John Mulholland, who ghost-wrote for Houdini, edited "The Sphinx" magazine for years, and even trained early post-WWII U.S. spies in the art of deception, brings his analytical eye and knack for phrasing to the subject of performing magic. Here you will find some of Mulholland's signature routines, which established him as one of the first to adopt a professorial "lecturer" character. Mulholland takes us on a journey around a magical world in which handkerchiefs change color by thought alone, Buddha migrates, and the Devil sends letters to magicians containing articles form the pockets of the audience! This is material that will enchant the most sophisticated, urbane and jaded audiences.
The trick descriptions are fully detailed, the mechanics ingenius; but the real jewels are the scripts. Today's magic writers would do well to study the thoroughness with which Mulholland teaches this material. He really wants you to perform these pieces and perform them well.
Perhaps the best testament I can give is twofold. First, Mulholland was a big influence on Henry Hay, author of "The Amateur Magician's Handbook" (another must-read). Second, one of the routines in this book went into my show when I was twelve, and is still there, some three decades later. That's how good this book is.
