Nearly 200 pages of powerful, practical card magic exploring how we can create “real” magic for modern audiences.
As magicians, it is our job to make audiences question reality. A difficult task when you realize centuries of magic tricks have told us that vague gestures like “waving a wand” or “snapping our fingers” are good enough reasoning for why magic happens.
Michael Feldman has spent his career actively working against beliefs held by generations of magicians. He doesn’t hide the fact he’s using special skills. Instead, he invites his audience into a compelling world where they’re not asked to believe magic is “real”, but rather challenged to prove it isn’t. Every audience is left with a genuine feeling of astonishment, including Penn and Teller when he appeared on Fool Us a couple of years ago.
In “The Pages Are Blank”, Michael shares 19 of his most cherished pieces. Each one breaks the typical structure of magic, using devious, off-beat methods to leave every audience rethinking their idea of the impossible. Ideas that have garnered support from an impressive list of magicians like Asi Wind, Denis Behr, Tony Chang, Garrett Thomas, Caleb Wiles, Harrison Greenbaum, Erik Tait, Carisa Hendrix, and many others.
Broken into two main sections, the first part of The Pages Are Blank features Michael’s go-to material. The routines he performs when someone asks to see a trick. There’s something for everyone from quirky effects like “False Dichotomy”—a brain-bending routine in which two people's different realities both end up being true—to unique and fun takes on classics like Triumph and Card Under Glass.
Throughout this section, you’ll also find a variety of original techniques. Versatile moves like a devious two-card peek and a deck switch that is undoubtedly going to be the highlight of the book for most magicians. It is genuinely the most incredible deck switch you have ever seen. (Check out the trailer!)
In the second part of The Pages are Blank, Michael shares the results of his 25-year exploration of duplicate signed cards. Join him as he unlocks a whole new world of impossibilities from an Anniversary Waltz variation in which the faces of both cards can be seen to an impossible transpo where a signed card swaps with a card under someone’s finger in the fairest way.
Everything in this incredible hardcover book is a bona fide worker, honed and refined in front of live audiences over 1,000s of performances. The material touches all skill levels and, while some of it might require a bit of practice, there is nothing particularly knuckle-busting. The effect and method are explained in detail and are accompanied by beautiful photographs, the choreography, and an easy-reference summary featuring all the key details.
While The Pages Are Blank is a beautiful addition to any shelf. It is not written to collect dust. It is instead crying out to be read and studied carefully. This is destined to become a modern classic book for any lover of card magic.
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“It’s really good. There are some really offbeat effects and very original plots. The really incredible deck switch fooled me the first two times I saw it.” - Pit Hartling
“Michael Feldman is one of the greatest card magicians I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.” - Kyle Purnell
“A must for any card magic aficionado” - Jon Armstrong
“Very original, incredibly smart, and well thought out.” - Harapan Ong
“I’m so proud of Michael for putting this out. He’s one of the most clever magicians I know. Don’t worry, the pages are not blank. It’s a beautifully written and illustrated book. There’s everything in this book including techniques for how to palm a card while shuffling and peek cards, as well as a great deck switch. It’s also got great routines with clever and innovative presentations.” - Karl Hein
