Now You See It, Now You Don't!: Lessons in Sleight of Hand [Paperback]

Bill Tarr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 1976

A new and simple learn-by-picture method that makes it easy for anyone aged twelve and up to perform all the classic sleights just as they are done by the world's greatest professional magicians. Long-time magician Bill Tarr has teamed up with Barry Ross, an illustrator famous for his instructional sports diagrams, for easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, so that with the help of more than 1,500 line drawings that capture each eye-fooling movement, you'll learn everything from simple sleights you can master in minutes to the great classics of magic. With ordinary objects -- a regular deck of cards, a coin from someone's pocket, a few balls of crumpled aluminum foil -- you'll soon be doing ...

Card Fanning

Springing the Cards from Hand-to-Hand

The Lit-Cigarette Trick

The Three-Shell Game

The Cups and Balls

Three-Card Monte

The Cut and Restored Rope

The Miser's Dream

plus ...

Unbelievable Card Tricks

Coin and Cigarette Vanishes

and dozens and dozens of the world's greatest sleight-of-hand effects!

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

A new and simple learn-by-picture method that makes it easy for anyone aged twelve and up to perform all the classic sleights just as they are done by the world's greatest professional magicians. Long-time magician Bill Tarr has teamed up with Barry Ross, an illustrator famous for his instructional sports diagrams, for easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, so that with the help of more than 1,500 line drawings that capture each eye-fooling movement, you'll learn everything from simple sleights you can master in minutes to the great classics of magic. With ordinary objects -- a regular deck of cards, a coin from someone's pocket, a few balls of crumpled aluminum foil -- you'll soon be doing ...

Card Fanning

Springing the Cards from Hand-to-Hand

The Lit-Cigarette Trick

The Three-Shell Game

The Cups and Balls

Three-Card Monte

The Cut and Restored Rope

The Miser's Dream

plus ...

Unbelievable Card Tricks

Coin and Cigarette Vanishes

and dozens and dozens of the world's greatest sleight-of-hand effects!

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (October 12, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394722027
• ISBN-13: 978-0394722023
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.4 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Magic & Illusion
  • #39 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Magic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for anyone with significant ability, January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Now You See It, Now You Don't!: Lessons in Sleight of Hand (Paperback)

This book looks very helpful for those just starting to learn sleights, and appears to cover the major areas (coins, cards, balls, and cigarettes). However, it's directions are slightly confusing and its illustrations are not as clear as they could have or should have been. It's also lacking in teaching presentation and performance. It is not completely bad, however it is also not the first book that I would recommend to people wishing to become sleight of hand artists. If you were purchasing several books on sleight of hand this would be appropriate to include, but otherwise stick to the Dover series on magic (Modern Coin Magic by JB Bobo, The Encyclopedia of Card Tricks and Advanced Card Manipulations by Huegard, The Art of Magic by JB Bobo, and generally any book published by Dover Publishing Inc).

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good, but there are better., July 1, 2005

By 

S. Keal (Tampa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Now You See It, Now You Don't!: Lessons in Sleight of Hand (Paperback)

I recently purchased this book thinking that I would be getting some new tips in sleight of hand, which I did, but with much aggrevation. If you are a beginner I would not recommend this book. It's books like this that will make people turn away from magic. The concepts are good in this book, but the drawings are difficult to match with the instructions. The drawings and the explanations can cause a great deal of frustration and make one want to pass on tricks all together. Most of the stuff in this book is covered in Mark Wilson's book (which has 10 times better pics and explainations), so if you want just a few more tricks then get it, but altogether I wish that I hadn't bought it.
The only real good thing about this book is that it has some good cigarette vanishes and a good routine, but it may take you 10 hours o decipher what you are actually looking at. For beginners...not really...if you are a beginner...go to Mark Wilson. Cheers

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IF YOU ONLY BUY ONE MAGIC BOOK EVER, MAKE IT THIS ONE!, July 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Now You See It, Now You Don't!: Lessons in Sleight of Hand (Paperback)

This is THE sleight of hand book! A step-by-step guide to almost every sleight created! Bill Tarr explains how to do the sleights in an easy and understandable way and the illustrations are so good that you could learn the sleights alone from them! If you only buy one magic book ever, DEFINITLY make it this one!