HIGH LEVEL MAGIC BY SIMON
Forbidden Illusions for Open Minds

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK:
THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOUR MAGIC DANGEROUS IN REAL LIFE.
Some things are better experienced than explained.
Some moments are not meant to be repeated.
This is not about performance.
This is about interference.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS
Most magic books teach tricks for perfect conditions.
Quiet rooms. Seated audiences. Controlled environments.
This one teaches you how to hunt in the wild.
Let's get one thing straight:
This is not another collection of "cool effects."
It's not theory you'll never use.
It's not material that only works when everything goes right.
High Level Magic is a field manual - Sharp, practical, and uncompromising - for performers who want their magic to hit hard when it matters most.
Not on stage.
Not in a studio.
In real life.
Where people are distracted.
Where attention is unstable.
Where reactions are genuine.
And where ordinary objects become extraordinary illusions.
This book isn't for hobbyists hunting for applause.
It's for performers who want to create moments that break reality in unpredictable environments.
If that's you - keep reading.

A GLIMPSE INTO A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE
Every book I write exists in its own universe, and what you're about to read is a glimpse into one of them.
This is not a collection of tricks. It is a body of work built around moments that feel unstable, unexpected, and real in a way they shouldn't.
Most of these effects rely on everyday objects - Lighters, cigarettes, coins, leaves, borrowed items. Nothing is unnecessarily complex, but everything has been shaped with intention and real-world use in mind.
This is not about showing skill.
It is about creating moments that people cannot fully process, even when they try.

MAGIC RARELY HAPPENS UNDER IDEAL CONDITIONS
In real environments, people are distracted, engaged in conversations, moving around, and only partially paying attention.
That is exactly where this material is meant to exist.
You are not performing for a seated audience.
You are stepping into an ongoing situation and shifting it.
To do that effectively, technique alone is not enough.
Control over attention becomes essential.
This kind of work depends on timing, awareness, and restraint.
Knowing when to act is often more important than how.
In many cases, doing less creates a stronger and more believable moment.
The effects in this book were designed to function under these conditions. They are direct, adaptable, and built for real-time performance.

THE EXPERIENCES INSIDE

1. LOLLIPOP
You open a gum wrapper. The paper falls to the floor.
Something's wrong, isn't it? The wrapper floats back up to your hand. You bring it to a flame. A burst of fire.
And from nowhere - a lollipop appears.
Visual. Engaging. The perfect opener.
Women and children will love this trick. Not because it's simple. Because it's magical in a way that transcends technique.

2. HIGH LEAVES
A reinvention of the classic sponge balls. With leaves.
You take two leaves. Place one in the spectator's hand.
One in yours. They teleport. Yours vanishes - the spectator now has two. You pluck an invisible leaf from the air.
Now they have three. You take all three leaves. Close your hand. How many are there? All of them vanish.
No gimmicks. No special objects. Just leaves picked from the environment. Organic magic at its limit.

3. DEVIL'S CAP
Multiple bottle caps are placed on the table. You turn your back. The spectator hides a signed object under any cap.
They mix them. You turn around. You find it immediately.
Every time.
No electronics. No secret assistants. No sleight of hand.
Bar magic meets strong mentalism.
Common objects. Impossible precision.

4. PICKPOCKETING
A spectator chooses a card. They keep it with them the entire time. Suddenly - your phone rings. Who is it?
The deck is calling. And it tells you exactly which card they chose.
The craziest part? That's their phone. Pickpocketing meets mentalism in a combination you've never seen. It will leave your spectator absolutely destroyed.

5. SMOKED COIN
You hold a coin. Smoke rises from your hand.
It vanishes completely. And reappears under the spectator's watch.
The smoke doesn't come from a secret gimmick.
It comes from the environment itself. A cigarette.
A cigar. A blunt. The coin didn't simply disappear.
It traveled.

6. VANISHING LIGHTER & CIGARETTE
You show the lighter with a clean display. It vanishes completely. You grab the cigarette. It vanishes too.
Both reappear wherever you want them to.
Bonus version: You light the lighter. You bring it to the cigarette. A flash of fire. Both vanish simultaneously.
Pure visual destruction.

7. LAST SMOKE (RISING CARD)
A card is chosen and returned to the deck. The deck goes back inside its box. The spectator holds it. The card rises from the middle.
No invisible threads. No electronics.
Next level: The card rises & disintegrates in the air... And reappears inside the cigarette the spectator has been holding the entire time.
An illusion with multiple layers. It's up to you to decide how far to go.

ROUTINES & FLOW
Most magic books teach individual tricks.
Standalone moments. Isolated events. Things that happen and then end.
That's not how real performance works.
This chapter isn't about tricks. It's about architecture.

You'll learn:

The Three Layers of Flow - Hook, Build, Closer
The Difference Between a Performance and an Experience
The Emotional Arc A Good Routine from an Unforgettable One
How to Build Your Own Routine with Intention

Plus three complete routines:

I TRIED SMOKING ONCE - A thematic journey where everything disappears because you tried to smoke.
NATURE'S GAME - Leaves, coins, and an impossible double reveal that happens entirely in their hands.
SUGAR & FIRE - A complete cycle of creation, disappearance, and return. **Fire gives. Fire gives again.

Fire takes. Fire gives back.**

REAL PSYCHOLOGY
Attention. Perception. Timing.
The Invisible Architecture of Magic.
Most performers focus on technique. The moves. The methods.
The mechanics. That's only half of what makes magic work.
The other half happens inside the spectator's mind** -without their awareness, without their permission.
This chapter is about that invisible architecture.
Not theory. Not philosophy. Real systems you can use in real time.

ATTENTION - How to move people from distracted to locked.
PERCEPTION - How to control what they think they saw.
TIMING - When to begin, when to reveal, when to move, when to end.
REAL-TIME ADAPTATION - What to do when they don't get it, when they call you out, when distraction happens.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL

You'll also discover:

Bonus routines
Flow principles
Psychological processes
Ideas and expansions
Real-world performance systems

THIS BOOK IS NOT SAFE
It wasn't designed to be.
It was designed for moments where:

Attention is fractured
Conditions are unpredictable
And reactions are genuine

Most magicians avoid these situations.
They prefer controlled environments.
This is for those who hunt in the wild.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
This is for the performer who wants to walk into any situation - party, bar, street, living room - and shift reality in seconds.
It's for magicians who want to stop performing "tricks" and start creating moments that feel different.
If you want safe, easy material... you won't find it here.
If you want to build a repertoire that works when it counts... this is the guide you've been waiting for.

THE EFFECT THIS BOOK CREATES
After this book, your magic won't feel like "tricks."
It will feel like real moments of impossibility.
Your openers will hook.
Your closers will stay.
Your control over attention will become invisible.
People won't just clap.
They'll question what just happened.
For days.

FINAL WARNING
This book won't make you a magician if you aren't willing to think.
It won't work in real life unless you're willing to get your hands dirty.
It won't give you control if you don't build it.
But if you're ready for the level where technique isn't enough - where timing, awareness, and restraint separate you from everyone else
Welcome to High Level Magic.
Don't say I didn't warn you.

HIGH LEVEL MAGIC
Forbidden Illusions for Open Minds
Where ordinary objects become extraordinary illusions.