The Magic Circle in London called my last book, HOW TO MAKE LOVE THE STEVE SPILL WAY, "the book of the decade." That was kind of embarrassing - but if those brainy upper-crust UK dudes think that, who am I to argue? Their review was in the May 29, 2019 Magic Circular.
My wife, Bozena, says I'm brilliant and the funniest magician on the planet. Well, I am her husband, so she might not be objective - but since she knows me better than anyone, it must be true.
Don't ask me. All I can say for sure is that I've been a comedy magician for fifty years who has walked a mile in every man's shoes. What I mean is, I've lived large and fallen hard - and I've survived - performing at casinos, corporate events, social soirees, on TV, and for the last two-plus decades I've done my own show in my own theater, Magicopolis, in Santa Monica. That's how I know what I know. You could steal five or six books from the Magic Castle library, and not get anywhere near as much help and inspiration as you'll get in my new masterwork - MAGIC IS MY WEED.
This book is designed to skyrocket your creativity - it offers practical techniques and exercises for improvising without preparation as a comedy magician - which is different from what a set-up punchline stand-up comic does, or sketch actors improvising with each other do. You get a sure-fire callback system with tags that you can incorporate into your show right away. If you have no idea what that last sentence meant, you need this book. I reveal my personal innovative ideas on how to capture swinging singles, kids, teenagers, seniors, corporate crowds, and establish rapport and a sense of camaraderie with those audiences - for real - along with a pant load of other ideas that will help you increase engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life.
PLUS YOU GET TWELVE SURE-FIRE AUDIENCE-TESTED ROUTINES that can help close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Kick ass with these routines that are complete with every gesture, nuance, method and handling - including word-for-word laugh-getting scripts that get results. These are the twelve routines of which I speak:
MINDREADING GOOSE
GRAB N STAB
MUNCHIES
A spectator selects a restaurant menu and mentally orders a meal - the magician divines the appetizer, entree, and dessert and wraps the bit with a surprise finish.
POTHEAD
One of the most crowd-pleasing Miser's Dream routines ever, with six silver dollars, a pot and a large spoon, that ends with a dinner-plate-size coin.
BIZ CARD BUNCO
Seven solid corporate event minutes where a spectator takes on a new identity and you divulge their innermost thoughts.
AN AROUSING DOUSING
A spectator is given a dousing rod that goes haywire and finds hidden water amongst a boatload of whisky.
BROKEN MIRROR
A bloody message mysteriously appears on the surface of a broken piece of mirror. Yes, that's the bottom line visual effect. But what really affects the crowd response to the surprise writing is the story.
CUB
I'll wager there's never been another routine where an appearing and vanishing golden Cub Scout wolf neckerchief and slide were used as a metaphor for a plethora of unwanted ordered and returned mail-order items - no gimmicks and plenty of comedy and magic throughout this eight-phase presentation.
THE RENAISSANCE NUDE
Being an artist has always been a good way for geeks to get chicks naked. Especially true with this Renaissance routine, that makes use of a three-panel painting, known as a triptych, and the surprise funny finish features an actual nude.
GROUPIE
A volunteer groupie imagines herself at a concert - without revealing a thing - that artist's music starts playing on an old record player. Simultaneously, that very record cover rises from a stack, and on the back of our groupie's photo is a poster advertising the exact concert in mind - from the artist, right down to the date, time, and venue.
WASTE NOT
Although the general effect, that of restoration, is nothing new... this reweaving of how to get to that conclusion precludes audiences from anticipating the outcome. Nope, I'm not talking about the popular pastime of pretending to read jokes off pre-torn pieces of newspaper. In fact, there isn't any newspaper involved at all. This is a never-revealed-before effect and never-revealed-before method.
RICE PAPER
The penultimate two-person balls-over-head routine that's been perfected in over 20,000 performances.
MAGIC IS MY WEED has everything a book should have: 287 sequentially numbered pages, ink, binding - even a hardcover - all at no extra charge!