Take sixteen road-tested, audience-proven routines from one of the funniest magicians on stage today, combine with nine essays, hundreds of stylized color photos, fresh & original art, and a worker's perspective on the way to make your work your own, and what do you get? Offbeat. Nick Diffatte's first hardbound collection is not jam-packed with oodles of tricks. What fills its pages are deceptive, engaging, real-world routines devised and developed by one of the hardest-working, laugh-provoking, multi-talented performers in magicdom. From tricks with balloon animals, rope, and handcuffs suitable for the largest stages (that's three different routines, not one!), to close-up miracles with contact lenses, sticks of gum, and playing cards, each effect is presented in crystal clear detail, with accompanying lines, sleights, and insight developed in the trenches. These are amazing, doable, and practical tricks. Offbeat is a book of magic you will do - because it's been done, thousands of times, in the real world, by a working pro. Are there difficult sleights required? Not really (though you'll find a few underground secrets buried in the book's pages). Prep-work? Some. But the end result is well worth the time required. The effects themselves are complemented by essays on comedy magic, presentation, how to be bad and stage (and why that's OK), and a host of Diffatte's other hard-won thoughts. A 190-page 7 x 10" deluxe cloth bound hard cover book with original art by Vernon James and photographs by Brett Loudermilk, and a foreword by Mac King. Offbeat sizzles with strong, novel, and commercial magic while presenting a genuine mood-altering experience in the form of thought-provoking and funny essays, deft photos, and whimsical illustrations. It’s a richly appointed banquet of visual thinking. Simply put, Diffatte is a talent to watch, and Offbeat is clever from cover to cover. —Joel HodgsonCreator of Mystery Science Theater 3000
