This is a very well done PDF. Here is what Michael writes about his ebook:
This ebook offers unparalleled instruction by allowing text, photographs, and video clips to do what they do best and can be printed out to produce a spectacular 8.5 x 11, 179-page book. Each routine is described in complete detail in Michael Close’s clear, easy-to-read style. It’s almost like having private lessons with Michael Close. BONUS: Three Essays on Magic Theory and Michael’s Presentation & Handling of: Dean Dill’s Box & Gary Plants Magnetized Cards.
The 179 pages of Closely Guarded Secrets contain 18 chapters. The ebook begins with two introductory chapters. The first is casual in nature, allowing me the opportunity to fill you in on what’s been happening in my life. The second chapter is more formal; it explains the theory behind the ebook. In this chapter I also discuss my desire to make my performances feel theatrically real to my audiences. It is not my goal to make my spectators believe that I am doing real magic. But during my performance I never want to take the audience “out of the show” by reminding them that I’m doing tricks. I do this by creating handlings that (as much as humanly possible) match the way I would handle the props if I had the power of a real magician. You’ll find that this philosophy has been applied to every routine in CGS.
The next three chapters detail the three routines that were the backbone of my Houdini Lounge set.
The Trick that Lance Burton Showed Me demonstrates what happens when you live with a trick for 15 years. This is my handling and presentation for Dan Garrett’s Four Card Reiteration. I discussed this trick on one of the Very Very Close videos, but there is new work in this ebook.
Presentation for Gary Plants’s Magnetized Cards is my handling of this superb marketed effect. Many professionals have asked permission to perform this, but until now I have selfishly kept it to myself.
The Luckiest Cards in Las Vegas is the strongest memorized deck trick I have ever developed. It is stack independent, and is very forgiving in terms of estimation. This chapter begins with an overview of memdeck work, offered in the hopes that a few misconceptions will be cleared up.
Next is an essay titled On Venue & Evolution.
The Shuffles Routine has been in my repertoire for more than 30 years. You may already have a similar routine in your repertoire, but there are stratagems offered here that I think you will find very useful. I performed this at my 51st birthday party in front of a room full of some the best magicians in the world, and it got roars of laughter.
The Cheating Lessons is a gambling demonstration. I have designed this to be a lesson in elegant card handling. You’ll also discover a very useful patter line and an easy method for obtaining a surprise kicker at the end of the routine.
The next chapter is titled On Sleights. It begins with an essay on how to practice. In this chapter I discuss False Shuffles (Faro and otherwise), the Pass, and the Multiple Top Palm. The focus of the chapter is on stratagems for changing the moment, rather than on revolutionary new techniques. If you have ever hesitated using the Faro shuffle in your work, you will find two ideas here that may well be worth the price of the ebook.
The Dumbest Casino in the World is a new approach to a familiar plot. The presentation is very funny, and the method will fool laymen and magicians.
The Famous Detective Collectors is my handling of Larry Jennings’s Distributraction. Of particular interest is the elimination of ATFUS. I believe that when cards have been removed from the deck they should never be counted back onto the deck. This handling achieves that. Incidentally, this is one of the most difficult card tricks I’ve ever performed. If you want a challenge, you’ll find it here. (The good news is that to the spectators, no manipulation is visible.)
The next three chapters deal with Magic for Magicians. There is an essay that includes several interesting approaches, followed by two tricks that you can use to fool your buddies.
Pipedreams includes a variety of ideas that I have never really used in my professional work. However, they are all practical and useful. Many came about as I played with items that were sent in for review. Tim Trono has commented that my suggestion for the marketed effect Pyro Perceptions is worth the price of admission.
Sideswiped Meets the Bammo Deck Walloper is a combination of two excellent marketed effects by Simon Aronson and Bob Farmer. Combining these two routines solves some problems and produces a climax that fools everybody.
My presentation of Dean Dill’s Box is next. The third phase of this routine is different than Dean’s and really leaves the spectators with a strong memory of what has happened.
The final chapter is titled On the Workers Series. In this chapter I answer some questions about the evolution of the series, plus I provide some updates on several of the routines.
[Note: If you are on a Windows computer using Adobe Reader to view the PDF and the videos do not play then you may be able to fix this by installing the K-Lite Codec Pack. When you go through the installation trust the default settings unless you absolutely know what you are doing and want to tweak the installation parameters.]
1st edition 2004; 185 pages.
word count: 66744 which is equivalent to 266 standard pages of text
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