[.ca] The World's Best Simple Bar Tricks (ISBN 0440508266)

Not what I thought it would be...:
I purchased this book hoping to learn a few cool magic tricks I might be able to pull of in a bar. I was immediately interested by the cover of the book, which pictures an olive levitating over a martini glass. From this picture, and from the the words "Levitate an olive..." which also appear on the cover, I assumed there might be a trick inside to make an olive appear to levitate. There is, however, nothing of the sort. The olive trick turns out to be a pretty stupid bar bet that has nothing to do with even the appearance of levitation. And it only gets worse from there. Most of the tricks in this book are, as the cover does advertise, incredibly simple; the problem is most of them are so simple they are completely uninteresting. Personally I am glad I never met the author in a bar while he was researching material for this thing. My feeling after reading this is that it is a collection of trite gags that will cause the people around you to groan and leave you sitting alone at the bar, buying your own drinks and cursing the day you ever tusted the other reviewers on this one.

Should be called "How to look stupid":
Do the stunts in this book and you're going to look thicker than a pound cake. The tricks don't ease awkward moments as it claims, instead it makes you feel more awkward than you did to begin with. I told my friends I'd levitate an olive for them and they all gathered around the bar. After 5 mins of trying to get the trick to work, it's still obvious to those watching that the olive isn't floating at all. Suddenly you become the butt of all jokes and your friends start calling you names like "spaz". I gave it two stars because there is one trick that is actually really good and is almost worth the price of the book. It's the one where you make a spectators finger ring link onto the stem of a borrowed bar wine glass.

Preview a copy before buying:
There is a point where simplicity converts to banality, and this book treads that line a little too closely for my tastes. Those new to bar culture may find something to wonder over here, but anyone interested in magic probably won't. Having said that, I disagree, slightly, with others who've gone so far as to say that the book--and especially its cover--are misleading. The cover describes the tricks as "idiot-proof", and they are. The tricks are well-illustrated and competently explained. As the cover claims, you will learn how to pass a dollar bill though a lemon, and make a coin walk across the table. To be sure, there's nothing in the book that will teach you how to create the image of a levitating olive as depicted on the cover, but the cover is basically honest. If it oversells the book at all, it does so when it claims the tricks will "amaze" friends. It's best to say, as the back cover points out, that the tricks will help smooth over awkward conversational moments. Because of the lack of anything truly breathtaking, or even much that's subtle, this book is best previewed at a local library before purchase. IIt's probably not a smart impulse buy.

Crowd pleasing, but nothing to wet yourself over:
Haven't put this book to too much use as of yet, but i can tell ou that i find it a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, they're cool tricks and will probably come in very helpful, but the tricks lack the mystifying appeal i was hoping for. FOr the most part, they're all cool tricks, but once you preform them for friends, you're giving away how it's done. I was anting soemthing that would leave my friends a little more mystified. I guess the tricks just lack the magical side i was looking for. Still impressive tricks, but they won't leave people in aww, unless they're really hammered i guess. I'd suggest combinign this book with The Complete Book of Beer CDrinking Games jsut for kicks. hope this was helpful for you. peace

A crowd pleaser:
To keep this short and simple, I can simply say that the book was worth the small amount of money that I spent on it. The tricks are very well explained. Tricks from the book range from stupid/funny tricks to aparent magic. Physics plays a big part in alot of these tricks. I got a kick out of it. There are tricks that I love more than others of course, but all of the tricks are cute/funny if not amazing. I bartend, and I must admit that Bar Tricks are not very practical when I'm busy working, but they are fun when I bar-hop.