SYNTHESIS & SECRETS: A MAGIC BOOK IN FOUR ACTS is expected to release in June 2024 in a limited release, clothbound hardcover printing of only 500 copies.

Written by Michael Kras
Design and Layout by Stina Henslee
Illustrations by Sara Froese
Proofreading by Mike Vance

CONTENTS

PRELUDE
Here and Gone and Back Again

ACT ONE - The Kras Change: A Treatise
Original Method
Clean-Ups and Get-Outs
The Kras Change-Back
A Fraudulent Find
The Automatic Shuffle Change
Wait, What the F***?
(In)version
A Simple Triumph
A Simple Transposition
The Slingshot Solution
A Blombergian Blizzard

ACT TWO - A Debt to Paul Harris
Stranger Exchange
Quarter Pounder
Ripped at the Seam
Flip Switch

ACT THREE - Assortments
Signature Coins Across
Everything But Olives
Keith
Holding Out (For a Hero) – A Pseudo-Exposé
One Four All
A Moment of Weakness

ACT FOUR – Essays and Theory
A playwright’s perspective on scripting magic
Humanity over perfection
On “how did you do that?”
On props that mean something
Thoughts on Directing and Designing Magic for Theatre (Part 1: Page to Stage)
On training the voice and body
The Alexander Technique for Magicians
Thoughts on Directing and Designing Magic for Theatre (Part 2: Harmony and Empathy)
Is magic a melancholy artform?

FINALE
Acknowledgements