"Now,
that's a major no-brainer."
That was the thought that immediately went through my mind
when Larry Baukin asked me the question, "Do you think there
would be any interest in a compilation of my three books and
various articles from The New Invocation, MAGICK,
Seance and The Altar Flame?"
While there is the possibility that some people might not
be familiar with Larry Baukin or the ground-breaking nature
of the publications his work appeared in during the 80s and
90s, I suspect that anyone interested in the field of Bizarre
Magick has at least heard the name, and possibly read some
of his highly intriguing contributions to the art.
So, when we first started talking about the idea of a Larry
Baukin anthology, I was very excited, to say the least.
Who
IS Larry Baukin?
If this
isn't the first time you've visited The Pro Shop, you probably
know Larry Baukin as the co-author (along with Ron Martin)
of the Martin
Baukin series of e-books
(for more information, go here).
I first encountered Larry many years ago through his numerous
contributions to The New Invocation and MAGICK,
and at the time I marveled at the way he was able to craft
compelling presentations from a wide array of themes, ranging
from voodoo and old-time medicine shows to witchcraft, seances,
carnivals and the Bermuda Triangle.
It was obvious to me that Larry was greatly respected by the
publishers of The
New Invocation and MAGICK (and The Altar Flame
and Seance, as well), if only by the sheer number of
times he appeared in those pages. In particular, The
New Invocation, originally published by Tony Andruzzi
and later by Docc Hilford, exhibited its high regard for Larry
by publishing four
special One-Man issues devoted to Larry's work alone.
In recent years, Larry has concentrated on creating innovative
reading systems based on traditional oracles such as tea leaves,
playing cards and wax drippings (!), all of which he uses
in his professional practice. It is rare to find someone who
is equally comfortable with both the Tarot and the thumbtip,
but then it's equally challenging to find someone quite like
Larry who can write about them in clear, concise and easy-to-understand
language.
What's
in The Larry Baukin Anthology
At
219 pages, this e-book is one of the largest publications
released by The Pro Shop, making it an incredible value for
bizarrists and mentalists alike. It contains Dr.
Fathom's Amusements, Laughing
Souls and Other Bizarre Visitations, and The
Book of Aleister Crowley (all three of which are now
out of print), plus
all of Larry's contributions to The New Invocation, MAGICK,
Seance and The Altar Flame... a total of
71 original presentations, all within a single Adobe PDF document,
making it extremely easy to find exactly what you're looking
for.
Here's a closer look at
the contents...
Dr.
Fathom's Amusements
It's
hard for me to pick which of Larry's books is my favorite,
but considering my love of the detective noir genre and my
avid interest in the gritty and sometimes surreal world of
the carnival, this one is a real contender. Written in a style
that brings to mind Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler,
Dr. Fathom's Amusements follows the investigation
of a psychic detective as he tries to uncover the truth behind
a woman's disappearance, with all clues pointing to a carnival
run by the elusive Dr. Fathom.
Each of the chapters in the book is actually a self-contained
Bizarre routine with a carnival theme, complete with presentation
dialogue and full explanations. During the course of the investigation,
the reader encounters pickled punks, a magical stripper, the
Spider Lady, the Freak Mentalist, a Three-Shell Operator,
Abdul the Card-Playing Turk, and other shifty characters.
Although you probably wouldn't want to do all ten routines
in one performance (unless you were doing a full evening show),
you could easily modify the stories and present three or four
of the routines as a suite.
Laughing
Souls and Other Bizarre Visitations
Like
the majority of Larry's material, the presentations in Laughing
Souls and Other Bizarre Visitations are easy, practical
and versatile. Themes covered in the thirteen routines in
this book include Brazilian spirit mediumship, medieval mountebanks,
a Salem witch seance, Civil War psychokinesis, a trio of Mexican
mysteries, a 19th century medicine show, and three seances
from Hitler's Germany. Be forewarned that most (if not all)
of the stories in this collection are potentially quite disturbing
and should only be presented to mature audiences -- and you
should probably exercise discretion even then.
The
Book of Aleister Crowley:
Nine Dreams in the Life
of
The Wickedest Man in the World
At
the time of its original publication, this book marked the
first time Aleister Crowley appeared in the literature of
Bizarre Magick, which is in itself another proof of the ground-breaking
nature of Larry's work. Having spent a fair amount of time
myself researching the life of Aleister Crowley, I was very
interested (and very pleased) to see how effectively Larry
had incorporated Bizarre Magick into the Crowleyan mythos.
While not a full biography of The Beast, The
Book of Aleister Crowley succeeds in conveying
a good understanding of the surreal life of one of the most
notorious necromancers in history. Each of the nine routines
contained in this book is based on actual events in Crowley's
life, and can be staged as a separate presentation or, as
Larry suggests, "combined to form an evening with the roguish
mage."
Collected
Writings
In
addition to all of the routines contained in Larry's three
books, there are an additional 38 presentations that ran
in the now-legendary New
Invocation, MAGICK,
Seance and Altar
Flame. Many of these routines are structured as seances,
calling forth from the Other Side such luminaries as Edgar
Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, ocean liner gamblers, 17th century
witches, Mary Todd Lincoln, Roaring 20s gangsters, New Orleans
psychics, 14th century magicians, Inquisition heretics,
and (as you have already guessed) many more.
It's
interesting to note how easily Larry was able to tailor
his writing from one publication to another, perhaps most
notably in the case of Bascom Jones' MAGICK,
which tended to have a more contemporary focus. Within this
context, presentations are more streamlined (but no less
compelling), and explore topics such as crop circles, hypnosis,
pendulums, ESP research and Einstein's universe.
Perfect
For All Levels of Performers...
...
who are into Bizarre Magick, of course. Needless to say,
if you aren't into the spooky stuff, this anthology probably
isn't for you.
If
you are, however, you'll surely appreciate these creations
from the mind of one of the original pioneers of Bizarre
Magick, regardless of your own performance level. Amateurs
(and remember the literal Latin translation of that word
is "lover") will not only learn new methods and techniques,
but will invariably gain understanding of the dramatic and
effective elements that go into successful story-based presentations.
Professionals,
on the other hand, will find many of Larry's presentations
to have a catalytic effect on their own creative efforts,
making this collection the basis for a motherlode of new
material with a bizarre theme. Both amateur and professional
alike will certainly enjoy reading this anthology for the
sheer entertainment value of it, since the majority of the
entries read like a self-contained short story, and all
of them deal with themes and topics that never fail to be
thought-provoking.
I
haven't checked eBay lately, but I imagine that to get all
of the three out-of-print and hard-to-find books -- plus
all of Larry's contributions to The New Invocation,
MAGICK, Seance and The Altar Flame
-- would prove to be difficult and run quite a bit more
than the cost of this updated digital anthology. Plus, to
have all of Larry's writings in one convenient place (with
the benefit of PDF searchability, no less) will prove invaluable
when looking for something specific within the 219 page
volume.
The
Bottom Line
If
you're ready to order this e-book now, simply click on the
Add To Cart button below.
The
Larry Baukin Anthology
Only $55.00
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