Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Art and Magic by S.H. Sharpe
Transformations by Larry Hass
Beyond Deception by Tobias Beckwith
The Five Points in Magic by Juan Tamariz
Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz
Tangled Web by Eric Mead
Absolute Magic by Derren Brown
The Artful Mentalism of Bob Cassidy
13 Steps to Mentalism by Corinda
Mnemonica by Juan Tamariz
Astonishing New Twists by Twete McCabe
The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas
Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things by Tymony
The Golden Rule of Schmoozing
The Turk by Tom Standage

Reviewing this list showed me several trends.

Theory

The first is a focus on theory.  The books by Beckwith, Hass, Tamariz, and Brown are all focused on taking magic from mere tricks into the world of Magic.  This focus has fascinated me for a while, and was a tenet of my thesis at the MIT Media Lab.

Mentalism

13 Steps, The Artful Mentalism and to Mnemoica to some degree are all about mentalism for me.  As I moved into the realm of hi-tech magic, the easiest material to convert has been telepathy and other similar effects.  As I strive to create new effects, I’ve dug deeper into the history surrounding this branch of our art, trying to find ways to tweak the past into the future.

Mentality

Most of the other books are all about mentality.  When I do consulting for companies, I try to get them into the mindset of the magician. This has made me try to stop and think about what the magician’s mentality is, and how to achieve it.  The Sneaky Uses trilogy exemplifies the exact mindset I am talking about: How to take normal things, and make them amazing.

It is the mindset I use when trolling through the mentalism books again, however there, I am starting with something unusual (magic tricks), and trying to make it even more unusual (my magic tricks).

Not

Notably absent are any books on card tricks, coin manipulation, Tarbells, etc.  I have all of those books too, they are just in storage elsewhere. Those other books have all been extremely important to me.  I am not denegrating them at all.  I just find it interesting to focus on which books are affecting me at the current moment.

In the future I’ll be describing each of these books in detail, and how they help make me a better magician.

In order for you to improve, you have to decide what exactly it is that you want to improve.  Everyone could become a better magician, even David Copperfield.  But the steps he would take will be much different from yours. (Unless you are David Copperfield reading this, in which case, send me an e-mail, I have some specific ideas on new magic for you.)

The first step to becoming better is to identify the areas you are weak in, the areas that need improvement.  Sometimes it is hard to even know what the various areas for improvement are, so here is a little list that you can give yourself an evaluation on.  Read through, and choose the one or two area that you want to focus on in the coming year.  Post it in the comments below, and I’ll tackle the big ones, helping us all become better magicians.

Performance

• Confidence
• Script
• Choregoraphy
• Character

Technique

• Misdirection
• Sleight of hand
• Recovering from failure

Business

• Getting gigs
• Billing Clients

Tricks

• Creating new effects
• Creating presentations
• Finding new tricks

Venue

• Stage
• Closeup
• Parlor
• Silent

Type

• Mentalism
• Cards
• Coins
• Manipulation
• Illusions

A retelling of a story:

On many occasions, I have felt pressure to drink with friends or family.  Personally I don’t like the taste of alcohol much, and so I frequently would prefer to not drink.  At times I merely decline offers, and other times claim “I don’t drink,” but sometimes the peer (or elder) pressure is very strong.  Being a magician has given me various skills including misdirection, deception, and the ability to create illusions.  Using all of these I have learned to create the illusion of drinking.

The effect is this: I appear to drink reasonably large amounts of alcohol, yet never seem to be affected.  The methods are varied, and cunning, if I can say so myself.  It began by accident, and I continued experimenting, sometimes just to see how real an illusion I could make it, and sometimes because I really didn’t feel like dealing with the peer pressure.

At times I have thought about recording all of my methods for posterity, so that others may engage in the tricky art of not drinking.  However, I have had some reservations.  These fall mostly along the lines not wanting to encourage other people to drink more.  The ability to apparently drink unlimited amounts of alcohol can set up competitive environments in which the less well informed can experience health risks, or at least really bad hang overs.  Some of the methods actually result in other people drinking more without their realizing it.  And in general, it reduces the visibility of people who choose not to drink and can create the illusion that “everyone drinks” adding to the peer pressure on others.

But just last Christmas, I experienced a use-case that made me change my mind and realize that these skills should be taught in school.  At a birthday party in Mexico, I  heard a commotion at the next table.  Muñeca, a fourteen year old girl, had just been poured a shot of “medicine,” tequila and lime, to cure her cold.  She was expressing reservations about drinking it while everyone else kept egging her on.  “It will make you healthy!”  “Just take it all in one shot!”  “¿What are you waiting for?”  I chimed in with “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to,” but given the existing cultural and personal pressures, I knew my advice was merely rhetorical.  As a compromise said she would sip it, and so began.

5 minutes later, she still hadn’t had a second sip, and was again being egged on.  I took the opportunity to utilize my experience at avoiding consumption of alcohol and went on a reconnaissance mission.  The first step was to find a similar shot glass, of which there remained one.  Then I needed a lime to mimic the color and translucency of her existing drink.  The only one left was the one that I had made “disappear” earlier in the evening.  It made a reappearance from my pocket and into a shot of water.  So armed, I made my way to where she was seated.

She handed it to me to sip, and the deed was done.  She asked me to drink it all, to which I responded “I can’t stand tequila, thanks anyway,” and handed her back her drink.  The shot had suddenly (and magically) become less alcoholic.  At her next sip, I tried to assuage her look of surprise with a wink.  Where only she could see, I poured the other shot glass down the drain.  The next thing I heard was applause as she took her shot.  She was smiling broadly.

The number of times she thanked me discreetly before the end of the night led me to believe that it had been a blessing.  Unable to stand up the peer pressure herself, I had given her a free ticket out of the situation.  I don’t know why she didn’t want to drink, but if she didn’t want to, she shouldn’t have to.  Next time I doubt she will be as lucky, but maybe she will have the guts to turn it down, knowing that somewhere I would be supporting her.  Maybe not.

At any rate I have realized that there are probably people who don’t want to drink, but are forced to by whatever circumstances they find themselves in.  Maybe I can give them an option they hadn’t realized was available before.  Perhaps I cannot give everyone the years of experience in misdirecting and misleading people, nor can I teach them how to act plastered (though they could probably figure it out), but I can share some of the tricks I have come up with over the years.  At least that night it helped someone else.

When I was beginning as a magician I’d buy an ocassional book, interspersed with incessant purchases of props and gimmicks.  As an amateur I found myself buying at least one book per trip to the magic shop.  They did not provide the immediate gratification that buying packet tricks did, but I found they lasted a lot longer and continued to dribble little bits of information into my performance in the long runs between trips to the shop.  Slowly, my shelves sagged with the weight of the most recommended books and I slowed down.  Only the occasional book was worth picking up and adding to the collection.

Working on my thesis at Hampshire College on the future of magic, I had an excuse to buy many books that I’d been dreaming of, related to all sorts of topics.  My library continued to grow.

Eventually my shelves filled up, and overflowed.  I moved several times and each time had to cherry pick which books would make the cut.  The others were put in boxes and storage, and revisited only when it was time to pack up and move.

This continuous winnowing process has left me with a small selection of books on my shelf.  Reading over the titles gives me a very interesting view of where I have evolved as a magician.  I realize now that what’s on your shelf says a good deal about your interests and focus as a performer.

So tell me… What’s on your shelf?