Martin Gardner's Table Magic

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This excellent guide to mastering dozens of mystifying acts of deception and manipulation will soon have you dazzling friends and family with professional-quality magic tricks. Martin Gardner, author of a host of popular magic and puzzle books, has compiled a clearly written manual that not only reveals secrets of the trade but also helps you perform tricks at a moment’s notice with such common objects as cards, coins, napkins, matches, and silverware.Step-by-step instructions and nearly 200 easy-to-follow diagrams and illustrations provide all the information and advice you’ll need to make cards vanish and reappear, get coins to pass through solid objects, make articles mysteriously travel from one location to another, and much more.

Series: Dover Magic Books

Paperback: 144 pages

Publisher: Dover Publications (July 7, 1998)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 048640403X

ISBN-13: 978-0486404035

Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.3 x 8.4 inches

Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #93 in Books > Children's Books > Activities, Crafts & Games > Games > Magic #321 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Magic & Illusion #388 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Magic

Age Range: 10 and up

Grade Level: 4 and up

This book has excerpted material also found in Gardner's mammoth "Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic," and the material, as the title suggests, is limited to items performable in an after-dinner setting. This is the sort of magic, when one produces seemingly off-the-cuff miracles, that helped great magicians, such as Alexander Herrmann, Max Malini, Nate Leipzig and Dai Vernon become legends. For if you can do magic any time, anywhere, with anything, then the magic is not in the props, but in YOU!The most recent person to take advantage of the power of seemingly casual magic is, of course, David Blaine. He has created the illusion that magic happens wherever he goes. And David Blaine is the magician foremost in the public's mind.Do not be put off by the apparent simplicity of these magic tricks. Done well, at the right moment, they are reputation-makers. Gardner has a knack for finding excellent yet simple material. This simplicity is usually only achieved by rank beginners and hardened professionals. In this book, it can be yours.Just one thing: show the author the respect he deserves, and rehearse these well and perform them excellently.

This is a clever entertaining if somewhat dated book of tricks and silly stunts that can be performed with ordinary items generally found at a dinner table or otherwise at hand. Some require access to a cloth napkin, which isn't as common as perhaps it once was. Some involve cigarettes, which also seems a little dated given how smoking in restaurants or anywhere for that matter is viewed today. Still this is an impressive collection of tricks that have a high likelihood of being performed impromptu, mostly requiring relatively little or simple slights if any skill at all. Martin Gardner was one of the most creative puzzle and game masters of his time. He apparently also collected and performed magic tricks, and has assembled a delightful selection here. I loved the book and felt his sense of humor come through on every page.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but I should have listened to the one reviewer who mentioned this book is dated -- handkerchiefs, cloth napkins, matches, cigarettes, and 50 cent pieces. If you remove those tricks which require them that's half the book. I'll update my review after I've gone over the card tricks but for me this book is a big disappointment.

This book is not contemporary. The illustrations are poor and way too few. Kids won't understand it and adults won't need it. I'm a big fan of Martin Gardner's math books but this is totally outdated.

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