Magic For The Rest Of Us

You’ve heard the phrase, A picture is worth a thousand words. Well, the book we're talking about is worth a thousand tricks.

We're talking about the shortcuts and strategies that famous magicians follow to become, quite simply, the best. Funnily enough, many of the rules in this book involve doing the exact opposite of what we've been told in magic. They repeatedly go against many of the mantras present in the magic community.

The book was written by Rory Adams, a professional magic consultant/writer and the founder of One Ahead. Since it went on pre-sale a year ago, it has only ever been sold in small batches and has never been available to the general public.

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Reviewing the founder's book in his newsletter?

Tricky, I get it.

But honestly, I don’t think there has been a better book in recent years that depicts the magic community as it is while providing so many strategies to improve and succeed in today’s world. This book is a key to unlocking many doors.

Rory has a knack for writing and storytelling, having worked on many TV magic shows and creative projects, ranging from Magic for Humans on Netflix to Neil Patrick Harris's BoxONE games.

However, like many magic consultants, Rory has longed for something more. While other consultants in his position often dream of stepping out of the shadows to perform magic, Rory wanted to write outside of magic.

That’s why this book serves as a total contribution to the magic world. (One Ahead readers needn’t worry—he’s not leaving this space and will still write for the newsletter). In his own words,

This book aims to unveil the secrets and strategies of the best magicians Rory has worked with. In doing so, he directly challenges many of the so-called rules of magic—rules we assume are fundamental but which often prove to be hollow.

Throughout ten thought-provoking essays, Rory dismantles core beliefs we’ve taken for granted in magic.

Some of them include the notion that we shouldn’t repeat tricks, that we shouldn’t use stooges, that we should care about fooling other magicians, or even that methods matter at all.

If this feels new to you, that’s because it is—at least within the realm of mainstream magic thinking.

This book's ideas reflect the work of many successful magicians and the private conversations of consultants and like-minded thinkers. Rarely have these ideas been expressed publicly with such clarity.

One of the book's recurring themes is a simple yet powerful phrase: Know your audience. Rory explains that the best magicians understand their audience deeply, and he teaches you how to do the same so you can elevate and perfect your material accordingly.

Another eye-opening idea is that hobbyist magicians have more in common with famous magicians than they do with professional gigging performers.

Hobbyists, for example, can access a location long before a performance, research their spectators, and even make use of accomplices in ways famous magicians often do.

At the same time, while gigging magicians might care about pocket space and instant resets, hobbyists and famous magicians need not. By recognizing and embracing these insights, you’ll transform the way you perform magic forever.

This early edition also features ten trick tutorials—effects using everyday objects and playing cards, including a stunning method for a book test and an invisible Bullet Catch method anyone can do.

However, Rory is still debating whether to include the tricks when the book is finally publicly released. He knows magic products get more traction when they contain tricks, but he wants the essays to remain the heart of the book.

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