To that perpetual question, "What's new in magic?" comes this book: "Atomic Magic" is new, colorful, and entertaining, making use of topics that are current to the public mind. It is the application of the super science of popular science fiction to the art of magic. [Originally published in 1951.]

Would you believe that you could ask a full-grown man to hold a penny for you and then tell him to drop it and finds he can t, hard as he may try? In what is undoubtedly the most original magic book of our time, John Fisher shows the reader how, with minimal practice, he can use the marvels of the human body to entertain and mystify friends and family, small and large audiences. This book is first of all a delight to read because of the instant education it provides us with about the unknown powers we have in our hands, our eyes, our noses, and our incredible nervous system. In each case, Mr. Fisher shows the easy-to-grasp principle first and then how to put the principle to work in actual tricks. Most magic books require a great deal of study and dexterity. This one enables you to entertain people even before you have finished the book. Moreover, you never have to worry about being prepared, because you always have with you all the miraculous things you need your hands, your eyes, and the rest of your body."

When someone says "Cowgirl Up " it means rise to the occasion, don't give up, and do it all without whining or complaining. And the cowgirls of the early twentieth century did it all, just like the men, only wearing skirts and sometimes with a baby waiting behind the chutes. Women learned to rope and ride out of necessity, helping their fathers, brothers, and husbands with the ranch work. But for some women, it went further than that. They caught the fever of freedom, the thirst for adrenaline, and the thrill of competition, and many started their rodeo careers as early as age fourteen. From Alice and Margie Greenough of Red Lodge, whose father told them "If you can't ride 'em, walk," to Jane Burnett Smith of Gilt Edge who sneaked off to ride in rodeos at age eleven, women made wide inroads into the masculine world of rodeo. Montana boasts its share of women who "busted broncs" and broke ranks in the macho world of rodeo during the early to mid-1900s. "Cowgirl Up " is the history of these cowgirls, their courage, and their accomplishments.

Henryk Jurkowski's seminal 1988 text, Aspects of Puppet Theatre, was groundbreaking in its analysis of puppetry as a performing art. This new edition of a classic brings the original text back to life, including four additional essays and a new introduction, edited and translated by leading puppetry scholar Penny Francis.

Originally published in the 1930s, this is a wonderfully detailed guide to marionettes, puppetry and the construction and production of a show. It contains over a hundred diagrams and illustrations detailing all the various designs for puppets and instructions for their construction. All the secrets of the trade are laid in in simple language and instructions, along with clear and detailed diagrams. This is an exhaustive manual for anyone interested in puppetry. Contents Include: By Way of Introduction - Puppetry In Foreign Countries - The Stage - Scenery and Properties - Lighting - Marionettes in the Making - Marionettes Continued - Controls and Strings - Trick Dolls - The Marionette in Action - The Glove Puppet - Productions - Bibliography - Materials and Where To Obtain Them - Marionettes In London Museums Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

From massive raves sprouting around the London orbital at the turn of the 1990s to events operated under the control of corporate empires, EDM (Electronic Dance Music) festivals have developed into cross-genre, multi-city, transnational mega-events. From free party teknivals proliferating across Europe since the mid-1990s to colossal corporate attractions like Tomorrowland Electric Daisy Carnival and Stereosonic, and from transformational and participatory events like Burning Man and events in the UK outdoor psytrance circuit, to such digital arts and new media showcases as Barcelona's Sonar Festival and Montreal's MUTEK, dance festivals are platforms for a variety of arts, lifestyles, industries and policies. Growing ubiquitous in contemporary social life, and providing participants with independent sources of belonging, these festivals and their event-cultures are diverse in organization, intent and outcome. From ethically-charged and "boutique" events with commitments to local regions to subsidiaries of entertainment conglomerates touring multiple nations, EDM festivals are expressions of "freedoms" revolutionary and recreational. Centres of "EDM pop", critical vectors in tourism industries, fields of racial distinction, or experiments in harm reduction, gifting culture, and co-created art, as this volume demonstrates, diversity is evident across management styles, performance legacies and modes of participation. Weekend Societies is a timely interdisciplinary volume from the emergent field of EDM festival and event-culture studies. Echoing an industry trend in world dance music culture from raves and clubs towards festivals, Weekend Societies features contributions from scholars of EDM festivals showcasing a diversity of methodological approaches, theoretical perspectives and representational styles. Organised in four sections: Dance Empires; Underground Networks; Urban Experiments; Global Flows, Weekend Societies illustrates how a complex array of regional, economic, social, cultural and political factors combine to determine the fate of EDM festivals that transpire at the intersections of the local and global.

Self-described as "A Hilarious New Act, Wherein a Magician Rides the Washington Merry-Go-Round," Patent Pending focuses on the importance of having a well-thought-out magical routine.

Contemporary Clowning as Social Performance in Colombia brings to light the emergence of new kinds of clowning in everyday life in Colombia, focusing particularly on the pervasive presence of clowns in the urban landscape of Bogota. In doing so it brings a fresh and updated perspective on what clowning is as well as what it does in the 21st century. Featuring descriptions of more than 24 distinct clown performers, Barnaby King provides an engaging and lively account of the performative moment in which clowning transpires, analyzing the techniques and processes at work in producing what is commonly named as "clowning". In contrast with their North American and European counterparts, clowns in Latin America are seen every day in public settings, are popular cultural figures and sometimes claim to exercise real political influence. Drawing on five years of co-performative ethnography, the book argues that clown artists have thrived by adapting their craft to changing social and economic conditions, in some cases by allying themselves with authority and power, and in others by generating spaces for creativity and resistance in adverse circumstances. By applying performance theory to clowning in a specific cultural context this is the first work to propose an appropriate scholarly response to the diversity and ingenuity of clowning beyond Europe and North America.

A far-reaching examination of exoticism, cultural internationalism and modernism's encounters with Indonesian tradition, "Performing Otherness "examines how Indonesia entered world stages through imperialism as an antimodern phantasm and through nationalism became a means of intercultural communication and cultural diplomacy.

Product information not available.

To spice up dinner parties, readers can turn to this book for more than 150 tricks anyone can do at the dinner table--from making salt and pepper shakers disappear to bending solid silver utensils with a quarter. 113 diagrams.

Originally published in the 1930s, this is a graded sequence in puppet works, especially designed for use in schools, giving a sound start to school or home circle in puppet work. The art of making simple puppets, stage and scenery, of producing simple puppet plays, is thoroughly examined. The book is extensively illustrated with diagrams and examples. Contents Include -STAGE ONE: Why Puppetry - The Significance of Puppetry - How to Make a Glove Puppet - Simple Glove Puppets - Various forms of Cut-outs - A Puppet Finger in a Plastic Material - Puppets from Waste - Scenery and Design - A Brief History of Puppetry - The Puppet Teaches - Nemo-A Puppet Play - STAGE TWO: The Puppet in Terms of Manipulation, Shape and Movement - Jumping-Jack Puppies - A Simple Puppet - A Simple Jointed Puppet - How to Make a Puppet Head - Scenery and Design - Types of Theatres - Ecce Signum- A Simple Puppet Play -STAGE THREE: How to Begin - The Points of a Puppet - How to Make A puppet Head - How to Make the Arms - How to Make the Hands - How to Make the Feet and Legs - How to Make the Body of the Puppet - Controls - Storing the Puppet - The Stage -Parts of a Stage - Lighting - Proportions of the Human Body - The Sacred Flame-A Simple Puppet Play