Price$12.00
Media TypeBook
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJul 19, 2015
Journal of Alchemy
Diamond, Joe
(Based on 1 review)
Journal of Alchemy is Joe Diamond's first book for magicians. It's a quick read that teaches five powerhouse routines from Joe's professional repertoire. All the routines are audience tested, and simple to perform so you can focus on having fun with the material and connecting with your audience.
Doc Daley's Last Hope: Simple symbolism bring this classic of card magic to life.
Diamond Jaks: Joe Diamond breathes new life into a Dr. Jaks classic.
Half-Twins: An emotional hook blended beautifully with a visual hook. Plus, it instantly resets.
Point of View: The effect Joe has been keeping quiet for TEN YEARS!
Joe Diamond also covers how to keep journals, and how to turn effects you already know and perform into something unique to you!
"I was fully involved with this collection and you will be too. Joe’s Journal is bigger than it might seem." - Bob Neale
"I loved this book. It was a fun read and very well written. Along with some insightful creativity ideas Joe adds new twists and meaning to some lovely old gems." - Suzanne
"I really admire Joe's book for evaluating effects based on how much of yourself you can put into them. More magicians need to think along these lines." - Jay Sankey
"This is a plain and simple study of the power of making your magic personal." - Jeff Stone
Forward by David Parr
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Awake and Alive by Skillet
Joe Diamond: Journal of Alchemy Review
One book, 51 pages, 6 effects, a couple of essay and $10 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Disclaimer
Joe and I have been friends since we met on Jay Sankey's Underground Jam filming in November of 2005. He was a clever, yet still wet behind the ears, young (17 years old) magician. He had a lot of smart ideas. One of them, Point of View is found in this book. Not only do I know Joe D. (a.k.a., Jody) but I read this book in rough draft form a while back and gave feedback regarding grammar, spelling, punctuation, typos, etc.
I tell you all this up front so you have full disclosure. Having said all that, none of that affects my opinion of the quality of the book, and its possible worth — I work very hard to not be biased, and hopefully this review is no exception. Also, know that I have no financial stake in this book whatsoever.
Effect/Method
This is a simple, yet powerful, book of six effects. All of which are in keeping with the sub title: Turning Old Gems into Professional Gold. The goal of this book was to share with the community these effects that Joe has used for many years in his actual working repertoire. The effects all have one main thing in common: they are classic effects in magic that can be found in the classic books — Point of View is the only exception.
These classics are effects that Joe has added his own spin and/or combined it with other principles to create a piece of magic that is very motivated, makes sense, has a workable and simple method, and has serious connect-with-your-audience potential.
The theme of the book is journal entries. It's about keeping track of ideas as they come to you, and reading your journals to continue to find inspiration. All of these effects came from journal entries and notes over the years. There are a a couple of "essays" and "discussions" throughout the book that give good pointers and ideas about keeping a journal and how to use it, and what to write in it. I found several really good ideas in these sections, one of which, I've already implemented.
As far at the effects go, it's really about the presentations that you're getting rather than the actual "trick." You can certainly use Joe's presentations, but I think the bigger lesson is to learn from how he made these effects his own. Every presentation that you'll learn is one that I would describe as "clever" and "smart" and "engaging." So know that as I briefly mention each effect. You can insert those words liberally throughout the descriptions to follow.
First is an offering that adds a (here's where you could insert "clever") script and theme to Doc Daley's Last Trick. It's really (here's where you could insert "smart") and (here's where you could say "engaging") . . . that ends with a physical and metaphorical gift. It's a feel good piece but not the yucky sentimentality kind of feel good piece.
Next is a combination of props and ideas found in Tarbell for a card to impossible location that leaves the spectator with a good luck charm. Following that is Half Twins which is a coupling of a Sankey idea and a Karl Fulves effect (Gemini Twins). What you end up with is the best of both worlds, and a much better piece from a presentational standpoint. This effects is nearly self-working and very easy to perform, and seems totally impossible.
Joe's effect Point of View is an effect that is all about perception and reality. It's a simple effect that has one or two of those "weird" moments in magic. Again, simplicity for the method.
Lastly, the effects wrap up with two different presentations for the Haunted Key effect. One with a Houdini-based them, and another with a Dicken's Scrooge theme. Both of which have an extra added something that makes this a full routine rather than simply, "hey watch this key move." You'll also get some excellent tips on handling the key for the effect which I found very valuable.
The book finishes up with a few more paragraphs about journaling and some parting thoughts from Joe with a fun little moment found in the very last line of the book that brought it all full circle and gave me a warm fuzzy all over. Don't spoil it by reading ahead. It only works if you read the whole book.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is a simple statement of the effects. It is 100% accurate.
Product Quality
The book is well written; the explanations are very clear and easy to follow. There are just the right amount of pictures, and with each effect, there's a brief intro and a brief afterthoughts section that gives more value to the overall piece. When I read it in its early draft, I was very impressed with the clarity of the writing. A lot of e-books are basically just a Word Doc saved out as a PDF with no thought to format, fonts, layout, etc. This one, however, clearly had a lot of attention paid to it. A+ on product quality.
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned, I know Jody, so that makes it hard for me to give the rating I'm going to give. I'm giving it 5 stars, but due to the fact that we know each other, my rating may appear biased. I assure you that it is not, but you'll just have to take my word for it. For $10 bucks, it's worth the risk to test me.
Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!
Available at Vanishing Inc. Magic