Art of Astonishment

Book and Video release under this title by Paul Harris.

Art of Astonishment by Paul Harris: Pieces of Strange to Unleash the Moment

Book

© 1996 Paul Harris. Published by A-1 Multimedia.

This three-volume set of books contains all of Paul's classics, updated and refined, as well as 73 brand-new creations. Includes essays and six conversations with Eric Mead.

Volume 1

• 3 "What Does ""Additional Writing by Eric Mead"" Mean"
• 5 P.H on Astonishment (Astonishment Is Our Natural State Of Mind) Essay
• 11 Buck Naked (from New Stuff) The 'bent corner' principle used in Seductive Switch is used with currency to provide a bill switch gimmick.
• 23 Unshuffling Rebecca (New Stuff) A Triumph-like effect.
• 27 Light and Heavy Dime (New Stuff) Effect wherein a spectator cannot lift a coin.
• 29 Backlash (New Stuff) A card to pocket transposition effect.
• 31 Improv Nightshades (New Stuff) Sunglasses drawn on a dollar bill flip up to show George's eyes.
• 35 Apple (New Stuff) Torn and restored Apple
• 37 Lip Balm (New Stuff) Okito box-like effect using a common drugstore item.
• 41 P.H Vanishing Deck (First Piece) Remove a deck from it's case, cover it with your hand. Remove the Joker from the top, wave it over the hand and the deck vanishes only to appear back in the box.
• 47 My Dinner with P.H. (Magic of Paul Harris) Essay
• 51 Illusion (Magic of Paul Harris) A card, placed between two Jacks vanishes and reappears face up in the center of the pack.
• 55 Color Stunner (Magic of Paul Harris) Color changing deck routine.
• 59 Flip Flop Plop (Magic of Paul Harris) Card control based on the Three Card Monte toss.
• 63 Bayberry Bag Swindle (Magic of Paul Harris) One cup, cup and ball routine using a paper lunch sack.
• 67 Think of a Card (Magic of Paul Harris)
• 71 Deep Thought (Magic of Paul Harris) - addition to the Think of a Card above
• 75 Silver and Aces (revised) (Magic of Paul Harris) Gaff to carry and produce four coins for a card/coin routine such as ...
• 79 Giant Killer Coin (Magic of Paul Harris) Paul's Matrix follow-up with a giant coin finish.
• 83 Rip-Off Reverse (Magic of Paul Harris) Paul's first 'impromptu flap card' effect which came to full fruition in 'Buck Naked'.
• 87 Flash Fold (Magic of Paul Harris) Signed business card to matchbox.
• 95 LaLa's LuLu aka The Phantom aka Cue Cards Etc (revised) (Intimate Secrets) Inspired by Larry Jenning's classic 'The Visitor'.
• 99 Dehydrated Deck (Intimate Secrets) A small packet is unfolded and assembled into a card case. The case is opened and a deck is removed.
• 101 Bizarre Twist (Intimate Secrets) Two face down red aces are used to sandwich the ace of spades which is positioned at a right angle (crosswise) to the red aces. The cards are twisted and the spade visibly turns from face down to face up. This is repeated and on the third turn the back visibly changes from blue to red.
• 105 Curley Cue Move (Intimate Secrets) Randy Holt's odd flourish where a one handed fan springs from the top of the pack.
• 107 Solid Deception (Intimate Secrets) A short ambitious card routine which ends with the deck being welded into a solid block.
• 113 Ultimate Rip-off (Super Magic) An ungaffed torn and restored card using only one playing card.
• 119 Ultimate Rip-off: Dancing with the Last Piece (Super Magic) Further thoughts on the Ultimate Rip-off
• 121 Double Monte (Super Magic) Two aces change places with one queen.
• 123 Earth Shoes (Super Magic) Complaining of a stone in his shoe the performer removes the shoe and dumps a foot-sized rock out of it and onto the floor.
• 125 Grasshopper (revised) (Super Magic) A card jumps from between one pair of kings to the other.
• 127 Open Revelation (revised) (Super Magic) Two one-handed fans are waved over the table and a face up ace appears. The fans are shown on both sides and another aces is produced. In this way all four aces are produced.
• 131 Three-Way Display (Super Magic) Another flourish: the deck is cut into three one handed fans.
• 133 Machine Gun Aces (Super Magic) The deck is turned into a pistol which fires aces.
• 135 Pain (Super Magic) ouch
• 137 Re-Set (Super Magic) Two packets, aces and jacks are shown. Jacks are placed on the table and aces are held in the hands. One at a time the aces change places with the jacks. For a kicker ending the four jacks "reset" and become aces once again.
• 143 Re-Set Options (Super Magic) Further thoughts on Re-Set.
• 145 Torn and Restored Coin (Super Magic)
• 147 Las Vegas Split (Super Magic) The magician tells the tale of a Blackjack game where he was dealt a pair of deuces. He makes good by splitting the deuces into four aces. Then the four jacks are produced to make four winning hands!
• 153 Flash Control (Super Magic) A flourish and control
• 155 Ace Trap (Super Magic) A four ace routine where a trap (made of cards) is baited with one ace to collect the other three.
• 157 Hi Ho Silver (Super Magic) A coin vanish using the deck for cover.
• 159 Vacuum Cleaner Cards (Super Magic) A very funny four ace routine
• 165 Care and Feeding of P.H. (Las Vegas Close-Up) Short essay by Chuck Martinez on Paul Harris
• 167 Stapled (Las Vegas Close-Up) Two Jokers are stapled together. A signed card changes places with one of the stapled cards and is now stapled to the other joker.
• 171 Over Exposure (Las Vegas Close-Up) The deck is turned into a disposable camera (using a Queen as a flash cube)
• 175 Absorption (Las Vegas Close-Up) A card ins 'absorbed' into the card case during an amusing 'memory test'. Paul calls this a 'sort of cardician's whoopee cushion'.
• 181 AeroDynamic Dollar (Las Vegas Close-Up) A bill is folded into a propeller and nailed to the ceiling.
• 185 Las Vegas Leaper (Las Vegas Close-Up) Cards Across routine.
• 187 Leap of Faith (Las Vegas Close Up) Bill Malone's take on 'Las Vegas Leaper'
• 189 New Twisted Collectors (Las Vegas Close-Up) J.C.Wagner and Alan Ackerman's hybrid of 'Twisting The Aces' and 'The Collectors'
• 191 Gambler vs. Mentalist vs. Magician (Las Vegas Close-Up) A Triumph routine.
• 195 Looy's False Count (Las Vegas Close-Up) A clever gag
• 197 Cros-Twist (Las Vegas Close-Up) A one-handed version of the Bizarre Twist.
• 197 Silver Slide (Las Vegas Close-Up) Four cards are slipped from the deck and placed on the table. A coin is vanished and the spectator is asked to guess under which card it will appear. After revealing that the spectator guessed correctly the magician moves the other cards to show that he made sure the spectator wouldn't miss as there are coins under every card!
• 205 Cardician's Blendo (Las Vegas Close-Up) After missing twice (4 of diamonds, 6 of diamonds) the magician takes the two incorrect cards and blends them into the selection (10 of diamonds)
• 207 Invisible Rising Card (Las Vegas Close-Up) A Invisible Deck routine without the trick deck.
• 211 Paper Chase (Las Vegas Close-Up) Chink-A-Chink with paper balls
• 213 Korem's Card on Tie (Las Vegas Close Up) A selected card appears pinned on the performers necktie.
• 217 Perpetual Motion Coin Myth (Las Vegas Close-Up) An impossible(?) coin flourish
• 219 Interlaced Vanish (Las Vegas Close-Up)
• 223 Interlaced Space (Las Vegas Close-Up) Three cards, face down between the four kings, vanish!
• 225 Uncanny (Las Vegas Close-Up) A one cup, cup and ball routine using a Beenie Weenie can.
• 231 Air (Misc. Pieces of Paul) The air in your lungs changes places with the helium in a balloon.
• 233 Classic 11 Card Trick (Misc. Pieces of Paul) The classic 11 card trick which adds the revelation of a selected card for a climax.
• 241 Cheap Juggler (Misc. Pieces of Paul) Pennies are balanced on their edges.
• 247 Creation (Astonishing Friends) Patrick Martin's method for creating a live moth from a paper cocoon.
• 251 Griffin Under Glass (Astonishing Friends) Card through a glass topped table!.
• 253 Silver Mirage (Astonishing Friends) a graceful coin vanish and reproduction.
• 255 Within Your Reach (Astonishing Friends) A odd bit of physical magic where you arm apparently stretches.
• 257 Grippo's Wish (Astonishing Friends) Jimmy Grippo's handling of Slydini's Silk Knots
• 261 Orange (Astonishing Friends) a novelty method of sculpting an orange peel.
• 267 Who the Heck is Gregory Wilson? (Gregory Wilson)
• 269 Wilson on P.H (Gregory Wilson) Essays
• 271 License to Thrill (Gregory Wilson) Greg Wilson's full presentation and method of Paul effect License (your drivers license changes places with a spectators)
• 277 411 (Gregory Wilson) Telephone mentalist. A random number from the phone directory is called to determine a randomly selected object.
• 285 Shell-Shock (Gregory Wilson) Coin in Egg
• 285 Vanish 5000 (Gregory Wilson) A vanishing sugar trick
• 287 Molotov Cocktail (Gregory Wilson) Vanishing Ice Cube
• 289 ReCap (Gregory Wilson) Full routine using only a stick style ball point pen and cap. Cap vanishes, pen vanishes, audience laughs...
• 303 Tunnel Vision (Conversations from the Edge)
• 305 House Guest (Conversations from the Edge) Two very odd ideas that even Paul can't make into a trick... yet.

Volume 2

• 3 Astonishing Artist: Tony Dunn. Paul introduces the illustrator of the Art Of Astonishment books.
• 5 Gourmet Mystery Show: essay by Eric Mead.
• 13 Counterfeit Spectator (New Stuff): A spectator's name appears on a dollar bill in the place usually occupied by the Secretary of the Treasury.
• 19 Swiss Movement (New Stuff): An animation effect using an ungaffed Swiss Army Knife and a card.
• 23 Lysdexia (New Stuff): Another oddity: A word in a book moves from one part of the page to another.
• 25 Flesh (New Stuff): A (meta?): a mentalism effect where the power of the mind is used to move small pieces of a broken toothpick from hand to hand.
• 27 Angel Case (New Stuff): A card case that can be used to switch billets or other small things.
• 31 Putty Buddy (New Stuff):
• 35 Putty Buddy s Pal (New Stuff): A paddle move with a routine that use a pair of pennies stuck in Silly Puddy.
• 37 Strange-O (New Stuff): A spectator makes a loop in a piece of string. You thread a pen into the loop and use it to slide the loop off leaving the spectator holding a circle of string with no ends.
• 39 Hiccup (New Stuff): A clever and visual card transposition.
• 43 Twinkie Bottle (New Stuff): A washer is placed over the opening in a bottle. A tube is formed around the neck and a pen is dropped into the bottle through the too small hole in the washer.
• 47 Fluffer Deck (New Stuff): A spectators name which was written on the back of a card vanishes and reappears on written large on the entire spread deck.
• 49 McGimmick (New Stuff): Tricks using the lid to a fast food milkshake.
• 53 Cincinnati Blues (New Stuff):
• 57 Cincinnati Two-Faced Blues (New Stuff): Effects using the extra cards that come with each deck of playing cards.
• 61 Skin Job (New Stuff): Part of a spectator's business card penetrates into a book.
• 63 Fizz-Master (New Stuff): Two cans of soda are shown. One is shaken vigorously so that it will spray when opened. The magician then magically removes the fizz and transfers it to the other can which sprays when opened.
• 67 Cardboard Connection (Connections):
• 77 Immaculate Connection (Connections):
• 91 Osmosis (Connections): Linking cards
• 105 Special Interview (Close-Up Entertainer): Intro to the book Close-Up Entertainer
• 107 PDQ#2 (Close-Up Entertainer): Coins Across.
• 111 Four Finger Finale (Close-Up Entertainer): A flashy ending for coins across.
• 113 Drop-Shot (Close-Up Entertainer): A corner is torn from a card and placed in the pocket as a receipt. The damaged card is lost in the deck which is placed atop a glass where all can see. The corner drops into the glass and the selection is removed from the pocket where the corner was.
• 119 Facelift (Close-Up Entertainer): A card sandwich routine from Alan Ackerman
• 119 Peeler (Close-Up Entertainer): A small 'nick' in the back of a card is peeled back and then restored.
• 123 Subtle Poker Move (Close-Up Entertainer): Spectator shuffles the deck and you deal two poker hands. After a gag where the spectators sees that you have three times the number of cards he was dealt you shuffle the deck and legitimately deal yourself a winning hand!
• 125 Blackjack Challenge (Close-Up Entertainer): A routine producing four Blackjacks followed by a Royal Flush.
• 131 El Warpo (Close-Up Entertainer): The card case turns inside out... or you try to convince the audience they are INSIDE the case and prove it.
• 135 Betz Poker Roll (Close up Entertainer): Four coin flourish from Dana Betz
• 137 Silver Elevator (Close-Up Entertainer): Coins penetrate UP from the table into the deck.
• 143 Quarter Caper (Close-Up Entertainer): Three half dollars are produced from 'inside' a borrowed quarter.
• 147 Stretch (revised): (Close-Up Entertainer): A two phase routine with a deck and a rubber band.
• 153 Kinky Pinky (CloseUp Entertainer): A rising card effect.
• 155 Blind Peek (Close-Up Entertainer): A trick involving one spectator and a room full of impromptu stooges.
• 157 SideWinder (Close-Up Entertainer): Attempts to push a card into the deck fail when the card slips out of the pack at odd angles.
• 163 King Solomon's Drink (Close-Up Entertainer): Close-up production of a beverage.
• 165 Castle Conspiracy (Close-Up Entertainer): A card transformation effect using the theme of building card castles.
• 169 Wax Lips (Close-Up Entertainer): A spectator blows you a kiss which is caught on the face of a selected card. You remove the kiss in the form of a pair of wax lips.
• 173 Cellophane Surprise (Close-Up Entertainer): A pack of cigarettes is borrowed to demonstrate 'bloodless surgery'. The cellophane is broken open at the bottom, a hole is torn in the bottom of the pack and a cigarette is removed. The hole and cellophane are restored.
• 177 Pinochle Solution (Close-Up Entertainer):
• 181 Mary on P.H. (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): Short essay by Paul's publisher's mother.
• 183 Overkill (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): Mental effect with four 'proofs' that you knew which card would be selected.
• 185 Traveling Triumph (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): A Triumph effect
• 191 Fantasy Aces (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): Daryl and Paul join forces to produce the four aces.
• 197 England's Penetration (Revised): (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): Coin through hand using a spectators coin and hand.
• 199 Sliding Ink (Close Up Fantasies I and II): A card is marked on the back. The mark is removed tossed into the air and caught on the back of another card in the center of the deck. The mark is then dragged off of the second card and returned to the selection.
• 203 FlapJacks (Close-Up Fantasies I and II):
• 207 Pre-Mixed FlapJacks (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): A very nice flourish production of four of a kind.
• 211 Double Decker (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): The performer notes that his blue case seems to have a red deck of cards in it. This factory mixup bothers the performer who is attempting to perform a trick. Eventually the performer finds the blue deck 'way in the back there' in the case. The red deck is pushed into the blue case and the blue deck is removed. The selected card is found and all can be examined at the end.
• 215 Million Doliar Mindreader (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): A secret technique for mentalism effects.
• 217 Tuning Fork (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): A selected card rises out of the deck.
• 221 Breaking Point (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): A bit where you can't remove the cap from a pen so move it to the other end of the pen.
• 225 Stamped Second (Close-Up Fantasies I and II):
• 229 Stuck! (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): Methods for demonstrating a perfect second deal by placing a stamp on the back of the top card.
• 233 SuperSack (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): Signed card in envelope using small paper sacks
• 235 Uncut Version (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): An odd visual where two halves of torn cards are restored to their 'uncut' versions.
• 241 Floating Deck (Close-Up Fantasies I and II):
• 247 How to Pop a Floating Deck (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): One on one close-up levitation.
• 249 Time Machine (Close-Up Fantasies I and II): After introducing the subject of toys purchased from the back of comic books the performer introduces his childhood favorite: a 25 cent time machine (a small black paper square). A demonstration of it's power is then down with a deck of cards.
• 259 Up The Ladder (Misc. Pieces of Paul): A tabled false cut sequences.
• 261 Laws of Lapping (Misc. Pieces of Paul): Humor
• 263 Twilight (Misc. Pieces of Paul): A single coin is place in front of a small mirror so it appear two coins are on the table. The coin and it's reflection are then dragged to the side and the reflection becomes a real coin. Further sequences are performed ending with the production of two more coins.
• 271 Super Twilight (Misc. Pieces of Paul): Daniel Cros' handling using a shell coin.
• 275 Cheapshot Boomerang (Misc. Pieces of Paul): A signed card is tossed out an open window only to Boomerang back and be caught inside your coat.
• 277 Mr. Lucky (Misc. Pieces of Paul): A deck is cut into three packets. A spectator places a dime, penny and nickel each on one packet. They can change the positions as much as they like. Luck is with you as you reveal that the spectator has placed the dime on a ten, the nickel on a five and the one on an ace.
• 279 Butt Of Course! (Misc. Pieces of Paul): Humor
• 281 Super Swindle (Misc. Pieces of Paul): A selection is placed face down between a pair (red threes for example). All three cards are rolled into a 'blow dart gun'. A spectator blows the selection into the center of the deck face up and unfolded!
• 287 Tenkai Joe (Astonishing Friends): Tenkai pennies done with matches
• 291 Incredible Mystery of the 10th Card (Astonishing Friends): Edward Victor's Eleven card trick updated.
• 295 Tensegrity (Astonishing Friends): An oddity you can construct and display in your home. An apparent levitation.
• 297 Altman Maneuver (Astonishing Friends): An interesting and visual two card transposition.
• 299 Flutter (Astonishing Friends): John Kennedy's coin under napkin effect. A coin disappears and reappears under a paper napkin. When it does the napkin flutters.
• 303 Eng's Bottles (Astonishing Friends): Another oddity you can create for your home. A full deck of playing card in a bottle.
• 309 Harkey on P.H. David Harkey's essay on Paul.
• 313 Carpet Critters (Conversations from the Edge):
• 315 Collapsing Marble Myth (Conversations from the Edge): Two more theoretical magic tricks discussed with Eric Mead.

Volume 3

• 2 Astonishing Editor: Andre Hagen.
• 5 Other Side of Astonishment.
• 13 Shape of Astonishment (New Stuff). The image of the head side of a coin is embossed on a scrap of foil. When the coin is turned over the image changes to the tail side.
• 17 Window of Opportunity (New Stuff). While performing magic at party your signed business card vanishes and reappears inside an unopened envelope that someone else mailed to your host.
• 21 Hot Chocolate (New Stuff) Produce a full bar of chocolate from the folded wrapper you carry in your wallet.
• 23 Anything Deck (New Stuff). You display and set aside a small packet of cards. Then you have a card selected and ask for a 'special' word. The special word is used to locate the selection. Finally, the packet of cards is displayed and each has a large letter on it's back. The letters spell out the special word.
• 27 Peanut Butter and Jellyfish (New Stuff). Floating bread
• 29 Rumpled Splitskin (New Stuff). A pair of business cards (one of which is signed) magically weld together.
• 31 Free Ride (New Stuff). A simple method of adding a card or cards to the deck during a performance.
• 33 Arrow Split Arrow (New Stuff). A card is tossed into the air and boomerang's back into the deck splitting a card.
• 37 Bat Fishing (New Stuff). A dollar bill is borrowed and a eight cards are selected. The numerical values of the eight cards make up the serial number of the borrowed bill.
• 41 Membrane (New Stuff). A card is selected and turns out to be the one with the 'secret mark'. The mark is then transfered onto the card case, vanishes from there and appears on another card.
• 45 Membrane with a Pack of Smokes (New Stuff).
• 49 Swing Thing (New Stuff). A packet of Equal sweetner (or sugar) is opened, dumped into a folded bill, and then restored to it's original state.
• 51 Tic-Tac (New Stuff). Coin in the bottle done with a dime and a box of Tic Tacs.
• 53 Leaf (New Stuff). A leaf is removed from a plant, marked and reattached.
• 57 Bizarre Vanish (Close Up Fantasies Finale). The Bizarre Twist mutates to a method of vanishing a card.
• 63 Close Quarters (Close Up Fantasies Finale). Daryl's method of welding two quarters into a half dollar.
• 65 Heartburn (Close Up Fantasies Finale). A playing card is struck on a matchbook and ignites.
• 67 Mickey Mouse Math (Close Up Fantasies Finale). A nine spot is split into two and a seven. The two is subtracted from the seven leaving a five. Futher magical math is done until the selection is created.
• 71 Torn and Restored Deck (Close Up Fantasies Finale). The illusion of a torn pack of cards.
• 75 Shuffle Time (Close Up Fantasies Finale). Cards are produced to show that the deck can tell time. However, the time is incorrect until the magician waves his hands and changed the time zone to local time. The cards then display the correct time.
• 79 Strange Exchange (Close Up Fantasies Finale). A transposition between a card and a coin.
• 83 Just Call Me Mr. Wonderful (Close Up Fantasies Finale). A flourish for removing the pack from it's case using only one hand.
• 87 Bill Collector (Close Up Fantasies Finale). A card penetrates a bill and rises from the deck.
• 91 Guts (Close Up Fantasies Finale). Signed card to wallet
• 99 Improvised Screwed Deck (revised) (Close-Up Kinda Guy). A deck is twisted so that one end is face up and one is face down and then restored.
• 105 Hi There BabyCakes (Close-Up Kinda Guy). A name and phone number, written on two cards fuse together on one card.
• 109 Perfectionist (Close-Up Kinda Guy). A three phase routine in which the cards separate into red and black piles, the piles transpose and the deck instantly mixes using 'reverse psychology'.
• 115 Instant Replay (Close-Up Kinda Guy). A card hops off the deck and into your other hand. It then hops back onto the deck.
• 119 Simple Switch (Close-Up Kinda Guy). A 'both directions at once version' of Instant Replay.
• 121 Headache (Close-Up Kinda Guy). A King of Hearts stabs himself in the head with a sword.
• 125 Bad Estimate (Close-Up Kinda Guy). A demo of cut estimation goes wrong with entertaining results.
• 129 Return of the Bizarre Shrink (revised) (Close-Up Kinda Guy). The Bizarre principle is used to shrink a playing card.
• 133 Chocolate Coin (Close-Up Kinda Guy). The surface of a quarter is pulled back revealing that it is a clever Swiss (chocolate) counterfeit.
• 139 Cardcuffs (Brainstorm in the Bahamas). While his thumbs are locked in a pair of thumbcuffs made from a playing card a selected card is found.
• 141 Bent Copper-Silver Transposition (Brainstorm in the Bahamas). During a simple penny and dime transposition a spectator bends the penny.
• 143 Hefty Penetration (Brainstorm in the Bahamas). A card, locked inside a Ziplock bag rises and penetrates the bag.
• 147 Hedonist Makes Up All The Rules (Brainstorm in the Bahamas). A card trick without cards.
• 153 Card Well Hung (Brainstorm in the Bahamas). Card on coat hanger.
• 157 Free Lunch (Brainstorm in the Bahamas). Visual oddity wherein a cocktail weenie is produces at the spectator's fingertips.
• 161 Diary of a P H. Video (Close-Up Seductions). Humor.
• 163 Limo Service (Close-Up Seductions). A Aces and Jacks routine. The jacks are magically transported into the card case while the audience is "distracted" by the aces.
• 167 Seductive Switch (Close-Up Seductions). a Blackjack themed transposition.
• 173 Blue Tattoo (Revised) (Close-Up Seductions). One by one a number of red cards absorb a bit of blue ink from a blue card and change color. This fades leaving you with red cards once again.
• 177 Unhinged (Close-Up Seductions). A folding deck effect.
• 181 10 (Close-Up Seductions). From guest contributor Jay Sankey. An Ace, Two, Three and Four are merged into one Jumbo Ten.
• 185 Bushwhacker (Close-Up Seductions). A version of Larry Jenning's "Close Up Illusion" without the slit card.
• 191 Sweet Stuff (Close-Up Seductions). A coin and the contents of a sugar packet change places.
• 195 Michael's Proposition (Close-Up Seductions) Michael Ammar's addition to to Free Flight which causes the final coin and the card to appear under the spectator's hand.
• 197 Bleached Blackjack (Close-Up Seductions). Showing a bad hand of sixteen the magician erases the six, leaving a blank card. The blank card is transformed into an Ace giving the performer a winning Blackjack hand.
• 205 Mead on P.H (Magical Arts Journal). Essay by Eric Mead.
• 207 Whack Your Pack aka Reflex (Magical Arts Journal). A spectator thinks of a card, it vanishes and reappears in your pocket under test conditions and with amazing humor.
• 211 Juke (Magical Arts Journal). David Harkey's take on Reflex.
• 215 Free Flight (Magical Arts Journal). Coins vanish from your hand and appear under a single playing card.
• 219 Tap Dancing Aces (revised) (Magical Arts Journal). Aces vanish from your hands and appear in and one the deck.
• 227 P.H. Invisible Palm aka Open Travelers (Magical Arts Journal). Humorous pseudo-explaination of how the Tap Dancing Aces works.
• 235 Mondo Nifty Invisible Palm (Magical Arts Journal). More invisible palm stuff.
• 241 Big-Time Las Vegas Leaper (Magical Arts Journal). TCards Across routine ever.
• 249 Biological Shuffle (Revised) (Magical Arts Journal). The performer accidentally shuffles his fingers into the deck. Extracting them a number of cards stick to his fingers... they turn out to be four of a kind (your choice).
• 253 Galaxy (Magical Arts Journal). Paul takes on Out Of This World.
• 259 Break-Out Group Boredom Buster (Secrets of the Astonishing Executive). Names are written on the backs of five business cards which are ripped in half and mixed then dealt into pairs of halves. EVERY pair turns out to be matched with it's other half.
• 263 Client-Confidence Sugar Shocker (Secrets of the Astonishing Executive). The old double-headed coin con using sugar packets.
• 265 Instant Incompetency l.Q Test (Secrets of the Astonishing Executive).
• 269 Burbling of a Pea (Secrets of the Astonishing Executive). A pea floats on a cushion of air, coming out of your mouth.
• 271 Perfect Ten Paper Clip Paradox. he old mathematical puzzle done with office supplies.
• 275 The Late For Lunch Miracle Maneuver. A waiter is asked to set your watch to a random time and conceal it's face from you. You borrow a friends watch and set it to a random time. They match.
• 277 Mom's Come and Go but a Rolex is Forever (Secrets of the Astonishing Executive).
• 281 Cube (Misc Pieces of Paul). A cube is made out of playing cards. The four fours are shown. One vanishes and becomes part of the cube.
• 285 Bizarre Stretch (Misc Pieces of Paul). A streching card illusion.
• 291 Torn Mentalist (Misc Pieces of Paul). The card case flap is torn from the card case and handed to a spectator who jabs it into the middle of the deck. He manages to place it right between the two cards written on the unseen other side of the case flap. As an afterthought the magician restores the torn card case.
• 295 P.H. Breakthrough (revised) (Misc Pieces of Paul). A deck is set atop it's case then pushed through the top and back inside.
• 299 Shuffling Lesson (Astonishing Friends). Chad Long's wonderful handling for the spectator finds the aces. Under the guise of a shuffling lesson a spectator manages not only to find four of a kind but to beat the magician's four of a kind.
• 303 Voodoo Card (Astonishing Friends). Damage done to a specator's card also occurs to a close mate card (3 clubs /3 spades).
• 307 Dollar Box (Astonishing Friends) Origami fold for turning a dollar into a box.
• 311 Hot-Shot Cut (Astonishing Friends) Paul's handling of Daryl's flourish.
• 313 Sankey on P.H.: Paul Sankey's essay on Paul.
• 317 Kitchen Magician (Conversations from the Edge)
• 319 NoWhere Man (Conversations from the Edge) Two almost possible trick concepts give an entertaining look into Paul's creative process.

Items not included in AoA

• From "Magic of Paul Harris"
  • Joker Poker - Replaced in AoA by Color Stunner. Joker Poker was left out because it was an earlier version of Color Stunner and in fact was not even supposed to have been included in Magic of Paul Harris...some kind of editing error. Eric Mead argued that the patter to Joker Poker was good enough for its inclusion, but was voted down. Color Stunner is afar superior handling so it won out, but the script for Joker Poker is worth a look. Some re-working of Joker Poker’s patter tied to the Color Stunner method could be a terrific opening effect.
  • The Phantom - This is a showy, rapid transposition of a chosen card in one packet of cards with an unknown “phantom card” in another packet.
  • Open Revelation - Replaced with open Revelation (revised) in SuperMagic
  • The Mystery of the Inner Aces - Thread selected cards are found sandwiched between the 4 aces in the deck.
  • Press - This is a quickie that Paul uses as a follow-up to “Inner Aces” Three selected cards are placed together in one packet and dropped face down onto the face-up 4 aces. The magician presses down on the backs of the cards and in a flash the back of the top selected add is seen to have changed into a face-up ace. The cards are spared and it is revealed that the 3 selected cards now alternate e with the aces.
  • Transfusion Confusion - An unknown card is openly placed inside of an empty card case and set aside. A second card is selected, signed, and torn into quarters. The pieces are cut into the center of the deck. After a magical pass with the card case, the pack is spread to reveal one face-down card. It is removed and shown to be the signed card completely restored, but the card in the case is opened to show that it has fallen apart into 4 pieces.
• From "Close-Up Kinda Guy"
  • Most of the effects in Close up Kinda Guy were not used in AOA. They struck a deal with Tannen’s Magic (who own Close up Kinda Guy) where they would only be allowed to choose seven effects from the book for AOA. A couple of items in there had been published in other places, so they got a few more than seven. Paul really didn’t want “Hey there Baby Cakes” in AOA but Eric Mead thought it was funny. He loved the idea of some social misfit giving his number to a girl in a bar like this.
  • Whirlpool - A spiral in the general shape of a backwards ‘6’ is torn in a card. The audience is unaware of this. Another card spirals downward through the prepared card in the manner of an object whirling down a drain. The damaged card in then restored. In the effect description it reads, in part: “an indescribably weird layer-by-layer penetration, destruction and restoration of a playing card.”
  • HardCore Travelers
• From "Close Up Fantasies Finale"
  • Electric Aces, Panic at the Poker Table, Tayan’s Camouflage, Incredible Shrinking Hand, Thumb-Break, Beast with Two Backs, Second Middle Bottom, Hit Me Again
• From "Close Up Fantasies Book One and Two"
  • Safe Cracker, Dream Boat Dazzler, Discount Deck, Biological Vanish, The Uncut Version Of The Uncut Version , Fantasy Coins Thru Table , Reassembled Finale , The Jack Puzzle, Daryl’s Elevator Repair
• From "Supermagic"
  • The Library Card - A signed card and a page in a book switch places. Paul gives thanks to Patrick Snowden for helping to develop this routine. The effect is a card is selected, signed and lost in the deck. A paperback book is displayed as normal and held by the spectator. The performer riffles the deck toward the book, but instead of the card making its appearance, a folded page pops out of the pack. After being unfolded, this page is seen to be number 151. Turning to that page in the book, the spectator discovers that this page is missing and has been replaced with the signed card. Might work well as a follow-up to Lysdexia (Book 2 / page 23)
  • Easy royal - Based on Derek Dingle’s routing in Afterthoughts by Harry Lorayne. Effect: A spectator names an ace while the magician removes 4 cards. Each one is shown to be the selected Ace. The cards are then dealt face-down displaying not four but five cards which are flipped over to reveal a Royal flush in spades.
  • Two routines by J.C. Wagner: Honest John’s Ace Assembly and Twisted Collectors.
• From “CLOSE-UP SEDUCTIONS”
  • Sleight-of-ear - The spectator's floppy ears are the targets for your seduction. By adding the element of sound to a two card transposition you buy a "delay" which moves the effect an extra step away from the method. It also provides a mnemonic hook which makes the cards easy to remember. But what's really important is that the element of sound, because of its "warmed-up" humanized premise, creates an emotional hook . . . which has the power to seduce unwary spectators into grinning from one floppy ear to the other.
• From "Reveals Some of His Most Intimate Secrets"
  • X-Press, Jigsaw, Dancing Finale, "?", Air of Mystery. Air of Mystery is a very interesting attempt to simplify a Vanishing Deck using a gaff that can be set up on the fly. Paul felt that while Air of Mystery was an interesting idea and pushed the creative envelope...that overall when compared to the Vanishing deck it just didn't hold up in terms of practical, in the trenches, convenience.

• From September 1985 Genii
  • $2 Aces and Erase the Cube

Video

The Art of Astonishment: Pieces of Strange to Unleash Volume 1 The Moment A-1 MultiMedia, 1995

Only one volume ever released. Contents include:

• Unshuffling Rebecca
• Backlash
• Angel Case
• Zen and the Art of Boomerang
• Flesh
• Impromptu Nightshades
• Buck Naked
• The Shape of Astonishment
• Fizz Master

See Also

• Paul Harris
• Effects by Paul Harris

References and links

• http://magicref.tripod.com/books/harrisaoa1.htm
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8BB7xBDhXc

See this page as a MindMap