I spoke to Matt who confirmed that many of the Page classics, the Miser’s Dream, the Stacked Deck, the Coins Through the Table and other gems were indeed included in this new book to which Pat is constantly adding fresh touches and photographs. This must be his Opus, a publication of his lifetime in magic which will undoubtedly be a major work that will be an outstanding British publication as I understand that Pat is publishing it himself.

This is big news indeed and I know a hundred people who would place an order tomorrow for possession of the work of one of Britain’s finest masters of magic. Put me down for the first copy!

Get a thumb tip and a 4 feet coloured silk streamer. Attach one end of the streamer into the tip then fold the silk inside and store it in your trousers pocket.

Carry it ALWAYS whenever you leave home.

When the challenge comes – stall and say “Okay, can I borrow a pencil and a gas cooker!” As no cooker is forthcoming, borrow a pencil taking the opportunity to get the tip onto your right thumb in your pocket as you search for the pencil.

Make a great play of touching different parts of the spectators with the pencil and then touching the palm of your left hand say “Can you see the tiny silk worm in the palm of my hand?” They look closely but see nothing. Ditch the thumb tip into the closed left fist by your favourite method, then with the tip of the pencil pull out the end of the silk streamer.

Then keep pulling out the streamer slowly making a pile of silk on the table or the spectator’s hand which after a time looks considerable and quite impossible. I’ve used this a lot and the impact of this apparently impromptu piece of visual magic is powerful and very memorable.

The great Polish magician, the late Silvano who was a great exponent of the thumb tip, always used to keep a tip on his person, even when he was sitting in bathing trunks beside a hotel swimming pool. When challenged he would stand up, pull up his trunks and go into action.

So I was delighted to hear that there is a new Pat Page book in preparation being compiled by American Matt Field, long time editor of over seventy books in the U.S. , winner of a major award for contributions to magic literature and now the editor of The Magic Circular, the official magazine of The Magic Circle, now acknowledged as perhaps the most professional magic magazine in Britain today. Not only in the stunning graphic style he has created but the in depth content which reveals his long experience  and  knowledge of magic and magicians from his many years in the U.S. Now retired and living in Britain where he has taken up the literary magic baton to become one of our most prolific and professional writers of the genre.

No doubt the book will be full of the little subtleties and professional touches that Pat has brought to the performance of magic and I for one am certain that this will be a major publication that will find a huge audience all over the world.

We will give you more details when known.