DOUBLE FEATURE -- A few years ago, in the Magic Castle's Hat and Hare Pub, David Regal invited me to shuffle a deck of cards indefinitely and then to select a card, all with the deck in my hands. He then extracted a prediction card from his wallet (a real wallet, like the one George carried in Seinfeld, not some wussy Himber affair) that matched my clearly free choice. It was therefore with considerable delight that I found this trick ("The World's First Card Trick") included in the handsome new two-volume Constant Fooling, from Murphy's Magic Supplies. I couldn't have picked more enjoyable books for reading on the beach. My favorite item from David's previous book was a gag rather than a trick (and one which Simon Lovell quickly adapted as part of his professional act), and the gags and lines in Constant Fooling live up to that standard, as you might expect from a professional comedy writer. (Actually, the funniest word in the book was suggested by R. Paul Wilson.) Whether a particular trick appeals to you or not, you should read all the effects in this book, as you are in for some killer patter. The material ranges from lovely sleight-of-hand items that would have been at home in the hands of a Michael Skinner or a Larry Jennings to full-blown stand-up production pieces. I confess to a fondness for an effect in which a mouse on a slinky leaps from a box with a card in its mouth, and to one in which the magician stuffs a Buck Rogers ray gun down his pants. Also on hand are fine items from David's friends (I was already a fan of John Lovick's "Clandestine Jokers" and am newly fond of R. Paul Wilson's "Thinking It Over"). Throughout the book is a smattering of essays that are refreshingly novel. The books are beautifully produced in the same format as David's Close-Up & Personal (alas, including an incorrect punctuation decision), with glossy pages and plenteous photos. If you can buy only one book this summer, buy these two. If that makes sense. (And no, David didn't have 52 cards in his wallet that night. Just one.)