Distilled is a stunning collection of practical, professional effects plucked directly from the working repertoire of Ryan Plunkett, the resident magician at the famous Chicago Magic Lounge. Like a fine whiskey, this remarkable array of effects has been slowly distilled and refined across real-world performances for sold-out audiences six nights a week.
Filled with over 300 gorgeous photographs across 200 pages of step-by-step instruction, Distilled is a collection worthy of careful study. As noted in the foreword by legendary Magic Castle performer Mike Pisciotta, Ryan has worked diligently to polish this material over time and ensure every detail is accounted for. As a result, these masterfully constructed routines can be immediately inserted into any close-up magic or parlor magic show.
Distilled includes Ryan's unique versions of classic effects such as his ACAAN-style routine known as "Any Card at Our Numbers" or "Paper and Silk," his cards-through-silk routine. He also flashes his creativity with more radical departures like "Fan Mail," a fantastic lesson in great act construction where a selected card ends up matching a card sealed in a piece of fan mail, and "Gravity Deck," a surreal appearance and disappearance of a deck of cards that the spectator can actually feel in their hands.
Here's an additional sampling of effects in Distilled:
Ace on Top - Ryan openly admits this is bound to be the most popular and performed piece from the book. It is a true worker constructed with an elegant array of sleights and counts that are fairly easy to perform. Despite openly changing the order of an assortment of cards, the cards always impossibly find their way back to their original positions.
Any Card at Our Numbers - This is a fantastic opener for formal card magic shows. A spectator is offered a choice of two decks. They choose and shuffle one. Despite thoroughly mixing the deck, a card impossibly appears at the same number in both decks.
Magnetic Silver - A remarkably visual take on the Magnetic Coins plot. By removing the discrepancies that sometimes impeded the original versions of the effect, Ryan has developed a complete routine that allows you to convince your audience that two regular coins have become magnetically attracted to each other, among other feats of impossibility.
The Time Machine - A deck of cards slowly travels back in time in Ryan's unique take on a Triumph-inspired plot.
A rectangular puzzle fits perfectly inside of a frame. The magician adds a new piece and rebuilds the puzzle, yet somehow they still form a rectangle that is exactly the same size, a Perpetual Puzzle. The puzzle still fits perfectly in the frame. When you add another piece and rebuild the puzzle again, the puzzle impossibly still forms the same exact size rectangle, and fits perfectly within the same frame.
Written by male model/master magician Handsome Jack (with footnotes by John Lovick), this treatise is a rarity in the magic world: it's as funny (and attractive) as it is instructive. Handsome Jack, etc. details twenty stand-up (and close-up) routines with complete scripts, histories, and commentary on their development and performance.In addition to Jack's urbane descriptions, Lovick provides two essential essays on the subjects of scripting and persona.
#1. An ordinary, unprepared rope (you can use your own) is placed inside the Clean-Cut cutting machine.# 2. In full view, with no false moves, the rope is cleanly sliced into two parts. The two pieces of the rope and then cut ends are cleanly visible.#3. Reversing the action, the rope is now openly restored.You won’t believe your eyes when you see this startling magical illusion.
Distilled is a stunning collection of practical, professional effects plucked directly from the working repertoire of Ryan Plunkett, the resident magician at the famous Chicago Magic Lounge. Like a fine whiskey, this remarkable array of effects has been slowly distilled and refined across real-world performances for sold-out audiences six nights a week.Filled with over 300 gorgeous photographs across 200 pages of step-by-step instruction, Distilled is a collection worthy of careful study. As ...