To commemorate Vanishing Inc's 15-year anniversary, the company has reissued one of its most popular books from the earliest days: High Spots by Caleb Wiles. It was a book that introduced Wiles' magic to the community at large, and readers found refreshing premises applied to cleverly constructed card magic that's built to be performed in the real world.

The book - originally printed as a softback booklet - has been out of print and hard to find for many years; but now, Vanishing Inc has reprinted it in an attractive, limited edition hardcover volume that's built to last and look nice on your shelf.

Those hoping for bonus material in this new edition will be disappointed. Aside from a few free video downloads gifted by Vanishing Inc that cover two tricks in the book and one that's not, this is otherwise a straight reprint of the original 2009 booklet with zero alteration of the text or layout. That said, if you're like me and owned the book at the time of its original release and are just eager to get your hands on the material again, this reasonably priced book is more than worth it.

I was 15 years old and in high school when High Spots came into my life, and it was a trip down memory lane to reacquaint myself with the material I remember being obsessed with back then. Without further ado, let me shout out a few personal favourites of the 12 items detailed in this book!

OFFBEAT ACES
This didn't do much for me when I first learned it as a teenager, but I have a new appreciation for this clever means of producing a four-of-a-kind. Three Jokers are removed from a deck, and a 'target card' is selected seemingly at random; let's assume it's an Ace. The deck is then cut into three piles in an attempt to locate the other three Aces, but the effort fails. No worries; that's what the Jokers are for! One by one, each wrong card is placed among the three Jokers and changes into an Ace until all four are now displayed on the table. Some may be a little frustrated by the relative sameness of each Ace appearance, but I nonetheless think this is a visual, fun, and technically satisfying way of leading into a Four Ace trick. One thing to note: a small chunk of the explanation is clearly missing from the text - the part where the deck is cut into three piles - but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to fill in the blanks.

RESWINDLED
Having appeared in many more publications beyond this book, Caleb's handling of Paul Harris' classic 'Reset' has become quite famous, and rightly so: this is objectively one of the best variants of Reset out there, in many ways improving on the Harris original. The premise is logical: four Kings are removed from the deck in preparation for a demonstration in card cheating. The Kings are tabled and the magician removes an assortment of four random black spot cards to be switched invisibly for the tabled Kings. One by one, each black spot card visually changes into a King without the packets coming into contact. In the event the magician is caught cheating, she has a back-up plan: the Kings instantly change back into the black spot cards, and the Kings are found back on the table where they're supposed to be. Then, as a genuinely surprising kicker, the four Kings are transformed into an even better bunch of cards: the Four Aces. Elegantly structured, not terribly difficult to do, and features minimal set-up that you can easily do on the fly. It's no wonder this is a go-to version of Reset for many, many magicians.

26!
Meant to be pronounced as '26 Factorial', this is Caleb's extremely clever and fooling version of the Sympathetic Cards plot. A deck is shuffled by the magician, then cut into two piles, with a spectator given one half of the deck to shuffle. As they shuffle, they are also given the chance to briefly look at the faces of the cards in the other half, subliminally feeding them information about their order in hopes of creating an impossible coincidence. Both halves are then tabled, and a spectator chooses where to cut each half; impressively, cutting to a matching pair of cards (say, the two Black Fives) in each pile. It's taken a step further when they're asked to name a small number, and that number is counted to in each pile to find yet another matching pair of cards. Then, the big finish: it's revealed that the spectator has managed to shuffle their half into the exact same order as the other, matched card for card. A combination of ingenious principles make this effect sing, including a bluff at the end that seems bold but really does work. Minimal sleight of hand work, zero switches, maximum impact. This is a stunner.

CRYSTAL CUT
This is the standalone 'move' in the collection, and it's one I've used since learning it 15 years ago. Crystal Cut is a versatile, in-the-hands false cut that can accomplish multiple different things like bringing any number of cards from bottom to top, top to bottom, and so on. This is the precise level of 'flourishy' I like: it's got some flash but not at all excessive, it's very pretty to look at, and it really fools the eye into thinking it's a true cut when, in reality, it completely preserves the order of your deck. This isn't a cut you should overuse, but it certainly has its place.

REPLICATOR
This fun hybrid of a Mystery Card effect and a colour changing deck carries multiple visual moments of magic built around an engaging premise. A blue deck is shown to have a single red-backed card reversed in the middle; a deck's version of a computer virus in Caleb's presentation. The virus card is removed and 'quarantined' off to the side, then to demonstrate how infectious this virus is, a card is selected and promptly lost in the deck. Then, using two Jokers as pincers for 'safety', the red-backed virus card on the table is turned over to reveal it has become the selected card. Next, the virus transfers itself off the selected card, which changes back to a blue-backed card, but it comes at a price: the infections has been transferred to the Jokers, which are both revealed to suddenly have red backs. As the big finish, the two infected Jokers come into contact with the entire blue deck, whereupon the virus spreads and changes it to a completely red deck. The premise has taken on new relevance in the COVID-19 era, but the effect is also very adaptable to whatever scripting suits you; I even remember using an H1N1 angle back in high school!

HERE-A-MOVE, THERE-A-MOVE, EVERYWHERE-A-MOVE MOVE
In the tradition of card magicians like John Bannon and Nick Trost - folks who know how to wring maximum magic out of a minimal packet of cards - this Four Ace effect manages multiple punchy, visual moments out of literally just four cards. First, the Aces are used for a Twisting effect, with each one turning itself over impossibly. Then, one by one, the backs of the Aces change colour from blue to red before all changing back to blue. Finally, the spectator names their favourite Ace, and the back of that named Ace changes back to red in isolation. From there, all the cards are clean an examinable. That final phase will vary depending on which Ace the spectator names, and you might need to lose it entirely if they don't do the most likely option; but even without that, the effect feels complete. Packet trick lovers will eat this up.


Not every effect in the book fully clicked with me. Many will love the playful techie premise of IDECK, but it's wrapped around an otherwise mostly standard Ambitious Card sequence (which Caleb readily acknowledges). BLACKJACK BE QUICK certainly has a clever method, but it's got a relatively laborious lead-up of spectator shuffling that ultimately results in a split-second production of a perfect Blackjack hand and... that's it. If you used this effect to lead into another Blackjack-centric effect, I could see it playing strongly, but I wouldn't use it as a standalone piece.

That said, it speaks volumes to the quality of material in High Spots that I would use - and have used! - the majority of the items within to great success. Better still, everything is well within grasp for the intermediate card handler; if you can manage double lifts, Elmsley counts, and a cull or two, you're well equipped to tackle anything in this book immediately. If you like punchy, playful, visual card magic that isn't going to bust the knuckles, you need Caleb Wiles' High Spots in your collection.

Get it at Vanishing Inc while it lasts: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-......edition/