Studio52 is proud to present the first in a series of special books by Ben Earl.
The Shift is an ambitious undertaking: presenting powerful magic effects, technique and theory in brand-new ways-creating a unique literary magic resource and a great cover-to-cover read.
Not only will each volume of The Shift contain powerful effects and techniques, but with regular articles on the art of practice and the nature of deception, it will present new methods for supercharging your skills, and brand new insights into the psychology of magic.
Effect:
Spinner - An extremely magical transposition of two folded and signed playing cards; one held in the hand of the spectator and one held in full view at the performer's fingertips.
Just a Second - A new technical approach to the classic stop trick: the cards are shuffled and dealt one at a time, the spectator says stop whenever they wish... it is their selection.
Out of Oil - An outrageously direct handling of 'Out Of This World' which feels like real magic. The spectator genuinely shuffles the deck and deals the cards into two piles. The performer doesn't touch the deck once they start dealing... yet both halves are perfectly separated into reds and blacks.
Techniques:
The Overhand DPS - A technique for executing a Diagonal Palm Shift within a casual Overhand Shuffle.
The Combination Shuffle - One of the most innocent and deceptive looking Overhand False Shuffles you will ever see.
Theory:
A New Angle - An essay which may change the way you hold a deck of cards forever-and improve all of your sleights in the process!
The Art of Practice - A unique set of training drills to improve any magic technique using nothing but a rubber ball.
Influence and Deception - The first in a series of essays dealing with the nature of deception and its relationship to magic. This 'type' of information and research has previously only been available within UK military/government groups.
The Shift is specifically designed to assist you as you learn, to be read on-the-go but also look great on your bookshelf. It is a high-quality, full color, hard-backed publication-with every element produced in collaboration with industry experts.
The layout, colors, typeface and photographs are more than just stylistic choices; everything has been intentionally designed with the reader's learning and enjoyment in mind. The Shift dives beneath the surface of magic and gives you answers to problems you didn't know you had.
Ben's intention for The Shift was not only to give readers powerful, practical magic, but to create a resource which stimulates new conversations and attitudes towards the art and craft of magic. This is not your average magic book... it goes much deeper.