Issue 28 - Sept. 09
5 For £5 - Coffee
19 page E-Book
Oliver Meech
Available from: www.olivermeech.com
Price: £5.00
Back in issue 23 (November 08) I had the pleasure of
reviewing Oliver's first book, The Plot Thickens, and at the time I was struck
by the refreshingly quirky, practical and genuinely different material that the
publication contained. Now Oliver has returned with a series of E-Books called 5
For £5, the idea being that each publication contains 5 tricks and
costs....yep, you guessed it......£5.00. There are several of these E-Books and
each one has a theme. This one, called Coffee, gives details of 5 effects using
coffee, tea or things associated with drinking those beverages.
To give you a flavour (pun intended!) of the contents, I'll
give you a quick run down of the plot of all 5 tricks. 1. Shaken And Stirred - a
chosen ESP symbol is shown to have formed itself in chocolate powder on the
frothy head of a cappuccino coffee. 2. Linking Coffee Rings - two coffee stain
rings made wide apart on a napkin, magically link together. 3. The Cup Cavity -
a sugar sachet is opened, emptied and then restored full. 4. Toffee and Cea
(sic) - a cup of coffee and a cup of tea change places, that is, the liquids do,
the crockery stays where it is! 5. Tea Brag - the performer attempts to find a
card in the time it takes to boil a kettle to make a cup of tea. At first he
fails to locate the card, until it is discovered inside his tea cup folded and
stapled to the tea bag string in place of the tea bag itself.
As you can see these plots are different and intriguing.
Oliver's methods are very straightforward and practical - he would rather do a
bit of pre-show work than rely on complicated moves in performance, and as a
result all his magic is very accessible. I just loved these ideas. They show
clever, original thinking, and provide magic for those occasions when many of us
would love to be able to do something apparently impromptu - in the coffee
shop/cafe/restaurant or casually in the kitchen at home. Because of the
unexpected setting and timing of when the magic takes place, these simple
effects will, I would guess, carry more weight than if they were part of a more
formal performance. It is the apparent 'off-the-cuff' nature of them that makes
them work.
Oliver has deliberately gone for the cheap-to-produce
E-Book format, and this means that the cost to the purchaser is low. The book is
neatly and clearly presented, there are no diagrams or photos (the methods
simply don't require them). The value of the magic explained far outweighs the
format in which it is presented to you. If you want some apparently impomptu
magic, this is for you. ML
What's Hot: simple, clear, interesting plots achieved by
practical, straightforward methods
What's Not: some people don't like or have the machinery to read an E-Book
Star Rating: ****
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