Posted By: T. House to themagiccafe.com Date: June 2005
Well, I did actually purchase this audio tape, so I thought I would share my impressions:
Frank Buono is known mainly as a restaurant magician, but now offers “Frank's Four Shows Audio Tape”. (http://frankbuono.com) The ad reads: “Discover The Secret To How YOU Can Instantly Start Performing Four Different Shows With Only 10 Common Tricks...... you'll learn the restaurant show, strolling show, kid show, and adult show that keep me busy performing year round!” Well, what do you get on the 85 minute tape?
Side A of the tape details the 10 tricks that Frank uses in all four of these shows, while Side B describes the four shows in greater detail. The 10 tricks use silks, cards, rope, mentalism, rubber bands, escapes, and a couple of dealer props. While Frank does not generally give instructions on the mechanics of the effects, this really is not necessary since they will most likely be familiar to you. He does, however, give complete references. Presentation for each effect is included. Most of the patter is very basic, but I did pick up some good presentation ideas for some of the effects. As I mentioned, a few of the tricks are special dealer items, and I must confess that I have now purchased one of them as a result of listening to the tape.
Also included is a description of what he calls the “Frank Deck”, which is set up to do three standard card tricks. The card effects are very basic, and you should already know them. Essentially, the “Frank Deck” is reasonable pocket management for those card tricks (note - these are probably the only card effects you will be able to do with this deck).
Are you going to be able to perform 4 separate shows with these 10 effects? Well . . . yes and no. The kid show and adult show do incorporate other effects which you will need to purchase (though you may have them already), and I am a bit skeptical about the visibility of some of the items for the kid or adult shows. That is, they may play well in a restaurant, but not show up well enough for a large group. By the way, Frank does explain that his kid and adult shows are designed for groups up to about 30, and NOT larger audiences.
The items discussed on this tape are all classics (or neoclassics), so don’t buy this if you are looking for new moves, or the latest finger flinger. In fact, I would put the tape in much the same category as The Magic Book, by Harry Lorayne. That book, of course, is highly recommended for beginners in magic, but is also respected by much more experienced performers. Likewise, this tape may cause you to go back to some tricks that you had long ago discarded, and discover them again, for the first time.