Price$49.00
Media TypeBook
CategoryBizarre
Date AddedMay 28, 2007
Garden Of The Strange
Caleb Strange
(Based on 1 review)
This beautifully written, deeply affecting book takes Mr. Strange's trademark blend of innovative thinking and stunning presentations to the next level. With twenty compelling and original routines, and an additional half-dozen 'from your pocket' variations, this eagerly awaited work will be of great use and interest to mentalists, bizarrists, and table-hoppers alike.
Yet beyond its fine, audience-centered effects, The Garden of the Strange contains something more, of equal value to the working performer. For tucked away within its full and thorough notes, the attentive reader will find explained a wide range of powerful yet often neglected techniques (linguistic, literary, theatrical), which can be used to maximize the impact and enhance the quality of one's work.
The Garden of the Strange, then, is a thrilling and, above all, fresh exploration of the art of the impossible: a lyrical and accomplished volume, it has been called, more than once, 'the most inspiring book of magic I have yet read'.
Contents Include:
- Hunting Mammoths in the Rain - An ancient symbol, carved on rock, induces a rich stink of memory in a volunteer. Other members of the audience also share this powerful experience.
- In Your Hands - A client's question is answered in stunning symbolic fashion during a tarot reading.
- The Collector - A story about collecting.
- I'll Take Your Hand, My Love, and We'll Remember - An elderly lady feels young again, and mistily dreams of her first sweetheart.
- Stepping as Through a Waterfall - A borrowed coin bends and then melts visibly away, as you relate a chilling story.
- Wishing Star - O Momma! Don't want to tip this one here. But YES! It works. Trust me.
- Bubbles - A poignant story about bubbles, and what they contain.
- Safe Hands - A nasty and bloody story about revenge.
- Junior - A canine-toothed nibble of comic whimsy.
- A Certain Charm - An embarrassing situation is resolved in a pleasing and most civilized manner.
- The Koestler Protocol - A spectator mentally selects a target picture, which you are able to duplicate under test conditions. As well as the very clean (I'm told) drawing duplication, there are variations for Remote Viewers, Bizarrists, and elfin Enchantresses.
- Synchronicity - A spectator shares a dream and something wonderful happens. A profound, meaningful coincidence - synchronicity.
- Sinne Eater - An atmospheric 'period' story about eating. Bonus inclusion: Caleb's recipe for plum cake.
- We Eat What We Are - In a communal act of courage, you and your guests resolve long-troubling memories.
- A Rose Without Thorns - An impromptu séance ends in an unlikely and disturbing manner. (Includes a fun Fortean variation.)
- Hidden Treasure - Magic sparkles delightfully in an unexpected place.
- The Wrong Side of the Road - A story with a thought-provoking twist.
- The Ten Thousand Things - A member of your audience - a stranger to you - duplicates another's drawing on stage.
- Play the Film Backwards - A life in pictures.
- The Vanishing - Your show ends in a truly extraordinary manner. Plus bonus magic of a scintillating nature
Reviews
(Top ▲)
This book is strange indeed. When I read the first routine I wasn't sure what to think. I didn't know if I loved it or despised it. The one thing I could say is that it made me want to read the next routine and the next routine and the next one.
If you are looking for a book that has some tricks you can show to your buddies at the bar, then forget about this one. However if you want something that makes you think about how you present magic, how you can elevate magic and make it into performance art, then this one is for you.
A lot of the routines are grandly conceived and presented. The style and personality of the author comes through as you read his presentations. This is the reason I wasn't sure if I really liked the routines at first. His style is not congruent with my style. There is a certain sentimentality (I hate to use sappiness) in a lot of the routines that doesn't work for me.
However, the author weaves poetry and magic just with his words, which really makes the routines compelling to read. Furthermore, the author really outlines his thinking on the routines, and for me, this is always the most compelling part of any magic book. I really like to read about how something conceives a routine.
I will say that a good number of the routines would never work for me. Some of them (one of my favorites, in fact) I found to be downright impractical. (Where would one get a bunch of maggots?) But, this isn't the type of material where you should be copying someone's script word for word, either. However, I know to some people this could be a downside.
Nonetheless, what some of the routines lack in practicality, they more than make up for in creativity, presentation and wonder. This book really pushes the boundaries of presentation and the definition of magic and for that reason, I found it very enjoyable. In fact, though I just finished it, I am now reading it all the way through again. I like to think, and this book makes you do that. I think it may be one of my favorites.
If you are looking for a book that has some tricks you can show to your buddies at the bar, then forget about this one. However if you want something that makes you think about how you present magic, how you can elevate magic and make it into performance art, then this one is for you.
A lot of the routines are grandly conceived and presented. The style and personality of the author comes through as you read his presentations. This is the reason I wasn't sure if I really liked the routines at first. His style is not congruent with my style. There is a certain sentimentality (I hate to use sappiness) in a lot of the routines that doesn't work for me.
However, the author weaves poetry and magic just with his words, which really makes the routines compelling to read. Furthermore, the author really outlines his thinking on the routines, and for me, this is always the most compelling part of any magic book. I really like to read about how something conceives a routine.
I will say that a good number of the routines would never work for me. Some of them (one of my favorites, in fact) I found to be downright impractical. (Where would one get a bunch of maggots?) But, this isn't the type of material where you should be copying someone's script word for word, either. However, I know to some people this could be a downside.
Nonetheless, what some of the routines lack in practicality, they more than make up for in creativity, presentation and wonder. This book really pushes the boundaries of presentation and the definition of magic and for that reason, I found it very enjoyable. In fact, though I just finished it, I am now reading it all the way through again. I like to think, and this book makes you do that. I think it may be one of my favorites.