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A complete sellout at Magifest, The Session and Blackpool, this inaugural release from UK magician and Britain’s Got Talent sensation Ben Hart is more than just a magic book. It is a rare collection of complete, audience-tested parlor magic routines taken straight from the professional repertoire of an international touring magician. The Darkest Corners offers an exclusive look at Ben’s unmatched creativity and desire to push the boundaries of magic.

Ben is known for taking classic magic effects and revolutionizing them with unique and original methods, as well as strong storytelling and theatricality. Every show Ben has ever created has been a sellout at the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival and The Darkest Corners is filled with only the best routines from those shows.

The routines in The Darkest Corners are modern and engaging, using intriguing presentations to create highly-deceptive effects. This includes Ben’s signature trick Incubation (which many of you may have seen on either Britain’s Got Talent or at Magifest 2020), where a piece of confetti visually transforms into a solid egg. This jaw-dropping piece of magic features an unbelievable method that is just as beautiful as the trick itself.

Other Highlights Include:

Melocoton: A signed tissue transforms into the stone of a peach. Then, when that peach (which has been in plain view the whole time) is cut open, it is revealed that the signed tissue is now inside of it where the stone should be.

A Shot in the Dark: Mystify a theater full of people using nothing more than a box of matches. Ben has transformed a seemingly simple trick into a powerful moment that can captivate audiences of nearly any size.

Nuts: The entire audience is asked to think of a time when they acted “silly” or “nuts”. A walnut is then tossed throughout the audience to select a spectator at random. This spectator is then invited on stage, where they learn a summary of their memory is inscribed on a tiny scroll sealed inside the walnut they were just holding.

Hart to Hofzinser: A chosen card appears rolled inside a spectator’s wedding ring, which is held behind their back the entire time.

The Human Lottery Machine: After a four-digit number is generated randomly by members of the audience, the magician regurgitates four solid balls. One by one, it’s revealed that the numbers on these balls match the randomly generated number.

Additionally, you’ll see Ben’s dynamic creativity come to life with a trick using a real venus fly trap, as well as a special prediction using a live fruit fly. Ben also offers invaluable insight on how to alter your presentation to perform mind-blowing magic on the radio, techniques for using video projection when performing stage magic, and much more.

This 300+ page book is filled with 250 stunning photos and is absolutely gorgeous from front to back. The Darkest Corners is a book you’ll be proud to own.

But, don’t take our word for it. Check out what these other world-renowned magicians had to say about The Darkest Corners:

“When it comes to a magician who really gets every nuance and detail it takes to create a real magic experience for his audience, Ben Hart is a master, well before his time! I personally find his performances inspiring and I might have to just buy every copy of this book personally as the secrets are too good I wanna keep them for myself. Also Vanishing inc have once again outdone themselves with the production quality. It compliments Ben’s ideas perfectly. One of my faves of 2020 by far!”Dynamo

“If you are looking for original, creative and theatrical material along with a superb understanding of how to present it then you’ll find it in The Darkest Corners. What a glorious and stunning work of our art this is. Highly Recommended “Nick Einhorn

“You know how they say ’great minds think alike’? I’m not sure I’m all that great at all after reading this. It’s rare for me to read something that truly inspires me to take my art more seriously. Ben Hart is sharing in a way that is inviting, exciting, and sparks creativity. What an amazing gift he has given us in The Darkerst Corners!”Caroline Ravn

“A brilliant, alternative style of magic. A delight to read”Kieron Johnson

“Ben Hart is one of the great hopes for the future of magic. He fuses it’s past with his own unique vision of its future producing original material that has a timeless quality. The Darkest Corners is a triumphant collection of great magic. Equally important to the book is the voice of its author, Bens long time friend and a unique artist in his own right, Neil Kelso. Kelso infuses the text with their relationship, shared experiences and observations bringing insight, humour and deep understanding. This is a great book and one I suspect will become a treasure chest of inspiration for magicians all around the world.”Luke Jermay

I have many books; it’s what magicians do, Collect books. There are not many I would like to leave on a coffee table, this one is as beautiful and as quietly understated as both of the creators, but I cannot, The beauty of the binding and presentation of the contents would attract too many muggles, and within it there are too many profound secrets for the magical performer. I am tempted to say ‘Don’t Buy This book.’ It’s too good, too full of ideas and routines. We can’t have all those people who do buy it being this good, this wonderful. I might never be able to find an audience to work to.Fay Presto

“Ben Hart just might be the best magician working today. I know that’s high praise, but in my defence, I’ve seen him perform. A lot. Close-up, stand-up, cabaret, stage, mind-reading, live and pre-recorded TV, he does it all. And he does it flawlessly. Of course, he’s not just a performer. He’s also an inventor, a historian, a technician, a writer and a storyteller. And ALL of these skills are brought to bear in this extraordinary new book. His love of the classics combined with his avant-garde aesthetic and obsessive attention to detail result in this eclectic collection of fresh, devious and eminently performable material. You can add this title to the tiny list of modern classics that contain the working material that all the top performers actually use. Highest recommendation.”Mark Elsdon

“Ben’s flair for making off the wall ideas feel entirely logical by combining them with interesting script is surpassed only by his ability to generate the devious methods required to accomplish them. If you don’t find a contents page with burned matches, appearing eggs and venus fly traps exciting, you aren’t fit to be a magician. Go out and buy this book.“Mark James

“If you don’t already know that Ben Hart is an extraordinary magician then you haven’t been paying attention. Buy The Darkest Corners and have a look under the hood and see how this magician’s mind ticks. You will be amazed.”John Lenahan

Contents of The Darkest Corners

Introduction

Tricks

  • A Shot in the Dark
  • Melocotón
  • Incubation
  • Nuts
  • Glitterbomb
  • Coins Across the Airwaves
  • Cards Rising Through the Airwaves
  • A Gift from Venus
  • Card in Balloon
  • Roots
  • Pen Through Note (Ideas)
  • Hart to Hofzinser
  • The Human Lottery Machine
  • The Matrix Rings
  • Advertising Banner

Essays

  • To Video, or Not to video
  • Magic on the Radio
  • Fake News
  • Written in your Blood
  • A Word in Amber

Closing Words

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