Classic Magic of Larry Jennings Book
Dai Vernon called it an absolute must for all lovers of the poetry of magic. That is not a blurb. That is a verdict from one of the most discerning eyes in the history of the art, and it has held up for every year since.
Larry Jennings was one of those rare performers whose technical mastery and creative imagination operated at exactly the same level. His card and coin work set a standard that shaped the way a generation of close-up performers thought about what was possible, and the routines collected in this volume are the ones that built that reputation. Clean, direct, and built on thinking so elegant that the method disappears entirely into the experience of the effect.
Eighty groundbreaking effects are collected here, covering card magic, coin work, and close-up performance material that belongs in any serious working repertoire. The descriptions are expert and thorough. The illustrations by Tom Gagnon are exceptional: over 440 of them across 288 pages, with more than 90 sleights fully explained from the ground up to make every technique accessible regardless of your starting point.
The highlights are the routines that made Larry Jennings a legend among legends.
Open Travellers is one of the most studied and admired versions of the Everywhere and Nowhere plot in print. The four aces travel through the deck in a sequence of visual, impossible moments that builds perfectly from beginning to end.
The Homing Card is a masterclass in the homing card plot: repeatable, logical in structure, and built with the kind of detailed thinking that makes it more baffling the second time than the first.
Peripatetic Coins is coin magic that serious close-up performers return to again and again. The handling is elegant, the phases are well motivated, and the overall routine is one of the most satisfying pieces of coin work in the literature.
The Visitor is a card routine built around a premise so deceptively simple and so cleanly executed that it has influenced countless performers who have tried to reverse-engineer it from the effect alone.
Visual Copper and Silver does exactly what the name promises and then keeps going. One of the most purely visual takes on this classic coin transposition plot, with a handling that requires real skill and delivers real impact.
Beyond these signature pieces, the book is full of effects that deserve far more performance than they currently receive, making it as valuable as a source of overlooked material as it is as a study of Jennings at his best.
This is one of those books you return to differently at every stage of your development. Pick it up as a beginner and it teaches you what to aspire to. Pick it up as an experienced performer and it shows you how much further you can still go.
Format: Hardbound with dustjacket, 288 pages, over 440 illustrations by Tom Gagnon, 90-plus sleights fully explained
Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
Best for: Card workers, coin workers, close-up performers, and serious students of the art
