Issue 26 - May 09
The Magic Of Fred Robinson
Peter Duffie
Published by, and available from www.martinbreese.com
Price: £75.00 +p&p
After almost 15 years in the making, ‘The Magic of Fred Robinson’ written by Peter Duffie and published by Martin Breese is finally here for all to enjoy. So was it worth the wait? Let’s take a look inside and find out.
The first thing you notice about the book is its size. At 286 pages, this is no short story. The book is beautifully typeset and is excellently illustrated by Paul Griffin and Roy Johnson throughout making the book not only easy, but a joy to read.
The first 50 pages or so are filled with tributes and testimonies from some of magic’s great names: Simon Lovell, Darwin Ortiz, Dominic Twose, Patrick Page to name but a few. This, at first glance, looked a little over the top, but once I started reading them I soon realised that the space was easily justified as they make for enjoyable reading and give you a great insight into what sort of character Fred Robinson really was.
The book is broken down into ten chapters, the first being ‘The Pass’. This kicks off with Fred’s handling of ‘The Riffle Pass’ and ‘Undercover Riffle Pass’ which are both worth a viewing. For many readers, however, the next chapter will be the pot of gold. This is Fred’s work on false dealing. The chapter concentrates on dealing bottoms, seconds and middle deals, all from the same grip.
At first the grip feels a little weird as it differs from the usual mechanic’s grip that most magicians adopt. It’s actually closer to how a layman would hold and deal cards so what may look slightly odd to a cardsharp will fly pass any spectator. Once you get used to the grip, dealing bottoms is surprising easy to achieve.
Having devoted the last two years of my life to mastering the second deal I wasn’t prepared to destroy my hard work by trying Fred’s method but I can certainly see the benefits from the technique described utilising the same grip. The middle deal (which Fred was most well-known for) is also covered in excellent detail. And if given the time and practice it deserves, in the right hands will be a thing of beauty.
Other chapters within the book cover: moves and sleights, colour changes, the rising card and gambling routines, all of which contain masses of excellent material that will surely please any cardician.
The book is not all card magic, however, and the latter chapters cover a few Miscellaneous items, Fred on Coin Magic, which describes Fred’s excellent ‘Coin in Tie’ effect and various Stand Up effects. If you haven’t seen the ‘Coin in Tie’ effect I recommend checking out the ‘Snap, Crackle and Pop! A Brief interlude with Fred Robinson’ DVD (also available from Martin Breese) which shares rare footage of Fred performing this effect.
What’s nice about this book is the length of the explanations. They are not overlong, and are accompanied by generously sized illustrations making them easily digestable. The book is of exceptional quality, and is certainly one for the collectors out there! I don’t know how many have been printed, but I would recommend getting hold of a copy while you can to avoid disappointment.
So to sum up. Has it been worth the wait? I think so! PS
What’s Hot: Invaluable teachings and methods that are almost too good to
share with the masses.
What’s Not: The price is maybe a little high for some?
Star Rating: *****
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