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SOME TRICKS

Anthony Owen is the BAFTA award winning producer of all of Derren Brown's specials and series', The Real Hustle, Dirty Tricks, Deathwish Live, The Secret World of Magic, The Quick Trick Show, Monkey Magic, The Greatest Magic Tricks in the Universe, Marc Paul's Mind Games, Magick, Thomas Solomon: Escape Artist and much more. He has also created material for David Copperfield, Paul Daniels, Geoffrey Durham, John Lenahan, Dominic Wood and many others.

CONTENTS:

SOBW - Anthony's Oil and Water
The improved handling for Anthony’s acclaimed super clean Oil and Water sequence. Three red and three black cards are alternated and magically separate. After being performed twice with the cards face down it is done with all the cards dealt face up - and impossibly the colours still separate.

Lava Lamp
Sebastien Clergue's super visual handling for the final phase of Anthony's SOBW.

Who wants to be a magician?
A hilarious trick based upon the hit television show ‘Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?’. A spectator uses their innate psychic ability to pick the correct answers to multiple choice questions — even though they do not know the possible answers! And they do it perfectly fifteen times in a row to win a million! Just like Paul Curry’s classic Out of this World the spectator will be the hero and not have a clue to how they did it.

Natural Lottery
This gasp getting opener to Anthony’s Monday Night Magic act is ideal for any stage or platform performance. The magician asks six random audience members to each select a different number between 1 and 49. Amazingly these numbers prove to be the same six which are on the printed lottery ticket the magician bought earlier that day! You might not be able to win the lottery, but you can influence your audience members to pick the numbers you want them to! No pre show or limited selections.

Number at Card
A unique solution to a legendary card effect. A deck is handed to a spectator for safe keeping. A playing card and a number between 1 and 52 are both freely named (no forces, pre show work or limited selections). The deck is opened and it is revealed that every card has a different number between 1 and 52 printed on its back —and incredibly the selected card bears the selected number!

Edited versions of Natural Lottery and Number at Card appear in this trailer for Anthony Owen's Lecture DVD (which is also available at TVMagic.co.uk):

REVIEWS FOR THE PRINTED EDITION

Derren Brown:
"Anthony Owen is something of an unsung genius, and this book is a real treat. His Oil and Water is the cleanest you'll ever see, his ideas highly commercial and satisfyingly off-the-wall, and his prose radiates a modesty which I could only dream of. This is a very, very good little book."

Andy Nyman:
"Every single item is a stand alone winner. Buy this book - NOW."

John Lenahan:
"When I read in the introduction that you had modelled your book on those of Lewis Ganson I thought it was a dangerous boast, but in fact you were spot on. Your book's style has a lovely retro feel that took me back to the days when I poured over magic books at every waking moment. The material is good - after all I've seen most of it and the explanations are very good. Just like a Ganson book in fact. Well done!"

Andrew O’Connor:
"The same brilliant thinking that make your TV magic shows such a success.”

Marc Paul:
"'Some Tricks' is more than a collection of some tricks. It's the best tricks from the working repertoire of one of the UK’s brightest magical minds.”

Jeff McBride:
"Very clever thinking. Some Tricks are great tricks that have deceived many of the most knowledgeable magicians!"

Eugene Burger:
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The first routine certainly got me thinking. A mind-boggling effect and a very clever method. The handling for Oil and Water is also quite magical. I think every close-up performer will benefit from Anthony's wonderful thinking."

Nicholas Einhorn:
"Anthony's oil and water routine is one of the fairest looking, most baffling versions I have ever seen or used. It consistantly fools and enthralls all who see it whilst building theatrically at every phase. The final revelation is so amazing people go WILD. Frankly I'd prefer it if Anthony kept this one quiet!"

Ian Rowland:
"It's a gem. Four superb pieces of magic, all diabolically deceptive, clearly explained and well thought out. 'Number At Card' is the best twist on 'any card at any number' you will ever use. 'Who Wants To Be A Magician?' is topical, clever, fun and magical. 'The Natural Lottery' is what it was created to be - pretty much the perfect opening item for mentalists who love utterly impossible predictions with all the wrinkles ironed out, and 'SOBW' is the latest incarnation of Owen's already widely praised, impossibly clean 'no moves' version of the classic 'Oil and Water' plot. If you're not interested in that little lot, you ain't interested in magic."

Review from July 2003 issue of MAGIC magazine by Michael Close:
Anthony Owen is a prolific creator, a consultant for many theatre and television productions, and for four years was the editor of The Magic Circular, the house journal of The Magic Circle. Some Tricks is a booklet that contains four of Anthony's creations. Three of the routines are designed for the stand up performer, the fourth will be of value to the close-up worker.

The first routine, Number at Card, provides an offbeat approach to the Any Card at Any Number plot, The performer introduces a cased deck of cards, which, he states, has been shuffled into a random order. Someone names a playing card and someone else names a number from 1 to 52. There are no forces or stooges….The cards are turned over and each has a number from 1 to 52 on its back. The designated card is turned over, and lo and behold, written on its back is the chosen number….the trick is novel, the handling is not difficult, and the trick will certainly bamboozle laymen. (And perhaps magicians as well.)

Who Wants To Be a Magician? is a routine based on the popular Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Programme. A spectator manages to blindly choose the correct answers to a series of questions. Anthony provides the easy method and he outlines some approaches for the types of questions you can use.

The Natural Lottery…the presentation is logical, the prediction makes sense and the method incorporates a great use of Unconscious Assumption. The final item is SOBW, an Oil and Water routine. This version looks very good and is not difficult to do.

I like this little booklet a lot. Anthony has full blown presentations for each item and has included discussions of the thinking behind each routine. You’re getting four professional calibre routines that could go into your show with a minimum of alteration.

Review from Genii August 2003 by David Regal:
Anthony Owen hails from North London and produces various magic/mentalism themed series and specials for television. This is a booklet of four effects, and had it contained only Mr. Owen's handling of the Oil and Water plot, it would be a valuable addition to anyone's library...all cardmen will find it of interest. As it happens, the other three effects offered here are also very strong. 'Number at Card' is an unusual effect in which a feely named card is shown to possess a freely named number on its back in large block letters. 'Natural Lottery'…the number on the magician's lottery ticket matches random numbers called out by the audience and ‘Who Wants To Be a Magician?’ is a coincidence-style routine that can involve several participants, and invites creative personalised variations – this could easily have been a marketed stand-alone item.

I was impressed by the thinking shown here. These effects are not only worth investigating, they will, I think, prompt you to dream up other effects that use related methods. That's high praise.

Review from The Linking Ring October 2003 by Phil Willmarth:
Anthony Owen is a television producer, consultant for television and stage productions, former editor of The Magic Circular, the journal of The Magic Circle, and a prolific creator of magic. Here are four of them.

'Number at Card' is a clever and unusual method for the classic 'Card at any Number' plot. A deck is shown to be in random order. A spectator names a card, another names a number. A spectator counts to the chosen number, but it is not the named card. The named card is found, however, and when turned over it has the named number on the back. A stunning effect.

'Who Wants To Be a Magician?' is a routine based on the 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' TV programme. In the programme four answers are shown to the player who has to guess the correct one. In Anthony's version the spectator strives for the correct answer using his or her ESP. The result? Of course they are correct every time.

'The Natural Lottery' involves six spectators thinking of a number between 1 and 49. When the performer removes a printed receipt for the week's lottery draw, and another audience member reads it out, amazingly they are the exact same numbers the spectators decided on.

This is a superb use of a known method and psychological ploy and is a stunner!

'SOBW' is a three-phase Oil and Water routine with, yet again, a unique method that is not difficult to do. And a separate handling of the third phase by Sebastien Korta is also included.

In sum, this is an excellent booklet and the price is not out of line if you can sell these effects as the ‘miracles’ they can be. Highly recommended.

Review from The Magic Circular, the magazine of The Magic Circle, May 2003 by Peter McCahon:
Anthony Owen is well known to the magical community as an up and coming producer of magic orientated TV shows. This booklet of effects is an attempt to share his latest magical thoughts and creations amidst a very busy schedule. It details the methods and routines for four very strong effects.

These effects have benefited from the time delay in getting them into print as Anthony as had time to think and rethink the details as they sat on the 'backburner'. Unlike far too many effects these days which are rushed into print half thought out and impractical to use as written, these ideas actually work with audiences. This is not to say that you are not encouraged to find your own presentation, but what is supplied is an excellent starting point.

My favourite of the four routines is definitely 'Number at Card'. Following the classic plot a freely named card is found by choosing a number between 1 and 52. Each card in the deck is found to be numbered on the back and the selected card matches the chosen number! The idea is simple in its execution and very effective indeed.

Nicely produced with clear illustrations and photographs this is a great little gift for a friend or just to treat yourself!

Review from www.Magicweek.co.uk May 2003 by Duncan Trillo:
Anthony's opening trick Number at Card provides a very workable and effective solution to an effect that many magicians have found to be a real challenge... how to produce any given playing card at any given number - you know: "Name a card and give me a number between 1 and 52" say, "six of spades," and "32" and the 32nd card is indeed the six of spades. In the hands of the right performer Anthony's method could be incredibly strong and is ideal for stand up work but can also be used close-up.

Next: Who Wants To Be a Magician? running on a 'Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?' theme makes very clever use of an old method. The routine even includes '50/50' 'Ask the Audience' and 'Phone a Friend' (where would magicians be without their mobiles?) involving the whole audience - be it two or three people or a large crowd.

The Natural Lottery is really clean: "Six members of the audience each think of a number between 1 and 49. The performer removes from his wallet his printed receipt for that week's lottery draw. Another audience member reads out the 6 numbers on it - amazingly, despite massive odds, they are the exact same 6 numbers!" I can't say what here, but there is one small detail that makes this routine - and it got me thinking of other potential applications straight away. Excellent.

And finally SOBW is an "Oil and Water" effect. Anthony produced a version of this for Monkey Magic so that it could be shot from the underside of a glass table and it looked very good. I've never been a fan of Oil and Water but Anthony's handling and attention to detail and logical patter suggestions make this routine stand out.

So that's it. Some tricks, explained in great detail with photos, patter and presentation tips throughout.

Highly recommended. 5 Stars

In his Circular Mentalism column in the October 2005 issue of The Magic Circular Ian Rowland wrote:
"Here’s another example of a small booklet containing ferociously deceptive material: Some Tricks by Anthony Owen. Four tricks, to be precise, in just sixteen pages of very tiny text. The kind of small booklet that is easy to overlook. It was published in 2003, but I’m surprised how many mentalists are still unaware of it. All four of the tricks are good and at least two are worth the attention of anyone into mentalism. Consider Anthony’s ‘Number at Card’ effect. Spec # 1 names a card. Spec # 2 names a number from 1 – 52. Spec # 3 counts through the deck. It transpires that all the cards have numbers on their backs. Not small numbers you could add with your well-trained, well-smudged thumb, but bold, pre-printed numbers almost as large as the cards themselves. Spec # 1’s chosen card is turned over and it bears Spec # 2’s chosen number! No forces, no stooges: just sheer, brain-freezing impossibility. Any laymen would find it easier to lick his own elbows than figure that one out."

Review from Magicseen March 2005 by Mark Leveridge:
“Anthony Owen has now been around the magic world for a long time - and yet mysteriously he is still relatively young! Has he discovered a secret elixir which has enabled him to capture eternal youth? No, he just started very early! As a result, when he comes up with ideas of his own, they seem to demonstrate an interesting blend of experience and background knowledge mixed with a youthful exuberance - an interesting cocktail.

“SOME TRICKS is a little collection of four of Anthony's own routines, with a fifth item being also included, which is Sebastien Korta's version of the third phase of one of the routines of Anthony's already described in the booklet. The contents are: NUMBER AT CARD - a method for the classic 'Any Card At Any Number' plot. WHO WANTS TO BE A MAGICIAN - a routine for either a close up show, or if made up with Jumbo cards possibly for a stand up or cabaret performance, in which the spectators play a magical game of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'. A spectator becomes a millionaire by correctly guessing the right answer every time without ever seeing the four possible suggestions. THE NATURAL LOTTERY - the magician shows that he apparently knows in advance which six numbers will come up on the National Lottery. SOBW - a very clean Oil and Water routine. LAVA LAMP - Sebastien Korta's variation of the third phase of SOBW.

“This booklet is nicely produced on glossy art paper and is carefully written by Anthony in a style that is thorough and which makes the explanations very clear. I get the impression that all the effects included are performance pieces - in other words they are not items devised just to fill a book but are pieces of real world magic which have been genuinely used by the author, and the detail of the descriptions reveals the amount of thought that has been put into each item in order to make it as practical as possible.

“Most of the routines require you to take a little effort to make up the necessary props, and this may put off some who just want to pick up a deck of cards or a few coins and start practising. But I would suggest that if you take the trouble to get the bits and pieces assembled you will be more than happy with the effects that you are left with.

“Some of the material is suitable for stand up work, and some for close up, although those routines all require a re-set of some sort and are possibly a little too long or involved for table hopping when time is short. However, I would suggest that all the material would be well received by a lay audience if presented well, and the skill levels required are minimal.

“You may perhaps feel at first sight that [the price] is a lot to pay for instructions for basically just four tricks, but I would say that in terms of supplying practical, workable magic for people who really need material for their act, Anthony could actually have marketed all of these items individually at the same price EACH, and it would not have been unreasonable.

“This booklet is the first in a small series of similar titles (the second volume, SOME MORE TRICKS is already available) and is a strong start. With so much magic in print which seems to consist of minor, poorly thought through variations which probably have never even been performed in earnest, it makes a pleasant change to read a booklet containing material that has all been worked first and published second."

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