Hi,

I’m planning to order "Focus"by Maven, is
it worth the $30.00? Any comments about the
effects? Does it require advanced abilities
in card handling? (difficult moves)


Thanks,

Christos

I have the book. One of the reasons that a lot of people got it, I imagine, is that it was out of print and rare for a long time.
I practiced some of the tricks in the book but they never made it into the core group of tricks I do. It is a nicely produced book and reads well. I would say as far as handling, it is aimed at the intermediate to advanced user. Most of the sleights need quite a bit of practice to get looking good.

Oh, and since you posted this in the Mentalism forum, you should know that this is a Phil Goldstein title. It is not mentalism, but rather 60 card effects.

Yes, along with Bill, I wondered why you had posted this in the mentalism section.



For the most part, Phil's packet tricks tend to require a little more skill than most. Phil must have been the most prolific of magazine contributors from the 1970's to the present and when he put this book out he picked for inclusion what he thought were the best of his card effects. Some of them were previously marketed.



One of my favourites is "Tearable". I'm sure you'll find something of use in this if you are a card guy.



Paul Hallas.