than a few pieces that'll be going into lots of repetroires.

Let me give you a little taste of some stuff, just to give you an idea of what's going on in "The Collected Other Stuff". The first effect, to me and many other mental workers, may just be worth the price of the book. It's a mentalism routine by Caleb Strange where the performer guides the spectator through an unseen maze. Visions' own Peter Marucci is in the book, too, with a great, simple little coin routine with the self-explanatory title of "No-Gimmick Hopping Halves". David J. Greene also makes an appearance, with a great $1/$5 transposition that is slick and clean. Of course, this being Hildebrandt's book, most of the material is his and his delightfully warped thinking is as fun as it is weird (his quick and quirky routine for "Silver Extraction" will have you digging through the sock drawer).

I could go on and on but there's simply too much material here to dig into. The material I mentioned above are the ones I loved and the ones I do; you'll find many more ideas and presentations and tricks packed between the covers of "The Collected Other Stuff". Open the cover, stop at a page, and you'll find something interesting to sink your teeth into.

Just a couple of things to be aware of. Unexplicably, there is no table of contents or index in the book so, once you read it, going back to find a specific piece is a chore. Also the line spacing changes in the book from single-spaced to double-spaced, making this book thicker than it really needs to be and making reading it a bit strange. These are minor things, in the long run, and while annoying surely don't detract from the quality of the material.

If you're looking for something new, something different, and trying to stay away from card tricks, "The Collected Other Stuff" certainly deserves a look; it's a fine collection of weird stuff.

"The Collected Other Stuff" book by Dale Hildebrandt
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

Material: 10
There's something for everyone here... unless you're exclusively a card worker. The collected issues of Hildebrandt's regrettably short-lived magazine, the accent is on anything but cards and the routines run the gamut from mentalism with mazes to some great coin work and predictions using album covers. All in all, there's some great, different stuff here.

Quality: 9
The writing is clean and concise here; you'll have no problem learning the material. Of gripes there are two: the weird line spacing that occurs halfway through the volume, making this a thicker book than it should have been and there is no table of contents, making locating a specific piece difficult.

Illustrations: 5
Illustrations are seldom needed but when they are, Hildebrandt does a great job of placing them and they look just fine.

Presentation: 9
It's all about anything but run-of-the-mill magic here, and more often than not, Hildebrandt and his contributors pull it off wonderfully.

Shane