On Hidden Gems and where to find them

First of all, Excuse me for not being very active around here lately, it's just that I could not think of anything worth posting. In fact I am very peculiar and patient when it comes to seeking inspiration for doing something, I usually just sit and wait for an idea to knock the doors of my little brain and I roll with it. So far it has worked in a lovely way therefore I am not at all afraid to admit it.

There's a time in every cardician's life in which he comes across something very rare and unknown that is totally perfect. It is at that moment that one little dilema starts bumping in your brain like a giant mosquito. basically, You cannot decide wether to share it with the community or keep it to yourself. That time for me was when I got Jason Ladanye's book Confident Deception. 

Jason and I have been speaking via facebook for quite some time and when he asked my opinion on his  book I responded with a rather extensive and detailed review of the book that ended up all over Vanishing Inc. What can I say, that's my style.

Having said what I thought was necessary in order to give you some context, here's the full review of the book:

I’ve been studying confident deceptions ever since It first arrived at my doorstep and I’ve just finished my second reading of the book and I thought it would be great to write a review on what I think about the extraordinary card magic of Jason Ladanye. 

I’ve been speaking to Jason for quite some time now and we’ve had many great conversations about magic, probably because we are both students of the work of Mr. Darwin Ortiz. So when I found out Jason was about to put out a book I was really excited to finally see his own magic being put into the printed word.

Confident Deceptions is a rarity, every single effect in there (and I really mean every single one of them) is exquisitely designed to maximize audience impact. Jason’s got a kind of sixth sense for strong magic (something that Mr. Ortiz warns us about during the introduction of the book) and It really shines in every single presentation as well as in every method.

The book has a similar structure to any of the Ortiz titles in the sense that each effect is broken into several different subtitles in order to organize all of the information regarding said effect. You first find the title followed by a little quote that relates to the contents being discussed (Being an amateur writer myself, I was surprised to find several Robert Mckee references) then you’ve got the method, followed by a comments section and the credits and inspiration. Jason has been wise to actually include his script for every effect, something that Darwin Ortiz has occasionally done in some of the effects from his book “Scams And Fantasies with Cards” (2002).

The comments section is where the deviousness of Jason’s thinking is fully displayed and therefor appreciated by the connoisseur of strong magic. As a matter of fact, something that happens to me when reading any of the Ortiz books is that sometimes I may come up with an alternative method while reading the effect, only to find out that Darwin had already thought of it and discarded it for something that I had not thought of. I was delighted when the same thing happened with many of Jason’s effects from Confident Deceptions.

If asked to name a few of my favorites I would have to go for Through and Through, which is an excellent solution to a problem that Darwin Ortiz originated in his book Strong magic (1994). The method, once again is extremely clever and well-constructed.

However, my absolute favorite effect from there is Best for Last, an effect in which the magician demonstrates that he can cut to any poker hand called for, In fact he ends up cutting to each one of the hands from lowest to highest. 

I could go on and on listing the effects that I like the most because in fact I love them all.. Jason’s magic takes the Ortiz philosophy and breathes new air into them, or better said, it injects it with steroids.

Jason Ladanye is an individual who is talented, creative and clever, but most importantly He’s extremely humble and generous, that combination tells you that He’s is set for greatness.

Now go get the book:

http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/card-magic/confident-deceptions/

                                                                                                                                                          xoxo.