I am pretty sure he didn't get Dominique's permission to expose the whole act in such detail. There was something in the description I could probably use in a linking finger ring routine.Īlas I do have to condemn it. It was a wonderful read and a complete expose of the act. The whole act was explained from start to finish. It was an interview with someone who knew the great Dominique, the famed master pickpocket very well. I actually felt a little guilty reading it but I have to say I enjoyed it. I don't know whether to praise it or condemn it. The book is pretty standard fare for a pickpocketing book except for one thing. This last one I will probably use myself. It has good standard techniques of pickpocketing, good explanations of such and a great trick of pretended muscle reading in order to remove a watch. However, his book compares well to the ones above. Mr Alexander was not so humble and not so nice to me. Mr Joseph was very humble and nice to me. One was Mark Raffles and the other two were Eddie Joseph in Harry Stanley's Unique Studio in London and David Alexander himself in Albuquerque. I also have an excellent DVD by Mark Raffles. Everything from a terrific pamphlet by Walt Hudson to more substantial works by Jimmy Ravel (also with really good illustrations) Ricky Dunn and the classic How to Pick Pockets by Eddie Joseph. Now what about the book itself? I have quite a few books on pickpocketing. The illustrations by David's wife are pretty good too. Solid hard cover, easily read print and it FEELS like a good book. Very well produced indeed and I shall resist the temptation to say that Tom Baxter as a mentalist would make a very good book publisher. I do reluctantly have to admit that it is a good book. I badly wanted to say it was a terrible book but alas I can't quite manage it. Therefore there is utterly no danger of making enemies out of friends since we have never been friends in the first place.Īnyway I happen to be interested in pickpocketing so naturally when this book came out I decided I had better put aside my biases and take a look at it. And Tom and I have never got on terribly well since I have always considered him to be an old misery and he has always considered me a charlatan of the first order. However, that is not a problem for me since I never liked David Alexander from the moment I met him. In a previous thread it was mentioned how difficult it must be to be a reviewer of magic books and products because you risk giving offence and making enemies out of former friends. Tom is known as "Entity" on this forum and I shall try my best and not be tempted to call him "Nonenity" as is my wont since this is supposed to be an impartial review. This a book by the late David Alexander which has been revised, edited and published by the not so late Thomas Baxter who has recently moved to the other side of Canada possibly to be as far away from me as possible.
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