When I was eleven, my parents used to drive me nearly 20 miles to the Magic Shop in Hicksville, New York. I dreamt of becoming a magician then, and about once a month we’d make a suburban pilgrimage (in a beat-up van with no back seat) to this dark, little store—its wall covered in sinister latex masks. There, my parents would buy me a trick and I’d take it home and practice until I could do it perfectly. Then I became a teenager and I gave up it all up. Mostly out of frustration, convinced that my hands were too small to perform the feats of dexterity that every great magician should master.

Fast forward nearly twenty years. It’s October 2006, and I catch magician-rocker Criss Angel’s show Mindfreak on TV. There, in the background, was a familiar little store. Turns out the four-time Magician of the Year was a native Long Islander like myself and spent his early days at the Magic Shop in Hicksville, learning the skills that make him one of the most popular mystifiers alive today. That show was like some inspirational bug bite, and I’ve been scratching that itch ever since. Not only have I become a huge fan of the performer, I am now on the road to realizing my young dream of becoming a magician: I’ve started taking classes and practice every day (I think I’m driving my poor wife and son crazy).

Criss Angel’s first book, a biography and companion piece to his Mindfreak show, is a rousing revelation that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike. In addition, the book contains forty very cool magic tricks or “Mindfreaks” that you can learn yourself (including the famous “Ashes to Ashes” trick he demonstrated on his show). They’re easy to perform—and this is the best part—they’re not cheesy at all.

Happy Reading,
Gary Jansen
QPB Executive Editor

P.S. I want to send a special thanks to Criss for inspiring me to follow a dream. Thanks, dude!