Bill Abbott – Table Magic (official pdf)
Whether you're interested in landing your first restaurant gig, learning how to rock a banquet table full of corporate executives, or making the next house party you attend a legendary event, Table Magic reveals the real secrets to creating indelible table-side memories for every audience and venue.
Bill Abbott's third instalment in the critically acclaimed Professional Man Of Mystery Collection, unveils the intimate details necessary to performing professional magic at the restaurant table, the banquet table or the dining table at someone's private home event.
Gleaned from Bill's years of experience as 'house magician' at several Toronto restaurants, the thousands of corporate banquets he has entertained at and the hundreds of private home engagements, Table Magic is chock full of advice and hard-hitting commercial routines.
Contents Include:
A Dedication to Paul Gertner
Foreword by Paul Vigil
Advice & Essays:
Interruptions & Distractions
Centre Pieces and the Art of War
House Parties: The Perfect Place for Magic
To Sit or to Stand
Pied Piper Syndrome and the Antidote
Why the Restaurant Needs You & Why You Need the Restaurant
Effects & Routines:
Flash The Wonder Dog
Ashes Feng Shui
Hot Shot Card StabEnding
Casey's Crayons
Mental Photograph
The Boyd Mystery Complete
Taken From the Foreword by Paul Vigil
The greatest compliment I can give about the material of Bill's is that I use it. Not only do I use it, I use quite a bit of it A LOT. I don't mean I use it toying around with my magical peers at meetings or conventions, but that I use it in paying circumstances during my formal show at The Mirage on the Las Vegas strip.
Bill builds solid routines with solid presentations, and he leaves very little out; blocking, script, bits of business--these aren't pipe dreams that have only been performed at the armchair in a Canadian living room; this is in-the-trenches material for the real world. He has a wonderful sense of playfulness and fun that doesn't stand in the way of the magic staying strong. The whats, wheres, hows and whys are covered (which, unfortunately, are more and more being left out of our literature) allowing you a nice peek into what makes him tick. To me, this is a very important aspect of our Art; seeing the evaluations that've been made for aesthetics, where the sacrifices have been compromised and how the onus of the effect is dealt with.
Here you'll find not only great routines you'll also discover, like the rest of this series, wonderful and practical essays on topics that could only be covered by someone who's really been there.
If I haven't made it obvious: I like Bill, and I like his magic... I'm completely positive you will, too.
Paul Vigil,
Las Vegas 2010
