Steve Bryant's latest book is a collection of routines created primarily for his performance in the nightspots of the "Little Egypt" section of Southern Illinois, where towns bear such names as Cairo, Thebes, and Karnak.

To play in these challenging venues, the routines must be quick, direct and easy to follow. Most involve off-beat presentations guaranteed to be remembered. None use difficult sleight of hand, relying more on presentational nuances and subtle touches.

As for the tricks themselves, all but one - a version of Milt Kort's Coins Through Table - are card tricks. But these aren't just your Uncle Ed's card routines. They include a dark version of Spectator Cuts the Aces, Card to Zipper that makes hilarious use of a "Looong Card," an eerie card rise, a card transposition using beer (or drink of your choice), a Haunted Pack routine involving a Houdini seance, several card to impossible locations including one to a belly button ring, a profane (and deceptive) version of the 21 Card Trick, a version of Everywhere and Nowhere using celebrities, and a routine in which a selected card is found in an apple (and uses a Super Soaker - you don't see many tricks like that!), and much, much more.

Hardbound with dust jacket, 128 pages.