A new ebook. Only cards this time. Hopefully, those who enjoyed my previous works will enjoy this as well.
http://shop.tomstone.se

Hi, Tom -

Can you elaborate more on what effects you cover?

Thanks -

Mark

I would also like to know.

Thank you.

Hey guys,

I obtained Tom Stone's latest e-book, FLATLAND FEVER yesterday and can't rave enough about it. It is an all cards document and the material is superlative as you would expect from any publication that Tom puts out. Being a cardman, I ordered the book as soon as Tom posted its availability. I spent yesterday evening going through all the tricks and moves in the e-book. There are terrific contributions not only from Tom, but also from one of the most brilliant creators of card and other close-up magic: my good friend, Tomas Blomberg. Another friend of Tom's is represented in this excellent collect of card magic: Axel Adlercreutz, a name I never heard before but hope to hear from again.

If you have any interest at all in card magic, contact Tom Stone immediately and order your copy of his latest masterpiece. You will be thrilled you did.

The book opens with Max Milton's One-handed Top Change and Tom explains the controversial background to this sleight.

"Hip-Hip Hurray" is an excellent approach to Hamman's The Signed Card. and was one of the highlights of this ebook for me.

"113 Grams" by Tomas Blomberg & Axel Adlercreutz: Two red Queens are introduced and a card is selected and lost in the deck. The spectator decides where in the deck the red Queens are to be placed. Magically a card appears between the Queens and it is, of course, the selection. The selection is again lost in the deck but this time the black Queens are introduced and placed under the spectator’s hand. Again she decides where in the deck the red Queens should go but this time things go awry when the red Queens catch two face-down cards instead of one. The two face-down cards are shown to be the two black Queens, previously placed under the spectator’s hand. Under her hand is now a single card: the selection. A well-constructed routine.

"The Etude" is a clever use for a memorized deck, but you don't need to know any memorized stacks in order to perform this one.

"King Castling" is Tom's approach to the aforementioned Blomberg & Adlercreutz effect. He offers two methods, both containing interesting and clever variants.

"The Almoner" Three spectators each select a card the deck. After the cards have been memorised, they are shuffled into the deck again. The magician states that he will attempt to find the selected cards. He says, ”It is so easy that a beginner can do it!” The magician fails on the first try when a Joker turns up instead. Turning towards the third spectators, he says, ”Oh.... I’m obviously not a beginner. I always have trouble with things that rely on beginner’s luck. Have you done card tricks before? No? Good, then you are qualified to find the selected cards!” The spectator are directed to take the Joker and insert it, reversed, into the pack. The magician claims that the spectators selections will be found precisely at that location. When the cards are spread face up, two of the selected cards are found, one on each side of the face down joker. However, the third spectator's card is nowhere to be seen. After some thought, the magician remembers that the selection was to be found ”precisely at that location.”, which can mean only one thing. The spectator is told to turn the joker face up. It has transformed into the third selection.

Tom considers the above the weakest trick in the book, but it's better than he thinks!

"Homer’s Case" is a brilliant card-box gaff that allows you to show a card that isn't there! I love this.

Great stuff, Tom.

Peter

In addition to the great tricks Peter mentioned, Tom includes other ideas that will get you thinking. This book is 100% delight.

Tom's "material" is unfailingly thought-provoking. Better yet, he frames and packages the tricks, ideas, flights of fancy in a meticulous, visual, and artful way. It has its own look and spin.

Highly recommended, especially since it arises from one guy--a cottage industry. This an Tom deserves our support.

Onward...

I took a week off editing The Magic Circular to spend some time with my wife looking at the sculptures of Andy Goldsworthy in northern England. I returned home to find that the staff had done absolutely nothing and I was faced with a load of work.

Then I remembered that I have no staff.

Anyway, I finally got to read Tom Stone's latest, "Flatland Fever". Being a fan of the E.A. Abbott book, "Flatland," I dug in, only to discover that 'flat' referred to pasteboards, which was just dandy with me.

I remember that Tom had some card items in his previous books (as well as some by Tomas Blomberg), but I was somehow unprepared for the depth of his card work.


I was especially surprised to learn that Tom had studied with Max Milton, the award-winning Swedish magician. Tom includes Milton's "One Handed Top Change", a form of what has come to be known as Harry Lorayne's Ultra Move. It is worth careful study.

Tom has a trick with a Tenyo-type Card Case which provides an excellent justification for the use on an unusual prop, and has something to provide a similar throw-off to the piece of cork in the Cylinder and Coins. There's a nice trick by Blomberg and a young Swedish magician, some memorized deck work that examines the reasons for using such a tool, a couple of other tricks and something with a cleverly gaffed card box.

As a sort of bonus, Tom has filled the blank space with card problems, not exactly the type favored by Karl Fulves, more philosophical questions about what you might do with, say three decks of cards, or considering card tricks for stand-up or stage. I really liked these a lot.

In fact, I loved the whole thing. There is some very practical material in "Flatland Fever", and some things not so practical but that will get your mind clicking away. And Tom's illustrations continue to be of the very highest quality.

A fine book by one of today's brightest magicians.

Matt Field

I'm so jealous. Rivers and Tides is an inspiring documentary.

I'll second that. And Andy Goldsworthy, the man, never ceases to inspire me. A true creative genius.