I have owned five different book tests and only performed one of them. The reason is that, with the exception of $link(1142,Lee Woodside's Dream Revelation), I've never really felt that there was much point to them - the methods are often clever (hence their appeal to magicians), but they really lack in entertainment value.
Brad Henderson has come up with a very funny and amazing book test that draws value and entertainment from the books themselves as well as the final revelation. The Satanic Book Test is clearly a performance piece - you can't just roll it out the afternoon you receive it, and it does require some careful practice and talent to do it justice. The mechanics are easy to grasp, with plenty of tips and subtleties to handle various situations, but you will need to be confident in your acting abilities to pull it off.
This is a "good thing" - if more magicians spent time actually rehearsing their shows we would see better performances. I think in the right hands this could easily become the greatest eight minutes of your act. I plan on spending a long time before I roll this out in my act, but I am confident that I will in fact roll it out, which will make it a very good book test indeed!
As it arrives you get a very well produced 25 page booklet with numerous photos, tips, patter, and subtleties. You will need to purchase the actual books required for the test, but these are readily available.
Highly recommended if you really want to entertain your audiences, rather than just show a few tricks to your friends.
Andy Martin - March 17, 2004
Finally a Book Test that is Entertaining!
I have owned five different book tests and only performed one of them. The reason is that, with the exception of $link(1142,Lee Woodside's Dream Revelation), I've never really felt that there was much point to them - the methods are often clever (hence their appeal to magicians), but they really lack in entertainment value.
Brad Henderson has come up with a very funny and amazing book test that draws value and entertainment from the books themselves as well as the final revelation. The Satanic Book Test is clearly a performance piece - you can't just roll it out the afternoon you receive it, and it does require some careful practice and talent to do it justice. The mechanics are easy to grasp, with plenty of tips and subtleties to handle various situations, but you will need to be confident in your acting abilities to pull it off.
This is a "good thing" - if more magicians spent time actually rehearsing their shows we would see better performances. I think in the right hands this could easily become the greatest eight minutes of your act. I plan on spending a long time before I roll this out in my act, but I am confident that I will in fact roll it out, which will make it a very good book test indeed!
As it arrives you get a very well produced 25 page booklet with numerous photos, tips, patter, and subtleties. You will need to purchase the actual books required for the test, but these are readily available.
Highly recommended if you really want to entertain your audiences, rather than just show a few tricks to your friends.