Price$35.00
Media TypeBook
CategoryClose Up, Manipulation
Date AddedOct 17, 2003
Paper Engine, The
Aaron Fisher
Hermetic Press
(Based on 1 review)
The Paper Engine begins with a thorough explanation of Aaron Fisher’s handling of the half pass, a handling unlike any other in that there are no broad turns, sweeps or squaring of the cards used to hide the sleight. Aaron Fisher’s gravity half pass is done in the small motion of raising the deck from dealing position to the fingertips. There is no other perceptible action—and the sleight is invisible from all sides. The details of this one move have been wondered about and coveted for years.
The Paper Engine is Aaron Fisher’s first book, and for it he has chosen only what he considers his top card material, to which he has added two exceptional tricks by Gordon Bean that use his techniques. Aaron Fisher and his co-author John Lovick have striven to provide a text that teaches clearly and succinctly on many levels. They are aided in this by Damon Webster who supplies 160 state-of-the-art photos. The result is a work that, rather than spinning its wheels in well-worn ruts, drives the craft of card magic forward into the future.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
The Paper Engine is a fairly complete guide to Aaron Fisher’s original card magic. I say fairly complete because he has created some magic since he wrote the book and has excluded any magic that uses uncommon gaffs.
To get started, the book is small, only 126 pages in my edition. Despite the size of the book it does have a lot of magic. There are around 20 different effects and 20 different sleights taught. Aaron has an eye for the classics so most of the moves, moves, tricks, and routines are variations or touches on old material.
Many magicians seem to favor certain moves over others, Daniel Madison for example loves the Gambler’s cop, with most magicians you can find a certain set of sleights that they favor. In Aaron’s case it is definitely the Half Pass. His touches are very nice and he actually makes this move surprisingly easy to master. When you do master it there are a handful of effects you can do with it and he walks you through a few.
Something that is nice value wise is that many of my favorite routines in the book have a DVD companion. This includes The Revolution and Helter Skelter, Search and Destroy Featuring the Nowhere Pass, and The One Handed Pop Over. If you only bought those DVD’s separately you’d be out almost $100 and you still wouldn’t have the whole contents of the book at your disposal.
Actually the tricks and moves with a DVD companion are probably my favorites in the book.
Revolution #9 is a pick a card trick that reverses their selection and then reverses the whole deck with as their card re-reverses itself. It sounds complex but it is actually fairly straight forward. It’s not terribly difficult but it will take a few months for an amature to get down. If you are familiar with card magic it should take less time.
Helter Skelter is almost the same and Revolution #9 mechanically but it has the added kicker of the deck changing color. This is a fine trick it’s neither the best or worst color changing deck I have seen.
Search and Destroy is my favorite by far and last I checked if you sign up for Aaron’s newsletter he offers the DVD for free. I’d almost recommend not purchasing the book and just signing up for his newsletter to learn this trick. Search and Destroy is a slow motion, in the spectators hands sandwich. It is impromptu, easy to do, and very strong. This is my go to effect when I have a tough spectator. It is an easy way to make them look like they are in control.
The One Hand Popover is also very cool. He calls it a modern pop out move, by modern he means very visual and crazy difficult. I like the move and have been working on it for the past couple years and I still can’t get it down. This is a tough move and will take years of practice. It is definitely pretty when you nail it but is suited best for the move monkeys out there.
So those were some of the highlights. Here and there I’d find a gem or two that could help me in the way that I perform certain effects or sleights. His thoughts on tension were great and his pointers on the bluff pass were also noteworthy.
All in all it was a fine book a little more geared towards move monkeys and in depth sleight of hand guys but still a good value for the price. I personally would recommend signing up for his newsletter and getting the free DVD rather than purchasing the book at all but if you are interested in any of Aaron’s other above mentioned DVDs than you would do well to buy this book instead.
To get started, the book is small, only 126 pages in my edition. Despite the size of the book it does have a lot of magic. There are around 20 different effects and 20 different sleights taught. Aaron has an eye for the classics so most of the moves, moves, tricks, and routines are variations or touches on old material.
Many magicians seem to favor certain moves over others, Daniel Madison for example loves the Gambler’s cop, with most magicians you can find a certain set of sleights that they favor. In Aaron’s case it is definitely the Half Pass. His touches are very nice and he actually makes this move surprisingly easy to master. When you do master it there are a handful of effects you can do with it and he walks you through a few.
Something that is nice value wise is that many of my favorite routines in the book have a DVD companion. This includes The Revolution and Helter Skelter, Search and Destroy Featuring the Nowhere Pass, and The One Handed Pop Over. If you only bought those DVD’s separately you’d be out almost $100 and you still wouldn’t have the whole contents of the book at your disposal.
Actually the tricks and moves with a DVD companion are probably my favorites in the book.
Revolution #9 is a pick a card trick that reverses their selection and then reverses the whole deck with as their card re-reverses itself. It sounds complex but it is actually fairly straight forward. It’s not terribly difficult but it will take a few months for an amature to get down. If you are familiar with card magic it should take less time.
Helter Skelter is almost the same and Revolution #9 mechanically but it has the added kicker of the deck changing color. This is a fine trick it’s neither the best or worst color changing deck I have seen.
Search and Destroy is my favorite by far and last I checked if you sign up for Aaron’s newsletter he offers the DVD for free. I’d almost recommend not purchasing the book and just signing up for his newsletter to learn this trick. Search and Destroy is a slow motion, in the spectators hands sandwich. It is impromptu, easy to do, and very strong. This is my go to effect when I have a tough spectator. It is an easy way to make them look like they are in control.
The One Hand Popover is also very cool. He calls it a modern pop out move, by modern he means very visual and crazy difficult. I like the move and have been working on it for the past couple years and I still can’t get it down. This is a tough move and will take years of practice. It is definitely pretty when you nail it but is suited best for the move monkeys out there.
So those were some of the highlights. Here and there I’d find a gem or two that could help me in the way that I perform certain effects or sleights. His thoughts on tension were great and his pointers on the bluff pass were also noteworthy.
All in all it was a fine book a little more geared towards move monkeys and in depth sleight of hand guys but still a good value for the price. I personally would recommend signing up for his newsletter and getting the free DVD rather than purchasing the book at all but if you are interested in any of Aaron’s other above mentioned DVDs than you would do well to buy this book instead.