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"Forget about David Copperfield, cruise ship illusionists, and birthday party magicians...Think cutting-edge magickers like David Blaine and Criss Angel...People starting out in magic today want something edgier, grittier, quick, visual, and maybe a little dangerous." So says the ad copy for Tom Ogden's first rate "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Street Magic."

Taking it To the Streets

Ogden has created a great book that teaches how to learn and perform magic with an emphasis on close-up and impromptu magic.

The "street" in the title refers to close-up magic that is performed for strangers in the vein of David Blaine in his early television specials and Criss Angel, in the street segments of his TV series.

This is not a book about traditional street magic in the vein of Cellini, Gazzo or Kozmo, which is technically "busking," gathering a crowd, performing magic and passing around the hat for contributions.

Youthful Upstarts

From the "street" in the book's title to the cover photo with a young performer, this book is obviously geared towards the teenage, YouTube generation. I'm not sure that these kids want to think of themselves as "idiots," but Ogden delivers to them an excellent book. And he brings in no less than Jeff McBride to help out and teach some tricks.

With magic at the forefront, Ogden begins with chapters that discuss how to properly learn and approach magic and be successful at performing it. I have a feeling that the young readers will probably not want this information at the start - they want to get directly to the tricks - but I completely agree with this approach.

Close Up and Mentalism

Beyond part one, Ogden knows his audience and begins with the levitation and suspension of small objects and then delves into people levitations. Among the five people/self levitations, three are gags that are done for laughs.

There are chapters on card magic and close-up tricks with lots of classic beginner tricks. A chapter on geek-style magic shows how to appear to pierce, cut and otherwise hurt oneself. Teens will love these.

A chapter on mentalism called "The Undead" offer four effects involving mind reading and telekinesis. And a chapter called "Get Bent" offers telekinesis effects so you can appear to bend spoons, fold coins and move pens, all with the power of your mind.

Earthy Magic

An intriguing chapter called "The Powers That Be" delves into magic with organic items. There's an effect where a seed sprouts and grows in your hand and a torn and restored leaf. A trick with rocks is basically the old three in the hand one in the pocket routine.

Another section that shows that Ogden is writing to his audience, most of who will probably own Apple iPods, he teaches tricks that can be performed with music players. With a cut and restored ear bud and vanishing iPod, these are mostly tricks with the physical iPod itself, but a few do work with pictures and music. These aren’t the iPod and video tricks that have been popular of late that involve interaction with videos that play on the screens, which have been seen on lots of iPhones.

As he did in his original "The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Magic Tricks," a great beginner's book, Tom Ogden offers a thorough and informative introductory book on magic that is aimed towards younger readers. This is the next logical step for a young magician who wants to truly learn magic after he or she has burned out on YouTube videos.

I hope that kids want to become good magicians. And if they do, they can read Ogden's book to properly learn how.

-Wayne N. Kawamoto

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