Restaurant magician Frank Buono has an audio tape available in which he discusses 10 tricks that he uses in a wide variety of shows:

To learn more about the effects I perform in many different
venues, check out "Frank's Four Shows Audio Tape." Click on the
following link now and enjoy a 30% off discount:
http://www.geocities.com/fjbuono/specialshowstape.html
This is a limited time offer, click on the link now for more info.

Is anyone familiar with this?

Bruce Hetzler

Hi Bruce:
I know Frank well and he is a real worker. He's been doing restaurants for something like 12 years, and over that time I've watched him grow and mature as a performer. He is one of the few guys I allow to sub for me in my restaurant gigs, and patrons and management alike always tell me how much they like him.

I have also read his book and heard his tape, which both provide valuable information, especially for someone trying to make a business out of their hobby of magic. The tape serves as a specific and useful introduction to the idea of show synergy. In other words, if you are going to spend the time mastering a magic routine, choose material that is going to please the audience, is within your technical skill, and which is useful in different types of shows in a variety of venues.

Frank talks about filling your repertoire with bulletproof routines, polishing them in the restaurant arena, then using them in kids shows, corporate, etc. (This seems to be the common progression in magic careers these days.)

Hope this helps,
Eric

I know Frank well and he is a top notch restaurant worker.If he says its so...than ITS SO! Don't miss anything Frank puts out.Its like money in your pocket!
Later,Don

2/10

His patter consists of

"Ok guys I have here two rubber bands, go ahead and check those out. Now I'm going to put one behind the other one like this. Now watch this it melts through. Examine these rubber bands, check them out."

"I have here two bunnies, I'm going to put them in my hand like this, check it out, now they have babies."

...... And I'm only exagerrating VERY slightly.

Sure this is real world stuff but it's not good enough to warrant selling a recording of.

Well, I did actually purchase this audio tape, so I thought I would share my impressions:

Frank Buono is known mainly as a restaurant magician, but now offers “Frank's Four Shows Audio Tape”. (http://www.geocities.com/fjbuono/showstape.html)
The ad reads: “Discover The Secret To How YOU Can Instantly Start Performing Four Different Shows With Only 10 Common Tricks...... you'll learn the restaurant show, strolling show, kid show, and adult show that keep me busy performing year round!” Well, what do you get on the 85 minute tape?

Side A of the tape details the 10 tricks that Frank uses in all four of these shows, while Side B describes the four shows in greater detail. The 10 tricks use silks, cards, rope, mentalism, rubber bands, escapes, and a couple of dealer props. While Frank does not generally give instructions on the mechanics of the effects, this really is not necessary since they will most likely be familiar to you. He does, however, give complete references. Presentation for each effect is included. Most of the patter is very basic, but I did pick up some good presentation ideas for some of the effects. As I mentioned, a few of the tricks are special dealer items, and I must confess that I have now purchased one of them as a result of listening to the tape.

Also included is a description of what he calls the “Frank Deck”, which is set up to do three standard card tricks. The card effects are very basic, and you should already know them. Essentially, the “Frank Deck” is reasonable pocket management for those card tricks (note - these are probably the only card effects you will be able to do with this deck).

Are you going to be able to perform 4 separate shows with these 10 effects? Well . . . yes and no. The kid show and adult show do incorporate other effects which you will need to purchase (though you may have them already), and I am a bit skeptical about the visibility of some of the items for the kid or adult shows. That is, they may play well in a restaurant, but not show up well enough for a large group. By the way, Frank does explain that his kid and adult shows are designed for groups up to about 30, and NOT larger audiences.

The items discussed on this tape are all classics (or neoclassics), so don’t buy this if you are looking for new moves, or the latest finger flinger. In fact, I would put the tape in much the same category as The Magic Book, by Harry Lorayne. That book, of course, is highly recommended for beginners in magic, but is also respected by much more experienced performers. Likewise, this tape may cause you to go back to some tricks that you had long ago discarded, and discover them again, for the first time.

Frank is a very nice guy and anything from him should be good.

Here you can sign up for Frank's free 5 day e-mail course.

Im glad frank bruno has taking up a hobby after boxing.I am looking forward to seeing him work.

I thought I was slow.... I don't even have a casette player anymore..