Price$39.95
Media TypeBook
CategoryBizarre
Date AddedAug 02, 2007
Scrolls
Tim Converse
(Based on 2 reviews)
Scrolls is about magic. Scrolls is about story telling. Scrolls is about The Author's efforts, thoughts and journeys into the world of Bizarre Magic.
To the author, Bizarre Magic is about story telling. It's about using a combination of magic and stories to produce a feeling.
Contained in these pages are some of Tim's routines, articles and obsessions.
You will not really find anything in the way of new moves or innovative handling. If anything, you will find that handlings are as simple as possible and even very close to the moves you find described in the store-bought instructions. Where possible, he tries to give credit where it belongs and where it is most certainly due.
Everything is about stories.
Also, as a matter of general concern, you will find that everything is kept as simple as possible. There aren't many books which focus on Bizarre Magic to begin with, and of the ones that are available, many contain very elaborate effects and very elaborate setups. While these effects are often excellent, sometimes they are so intensive they become difficult to use regularly. And they shouldn't be.
125 page, large format book, features Essays on Character, Acting, Material and 20 plus routines that you could actually USE.
Format: Paperback
Publication Summary: 2007, 121 pages
Reviews
(Top ▲)
I must tell you when I first bought this book, I didn't like it at all. The book is big, the typing is big and if it were written in a smaller font the book would be half as big as it would be.
Although...
One routine kept creeping back, and didn't let me stop thinking about it. Although I haven't performed it, it has some nice points.
The essays are thoughtprovoking. These could read as rants that you can read online on some blogs, but they stick with you and make you look at some magicians in another way, so in essence they do their job.
The magic routines in itself, as is almost everything in bizarre magic, personal to Mr. Converse, I have other bizarre books in my collection, and I just use them for inspiration, not to actually perform, although the pieces are good, they are workers, not just pipedreams.
What I especially like about this book, is the play at the end. At first when I opened the book, I liked the idea, but didn't spent a lot of thinking with it. I read the book, put it on my shelf and looked at it a couple of times in the 2 years that I have it now.
But the book keeps haunting me. There is one routine that keeps getting back in my mind, not because I want to perform it as written in the book, but because it is a nice concept to play with. The routine I'm talking about (and if you have the book you know it) is the one were the wizard looks for a student. I just love this routine.
The book is a large to fit on your shelve, and doesn't have a lot of pages, but it will haunt you. It will change your thinking about magic.
Although this magic is highly personal for Mr. Converse, it can be used for inspiration, and the essays are nice. The play at the end, is a nice springboard to use as a template for your own performances.
Although...
One routine kept creeping back, and didn't let me stop thinking about it. Although I haven't performed it, it has some nice points.
The essays are thoughtprovoking. These could read as rants that you can read online on some blogs, but they stick with you and make you look at some magicians in another way, so in essence they do their job.
The magic routines in itself, as is almost everything in bizarre magic, personal to Mr. Converse, I have other bizarre books in my collection, and I just use them for inspiration, not to actually perform, although the pieces are good, they are workers, not just pipedreams.
What I especially like about this book, is the play at the end. At first when I opened the book, I liked the idea, but didn't spent a lot of thinking with it. I read the book, put it on my shelf and looked at it a couple of times in the 2 years that I have it now.
But the book keeps haunting me. There is one routine that keeps getting back in my mind, not because I want to perform it as written in the book, but because it is a nice concept to play with. The routine I'm talking about (and if you have the book you know it) is the one were the wizard looks for a student. I just love this routine.
The book is a large to fit on your shelve, and doesn't have a lot of pages, but it will haunt you. It will change your thinking about magic.
Although this magic is highly personal for Mr. Converse, it can be used for inspiration, and the essays are nice. The play at the end, is a nice springboard to use as a template for your own performances.
(Top ▲)
I've never heard of Tim "Santiago" Converse, but I was pleasantly surprised with his first book, SCROLLS. It's about 120 pages of "storytelling magical theatre." Right up front, Converse conveys his philosophy that his magic is about stories. He resists the notion that he's just a Bizarre Magician, because he feels that somehow insinuates that everything he does is dark.
He also takes care to advise the reader that most of the material in the book is pretty practical once one does the necessary preparation. He criticizes others for releasing Bizarre Magic books with elaborate setups.
There are essays sprinkled throughout, including a concise one on character, encouraging performers not to copy someone else, but don't throw out what you liked about them in the first place. There's another called "What Does Magic Look Like?" which closely examines the sometimes silly gestures performers make at the most important part of the effect.
And of course there are several performance pieces described in detail. I felt the best items were "The Sailor's Bell", a dramatic presentation in which a bell falls silent at a perfectly eerie time, "Reincarnation", an interpretation of The Hindu Thread, and my favorite, "The Devil's Suicide", which is a marvelous revelation for someone looking to present Six Card Repeat that looks completely different than anyone else's.
For those of you looking for a entire show, there's a six-act magic play to end the book, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. This reads....okay. But I'm not entirely convinced this could work for anyone other than Mr. Converse. If you have a background in theater and an interest in Bizarre Magic, this could be right up your alley. If not, I don't feel reading this play will make you a better performer. In most cases, I think it's a good exercise to see how another performer puts his show together, but this show is so specific that I felt it was a real challenge to see how it could help me in some way.
The only drawback to some of these effects is that one runs the risk of crossing over the line into silliness. If your character is not well-defined and you have little training in acting, writing and voice, it will be very hard to present these effects with conviction. But if you're willing to work at it, Mr. Converse has given plenty here to be successful.
He also takes care to advise the reader that most of the material in the book is pretty practical once one does the necessary preparation. He criticizes others for releasing Bizarre Magic books with elaborate setups.
There are essays sprinkled throughout, including a concise one on character, encouraging performers not to copy someone else, but don't throw out what you liked about them in the first place. There's another called "What Does Magic Look Like?" which closely examines the sometimes silly gestures performers make at the most important part of the effect.
And of course there are several performance pieces described in detail. I felt the best items were "The Sailor's Bell", a dramatic presentation in which a bell falls silent at a perfectly eerie time, "Reincarnation", an interpretation of The Hindu Thread, and my favorite, "The Devil's Suicide", which is a marvelous revelation for someone looking to present Six Card Repeat that looks completely different than anyone else's.
For those of you looking for a entire show, there's a six-act magic play to end the book, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. This reads....okay. But I'm not entirely convinced this could work for anyone other than Mr. Converse. If you have a background in theater and an interest in Bizarre Magic, this could be right up your alley. If not, I don't feel reading this play will make you a better performer. In most cases, I think it's a good exercise to see how another performer puts his show together, but this show is so specific that I felt it was a real challenge to see how it could help me in some way.
The only drawback to some of these effects is that one runs the risk of crossing over the line into silliness. If your character is not well-defined and you have little training in acting, writing and voice, it will be very hard to present these effects with conviction. But if you're willing to work at it, Mr. Converse has given plenty here to be successful.