The application of theatrical principles to the performance of magic has a long and proud lineage in the magical literature.

Today, The Paper Engine, Aaron's acclaimed work on sophisticated card magic, takes this notion one step further, arguing that the theatrical aesthetic can — and should — be applied on a level more fundamental than that of performance: to technique itself.

Through detailed explanations of technical artistry and principles, The Paper Engine teaches you — by exploring the important concepts of tension, focus, and design — how to construct and perform magic that’s built on a framework of impeccable structural engineering. Many of the sleights that appear in the book have become, in fact, the Gold Standard for modern sleight-of-hand artists:

• Gravity Half Pass
• One-Hand PopOver
• Revolution Color Change
• Nowhere Pass
• Illusion Control

And yet this is not a book on optimal finger positioning. On the contrary, it is a work that envisions the larger picture, even as it crafts the small. A work that makes your magic softer, tensionless … and truly invisible. While some of the material is challenging, The Paper Engine is designed to have you performing miracles for living, breathing audiences. You’ll learn powerful, audience-tested effects including:

• Search & Destroy, featuring The Nowhere Pass
• The Omen
• The Standing Challenge
• Fisher’s Favorite Inversion
• The Revolution

Written to take intermediate card workers to the advanced level, The Paper Engine will show you …

• how to eliminate tension from your card work; and, just as importantly, when to embrace tension, and use it to strengthen the effect.
• why some techniques actually help you focus on the audience, while most moves force you to focus on your hands.
• that many times we magicians work too hard. Master the use of gravity, and improve your sleight of hand.

Lauded by many of today's top card workers, The Paper Engine is a must-have for the student of thoughtful, serious, and provocative card magic.