Don Alan: How to Earn a Living

Don Alan: How to Earn a Living is a 90-minute video of Don Alan performing and explaining his "Pretty Sneaky" act. It is Volume 28 of the Stevens Magic Emporium Greater Magic Video Library. It was first released on VHS in 1988, and then on DVD in 2005 by Twin Cities Magic (titled simply Don Alan). In the late eighties, when Don decided to finally retire after a long and successful career performing magic, he decided to shoot the video as an offering to magicians of the practical, working material he had used to make a living. Many close-up magicians consider it one of the best magic videos ever created.

Don's performance and explanation in the video served as the basis for the description of his "Pretty Sneaky" act in Jon Racherbaumer's In a Class by Himself: The Legacy of Don Alan (1999). The accompanying photos in the book were screen grabs from the video.

Contents

• Chop Cup
• Rising Cards* (Devano Deck)
• Nickel on Forehead*
• Cigarette Through Quarter
• Don Alan's Invisible Deck
• Little to Big Cards* (Micro-Macro)
• Big Deal
• 3-1/2 of Clubs (MIKO)
• Card Stab
• Ranch Bird*
• Scotch and Soda
• Don Alan's Bowl (Benson Bowl)
• Don Alan's Big Nut Production*
• Coat Hanger from Purse Production
• Ring Flight
• Fez Load Techniques

Asterisk (*) denotes Performance Only