There have been a few books written this year dealing with the topic of storytelling presentations for magic, and the one that stands out above the others is MAGICTALES - The Definitive Book on Storytelling Magic by Leslie Melville.

This book is a beautifully packaged offering from Leaping Lizards Publishing. It is filled with magic, stories, illustrations, and photos covering the life of Leslie, "Teller of Tales - Performer of Miracles."

The book is actually two books in one, as it contains the full text of Leslie's "Kismet - or the Enchanted Stepping Stones" put out in limited release last September (2005) and no longer available. I had the pleasure of reviewing that book for the Shadow Digest last year; it was nominated on that forum as the best book of the year.

The first part of the book contains 17 performance pieces. I call these performance pieces as they are not "tricks" or "effects" but magical experiences containing captivating stories with a magical experience. This is true magic! Leslie's gift of storytelling shines through in all of them. Having just used his "The Friendly Witch and her Linking Pins", a comedy rhyming presentation for the Slydini Linking Pins routine for Halloween, I can attest to the strength of the material. The material runs the range for that usable for children's performances, to that for adults. Much of the material uses effects, props, or themes that are classic and will be familiar to the seasoned performer, but no detail on performance is left out.

The first porton ends with an 11 pages essay on the craft of storytelling, how to apply it in your magic, and exercises for improvement. This alon is well worth the purchasing of the book.

The second portion of the book, as I have mentioned above, is the republication of "Kismet - or the Enchanted Stepping Stones." Imagine having a 20 minute routine that is entertaining, engaging, fun, fits in a large envelope, and requires no work other than presentation. Now imagine that you have five different presentations ranging from a game show, to a pirates, a Harry Potter like premise, a quest for lost treasure, to wife swapping. Something here for any performer, each is a complete self contained act.

This book breaths life into magic and returns it to entertainment, it is the life's work of a very talented magician, gifted storyteller, and artist. It is an instruction manual on creating magical experiences with any audience.

This is easily the best publication on "magic" available. It lives up to its title and is "The Definitive Book on Storytelling Magic".

Tony Iacoviello.

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(more reviews to come)