Piccadilly Books seems to find the twist in whatever it publishes to bring out a blend of enjoyment and practicality. This title certainly is no exception. What a delightful book! Jeff Brown from Alaska exudes enthusiasm in his book about two topics which seem to be his passion; namely Conan Doyle's Holmes and Magic. Fortunate for us readers/magicians, they are intertwined with lovely effect and outcome. A number of prominent magicians are thanked in advance for their being instrumental in putting Mr. Brown's collection together. Among them are Max Maven, Martin Gardner and Martin Lewis. As Mr. Brown says in his introduction, the book, "...won't transform you into a skilled conjuror a trained detective. It will, however, enable you to combine effects of magic with the tales of the world's most well known sleuth, and give your audience a reason for the magic to happen."
Throughout the twenty-nine magical effects you glean much of the author's insights into the methodical minds of Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is some very fine suggested patter and storyline as well as a rating system for effect difficulty ranked by one to four pipes, as in what Mr. Holmes seems puff upon when he thinks, me thinks. In any case, for the magician with a familiarity of basic card work, sleights and mentalism effects, nothing presents a challenge in handling. It is all in the story and presentation. Mr. Brown is on the money when he says you will, "...give your audience a reason for the magic to happen." with his work. As a full time children's/family entertainer myself, I know first hand how schools, camps and related don't typically wish to throw money at silly magic shows without meaning. Selling my programs about safety and nutrition, to name a couple, are the reasons for being a winner in my market. Jeff Brown is meticulous in his approach to choreograph the magic and the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes and therefore making it easy to create an entirely themed program or series. As he is a contributing member of the venerable magician's EG, this is no suprise.
All the effects tie in one way or another with villains of Mr. Holmes or a storyline from one of Conan Doyle's novels. They are replete with details. Quotes of Holmes', titles of books, scenarios, scenes, background and even landmarks are provided. I felt for the layman some of the effects are not quite explained thoroughly enough and unless they are inclined to search out in a magic resource more info on a handling, they might skip over one to another more easily grasped. But, Mr. Brown does recommend to follow up, such as when he provides one simple card force method but suggests to seek out others. Trying to be of further help, clip art is included, nicely done I might add, to photo copy for the reader's use in making up some of the effects.
I give this a four pipe rating out of four pipes and heartily recommend it to be added to your magic library. Ten USD is so low, it is almost criminal .
