Word came from Wayne Houchin himself on Twitter last night…

SINFUL has been delayed. Got the books in today (was planning to ship tomorrow) and there was a major error with the print…

and continuing…

…The books will need to be re-printed which shouldn’t take too long. I’m hoping to have them in stock and ready to ship within the…

and again…

next week & a half. I’ll keep you all posted. An unfortunate delay – but Happy New Year anyway!

Sinful: A Graphic Novel takes Houchin’s Quarter Through Soda Can routine adds Josh Funk’s graphic artistry and results in what the creator’s say is not just an instruction manual, but a rare opportunity to peer into the creative process behind this routine.

I’m interested to see how this project does. Sinful has been around for a little while now and most magicians who were interested in performing the effect have either reverse engineered the workings of the routine and know all they want to know about it or have bought the video showing the inner workings of the effect. Those new to the Sinful may well choose this graphic novel as their method of obtaining the secrets behind it, but I’m skeptical if there will be much business from those who already know and love this Quarter Through Soda Can routine.

Wayne Houchin has consistently produced innovative and entertaining effects for the community and I truly hope this does well for him. Who knows, maybe we’ll be seeing “Stigmata: A Graphic Novel” and “Thread: A Graphic Novel” following on this project’s heels.

It occurred to me how often I judge magic by its packaging—how I sometimes, literally, judge a book by its cover. If I see an effect that comes in bright packaging with a cartoon of a tuxedoed magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat on the label, I assume it’s crap…I think I’m probably right most of the time. If I look in the showcase of my local magic shop and see a small white cardboard box with a poorly photocopied label glued to the front of it with a name like “James Davies’ Torn and Restored PB&J”¹ —I’m going to ask to see that.

It’s so strange that until the Criss-Angel/$40-for-one-effect-on-a-DVD movement changed the game, the traditional rules of packaging were inversely effective on professional magicians: if there was too much effort put into the packaging, it must be garbage. There’s an unspoken understanding when you buy an effect in a non-descript box with 5-times photocopied instructions stapled at the top left corner that all of the effort that didn’t find its way into making the box look good and the instructions look professional went into developing the trick, the gimmick and the routine.

1. I have dibs on this idea in case you just got excited—it’s mine