Customer Reviews

Tricks with Your Head: Hilarious Magic Tricks and Stunts to Disgust and Delight

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been waiting for this book for about 10 years or so... that's how long it's been since Penn & Teller deified Mac in their book "How to Play With Your Food". The title changed slightly (originally, they said to look for "Playing With Your Head"), and in that time, I had the opportunity to see Mac perform on a few "World's greatest magicians" type specials. Thus, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. And for the most part, I was right.

The star rating I used above is an average of ratings... if you've never read a book on goofy tricks like these, add a star. The originality will make you snort beverages through your nose when you think about poking your eyeball out with a fork. Gruesome as it sounds, I've done it before, and it's a great gag. Mac even suggests two different outcomes for you to try, depending on how far you want to string the audience along. The novelty of it all will also make you a little more forgiving for certain tricks like sticking a french fry up your nose (to keep more beverages from coming out, of course).

On the downside, if you have read books like this before, deduct a star. There is enough original material here to make up for gags that seem like old chestnuts, and the writing is entertaining and instructive. Regardless, you'll still feel like you've seen a bunch of this already, and odds are you will have.

I like gags. I guess it's a sign of a sophomoric mind but I really like disgusting ones that gross people out without ever really doing anything "bad". I also like to teach young kids tricks to play at the dinner table when out at fancy restaurants. I usually repent and offer not to teach the trick if a parent offers a suitable bribe. So it is that I thought this book might generate some laughs and even some revenue.

There are a few tricks in here worthwhile. The popping eyeball and the exploding zit both have a satisfactory degree of "yuk" mixed with "he didn't really do that, did he?" but most of them require more setup than can be achieved in a spontaneous setting. Worse, from my point of view, they come across as "Magic Tricks" even when they're being done. If you hand somebody a deck of cards and tell them to pick one, they have an idea that a performance is involved even if they have no idea what the trick is. The gags I look for are ones in which no one realizes that a gag has occurred until after it is over. As I said, a few of these meet that criterion. The rest are parlor tricks.

This book does a good job of teaching those tricks. Anyone can learn them. If that is your goal, you could do much worse. For what I was seeking, though, it did not have much. Still, it is written well and in an entertaining fashion.

The "tricks" in this book are LAME. Pretending to jam a fork in your eye and using a ketchup packet to pretend to bleed - these are the kinds of tricks this book claims to be hilarious. How about making a coin appear by secretly placing it on top of your head, getting an audience member to hold out their hands, and simply looking down at the hands to let the coin fall off your head into their hands. Magic? Hilarious? To whom? A three year old?

The real trick here is that they somehow managed to get an average of 4.5 stars for this book. Not THAT'S a great illusion. Out of the 52 tricks and gags in here, I found 5 that I might try when the mood is absolutely goofball.

I recently became interested in doing magic tricks and was so very pleased with those I found in Mark Wilson's "Complete Course in Magic". I bought this, based on its high rating, to supplement the tricks I learned from Wilson's book. However, even the five I found in "Tricks with Your Head" are so weak compared to "standard" magic tricks that I won't even do any of these head tricks when I'm doing the "real" magic tricks. To do so, would only lesson the effect of the good tricks I learned elsewhere.

Save your money.

And I'm pissed at Penn and Teller for endorsing this book. Guys, is your reputation really worth the back-end you're obviously getting on this weak material?

This book is a must for anyone that has any social fiber in them. Have you ever wished you had some great little gag to break the ice at a party? How about having the perfect anecdote to get the attention of that person across the bar? This book has page after page of hilarious gags and tricks you can perform with very little skill or preperation. Even if you never perform a single one of this stunts outside the comfort of your own home, the laughs you will enjoy while reading this book are well worth the price.

These are not only simple kiddie tomfoolery tricks. There are easily 20 stunts/tricks worth the price of the book. They can be incorporated into various situations. The reactions youll get are from shreiks of horror( the eye sreamer) till astounded laughter (eg headless wonder). I performed 90% of the material on my poor wife yesterday. All brought the desired reaction (which even amazed me). The material can be incorporated into all routines, for different ages and even into a professional magicians repertoire. The benign looking booking is packed with show stopper after show stopper. In all there are about 50 tricks, stunts etc. They can win you friends or lose you friends. Use them wisely. Penn and Teller are right about Mac King. In fact this book is too good to be revealed to the general public. I have a huge range of magic books, much more expensive than this, and for sheer reaction (shocked, disgusted, astonished, amused), this matches the very best. OK OK . I am not Mac Kings relative, agent or friend, but a grateful amateur magician.

I was completely surprised at how hilarious this is book is to read. I thought it might simply be a 'how-to' book for learning funny magic tricks, but I read the whole thing through at one sitting just because the writing style is so entertaining. I don't mean to dismiss the tricks, they too are really wonderful. And surprisingly easy to do. My favorites are 'The Headless Wonder' (it looks like your head is gone), 'Smack' (you get to hit your friend in the face only to have them laugh about it), and 'The Wonderful Telephone Trick.' Actually 'The Wondeful Telephone Trick' is the reason I bought this book in the first place. I heard Mac King demonstrate it on a local radio show. I have now bought 3 more copies of this book as gifts for my niece and nephews, and they all loved it (they're 17, 12, and 9 years old). But it's not just for kids (I'm 32 years old myself). If you like fooling your family and friends or just playing goofy practical jokes I think you'll find many great things in this book.

I've seen Mac's great and funny show at Harrah's in Las Vegas and will never forget him making his head disappear. It was so totally unexpected, it was just hilarious. With this book you can learn to make your own head disappear too, along with a couple dozen other great tricks, stunts and gags that take minimal skill and practice. Most of them do contain a similar unexpected, bizzarre twist that will make you laugh out loud just by imagining yourself performing them. This is a funny, funny book. I'm going to be giving a lot of them at Christmas!

This book was a let down. I thought it would be more entertaining but it lacked that. There were a couple tricks here and there that were funny but that's about it. I guess I would have to read it again to like it. I just expected more.

This is the perfect book for People that want to start doing magic tricks, Master magicians, or just people that want to laugh and have fun. If you are going to buy one book on amazon, make this the book.

I highly recommend this book! I was lucky enough to see Mac King perform his show in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. He was terrific. Some of the best slight of hand I've ever seen; delivered with down home charm and wit. After the show Mac made himself available in the lobby to talk with the audience. I mentioned to him my nephew was interested in learning magic and wondered if his book would be helpful. I bought a copy and was happy I did. It is filled to the brim with cleaver, off the wall tricks that anyone can do if they take the time to learn the routines. It is a great way to take your first steps into the world of magic without spending a ton of money.