John Bannon is one of the most popular creators of close-up magic and his routines are regularly used by many professional and hobbyist magicians. If you don't have a John Bannon routine in your repertoire you are missing out on direct, visual and impossible close-up magic.

On this video John Bannon teaches the best routines from his bestselling book "Smoke & Mirrors." The focus of this video is card magic that is direct, entertaining and never fails to fool. You will love the many easy-to-perform routines with novel premises and high impact.

Routines performed and explained:
►Tattoo You: An easy routine where an initialed selected card matches a prediction. The initials are visually transferred to the prediction and it is given as a souvenir.
►Detour De Force: Two predictions are placed in full view. Two cards are selected and match the predictions in the most unusual way.
►Do The 'Twixt: A playing card is placed in the spectator's hand. Three cards are selected and returned to the deck. You magically cut to three cards. Two are the selections -- the third is not -- because the signed selection is in the spectator's hand.
►Masquerade: A Joker assembly where the jokers vanish from individual packets and appear in a leader packet. As a kicker ending the jokers change into four aces.
►Lessons Are Extra: A gambling demonstration where you apparently teach the techniques of card cheaters and continually deal winning poker hands to yourself.
►Outer Limits: A spectator cuts a small packet of cards and thinks of one of them. You immediately tell them what they are thinking of.
►New Jack City: Two cards are selected and lost in different parts of the deck. The four Jacks then find the selections in an impossible way.
►Timely Departure: A spectator thinks of an hour while three cards are thought of. You name the though-of hour and spread the deck to show that the three selections are the only ones face-up.
►Sheep To The Slaughter: A card cheating demonstration where the four aces are obviously dealt to yourself but when the hand is turned over it is the Royal Flush.
►Call Of The Wild (performance only): A marketed routine where blank cards change to identical aces, four different aces and finally into a Royal Flush.
►Trick Shot Production: A memorable routine that starts out with a selected card and ends with a surprise production.
►Underhanded: A card is selected and then found in full view under an object on the table.

Also explained are the many techniques used to accomplish these routines.

A Meir Yedid Magic product. Produced by A-1 MagicalMedia. Original release date: 1993. Running time: Approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes.