"Magic" by Ellis Stanyon.
Stanyon was one of Britain's finest sleight-of-hand exponents in the twentieth century. In this book he gives detailed instructions on how to perform well-known illusions, as well as many new ones of his own invention. There is also a chapter on Shadowgraphy.
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It follows as a natural consequence that you must never perform the same trick twice in the same evening. It is very unpleasant to have to refuse an encore; and should you be called upon to repeat a trick study to vary it as much as possible, and to bring it to a different conclusion. There will generally be found more ways than one of working a particular trick. It is an axiom in conjuring that the best trick loses half its effect on repetition.
Featured July 2013