 Hey everybody, welcome back to Magic Orthodoxy. My name is David and this is a Magic Book Review. Hey, today we're going to look at Strong Magic from Darwin Ortiz. Now, why are we reviewing books? Well, a lot of people have asked for this. Every time I review books, I get a lot of people that keep coming back and asking and saying, hey, give us more books. We want to learn more about books you'd recommend. You know what? Books are a really valuable resource and I know there's lots of downloads out there and lots of DVDs out there, but you know what? Books are something you can go back to time and time again. You don't have to fast forward. You don't have to rewind. And it goes at your own pace, you know? And so I just want to take some time and go through some killer recommendations and this one is strong. Alright, so if you don't know Darwin Ortiz, he was raised in New York City where he had a keen interest in card tricks and in 1974 he dropped out of law school and pursued card magic full-time. During that time he supported himself playing blackjack and he was also a teacher at Harry Lorraine's Memory School in New York. Darwin later became a consultant to a number of casinos across the world and he was a regular featured presenter for a succession of years at the World Gaming Congress in Nevada. Darwin Ortiz is the author of books on gambling and magic. His book Strong Magic focuses on practical presentational techniques for close-up magicians. The book has been broadly embraced by the professional and amateur magic community and that's why I'm bringing it to you today. Alright, what's it about? What is this book about? Basically it is a book on magic theory. However, Darwin Ortiz would argue that it's not, but I would say it is. It's a practical, like it says, it's practical advice. And it's really all the advice that I hear magicians give whenever they're doing like a live video chat or some sort of Q&A. People always ask magicians the same kind of questions about how to structure a routine, what tricks to pick, how do you get into this, how do you get good, how do you get better. Darwin Ortiz covers all of those questions in Strong Magic. Do you want applause? Do you want gasps? Do you want praise? Do you want your performance to be talked about and remembered? Strong Magic is going to tell you how to do it. You already own countless books on card tricks, okay? You don't need another book on card tricks. You don't need another book on close-up magic. Here's a book on something that's far more important. How you manipulate your audience. It's not dry, it's not boring, it's funny, it's fascinating, it's a great book. It's loaded with countless examples and concrete techniques that you can put to use right away to give your magic routine more impact. Alright, so what's inside? What is inside the table of contents? You are going to get a couple chapters on theory, of course, and then Darwin's going to break down everything one at a time. So the first thing he's going to break down is the effect. Talk about what makes a clear effect, what is, you know, jumbled certain conditions, how to make sure that you're not over-dramatizing things, making sure you have the right atmosphere. He goes through all the different things that kind of make tricks more interesting, things like magic and money, you know, he talks about conflict, talks about other kind of elements, talks about failure, talks about dramatic structure. Now in the second part of the book, he talks about character. This is something I talk about all the time, whether a trick fits your character. If you don't know what that means and you don't understand your character either, then I would say strong magic is the book you want to read. He's going to talk about why you need a character, how you find your character, what you wear, what you say, what you do, what you use, different exercises, things like style, developing your style. Next, he's going to go into the act. This is the part where I think a lot of magicians are asking questions when I see forums or just open Q&As or things like that. I see these questions all the time from you guys when you get the opportunity to talk to somebody who's famous. Darwin already covers all of those questions and you know whenever I see a magician answer those questions, he's answering directly from strong magic. He talks about which trick should be your opener, which tricks you build on and which trick is your closer. Then he's going to talk about audience management. Something again I talk about in my reviews all the time, whether you're good at audience management, Darwin Ortiz is going to cover what audience management means and what it looks like to the performer. He's going to talk about misdirection, pattern, pacing, finding balance, the importance of having an assistant, what makes a good assistant, theorizing, challenging, grabbing, all that kind of stuff that we worry about when we do magic tricks. Alright, so what's it going to cost you? It is a hardback book, it is a thick hardback book, so it's going to cost you $38. $38 is not bad. I bought DVDs for about the same price and what do you get, like 10 tricks? This is jam-packed with just a lifetime of knowledge. I think something needs to be said. If you're already a professional magician, you make your money at this. Maybe a lot of these tips and advice you already know, and I've read that from some experienced magicians that are like, I kind of knew all that kind of stuff, but like I said, if you're just starting out or you've been doing this for a little while or you're kind of amateur magician, this is the book you want to pick up. What do I think? Alright, so what do I think? As far as recommended books, this one's at the top of my list. Like I said, it answers all the questions that ever get asked of famous magicians, not just professionals, okay? So don't think, well, I can only get this book if I'm a professional. No, this is a great book for hobbyists. It's a great book for the casual performer. This will make your magic better. And the real secret of this book is how you're going to apply what's inside of this to help make you perform and do better miracles. Definitely worth reading. Darwin Ortiz has some really good thoughts and some fantastic opinions. Alright, so that's my review of Strong Magic from Darwin Ortiz. It is a self-published book. I found my copy at pingwinmagic.com and I would suggest if you want to purchase yours, you head there as well. Thanks, bye.