Unexpected Agenda

A Day Book of Magical Secrets Unexpected Agenda is the sequel to Secret Agenda and Hidden Agenda, completing the trilogy of one of the most unusual and acclaimed publications in the world of magic. It is your invitation to spend a year inside the head of Roberto Giobbi! There, for every day of that year, you will open a fresh door in Giobbi‘s mind and have something surprising and enriching spring out to greet you—a new trick, sleight, technique, refinement, performance tip, business strategy, concept or insight, drawn from the thoughts, experience and notebooks of a full-time international performer and one of magic’s great teachers. With Unexpected Agenda, Roberto Giobbi, the world-renowned author of theCard College and Card College Light series, has written an invaluable text for his fellow magicians, and one entirely unlike anything in the literature of magic. Unexpected Agenda contains 365 articles, one for each day of the year. The reader is invited to read just one of these articles a day—enjoying, learning, absorbing or being challenged by fresh thoughts and information—throughout an entire year. For over four decades, Roberto Giobbi has devoted his life to exploring the world of magic, learning deeply about it from its vast international literature and the greatest magicians. Those whose unpublished work Giobbi draws on include Fred Kaps, Ascanio, Juan Tamariz, Lennart Green, Vanni Bossi, and many others. Over the years Giobbi has methodically, meticulously, exhaustively kept records of all he has learned. Unexpected Agenda is more than the work of one performer. It is an accumulation of priceless information, gathered from a lifetime dedicated to the study and performance of magic, laid out idea by idea, day by day, for the reader to enjoy and profit by. While the material presented addresses in part the expected field of card magic, it covers much more: coin and close-up magic, platform and stage conjuring, theory, philosophy and humor. Unexpected Agenda is wide in scope, with invaluable information and insights for all magicians. We have attempted to give a work of such uniqueness a fitting format. Unexpected Agenda is a large, sumptuous volume, bound in ornately foil-stamped cloth, and includes a book ribbon—a volume comfortable to the hand and inviting to the mind, offering pleasure for much more than one year, and advice for a lifetime. 384 pages in decorated hardcover binding, simply a beautiful book for students, readers and even collectors! Here is what the experts said about Secret Agenda – You can expect the same from Unexpected Agenda: “Subtle, intelligent, and genuinely cosmopolitan. His most personal and artistically revealing work to date… by one of the most articulate spokesman of his generation for a vision of magic as art. Quite simply, one of the most thoroughly enjoyable reading experiences I have had in years.” - Jamy Ian Swiss “The book is extraordinary!” - Matt Field “A book aimed at expanding your mind on a daly basis. Your reading experience will be a rich and rewarding one. It is a book packet with fascinating snippets, gems, and little-known secrets. And once you do get to the end, you will want to go back to the beginning and read it all again.” - Peter Duffie “You’ve called this Secret Agenda. But you should have named it Gold Mine. Superb!” - Richard Vollmer "In order to have an informed opinion, I did precisely what the author implores his reader not to do—I devoured the entire Unexpected Agenda in several short sittings, rather than a single bite per day over the course of a year as intended. In addition to being one of our best writers of technical descriptions, Roberto Giobbi shows once again that he is a superb source of creative inspiration in short form. I can’t imagine a performer at any level who would not benefit from a steady diet of these daily prompts for creativity, technical solutions, storytelling, problem solving and general food for thought. I loved his first agenda, and hope he continues to release these amazing courses of magical hors d'oeuvres. I’m going to start over with day one on January 1st, and take it one bite at a time, as it was meant to be digested." - Eric Mead "Here we go again with another intriguing book from Roberto Giobbi. If you've read any of Roberto's books in the past, you'll know what to expect with this latest offering in the series of books entitle Agenda. This latest offering is quite unexpected and a welcome addition to the series. Once again, he shares with us his personal reflections which are meant to be read once a day to cover the entire span 365 days in a year. The purpose is to really think and ponder on his suggestions. The idea is not to take his suggestions literally but to think and possibly come up with your own point of view." - Michael Vincent "I love this series! A resource sure but also just a wonderful way to start every day with ways to get you thinking and improve your magic" - Jon Armstrong "I am a big fan of all of Roberto Giobbi’s books, but I particularly enjoy the Agenda books. Unexpected Agenda follows the format established by the previous two volumes of the series: for each of the 365 days of the year, Roberto offers an interesting nugget of information, designed to stimulate your own thought processes. Yes, there are moves and brief routines presented, but there are also practical performance tips, recollections of people and conventions, book suggestions, and much, much more. Start each day by actively engaging with an entry from Roberto’s agenda and watch how your magical horizons expand." – Michael Close Discover... ... how the quality control for a fountain pen leads to a detailed check for a new deck, and how to break-in a new deck, preparing it for professional use. ... how a game played by the surrealists inspires a presentation for a trick. ...  amusing anecdotes that conceal great wisdom between the lines. ... how professionals get rid of stage fright in a twelve-point program. Read about... ... practical solutions to problems from the Dr. Daley's Notebooks. ... the professional advice Fred Kaps sends from Heaven. ... answers to questions you haven't even thought of asking, but are fundamental. ... seven strategies that will allow you to come up with your own original presentations. ... Stanley Jak's favorite card trick described in an unpublished private letter. ... how you can make an impromptu Himber "Wallet" from an ordinary paper napkin. Find out... ... how to do Mel Stover's "Days of Force" with an emotional hook. ... what criteria to apply when buying a new deck of cards? ... how card experts break in a new deck of cards? ... professional advice on signing cards (why, how, when, and when not).  ... how an idea from the Biedermeier period led to a Transparent Card you will use. ... what Dai Vernon considered the best close-up trick for laypeople. ... what Roberto Giobbi's favorite magic books and non-magic books are, and why. ... how you can turn the famous "Seventeen Camels Problem" into an entertaining card trick. Learn... ... ten more ways of using a wallet than producing a signed card from it. ... five ruses of using a Key Card you have never heard of before. ... how to enhance any prediction effect by using an ancient Japanese idea. ... how to read magic books and watch videos efficiently. ... how to make notes that you will later find when sourcing for solutions. ... nine original ways to have a card thought of (instead of saying, "Think of a card"). ... half a dozen original deck switches that do not require any sleight-of-hand  ... novel ways of forcing a card with absolutely natural procedures. ... a few cool new tricks – not only with cards. ... to do a new Pass that you can do after only a few hours practice.