Matt, do you actually go out and do shows with an act of your own material? Anyway, glad to hear you aren't hurting your bank balance.If you haven't got 'em, the bound volumes of Jinx magazine are a great value buy for your "older" book collection.

For those that don't know what a square circle prop is, simply feed that into the search engine on a major magic dealer web site, Hank Lee or Tannen for instance.

Paul Hallas.

Paul, yes I do do shows with my material, although I am not a full time professional yet, as there are other things that need to be done at this time. My next show is next Wednesday doing strolling magic at a UCONN festival. And yes, it will be almost all my own material.

I've always felt like such a fool for not going through the Tarbell course ; most magicians I've seen discussing it online talk about it like it's one of the most basic things in the world that only the most feeble beginners wouldn't have been through . . . it is quite comforting to know I have company in that area among the higher ranks of magicians. Thanks for telling that; I needed it.

I have had the first three volumes for 25 years, and only recently completed the set. I use them as reference most of the time.

I enjoyed the 1st volume the best. It is on my list of to-do but the priority is not as high as other things.