After 1,000 copies sold of the first edition, here at last is Darwin Ortiz's cult book translated into French by Richard Vollmer: Strong Magic - 2nd edition!

A modernized cover for content that remains just as incredible and rich in knowledge!

Strong, compelling magic!
I'll be blunt: Darwin Ortiz's book seems to me to be a major work in the history of sleight of hand and more specifically that of close-up, and should sit, read and annotated, in the library of every self-respecting magician. In a word, I'd say it is to table magic what Magic and Showmanship is to magic in general, that is, the Bible.

The author, an internationally recognized specialist in card magic and gambling cheating, analyzes in detail and with a sharpness of mind backed by over thirty years of experience, the presentation of close-up with the aim of producing maximum impact on spectators, that is, making it at once entertaining and totally inexplicable, in other words, creating a feeling of impossibility in their minds while entertaining them.

Beware! Strong Magic is NOT a book on magic theory, but a TECHNICAL MANUAL and more precisely a thorough and incredibly detailed study (the book's table of contents alone takes up more than half a dozen pages!) of the dramatic and psychological techniques that are essential to know and apply if you want to influence spectators and produce in their minds the intended effect.

So Darwin Ortiz provides the reader with a whole range of concrete, practical tools, whose workings he explains, to give spectators a unique experience based on the sensation of the impossible becoming reality. You will find, as you turn the pages of this exciting book, that these tools put at the service of presentation offer at least a field as fertile and stimulating as a book of tricks and gaffs, and just as rewarding. Let every magic lover who aspires to be a magician and not a trick-doer dive into this work: they will never regret it! This book is much more. Being a trick-doer or becoming a magician... The scope is not the same and the impact of what you do will be multiplied tenfold once you become aware of all that Darwin Ortiz explains in Strong Magic. Everything will take on a new dimension. This book is almost one to read with pen in hand!

A final word about Richard Vollmer's translation: although it is almost superfluous to point out the care and scrupulousness he put into it, as always, showing himself to be at once a master of the language and an enemy of approximations in order to achieve exemplary clarity, I would not however want to miss this opportunity to praise his unwavering respect for the language and for magic, and the concern he has always shown for the dignity of these two crafts. Strong Magic is a pleasure to read and will leave you puzzled but driven by a will to do better, to do differently.

FEATURES OF THIS MAGIC BOOK, Strong Magic:

• Translated into French by Richard Vollmer
• 450 pages - Format 16.5 x 23.5 cm
• Hardcover

CONTENTS:

Introduction

• Magic as mystery
• Reaching the emotions
• The art of storytelling

Part One – THE EFFECT

• Clarity
  • The purpose of clarity
  • Interpretation
  • Selection
  • Lightening the spectators' burden
  • Clarifying techniques
• Conviction
  • The dynamics of conviction
  • The conditions
  • Convincing subtleties
  • …etc
• Suggestion
  • What is suggestion
  • Atmosphere
  • Reinforcement
  • …etc
• The importance of meaning
  • The game
  • Extrasensory perception
  • Credibility
  • …etc
• Meaning in context
  • The essential elements
  • Risk
  • …etc
• Dramatic structure
  • Attention grabbers
  • Progression
  • Surprise and suspense
  • The climax
  • …etc

Part Two – THE CHARACTER

• The functions of character
  • Character VS Magic
  • Character and effect
  • ..etc
• Creating your character
  • Finding your character
  • …etc
• The character facing the audience
  • Your words
  • Your actions
  • …etc
• Style
  • The elements of style
  • How to create your own style
  • …etc

Part Three – THE ACT

• Structure
  • Opening trick
  • Building up
  • …etc
• Unity
  • Character
  • Props
  • …etc
• Variety
  • Theme
  • Props
  • …etc
• Improvised performance

Part Four – THE AUDIENCE

• Trusting the audience
  • The audience experience
  • Feedback
  • …etc
• The time element
  • Timing
  • Rhythm
  • Tempo
  • …etc
• Spontaneity
  • Elicited reactions
  • …etc
• Attention management
  • The tools of attention management
  • Directing attention
  • …etc
• The audience
  • Attention span
  • …etc
• Assistants
  • The importance of assistants
  • The qualities of a good assistant
  • …etc
• Hecklers
  • The psychology of the heckler
  • The theorist
  • The challenger
  • …etc
• The unexpected
  • Training and rehearsals
  • Mistakes
  • …etc

To finish…

• Darwin's laws.