Games and Humor Books

The first trick I tried from the book didn't even work. The rest of them were either too stupid to bother with, or didn't even make sense. The style the book is written in is awful too. I've learned harder card tricks than any of the ones presented in this book with half the effort just because they were explained well. Bottom line: a frustrating book not worth your time.

This book does have some good tricks, but not really for serious magicians. You may go in for other titles like Royal Road to Card Magic, or Expert Card Technique, if you want to learn something worthy.

This book is a total waste of paper and ink. Although, it's a waste of time to read "tricks" that even your 3 year old brother will discover the secret.

If you don't have a clue what your doing, and you just want to learn a few trick to impress your friends, this is the book for you, its easy to follow and has a skill guide to help you work up without losing hope

Basically, it shows you a lot of cheap tricks that you yourself could have figured out. However, if you are starting out and looking for a couple good tricks it might not be sooo bad. How about this for short, a magician probably wouldn't buy this book.

The projects in this book were mostly for children and looked more like 1980s than actually vintage (50s-60s) as I expected.

... not as good as the other "On the Go" books. Starting with the good points, the Vogue Knitting folks continue to provide easy-to-follow instructions, great photographs and some cute projects. However, I was disappointed with the lack of variety. I was hoping to find gorgeous angora twinsets, jewelneck pullovers, etc., but most of the patterns were for kids and babies; not much help if you want vintage items for adults. Even though the patterns were cute, nothing really leapt out at me, as if to say "you have to make this next!" Similarly, none of the items struck me as being from a particular era, more of a generic late 50s-early 60s style redux. There was a lot of knitting going on before and after this period, and it would have been nice to have a sampling that spanned a bit more time. I think an expanded "Vintage Knits" would be better suited to one of VK's big collections, rather than an "On the Go" format. In short, pick this one up for kid's things, but if you are expecting a variety of truly vintage patterns, or want to make vintage knits for yourself, this probably isn't the best choice for you.

Some of these pattterns looked cute, but ultimately I am reluctant make any because there are no pictures of the items actually worn on a person. The portrait-collared 50s sweater, for example: how fitted is it? How cropped? We can't tell from a photo of the sweater flat on a surface. Please, knitting pattern publishers: we need to see the patterns actually modelled!

I was really excited that Vogue came out with this. But when I read it, I found that the patterns were pretty dull - even ugly at times, and they really don't look very vintage (unless you consider 1980's vintage). When I think of vintage patterns, I think of little fifties sweaters, boleros, knitted suits, cute hats and items that really shout their era. These are just plain and generic. Can a sock pattern really be vintage?
Get "Vintage Knits" instead - it isn't as portable, but is much more accurate!

I bought this book because I knew there were a few really cute patterns in it I wanted. There's a really lovely bed sweater, too cute bunny booties for babies and a shoulderette. A lot of the patterns are really ugly though...a cropped sweater? No thanks. Reading through the book though I'm noticing that the directions are horribly vague and difficult to follow. I'm sure I can slosh my way through but it definitely makes knitting these beautiful items a lot less fun.

The people who commented on it being inappropriate for children and gave this book a low rating have very little understanding of the way children think and react to this kind of thing. I have had this book in my lobby for about 6 years and among about 600 kids of all ages this is probably their favorite book. THey LOVE the absurd pictures. Yes, some of them appear violent, but they are certainly no more 'violent' than your average cartoon and any kid understands that these images aren't real. I've never had any child start to cry or get upset or any negative reaction as a result of flipping through this book. It is a fun book that kids can play with for a long time and make a wide variety of odd faces. What is also cool about this is that you wind up with the same face in profile and a straight on shot on opposite pages. There is also a lot of detail going on in the background. Hours of fun. Great book.

I purchased this book at a used book store. Since we had 2 other books by the same illustrator and publisher that my kids loved (and the material was appropriate), I didn't look all the way through the pages to examine them. When we got home, I was shocked to see the nails and daggers and disturbing characters in the latter part of the book. But my son had already looked at it all on the way home, in the backseat. He didn't seem too upset with the pictures, but I didn't like them and didn't want him viewing them over and over. He obviously wasn't going to let up on his death-grip of the book to let me put it away. So I waited until he was asleep, and glued the objectionable flaps together, leaving the "nice" pictures alone. He wasn't too upset by this. He was just told that those pictures weren't good for him to see and that he could continue looking at the other pictures. Problem solved. The other 2 "face books" by Messenger, we didn't have a problem with. They were great. And when we go out and the kids have them, people often comment on them and ask where we got them. And older kids (teens and preteens), do get a kick out of them also.

Eight faces in this book are cut into sections, and by flipping the sections back and forth, you can mix-and-match the features. The faces range from pleasant to silly to bizarre, and are really rather amusing. Unlike other customers who have reviewed this book, I would have no hesitation giving it to a young child. Even the grotesque drawings are clearly not serious--children have a better understanding of real and imaginary than they are given credit for--and because of the nature of the book, it is entirely up to the reader which faces and features are chosen... a very positive and liberating aspect. One thing I particularly like is that you get to see a front and side view of each face you've made. One thing I would have preferred to see is faces of different colors.

Honestly, this is horrible with a dagger in the neck, nails in the head, screw through the nose, and safety pins in the ears. We are extremely dissatisfied with this book. The 4-8 year old rating is incorrect and extremely misleading. This is definitely for.... well, noone.

The horror of some of the pictures is absolutely ridiculous. The author could have made just as many "funny" or "silly" pictures without being disturbing and grotesque. This is not appropriate for anyone. It could possible give young children horrible ideas and could end up hurting themselves or others.

This calendar was ordered in December, 2006 and was supposed to be a Christmas present.

It got shipped in June, 2007.

Need I say more?

Great Calendar for Naruto fans! Very colorful and sturdy. Got ours on eBay!

I ordered this for my daughter over a month ago (December). It was avalible,soooo!Why didn't we ever get it?

I have never received this item. Pleases advise as to shipment timetable.

This is a good calender if you are a fan.
My friends gave me The Simpson one, with each day having something on it. Naruto calender has only the major holidays, etc.
It is nice, since I'm a fan, I'll give it 5 stars.

Not such a great puzzle calendar. Today's entry finally prompted the review because it was just plain broken. You can't figure out the answer from the information given, and the answer given is patently wrong. It's only March and I've found 3-4 broken puzzles in this calendar, and a lot more just plain simple or boring ones.

A somewhat pedestrian selection of word games and math problems. Some are more difficult than others, but this is more often due to incomplete (and sometimes flat-out incorrect) problem statements than to the problems themselves. On the plus side it's made of recyclable paper; also, there is plenty of space on the back of each page, allowing the calendar to serve double duty as a source of Post-It notes.

(Interestingly, this calendar is no longer listed on Mensa's website.)

I had the 2000 version of this calendar, and I was able to solve about 70% of the puzzles. If this truly was a "Mensa" calendar, I would have been lucky to solve 20%. After about 15 days into the calendar, the puzzles begin repeating with different variables. It looks as though the authors took no more than two dozen puzzles and carbon-copied them, changing only the numbers and names used in the puzzles to make them look "different." This calendar is completely unimaginitive and gets boring after the first couple of months.

If you want imaginitive, original, and challenging puzzles, I recommend getting Terry Stickel's Mind-Bending Puzzles calendar.

What a great way to know the day and date and at the same time challenge your mind a little. Each morning I look forward to either a word or math challenge. Some of the puzzles are beyond me, but they are good mind stretchers. Most of the time the answer is doable. As a middle school teacher, I have taken several of these puzzles to school and let my students work on them. They love it too!

I would not want to be without this puzzle. I have used it for years!

Irv's clever tricks for everyday situations are perfect to entertain the family, your clients and customers, your friends--anyone and everyone. Sure, as Gregg points out, some of the tricks require a bit of prep, but hardly an inordinate amount. And every trick requires practice, if you want it to look good. All in all, this is a fabulous book of clever tricks, with a cool, modern approach you won't find in any other magic book out there.

I was REALLY disappointed with this book. The back of the book reads " Be ready to create magic anytime, anyplace with this entertaining book..." While this may be true, the majority of the tricks included in this book can only be performed with quite a bit of set-up. I had hoped that the book would provide me with magic tricks that I could perform "on the fly". Unfortunately, almost every trick in the book requires some sort of ridiculous set up using items that one could hardly classify as "everyday". Don't bother with this one. Sorry Irv, but I was not amazed.

Amazing Irv doesn't deserve the title. The only trick in this book worth practising is the levitation, it is basically the classic baldacci levitiation, re-popularised by David Blaine and shown on his recent tv special. Other than that forget it. You would be better off with Karl Fulves Selfworking table magic - 97 fool proof tricks, as these require no set up, faked props or - most important, accomplices (i mean, it's hard enough finding friends nowdays let alone stooges). Oh yeah, Diamond Jim, when are you going to republish Pocketfull of Miracles ?
Sometime soon I hope.

More than jumping rope and playing jacks, this book covers shadow animals, paper tricks, paper airplanes, a recipe for homemade soap bubble mix, tricks with yo-yos, tops, simple juggling, balloon tricks and animals, the string game Cat's Cradle, plus the skill I have always wanted to learn -- how to whistle with two fingers. No, it's not Tolstoy, and the photos of what look like the author's friends and neighbors give it a 'Berkeley in the 70's' feel (after 10+ years it could use some polishing) but I'd recommend it as an entertaining read for anyone facing a B'day past 30 who is in need of a little fun.

I was very embarrased that I even bought this book. Some of the items given the most time w/this softback are "Jumping Rope", "Playing Jacks", "Blowing Bubbles". Also, full instruction s on how to whistle are in this book. There are about 3 decent self-working card tricks. But the balance of the paper the book is printed on would have been better used as toilet tissue. Please save you cash on this one. If you are interested in the card tricks, just email me and I will tell you about them

I was given this calendar for Christmas last year and it seemed very promising - it's exactly the sort of thing I go for. There are some entertaining entries, but I think the author ran out of good material.

The entries consist of stupid things people have done or said, as well as famous quotes about human stupidity, and the author's own thoughts on human stupidity. Most of the first three are ok, producing some real gems occasionally, but the author's own thoughts on stupidity are simply awful - they lack cleverness, insight, and sometimes even sense.

The calendar is a great concept, but I can't recommend it. The really entertaining bits are balanced by the painful bits, and the rest is just filler.

I purchased this calendar for my husband as a Christmas gift. I started the tradition of putting a page-a-day calendar in his stocking every year, and up until this year, it was always "The Far Side". This year, as I was looking through the Amazon listings for "The Far Side", I stumbled upon "Duh!" and checked it out. It seemed funny enough that I thought it would make a nice change from the usual.
As it turned out, this calendar was pretty funny. Some of the anecdotes are a little goofy, but most of them (I peeked ahead!) are good for a nice chuckle, especially if you just can't believe some of the stuff people do!
If you enjoy a laugh (and maybe even if you want to feel less bad about your own life seeming like a never-ending sitcom), you'd enjoy this calendar. The only downfall is that I couldn't read just one, so I've already gone through most of the year. They're funny stories to share with friends or magnet to the fridge, too.

This book does not tell you anything about what the title of the book suggests. It basically was meant for people who never stepped into a casino. For those of you who expects to get pointers on what to do in order to get more comps, don't bother buying this book. It doesn't even give the most basic strategy about how to improve your comp. By this, I mean that it doesn't even tell you that when you are playing at a table game, to tell the dealer to hold your spot while you go to the restroom. For those of you who don't know this, the reason is simple. While you are gone, your play is still being recorded for a good amount of time until they stop holding your spot. I am going to be returning this book today. So don't bother wasting your money on it

This book provides a good view of the gambling indurstry from a person who lives it every day. The author is the President and CEO of the Claridge Casino Hotel, my favorite establishment in Atlantic City. The book explains in overview fashion the process by which casinos decide who to give free gifts to (such as a free room or a free meal). It explains what the casino looks for, how it makes its evaluations, and how to take advantage of that process. There is also a section about newer table games, such as Carribean Stud.

It is truly a "little book" without a great deal of information or inspiration to offer. I would not have purchased it if I had seen the book first. I would not suggest it to anyone with any experience in needlework.

This is a delightful little book that takes the French knot beyond dotting the "i"s in your embroidery. The instructions and illustrations are clear. The patterns offer enough of a challenge to satisfy the experienced stitcher without frustrating the beginner. Because the patterns are small (most under 4" X 4"), you're not likely to get tired of doing the same stitch over and over - you can probably finish one in a couple of evenings.