Conover by Eric Mead and Tim Conover

Happy New Year!

I am starting this new year off with a bang by reviewing the much-anticipated Conover books.

Volume 1 | The Magic of Tim Conover

The first 45 pages of the book is all background information on Tim. It has two Acknowledgements–one by Eric Mead and one by Shari Conover Rosenberg (Tim’s sister), two Forewords–one by Shari Conover Rosenberg and one by David Williamson, an Author’s Preface, and a section titled True Believer that gives us some information about the type of person Tim was on and off the stage. 

Honestly, it feels like a lot, especially considering there are two more books, but as someone who had literally no knowledge of Tim Conover before this, it was great insight into the type of person he was and how he approached his material.

Splitting the Rose - The performer twists some paper into the shape of a rose. In a flash of fire, it becomes a real rose. The performer hands the rose to one of the ladies sitting at his table. Noticing another lady present, the performer takes the rose back and splits it into two roses so that each lady can have one.

This is Tim’s solution to “The Creation of Life” effect that doesn’t require any living creatures. Everything is well motivated, the moves are simple, and it makes for a great piece that acts as sort of a magical introduction before the real magic begins. It’s also super practical. 

Goshman Shakers Simplified - Coins repeatedly disappear and reappear under salt and pepper shakers.

This is essentially Goshman’s original routine. Tim has eliminated a couple of awkward moves, but it is about 95% Goshman’s. It’s a difficult piece that requires an understanding of misdirection and many coin sleights. I can see why Tim loved it, but it is something I won’t be putting the work into learning. It’s a fine routine, but also kind of that classic meaningless coin magic where coins travel, appear, disappear, and change for no reason other than because it’s magical.

The Bending Coins - Six half dollars bend in an increasingly impossible way.

For me, this is the best routine in the entire three book series. I absolutely adore everything about this, and I’ve already begun my hunt for the necessary items. Nothing is gaffed, but you have to obtain some half dollars with some matching dates. It is really difficult for me not to write things that sound hyperbolic when I’m excited about it, but genuinely, I think this routine is perfect. The construction is genius, and the subtle layering of methods makes it virtually impossible to backtrack; it would have fooled me badly if I could have seen it. It literally only uses two moves that anyone with even basic knowledge of coin magic can do. I will be using this.

The Mouse - A cute interlude where a mouse appears and disappears just as quickly.

This is described as a magical sight gag. It is just a funny moment to bring some levity to the performance, but it is also fooling because both hands are shown empty throughout the bit. This would be very easy to make up and put into practice. I’d never use it, but it’s cute.

The Money (901) - A stack of six $1 bills changes into $5 bills, then $10 bills, then $20 bills, and finally $100 bills.

This is the first trick Tim created when he was around sixteen. It cost $901 to make up the trick (hence the title). Some clever things are happening here, but it’s a lot. It requires a switch of the packets midway through the routine, which is a dealbreaker for me. It’s also quite a bit of work to build the necessary gimmicks. After the routine is taught, we find out that there were some notes left by Tim on an updated version. Eric tried to reconstruct it based on the notes and the bills that Tim had left, and he teaches that as well. It seems this new version was created to be able to be performed with the new style of bills. The original version, as written, would only work with the old style bills, which are already out of fashion. 

Fred Kaps Chinese Coin Trick Simplified - A small Chinese coin grows larger. The small and larger Chinese coins switch places a couple of times, and then an even larger Chinese coin appears. Then an EVEN LARGER Chinese coin appears. Finally, a large brass statue also appears to end the routine.

Tim has taken the complex Fred Kaps routine and turned it into something that could actually be performed for audiences. It’s a weird little routine, but I’m sure the various appearances would surprise audiences. You do have to perform it seated at a table. I won’t be learning it, but if you wanted to, I think you’d have a hard time finding appropriately sized coins.

Shot Glass Apparition - A handkerchief is removed from a jacket pocket and covers the performer’s clearly empty hand. The audience can pat the performer’s hand through the handkerchief to feel there’s nothing there. In an instant, a shot glass full of liquid appears on the performer’s palm.

This is another really great and practical piece. You can do this strolling or table hopping very easily. It’s so easy that it almost feels silly, but it’s really disarming. Once the normal handkerchief is brought into play, you have everything you need. There are no body loads necessary. It’s also very easy to acquire the items you need. I don’t know if I’ll be using it, but I can see this being one of the most used items from the series for its sheer practicality. 

Purse Frame and Coins - Six coins are removed from a purse frame with no bag. The coins jump hand to hand several times and then vanish back into the bagless purse at the end of the routine.

This was one of the only “pure” coin tricks Tim performed professionally before he introduced the Goshman Shakers routine into his repertoire. It didn’t tickle my fancy when I read it. Again, it’s coins kind of vanishing and reappearing with no real purpose, but it’s solid in its construction. I won’t be performing it; as soon as a magician brings out a coin purse frame, I cringe, but if you’re a coin guy looking for a routine, this may be right for you.

Lenses - The performer reaches up to his eye and removes a huge “contact lens” from each eye.

This is another magical sight gag. It is a quick interlude to introduce some levity. It’s not my style, but it’s cute and easy to do.

Salt Pour - Salt is poured into the performer’s hand. It vanishes. He reaches into the air with the other hand, and salt begins to pour out of that hand. It continues endlessly, eventually pouring out of both hands. The salt finally stops pouring out, and the hands are immediately opened and shown to be completely empty. 

This is the best version of the salt pour I’ve seen. The gimmick is eliminated early in the routine so that at the end, even though salt is continuing to pour from both hands, there is no gimmick in play. It’s a very practical routine and method. If I were going to add a salt pour into my performance, this would be the one I’d use. 

Goldfinger - A black coin purse is introduced. Six silver dollars are removed from it and examined. Five of the coins go back into the purse, and the last coin changes into gold. The purse is opened, and the gold coin is touched to the other coins inside, where they all change to gold. Finally, the purse is given a rub, and it also turns to gold.

I don’t like this routine. I just think it’s cheesy and silly. All of the work is done in a switch of the purse, which seems too obvious to me. There’s also a couple of alternative methods discussed, but this was the one routine from all the books that I couldn’t care less about.

Ouroboros - The Unequal Ropes - A classic three rope routine. Three unequal ropes become the same length, two of the ropes join into one rope, the ends go into the pocket and jump back out, the third rope is absorbed into the long rope, the ends of that rope multiply until there are once again three ropes of three different lengths.

I used to have Richard Sanders's Fiber Optics routine in my show, so I know rope magic can play very well. This routine is well constructed and flows nicely. It won’t replace my Fiber Optics routine, mainly because I enjoy the more visual nature of that one, but this is a great rope routine you can add to your set.

Sockless Coins - Four silver coins and a copper coin are used. The performer’s hands are clearly empty except for these coins. The silver coins are held in the spectator’s hand, and the performer plucks one of the coins from their hand. This is repeated a second time. The third time it’s done with the performer’s hand. For the last coin, the spectator holds the silver coin while the performer holds the copper coin. He plucks the silver coin from their hand and then makes the copper coin vanish into their hand.

This is another one of my favorite routines from the books. I’m not a coin guy, but I really like the structure and routining of this. It’s easy to do, and the moves happen at unexpected times. This may become the only coin trick I do; I like it that much. I think what I like the most is how simple the concept is to follow. Coins aren’t bouncing around all over the place. It’s a very clear plot of a coin being pulled from a hand repeated four times. The last one, while technically a transposition, still falls in line with the plot thanks to the change in timing, and the introduction of the copper coin makes sense within the logic of the trick. I’ll be performing this one for sure.

Cups and Balls - Tim’s direct and “hands off” approach to cups and balls ending with the appearance of three cue balls and an eight ball.

Tim’s version relies heavily on Dai Vernon’s routine, but Tim has cut out a lot of the fluff and just left the strongest parts of the routine. The loads of the solid billiard balls add an element of impossibility because they would clearly make noise against the metal cups. The cups are slightly altered to dampen the sound. Again, I won’t be learning it, but if I were to do a cups and balls, this is the one I would do. I like how efficient and “hands free” it all feels. 

Toolbox - Tim’s thoughts on card techniques

It’s kind of crazy that there isn’t a single card routine taught in the book. To me, that makes it clear that Tim only used classic card magic. This section doesn’t teach any routines, but it teaches his very small touch on Tommy Wonder’s Deck Switch, his handling of the Tamariz False Shuffle, his use of preshow with cards, a card control, and his take on a card to can.

Volume 2 | The Mentalism of Tim Conover

This is the volume I was most excited about. I bought the set solely for his work on mentalism. This book begins with a Foreword by Tim’s brother–Michael Conover, a Foreword by Michael Weber, and a section titled The Illusion of Reading Minds that discusses how Tim got into mentalism and how he used it as his bread and butter for trade shows and corporate work.

The Old Coin Opener - Tim’s take on Koran’s Medallion.

The unique thing here is that it uses a very large coin that is removed from an envelope that is in the performer’s wallet, and it doesn’t use a sticker on the coin. It’s not too big a departure from the original, but the small touches do add to the impossibility. I won’t be using it, but it’s solid.

Three Bent Spoons - Borrowing three spoons from the tables, the performer bends and twists one, bends another, and breaks the final one.

The unique thing here is how he gets the prepared spoons into play. You can really only do this if you’re performing somewhere where the guests are eating with nice silverware. I don’t really ever perform in those environments, so this one is out for me, but I know a lot of corporate guys are doing a show after/during dinner. If you want to add spoon bending into your set, this is a fine way to start. The benefit here is that you are using two prepared spoons, so even if the spoons are really thick metal, you can make sure you get a nice bend in them since you prepare them before the show.

The Newspaper Prediction - A newspaper is torn in half, and an audience member decides which half to eliminate. This continues until there are just a couple of small pieces left. An audience member decides on the last piece they want, and the performer reads off a prediction that predicts the exact word they will choose from their piece.

This is a bold prediction effect, but the choreography makes it effective. There are a lot of benefits to this. This word isn’t forced, the selection process isn’t forced, and the word is different every time. The downside is that it relies on a prediction that is typed on an index card, and you don’t have any flexibility with how the word is revealed, since that is where all of the method lies. It will take some guts to try this for the first time, and it only really works on stage, but it does come together nicely. 

Duplication of Drawings - The performer hands out three folios to spectators. Each makes a drawing, closes the folio, and all three folios are mixed before being handed back to the performer. The performer shows the audience all of the drawings while he looks away. He then is able to hand the folios back to the appropriate audience members and duplicate each drawing, even though he supposedly never saw them.

I don’t know how I feel about this. It’s clever, and it’s a real method that works, but it also feels like one of those things that is either too obvious or too impractical for it to actually be any good. Clearly, Tim has used it and gotten a lot of mileage out of it, but I feel like the only explanation the spectators would have that “he somehow saw the drawings” is the right one. And sure, that’s true for every drawing duplication, but there’s a moment when you have to stand behind your table to show the audience the drawings, and that feels like it’s too contrived to actually be fooling. I’ve got way better drawing duplications in my arsenal that I’ll stick with.

Three Book Test - Three spectators each think of words from three books. The performer can tell each person the word they are thinking of. Then, as a finale, a book is handed to someone further in the audience. They turn to a random page and begin reading in their mind. The performer directs them to a certain word (for instance, the fourth word on the fifth line) and can reveal that word.

This is done using three real books, but you have to gimmick one of them. There are things I like about this, but there are also significant drawbacks compared to many modern day book tests. In this version, the spectator is never allowed to just open their book anywhere they want. For each selection, the performer riffles a book, and the spectator calls stop and opens to the page they stopped at in the book they hold. This feels a little too controlled for my liking. You’ll notice that the video of Tim performing the book test online cuts out how the pages are chosen. It’s also worth noting that they never get to hold the third book. So even though three spectators are thinking of words, only two of them are holding a book. I think Tim was so energetic and exciting in performance that it just worked in his hands, but I think this has the potential to fall really flat. It also requires you to remember a good bit of information at a time, which could be challenging in the heat of performance.

Eyeless Vision - With his eyes duct taped shut, Tim reveals details about items that are placed on a handkerchief in his hand.

I’m not the biggest fan of eyeless vision acts. I just don’t get it. To me, the trick is “watch me see through this blindfold.” Tim has some great subtleties that help it feel less like that, and it ends with a name reveal, which is great, but at its heart, I can’t help but feel that way. This uses the classic method/peek you’d expect.

Crystal Ball Audience Readings - The performer gazes into a crystal ball and describes details about random audience members. 

I hate to say it, but this was the biggest disappointment in the books for me. I mean, it shouldn’t have been because it was obvious from the videos that it was all preshow, but I guess some part of me hoped it was something more clever. I have a strict no preshow rule, so I won’t be able to use this. It’s also a little disappointing because the method Tim uses to have a spectator guess a serial number while gazing into the crystal isn’t taught. Apparently, it’s not original to him, and they couldn’t get the blessing to teach the method. They do teach a method that approximates the same effect, but it’s clearly inferior. 

The Crystal Ball Tie Peek - A small way to help you remember all of the preshow info.

As it says above, this is a way to peek the preshowed information during the performance in case you forget one of the details, and with as much as you have to remember for the Crystal Ball Audience Reading, I think this would give you some peace of mind.

Linking Finger Rings - Three borrowed finger rings are linked and unlinked.

I really like Tim’s take on this plot. He exploits some clever ruses and verbal subterfuge to make it seem cleaner than it really is. What I really like is that there is a sort of classic gimmick in play, and then Tim uses a natural feature of a pen to aid in the other deceptions. This allows him to get rid of the gimmick earlier than most routines of this style. It is by far my favorite routine in the second volume (funny considering it’s not even really mentalism), and it’s another absolute knockout in terms of perfect construction. This is, for all intents and purposes, the best linking finger rings trick I’ve come across.

The Dream Deck - Three spectators each think of a card from a deck that is spread on the table. The performer reads each person’s mind and reveals each card.

This is the trick that inspired John Kennedy’s “Mind Power Deck.” Tim performed this for John, and John had the idea to do it with misindexed cards so that the entire deck could be spread, and the rest is history. Tim used a different bank of cards and a different pumping sequence. His pumping method is quick and direct to the point, allowing him to zoom through the reveals. 

The Conover Center Tear - This center tear allows you to get a real time peek of the center of a business card, despite the card being torn into very small pieces.

This tear can be observed very intensely, and the action will be completely hidden. It does take a little longer to do than some other tears. You actually tear the card seven times during the tear. All the pieces are left with them, and they will find their information genuinely torn and mixed amongst the group. This was Tim’s go to method for preshow and casual mind reading demonstrations. One thing to note is that if you have drier hands, as I do, it can be difficult to get the piece to open properly. 

The book ends with a section on the Awards Tim won over the years, a section titled Curtain which discusses Tim’s battle with mental health and his ultimate loss of that battle, and a section titled Friends which contains many photos from his life.

Volume 3 | Cylinder and Coins

This is the only book of the three that is written by Tim Conover. This was a book he was almost finished writing at the time of his death about his favorite trick of all time. It opens with a Preface from Eric Mead, Acknowledgments from Tim Conover, an Introduction which covers a myriad of Tim’s thoughts about the piece, Tim’s Personal History with the effect, and a section titled Ramsay Lessons that discusses the lessons you should learn before performing the trick.

The basic effect of all of these routines is that four coins vanish one at a time and reappear under a cork that is hidden in a cylinder of leather. Then the cork is held in the hand, and the coins are kept in the cylinder. One by one, the coins reappear at the fingertips, and the cork vanishes and reappears under the cylinder. I suggest watching Eric Mead’s performance of the trick on Fool Us if you aren’t familiar with the effect.

Classic Cylinder and Coins - This is Tim’s take on the Ramsay classic, where the vanish is performed with just four regular silver dollars. 

This is the full explanation of the routine, including how to handle the props, Tim’s changes, and the changes Tim has borrowed from other performers. This version uses a classic move for the first vanish, a feint for the second, the first vanish repeated for the third, and a wand steal for the fourth. The appearance of the four coins is Tim’s creation and allows two coins to appear in each hand. The moves aren’t incredibly difficult, but they are challenging to achieve without the coins making noise, which is the whole game you’re playing with this trick. 

Downs Palm Cylinder and Coins - This version is done with retention vanishes and Downs Palm.

Since the whole routine has already been taught, this explanation just covers the vanish of the four coins because everything else is identical. The Downs Palm allows for the hands to look more empty, but it has drawbacks of being less angle friendly and more difficult to do. I can’t effectively do the moves for this version.

Simplified Cylinder and Coins - This version was created to be easier to perform while hiding the “talk” of the coins.

Once again, just the vanishing of the coins is taught as that’s all that’s different here. The first three coins all vanish in virtually the exact same way, and the last one vanishes in a way that leaves the coins where they need to be without any additional moves before the reappearances.

Dream Cylinder and Coins - This is Tim’s preferred method. It’s his ideal method for the effect.

Since it’s his dream version, we get a full explanation of all aspects of the routine. This version introduces a shell to help make the vanishes easier, and the benefit is huge. It makes the first two vanishes way cleaner (and easier.) This is the version Eric performed a variation of to win his trophy on Fool Us. It’s really great choreography, and the psychology of the vanishes leaves the audience thinking they’re following along, only to get the rug pulled out from under them.

Cylinder and Coins and a Ring - The same effect as the previous ones, but done with a ring instead of a cork.

Tim’s approach to using a ring is clever. It eliminates some of the convincing moves you get to do with a cork, but the benefit is that it’s a more “normal” object. Plus, since the object is metal, there’s an added suggestion of impossibility since they didn’t hear the coins arriving under the genuine metal ring. Only the beginning and end are taught since you can use any vanish and reproduction sequence from the book.

Mint Condition Cylinder and Coins - This version allows you to use “normal wear” coins. All of the others up to this point require soft coins to keep the coins from “talking.” This gets rid of that problem, but introduces another sound problem to be aware of.

Here, Tim introduces a second shell into the mix. It gives you the benefit of only having to palm two coins instead of three or four, making that even easier. It also means the first two vanishes are exceptionally clean and easy to do, with no real sleight of hand being needed until the third vanish. Tim says he doesn’t prefer this handling because you have to take some extra care to keep the shells from talking, but I actually prefer this handling. I think the extra care you have to take with the shells is better than the extra care to keep the regular coins from talking, and the benefit of the cleanliness of the vanishes makes it a worthwhile trade. I am going to begin working on perfecting this version. It’s my personal favorite.

The book ends with Tim walking us through his Presentation for the effect, 

a Buddy Smith Chapter where he challenges you to “do it the hard way”, a chapter titled Uncharted Territory and Final Thoughts that leaves us with Tim’s last words on the subject, and a Bibliography.

Overall, I am happy with my purchase. Of course, the books are well produced and very well written, which is always the expectation when Vanishing Inc releases a book. I think there are 3 or 4 real gems here. If you were planning on purchasing just for the mentalism alone, I'm not sure this will be worth it to you. If you are mainly into card magic, this definitely isn't for you. However, if you enjoy reading very well thought out, well choreographed, and well executed routines, you will find loads of those here. It's clear why Tim has been held in such high esteem by his peers. He thinks about every little detail and structures his magic so that there is great economy. He often gets way ahead of his audiences, so that by the time they are watching closely, the dirty work is already done. I admire that the most about his approach; I find it inspiring. I also really enjoyed reading his thought process in the third book. Even if you don't want to perform the Cylinder and Coins routine, seeing how he dives deep into a topic to find the best of the best to use in his routine and never gives up on the pursuit to make something better is a great example of the pursuit we should all be taking.