Two things I’ve been looking at this week are the Street Magic Book by Paul Zenon and You Asked For It (Rare TV Magic Acts).

Paul Zenon has gone ahead and put together a really good book of street magic. He’s taken some powerful effects (if you’ve been in magic for awhile there won’t be anything new here) and compiled them. There are almost 100 different effects here. I saw this recently at Borders while browsing through their magic book selection.

Sure, some will scoff at the amount of “pro” magic he’s giving away here in a book priced at under $15. But if I was a kid this is the kind of book I’d be drooling over. Lots of info jam packed with stylish instructional drawings to keep you busy for awhile. This would make the perfect gift for the little whipper snapper in your life who you want to send down the path of magic.

And You Asked For It (Rare TV Magic Acts) is the kind of DVD set I drool over now. I love seeing the classic presentations of magic. Things were slower, simpler back then. Lots of this footage is just fascinating to watch. I’ve always thought it was good to see where all of this came from and what was done before. And the really ironic thing that you’ll find as you watch these DVD’s is that magic has gotten quicker and more fast paced but not much has really changed. You’ll be amazed!

I’m looking at the DVD’s as the long tail of the Street Magic book. It’s interesting to put both side by side and compare. Two ends of the timeline.

Let me know what you think…