Michael Skinner was one of the best close-up magicians in the world and his professional repertoire was considered the largest and most versatile in the business. This video series features more than five hours of performances and explanations to many of his best routines.

These are the routines Michael Skinner used to fool and entertain the patrons of the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas where he was the resident magician for more than twenty years. You will not find better-constructed and choreographed magic anywhere.

Michael's attention to detail and superb routining made just about every effect he performed a showstopper. These commercial and reputation-making effects will inspire you to become a professional. You will be proud to add any of these routines to your working repertoire.

Professional Close-Up Magic #1:
►Torn & Restored Cigarette Paper (Nate Leipzig): The classic routine where a piece of cigarette paper is torn into pieces and then restored.
►Four Copper & Silver Across: An eight-coin routine where four silver coins and four copper coins magically change places one at a time.
►A Coin Entrapped: A surprising magical gag where two coins are placed on a card case. A spectator chooses one of the coins but when they try to pick it up it is found under the cellophane.
►Demi-Tass: The four aces are found using different visual productions after the deck has been shuffled.
►Slow-Motion Aces: An ace assembly where three cards are placed on top of each ace and one at a time the aces disappear and accumulate in one spot.
►Marlo-Vernon-Andrus: Three cards are peeked at by three different spectators who impersonate Ed Marlo, Dai Vernon and Jerry Andrus. The spectators now spell their names, any way they want, and the card they spell to is their selection. Except for the final selection which is found using a flourishy cutting sequence.
►Lucky Seven: Two cards are peeked at and lost in the deck. The deck is cut in half where a red seven is seen face up. Cards are now dealt from the two packets and the seventh card of each packet is found to be the selection.
►Up The Ladder Aces: The deck is continuously shuffled and cut as the four aces are magically produced.
►Woodfield Torn & Restored Card: A signed card is accidentally torn in half. The torn pieces are thrown away and the spectator selects a second card. When he turns over the new card it turns out to be the original signed selection.
►Furota's Ace Production: A spectator turns a portion of the deck face up and face down a few times. The deck is re-squared and when the cards are spread on the table all the cards are face down except the four aces, which are the only face-up cards.

Professional Close-Up Magic #2:
►The Vanishing Matches: An impossible looking routine where three matches vanish and reappear.
►Slow-Motion Coin Vanish: An amazing looking vanish of a coin where it appears to be completely gone before being reproduced.
►Little Pennies: Two half-dollars and two English pennies jump from hand to hand with a surprising finale where the large pennies change to the much smaller American pennies.
►Dropping The Aces: Four aces are displayed and three cards are placed on top of each. Surprisingly all four aces completely vanish and are found in the deck using four different revelations.
►Innocent Bystander: An ace is placed inside the card box and four kings are placed on the table. A signed selection is lost in the deck while the four kings are used to find the selection. Amazingly the selection is later found in the card case where the Ace just was.
►Twisting The Aces: Four aces magically turn face up and face down in this multiphase routine where they turn singly and in groups concluding by reversing themselves while in the center of the deck.
►Perceptive Deception: An odd backed card is added to a small packet. The spectator selects one card while the packet is face up. When they check, the back is ordinary but when the rest of the cards are turned over they are seen to all have odd backs.
►Stabbed In The Pack: A card is peeked at and lost in the deck. A second card is tossed into the deck face up and the card next to it turns out to be the selection.
►Gold Medal: A card is selected and lost in the deck. A spectator hands you a packet from the deck and when you sort through the cards, eliminating them in groups, you are left with one card and it is the selection.

Professional Close-Up Magic #3:
►Flying Eagles: A multiphase coins across routine using six quarters.
►The Ball Vase: The classic Michael Skinner routine where sleight-of-hand is used to make a child's toy into an entertaining and magical routine.
►Royal Flush Propelled Lapping: A spectator removes any five cards from the deck. When the cards are turned face up they are shown to be the royal flush.
►Open Prediction: A card is named prior to the routine. A spectator deals the deck face up looking for the card, leaving one card face down. Amazingly, the previously named card turns out to be the card the spectator left face down.
►Cards Across: The classic of magic where cards vanish from one packet and appear in another while both packets are being held by a spectator.
►Push-Through Failure: A card is peeked at and found by shuffling face-up cards through face-down cards. The face-up half now contains one face-down card. The packet is turned face down and the selected card is spelled down to revealing the face-up selection.
►Seconds, Thirds, Fourths & Fifths: A gambling themed routine where you apparently deal cards from different parts of a small packet of cards.
►Tabled Ambitious: A selected card is lost in the middle of the deck but is found on top. It continues to be lost in the deck but manages to find its way to the top under more impossible conditions -- even when the deck is tabled.
►All The Non-Conformists: A packet trick where the four queens are displayed and a spectator names one. The named queen turns out to have the only odd backed card. The routine continues until the backs of all the cards continuously change from black to red and vice versa.
►The Mona Lisa Card Trick: A book of matches is used as an easel, and the deck is described as fifty-two paintings. A painting is selected and lost in the deck. The Queen Of Spades (the Mona Lisa) is placed on the easel. When the selected card is named the Queen is now shown to be the selection.

Professional Close-Up Magic #4:
►Telltale Aces: A card is peeked at and lost in the deck. The four aces are displayed and one of them reverses itself. The reversed ace now turns into the selected card and magically back into the ace.
The Card Tunnel: Two cards are pushed through the deck and one of them reverses itself. The process is repeated only this time one of the cards' back changes color. A little shake and the cards are back to normal.
►Cannibal Cards: The four kings are identified as cannibals and three indifferent cards are shown as missionaries. The four cannibals now eat the three missionaries. The Cannibals, still hungry start eating each other as they too vanish. For a finale the deck is spread and the three indifferent cards are found interlaced with the face up kings.
►Devilish Miracle: Two selected cards are looked at and found in an impossible and surprising way.
►Child’s Color-Change Routine: A routine used to entertain children where cards change color, spots are removed and a kicker ending.
►Aces?: A magician fooler where the four aces are cut from a shuffled deck.
►Three Different Ways: Three methods of selecting a card are demonstrated as three cards are selected. The selections are found in very magical ways where their mates are found during the journey.
►Direct Backs & Faces: A deck of cards is shown to have backs on both sides then faces on both sides and finally the deck turns into and ordinary deck with backs and faces and can be used for the rest of the act.

Hosted by Roger Klause, the videos also includes interview segments with Michael where you get to learn a little about his life, career and thinking about magic.

A Meir Yedid Magic Product. Produced by A-1 MagicalMedia. Original release date: 1998. Combined running time: Approximately 5 hours and 15 minutes.