COME A LITTLE CLOSER  -- edited by John Derris, including contributions by Alex Elmsley, Roy Walton, Ted Danson (the "Calendar trick" guy, not the "Cheers bartender" guy), Bobby Bernard, Derris himself, and a few others.

1998 FIRST EDITION, published by L&L.  Hardback  (the book is in NEW, MINT, and never owned previously -- it is from dealer inventory)

In the early 1950's, a group of British magicians used to get together in London every sp often to session and share ideas.   That group included those magicians mentioned above.  Magic dealer, Harry Baron, got each of these creative magi to write up one trick, and he published it in a book called "Come a Little Closer".

If you are thinking, why do I want to look at tricks from 1953, maybe you have heard of a few of the items from this influential little book:  Point of Departure, It's a Date (the Calendar effect)...  You get the idea.   It was an amazing collection of magic.

In 1998, L&L worked with one of the members of that group (John Derris) to revise, expand and re-publish Come A Little Closer.  The new L&L edition included all the original effects, but also new items from original members of the group.  It is fascinating to see how their creativity evolved over the decades.

There is a lot of great magic in this under-appreciated book.  And so I am calling it "a book you should own, but probably don't!"   If you don't own it, read on to hear my highlights:

Jack Avis teaches an excellent modification to the Mercury fold, and incorporates it into a really strong Card to Wallet.   The Bobby Bernard coin items are first-rate, and his neat finish to a sponge ball routine will surprise even those very familiar with this common prop.  While I thought the Ted Danson calendar effect would be the highlight in his section, I learned that Danson was a master at creating strong contexts for his tricks.  His Seance Card trick is excellent, and Give me a Ring also takes an easy method and makes it into a very powerful effect.   John Derris' ring and string stuff is definitely worth learning...   (WOW!  I haven't even gotten to Elmsley and Walton yet!)

The section by Alex Elmsley contains an item by Elmsley called No-Calc, which finds a spectators chosen card in an absolutely impossible way, and you probably won't even understand why it works.  But it does.  And of course, his seminal Point of Departure effect.

Roy Walton's section includes his handling of the Color Changing Knives, just in case you thought he was only a genius with Cards.

There's too much here to cover everything, so just look at the photo of the first page of the Table of Contents.  Tons of strong magic, well-formatted and well-taught.    And more great stuff on the second page of the table of contents!

I hope you agree, this is a book you should own.    Published price is $30.  But you can own it for less if you get it here!

CONDITION:  new and mint -- from new-old ex-dealer inventory, so never previously owned