John Bannon Dear Mr Fantasy Crosby
We’re in for at least (probably) two more years of Donald Trump as President of the United States. That means lots of bad things and one particularly great thing: We’re in for a lot more Alec Baldwin impersonations of Trump on “.” From the often ridiculous phrases to the weird outbursts, “SNL” has captured all of it. In fact, the sketches often seem to struggle to surpass reality in terms of absurdity. But they get there. Here’s a list of every Baldwin-as-Trump “SNL” sketch, ranked from least to most hilarious, with links to the sketches.
We’re in for at least (probably) two more years of Donald Trump as President of the United States. That means lots of bad things and one particularly great thing: We’re in for a lot more Alec Baldwin impersonations of Trump on “.” From the often ridiculous phrases to the weird outbursts, “SNL” has captured all of it.
In fact, the sketches often seem to struggle to surpass reality in terms of absurdity. But they get there. Here’s a list of every Baldwin-as-Trump “SNL” sketch, ranked from least to most hilarious, with links to the sketches.
Fantasy by John BannonIn 2005, after thirteen years since the release of his last book, Smoke and Mirrors, John Bannon released Dear Mr. Fantasy, a smaller book, about 200 pages, that he described as “a little more personal, a little more expansive, a little more conversational, and, in places, a little more stylized than a traditional magic ‘cookbook’.” (from Forward).
The book was a hit, going out of print the next year even after a huge run of 2,000 copies. Screams for a reprint were everywhere, and the reviews were rave. The book was going for over $100 on Ebay, and rumors began to surface that John was thinking of a reprint in paperback.
In October 2008, John finally announced that he would be reprinting the book in hardcover in November, and, luckily for us, the writer of this review was able to get a copy of the reprint.Welcome.I had read review after review of this book, and in early December, I bought the book directly from John ($35 including shipping - about the same of some one-trick DVDs on the market). It was a close call also - the book didn’t come until December 24, but I was thrilled to unwrap the book on Christmas morning. I read the entire book Christmas day and have reread sections several times since then. And since it’s the last day of Christmas break, I decided to do a review of this before school (and speech class) kicked in.
Be forewarned that I have not tested any of the material yet, but when I do, I will post here with updates.Overview: This book is golden. I would say that 100% of the material is usable in the real world. There’s no gimmicks, no gaffs, and only a few of the tricks have expansive setups (which are worth it). John goes over everything - the techniques, the presentation, and the processes he took in developing the material.
Most of the material is standard - ace assemblies, cutting to the aces, triumphs, poker deals, etc. but what John does to make everything out of the ordinary is fantastic. This is material that is designed to be used in the world. With that in mind, let’s go trick by trick.Chapter 1 - Bullet TrainIconoclastic Aces, Syncopated Aces, Interrobang Aces This is an ace assembly routine consisting of three distinct assemblies, but this isn’t the ordinary type of ace assemblies you find. The aces assemble in unexpected moments. For example, you deal the four aces down in standard T-formation, and deal three cards onto each ace, and when you deal the cards onto the Ace of Spades, they are the aces.
John talks of the timing of the assemblies and how they surprise the audience each time, and they even surprise me when I practice them. The structure of the effect is great and is worth learning.
The three assemblies are meant to go together but can be used separately. Impromptu, well-structured, surprising - a great effect.Chapter 2 - The Secrets and Mysteries of the Four Aces:The next chapter is a complete routine that starts with a completely shuffled deck and ends with four aces and a royal flush. The elements of each effect go great together to form the great conclusion.Line of Sight: A spectator stares at one card in a fan of cards, and the performer is able to know what card they are thinking of. Not only that, but at the conclusion of the routine, you have the four aces on top of the deck.
Originally created by Alain Nu, the effect uses the Steve Draun glimpse which is amazingly deceptive and never fails. You must be able to do a pressure fan, but most magicians will already have it down and can easily learn the glimpse. John also gives a great presentation which sets the effect up nicely, and the spectator shuffles the cards several times, which leads to.Final Verdict: John’s latest improvement to the “spectator cutting to the aces” theme, and it’s a killer. Directed Verdict, the routine’s predecessor, was published in Smoke and Mirrors, and Final Verdict adds an improvement to the finding of the fourth ace. Completely hands off by the magician - the spectator can truly cut anywhere she wants. So let’s think about this: a shuffled deck, a killer mind-reading routine, and then the four aces are produced, but then.Cull De Stack: This is not a routine, but is a way to set up the royal flush quickly and effectively for the final effect in the routine. Not like the Hofzinger culls where your fingers need to work hard, but is simple and can be used in a myriad of ways for other applications.Two Classics: John’s take on Dr.
Daley’s Last Trick and Vernon’s Twisting the Aces. You will need to have a bit of background on both of these, though John gives his handling for Last Trick. You will need to know Twisting the Aces though, but you could always substitute another four ace trick. The point of these is to draw attention away from the stacked deck.Beyond Fabulous The climax of the routine: the aces are lost completely in the deck - one is found using the “indicator card” ploy, one is found reversed in the deck, one is spelled to, and one is found in a procedure eliminating cards to find the ace.
And then, from the four piles left over from the last procedure, the top cards are flipped over to reveal a royal flush in spaces (the Ace of Spades was the last ace found). This is John’s variation of Henry Christ’s Fabulous Four Ace Trick, and he gives a great presentation for it. Also given is Mark of the Fabulous, which is a way to modify this as a stand-alone effect without the production of the Royal Flush.So let’s recap, in this single routine, we took a borrowed, shuffled deck, did a mind reading miracle, had the spectator cut to the four aces, did an impossible transposition, had the aces flip over one by one, found the four aces under impossible conditions, and produced a Royal Flush. Not bad, not bad at all.Chapter 3 - Dead Reckoning:A bit of a sidenote before moving on to the next chapter, the next three effects and the final effect (Power of Poker) are written in a narrative format in the point of view of a friend of John’s and who John teaches the effects too.
This format is great and should be used more often in magic books.Dead Reckoning: When I got the book, this was the first effect I turned to. It’s simply impossible. A spectator cuts off a portion of the deck, shuffles it, and looks at the top card. The spec then cuts off a portion of the remaining deck, places it on top of the portion he has, and then cuts the combined packet as much as he wants. The last packet is then placed on top; there is no doubt that the card is lost in the deck. The magician then asks the spectator to silently spell out his card as the magician deals - one letter for each card, and when the spectator reaches the last letter, he is to think “Stop!”.
So the dealing begins, and after dealing for a while, the magician suddenly stops dealing. The spectator freezes - the magician stopped right when he thought “Stop!”. The card left in the magician’s hands is then shown to be the spectator’s chosen card!Wow, wow, wow. This effect is simply incredible. The location given is genius and is very effective. The only negative is that this has a bit of an extensive setup, though this doesn’t take long to set up and is much worth it.Out of Touch: The magician upjogs five or six cards in the deck and asks the spectator to think of one. The upjogged cards are lost in the deck, and the deck is spread and the spectator is asked to touch any one.
The one he touched is outjogged, and it is the card he thought of earlier.This routine is pretty good, impromptu, and clean at the end. John goes indepth into his version of a multiple shift, and a great touch force is taught as well.Dawn Patrol: A card is selected via the procedure given in Dead Reckoning, and two black kings, which were set aside earlier, and mixed into the deck as well. After only one shuffle, the deck is spread to reveal the two black kings with one card between them, and, you guessed it, it’s the selected card.This is the only routine I can’t do in the book since it requires a perfect faro shuffle. It is very unexpected though and is worth looking into.Chapter 4 - Degrees of FreedomThe next four routines are, according to John, “not just a card trick, but a toy.” Mathematical principles are used in order to create completely impossible effects.Degrees of Freedom: The twenty high cards (royal flush of each suit) are taken from the deck and shuffled by the spectator. The magician asks the spectator what his favorite suit is - let’s say it’s spades. Some cards are then reversed by the magician and then according to the spectator’s whim so that the cards look like the product of a not-so-magical Triumph routine - face up and face down randomly.
The cards are then dealt in a grid and “folded over” each other - one edge of the grid, chosen by the spectator, is “folded” over onto the other cards until the deck is in one packet. Then, the impossible - the cards are spread, and only five cards are face up - the five spades, the spectator’s favorite suit in a Royal Flush.Completely impossible, isn’t it? There’s only one part where the magician “controls” the cards (not a sleight); pretty much everything is up to the spectator and is self-working. You’ll fool yourself when you do this - it is amazing. I can’t wait to fry someone with this.Origami Poker: This is much like Degress of Freedom, only sixteen cards are used, and the royal flush at the end is a surprise. I like DOF better however since it allows for more convincing phases.Perfect Stranger: I have not really looked at this, but the main effect is that sixteen different backed cards go through the DOF procedure, and you predict which cards turn up facedown at the end. I suppose that you could do this with different letters written on the backs of the cards.Also, for math junkies out there (like me), there’s a section called “The Works” which explains the math principles which make this amazing.Chapter 5 - Impossiblia BagWait Until Dark: Before the trick begins, an “emergency card” is placed aside in case something goes wrong.
A spectator shuffles the deck by turning some packets over and shuffling the deck so some cards are face-up, some are face-down. The magician has someone come up behind him and cover his eyes with their hands. The magician is handed the deck, and after quickly spreading the deck, he says that there are twenty-two face-down cards. The spectator counts, and there are 22 face-down cards in the deck. The magician is handed the face down cards, and he says that there are 12 red cards. So the spectator counts, yep, there’s 12 red cards. The magician is handed the black cards, and he determines that all of them are clubs.
Dear Mr Fantasy John Bannon Pdf
The spectator looks through the cards, and all of them. Wait, there’s a Two of Spades. The magician then instructs the spectator to look at the emergency card - “Except the Two of Spades.” And everything is done with the magician not able to see anything!This routine is amazing and is completely self working. It uses Simon Aronson’s Shufflebored which is simple and effective.
You can also do it with different numbers or cards (like 24 face down cards or 15 black cards or whatever). The only bad part is a setup needed, but if I get a parlor show, I think I’ll definitely use this.Last Man Standing: The standard triumph routine using the Goodwin-Jennings display to show that face up cards are really going into the face-down cards. You will fool yourself with the display the first few times you do it. I will definately use this as my Triumph.Trait Secrets: Two spectators are handed one card each, and the magician lays one card face down on the table. The spectators insert their card face up into the deck. The deck is spread, and the face-up cards are given to the spectators along with the card directly above each of the cards. The cards are turned over and are revealed to be the mates (same value and color) of the original cards.
The magician then turns over his card - it’s an ace. Each of the three packets that were formed are turned over to reveal the other three aces!When I first read this routine, I didn’t feel it was anything special, but now I’m in love with it. It’s a simpler and more magical Gemini Twins routine and is great.
Uses a bit of a setup.Chapter 5 - LagniappeThe Power of Poker: The ten card poker deal taken to new heights. The spectator determines who gets what card, but the magician will always end up with a straight flush and beats the spectator!No magician’s force, sleights, or anything. This effect by Dave Solomon is genius and will definitely go into your repertoires.Well, that’s the entire book. Like I said at the beginning, everything in this book is usable by the common magician. There are no difficult sleights (except the faro) used, and John gives a lot of theory and steps he took in creating the effect. Very much worth it - get it while you can!10/10Available from for $35 (which includes shipping in the U.S.) Also check out a free download on the site that is like the material from DMF.I still remain,Despite their most strenuous objections,A close-up kinda guy.BillYour Thinking CapVeteran user370 Posts.
John Bannon Dear Mr Fantasy Crosby Texas
Easily one of the top three card books of all time.For those who don't have it, this book could change the quality of your card work for ever. Kadz,I have all of the books you mentioned.
DMF is really interesting in that it takes 'less known' principles and exploits them. The whole secrets & mysteries of the 4 aces thing is quite fun as well as (for me, right now, and this changes depending on my mood) Trait Secrets.Sessions left me pretty darned cold.
I keep trying to see the benefit to many of the approaches but in pretty much every case, I already have a method which is either easier or, IMHO, more deceptive than the moves used in Sessions. I just didn't like it.Compare that to Approaching Magic, where many of the effects themselves didn't impressive me much (ace assemblies, for example). However, some of the greatest effects (and principles, if that is what matters) are kind of hidden away. A couple quick examples include some of the elements from the 'packet' section, which surprised me quite a bit. Regal's approach to the ambitious card made me a fan of that kind of effect again (many ambitious card routines seem built simply to show off one's skill with a deck of cards).
Some of his mentalism stuff was also quite impressive.With all that being said, I'll say that DMF excited me the most as a 'magician' and Approaching Magic is exciting me most about a performer/entertainer. Sessions never excited me, which I hate saying because people love this book, I just can't see it/feel it/understand it. Yes, my loss, I know this.Go to Bannon's site and get the downloads he offers for free if you like DMF.Lemnecro555Veteran user333 Posts.