Very Hush-Hush – John Bannon

John Bannon’s is back with this, his latest collection, Very Hush-Hush, forty card tricks with a “mental” slant that require little to no sleight-of-hand.

In five large chapters, John explores impossible location effects (including some that can be performed over Zoom), prediction tricks with and without multiple revelation procedures, and performance pieces with a mental magic/mindreading theme, among other cunning card effects in the miracle class.

And you’ve never seen a magic square quite like this. The first chapter of Very Hush-Hush, “Parts of the Sum,” deals directly with Bannon’s brilliant pasteboard-driven takes (yes, more than one) on this classic mental mind-bender, and allied effects. One method allows you to “predict“ a magic square, while another uses no numbers at all. You read that right.

Along the way, you’ll learn a host of helpful sleights and subtleties, including false cuts and shuffles, switches, and other moves. And while there is no real finger-flinging required, yes, you still have to practice.

Everything is conveyed in Bannon’s familiar third person tongue-in-cheek tone (patter and one-liners included), with a casual storytelling-like feel that makes reading the book seem more like a conversation than a bout with an instructional textbook.

This book has style.

Tell your friends it’s TLDR; then keep it all on the QT. This is one tome you won’t want anyone else getting their hands on.

A 260+ page 7 x 10″ quality hardcover, bound in cloth with pictorial dust jacket. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs.

John Bannon has been screwing around with playing cards for over forty years. He is a worldwide best-selling author of books on close-up magic, including Impossibilia, Smoke and Mirrors, Dear Mister Fantasy, High Caliber, Destination Zero, and Mentalissimo.

Very Hush-Hush is another winner from John Bannon. For those of you looking for baffling routines that won’t bust your chops, or for lovers of elegantly constructed card magic, this book is a must-buy. Highly recommended. 

-Michael Close