Marketing Fluff
"This DVD will start you at the beginning of card magic and take you to a working professional's level. You'll progress faster than ever before by focusing on the most powerful moves. This is a complete course in card magic without the filler. There's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars buying a set of 3 or 8 or 10 DVDs when you can learn the core skills (the ones that get used over and over again in thousands of tricks) on one DVD. This is that DVD."
"...once you've mastered these key moves you'll be able to perform anytime, anywhere, with just a regular deck of cards. Imagine how it's going to feel to have that power to entertain. This is a technology that changes you. It's like riding a bike, learning a new language, or flying an airplane. It's freedom... with a deck of cards."
Degree of Difficulty
Easy to Moderate. This DVD is targeted to someone with NO prior card handling skills to someone with some basic skills looking to round out their arsenal. This is a great choice for beginning card magic because covers the foundational skills required for sleight of hand card magic.
Teaching
Oz Pearlman is a great, young mind in magic and has solid teaching skills to pass on the knowledge. He covers each sleight in great detail and demonstrates several times from different angles. The lone exception is the Classic Pass which he goes over slowly, but only once. Pearlman recommends using outside resources to perfect this difficult maneuver.
Oz expertly demonstrates each routine for real spectators on the streets of Vegas. His performances will provide the motivation for learning the routines once you see how people react.
Quantity of Effects
There is a book you can buy that is considered by many to be the ultimate reference for card magic. The book is called Royal Road to Card Magic and can be found for $10. You'll get much, much more material than you would get on this 30$ DVD. However, I don't recommend doing that. Buy this DVD first and get then Royal Road to Card Magic as a reference guide to expand your card magic vocabulary once you've master the sleights on this DVD. You'll learn faster and with less frustration.
This DVD is like a beginner Lego set. All the essential blocks to build some small but impressive Lego creations. It starts with a selection of card handling techniques beginning with how to hold a deck of cards. You're going to learn the language of card magic; the grips, the breaks, cuts, forces and controls. Plus you'll learn just enough eye candy flourishes to give the illusion that you're an old hat at card magic. Plus you'll learn four full routines that make use of your new found skills.
The run time for this DVD is over 104 minutes. Here's the low down.
Fundamentals:
Quality of Effects
The routines that Pearlman selected are versions of some of the classic routines in card magic. Each routine has the potential to blow the minds of your spectators. I've used these routines dozens of times and they are potent.
The Biddle Trick is perhaps the easiest to learn and execute. The spectator makes a free choice from the deck. You slide the card up to give the spectator a view of their selection without taking a look yourself. You square up the deck explaining that you can use estimation techniques to locate their card. You narrow the selection down to four or five cards and ask the spectator to hold the pack. You show the five cards to the spectator and ask them to not to say anything. Once all five are shown you ask the spectator if one of the five cards was their card...indeed it was! Then you guess which one is the card...only you're wrong. You guess again...wrong! Things are looking bleak. Ultimately, the chosen card turns out not to be one of the 5 cards because it has disappeared. Only 4 cards remain in your hand. Their card, the missing card, turns up in the deck in the spectators hand upside down! This is a killer trick.
The Ultimate Transposition is another trick that happens in the hands of the spectator. The spectator is holding a 6 of Diamonds. You're holding a King of Hearts. Somehow they change places from your hand to theirs!
The Three Card Monte got it's start as a confidence game that street hustlers use to lighten the wallets of gullible people. Of course, magicians have ethics and don't hustle people but it makes for a great magic trick. This is a Two Card Monte that will leave you spectator laughing. This is a "follow the card" trick. Just when you think you know which card is which, they switch places in an impossible fashion.
For the newbie magician, an Ambitious Card Routines (commonly referred to as a ACR) consists of a very simple plot; place a signed card in the middle of the deck and it magically rises to the top of the deck. Each sequence in the ACR seems more impossible than the one before. Like the famous Cups and Balls routine, magicians have created many variations and climaxes over the years. This is a basic ACR but very fun and amazing for your audience and challenging to a beginner.
Production Quality
Solid production values. The DVD menuing is excellent. The angles are great.
You're also going to see these routines performed on the streets of Las Vegas for real tourists getting big laughs and eye popping reactions.
Overall: 8/10
For a beginner to intermediate magician or for an introduction to card magic I doubt you'll find much better instruction. The marketing fluff goes a bit far...you won't end up being a card pro but you will, with enough practice, have the power to entertain. I cut my teeth on this DVD - it was my first magic DVD. Many, many DVDs later and I still go back to this one to brush up on technique.
"This DVD will start you at the beginning of card magic and take you to a working professional's level. You'll progress faster than ever before by focusing on the most powerful moves. This is a complete course in card magic without the filler. There's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars buying a set of 3 or 8 or 10 DVDs when you can learn the core skills (the ones that get used over and over again in thousands of tricks) on one DVD. This is that DVD."
"...once you've mastered these key moves you'll be able to perform anytime, anywhere, with just a regular deck of cards. Imagine how it's going to feel to have that power to entertain. This is a technology that changes you. It's like riding a bike, learning a new language, or flying an airplane. It's freedom... with a deck of cards."
Degree of Difficulty
Easy to Moderate. This DVD is targeted to someone with NO prior card handling skills to someone with some basic skills looking to round out their arsenal. This is a great choice for beginning card magic because covers the foundational skills required for sleight of hand card magic.
Teaching
Oz Pearlman is a great, young mind in magic and has solid teaching skills to pass on the knowledge. He covers each sleight in great detail and demonstrates several times from different angles. The lone exception is the Classic Pass which he goes over slowly, but only once. Pearlman recommends using outside resources to perfect this difficult maneuver.
Oz expertly demonstrates each routine for real spectators on the streets of Vegas. His performances will provide the motivation for learning the routines once you see how people react.
Quantity of Effects
There is a book you can buy that is considered by many to be the ultimate reference for card magic. The book is called Royal Road to Card Magic and can be found for $10. You'll get much, much more material than you would get on this 30$ DVD. However, I don't recommend doing that. Buy this DVD first and get then Royal Road to Card Magic as a reference guide to expand your card magic vocabulary once you've master the sleights on this DVD. You'll learn faster and with less frustration.
This DVD is like a beginner Lego set. All the essential blocks to build some small but impressive Lego creations. It starts with a selection of card handling techniques beginning with how to hold a deck of cards. You're going to learn the language of card magic; the grips, the breaks, cuts, forces and controls. Plus you'll learn just enough eye candy flourishes to give the illusion that you're an old hat at card magic. Plus you'll learn four full routines that make use of your new found skills.
The run time for this DVD is over 104 minutes. Here's the low down.
Fundamentals:
- Mechanic's Grip, Biddle Grip, Pinky Break, Thumb Break, Dribble to Secure a Break, Swing Cut, Swivel Cut, Double Lift, Top Palm
- Classic Pass, Hindu Shuffle Pass, Double Undercut, One Handed Top Palm, Elmsley Count, Spread Cull, Swing Swivel Cut
- Hindu Shuffle, Riffle Shuffle
- 2 Handed Thumb Fan, Le Paul Spread, Springing the Cards, Erdnase Color Change, One Handed Thumb Fan, Hot Shot Cut [Daryl], Pendulum Cut [Hooser], Trinary Cut [Acer]
- Ultimate Transpo, Two Card Monte, Biddle Trick, Ambitious Card
Quality of Effects
The routines that Pearlman selected are versions of some of the classic routines in card magic. Each routine has the potential to blow the minds of your spectators. I've used these routines dozens of times and they are potent.
The Biddle Trick is perhaps the easiest to learn and execute. The spectator makes a free choice from the deck. You slide the card up to give the spectator a view of their selection without taking a look yourself. You square up the deck explaining that you can use estimation techniques to locate their card. You narrow the selection down to four or five cards and ask the spectator to hold the pack. You show the five cards to the spectator and ask them to not to say anything. Once all five are shown you ask the spectator if one of the five cards was their card...indeed it was! Then you guess which one is the card...only you're wrong. You guess again...wrong! Things are looking bleak. Ultimately, the chosen card turns out not to be one of the 5 cards because it has disappeared. Only 4 cards remain in your hand. Their card, the missing card, turns up in the deck in the spectators hand upside down! This is a killer trick.
The Ultimate Transposition is another trick that happens in the hands of the spectator. The spectator is holding a 6 of Diamonds. You're holding a King of Hearts. Somehow they change places from your hand to theirs!
The Three Card Monte got it's start as a confidence game that street hustlers use to lighten the wallets of gullible people. Of course, magicians have ethics and don't hustle people but it makes for a great magic trick. This is a Two Card Monte that will leave you spectator laughing. This is a "follow the card" trick. Just when you think you know which card is which, they switch places in an impossible fashion.
For the newbie magician, an Ambitious Card Routines (commonly referred to as a ACR) consists of a very simple plot; place a signed card in the middle of the deck and it magically rises to the top of the deck. Each sequence in the ACR seems more impossible than the one before. Like the famous Cups and Balls routine, magicians have created many variations and climaxes over the years. This is a basic ACR but very fun and amazing for your audience and challenging to a beginner.
Production Quality
Solid production values. The DVD menuing is excellent. The angles are great.
You're also going to see these routines performed on the streets of Las Vegas for real tourists getting big laughs and eye popping reactions.
Overall: 8/10
For a beginner to intermediate magician or for an introduction to card magic I doubt you'll find much better instruction. The marketing fluff goes a bit far...you won't end up being a card pro but you will, with enough practice, have the power to entertain. I cut my teeth on this DVD - it was my first magic DVD. Many, many DVDs later and I still go back to this one to brush up on technique.
1 comment:
Thanks.
Gonna get it.
majicman
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