Secret Agenda – A book you must have

As I have said before, we are very fortunate that our silly little hobby attracts many people with extraordinary intelligence and passion. Sure, we have more than our share of idiots (see Magic Café), but we are also blessed to have people like Jim Steinmeyer and Robert Giobbi among us.

Recently I have spent some time with Giobbi’s book called Daily Agenda. The name and the structure he has chosen is somewhat unfortunate and trivializes much of what he is doing, in my opinion. There was a blog earlier this year that was going to track his writings on a daily basis, but like many of us with good intentions it seemed to die on the vine.

If you haven’t seen this book, it has short articles for each day of the year. They run the gamut from jokes to very deep thoughts. He might spend three or four days on the ambitious card, the handling of a break, or simple reviews of obscure methods. I particularly have enjoyed his references to some of the favorites moves and tricks of Fred Kaps. It’s too bad that Kaps died at such an early age and so little of what he did was captured. His choice of material and methodology seems to have been impeccable.

Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this book. You’ll thank me.