Designing Miracles: Creating the Illusion of Impossibility

by Darwin Ortiz

In Designing Miracles, Darwin Ortiz continues the task he began in Strong to explore and raise the level of craft in magic. This time he presents a groundbreaking study of how laymen think and what it takes to amaze them.

Genres: Magic

200 pages, hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Michiel Tummers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the follow up to Ortiz' Strong Magic. I consider these 2 volumes in actuality to be one big book on what makes magic strong.
In it, the author D. Ortiz, delves into not how you make an effect or show play strong to an audience but to what makes a trick in itself play strong. In this book, Ortiz is more considered about the structure of the effect itself, instead of the structure of a performance.
I must have read this book 10 times aswell, and i have all books written by Darwin Ortiz (and DVD's). Its great, it makes you think, it makes you look critically at your repetoire. Some people think Ortiz is quite condescending towards other magicians (or that he is too cocky). I love this kind of humor to be honest, no reason to sugar coat stuff, just give me the critique and let me see where i go totally wrong.

[Beto Mondini · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the very best in theory. Right up there with Tamariz

[Roger Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his previous book Strong Magic Darwin Ortiz analysed the performance of close up magic; it is one of my favourite books on magic. In this book he brings the same detailed analysis to the design of magic. His thoughts and insights are accompanied by many working examples so this is not a dry text as one might expect although it is dense and like Strong Magic will need lots of re-reading to enable the absorption of such valuable advice.