Hip Shot Wallet Review

I was on a mission. To find the fire wallet that I saw demo'ed at an Orlando magic shop. After much research on the Magic Cafe and magic retail web sites, I determined that the fire wallet was most likely the Jardonnet wallet. After reading a lengthy forum thread on fire accidents and liability, I decided to forego the "fire" part of the wallet for now. After narrowing my choices to the best candidates AND to the wallets that were not back ordered, I selected Anthony Miller's Hip Shot Wallet manufactured by Murphy's Magic Supply and purchased for under $35 from Penguin's Magic.




Marketing Fluff

"You love card to wallet... but you don`t wear a jacket that often? Then you should try shooting from the hip. Introducing the Hip Shot! A bi-fold hip pocket wallet made of high quality calf-skin, built from the ground up to function as your everyday wallet. Contains two zippered compartments that can produce your selected cards... One of which can produce a whole deck! A Word From The Pros..."

"A classy prop! The kind of wallet you`d be proud to own and use."
- Rafael Benetar

"It`s easy to use... Is well made and looks great. If you`ve been looking for a wallet of this type, be sure to check it out. Recommended."
- Mike Close

"Tony`s wallets are just like Frosted Flakes... They`re Great! Being a professional magician, I of course have almost no extra money, but I did actually shell out my own dough for one of these wallets! It`s nice enough that even if you don`t do the card in the wallet trick, you`ll be proud to carry it around."
- Mac King

Quantity of Prop

Anthony Miller's wallets seem to have an excellent reputation on the magic forums for high quality and solid design. I was not disappointed. The wallet is made of soft, fine, high-quality leather. This wallet is definitely comparable in quality to any fine leather wallet in a department store. It has become my every day wallet.

I will warn you it is a bit larger than I expected. It seems to fit in my Dockers and Lee jean's pockets without sticking out; but just barely fits completely into the rear pocket. Perhaps in a smaller jean style it might be tight.

Features

• There are slots for at least 14 credit cards or a bunch of packet tricks!
• Large zippered bill compartment
• Small zippered compartment big enough for cards and coins
  
• Two loading mechanisms

Here's a look at the inside:



The documentation indicates that the larger of the loading mechanism can handle a full deck of cards. That doesn't seem practical but it does appear possible and I found some forum posts where magicians were doing full deck to wallet routines. You can use a credit card as a guide into the smaller chamber (a very nice feature) and it also comes with two large, black plastic guides.

The zippers certainly add to the mystery of how the card got into the wallet.

I've been working on the card-to-wallet routine that is supplied with the wallet. The routine is a climax sequence for an Ambitious Card Routine. I'm not quite comfortable with the routine yet but it looks like a killer method of ending the ACR.

I am using it for Kenton Knepper's Kollasal Killer (KK) routine. KK is essentially an invisible deck routine without the invisible deck. There are better wallets for this routine but I did make it work with a little ingenuity. You can use any wallet for the KK effect but the size of the wallet and the zippered compartments really make the KK effect strong.

I performed KK today in a corporate leadership training session and it drew audible gasps. I set the wallet on the table, went through the patter about predicting events and that I have a prediction in the wallet. I opened the wallet to show a normal wallet. I ask a student to visualize ANY card. Showing empty hands and without any hesitation, I picked up the wallet, unzipped a compartment and pulled out the predicted card. Truly killer.

Documentation

There is no excuse for this crappy, pages out-of-order photocopy. Why offer such a quality wallet and provide such a poor quality document? Sorry Murphy's but there is NO excuse for this garbage photocopy.

Paper quality aside, the documentation describes an excellent routine for a no-palm card-to-wallet. The suggested patter is excellent and the card handling is described in detail.

Overall: 7/10

This is my first wallet review so I'm going to rate this a bit low to leave room for other wallet reviews. The Hip Shot lost 1 point for poor quality documentation. Otherwise, this is an outstanding quality prop that I hope will hold up for a couple years. I am kind of hard on wallets so we'll see if it can hold up to my abuse!

DVD Review: Greg Wilson's Double Take

The Double Lift (DL) is arguably the most widely used sleight in all of card magic. Poorly executed, you'll look like a complete dufus. Perfectly executed and you look like a wizard. Seemingly a simple move, the DL is a tough move to polish to perfection and difficult to nail 100% of the time. For century's, the classic pass was thought to be the most indispensable move but move over pass; the DL is now the king of cards.

Here's a little sample of me performing the Knock-Out DL. Not that I perform it perfectly but it's the one that works best for me. I can hit the double 100% of the time and then handle the double as a single with confidence.



This DVD is a timeless masterpiece.

Marketing Fluff

Gregory Wilson's Double Take puts the world's greatest double lifts at your fingertips. ..even if you're all thumbs. This step-by-step instructional video is packed with more than 90 minutes of dynamic material you can perform anytime, anywhere, with any deck. For nearly two decades Gregory has been teaching his unique style of magic, as well as performing for many Fortune 500 companies. And as your personal coach, Gregory will teach you the nuances of more than 25 different double lifts ~ choose your favorites: from the top of the deck, from the bottom, from the middle, from a fan, from the table, to the table, and even doubles that flip through the air from hand-to-hand! If you're a beginner, or have never even picked up a deck of cards, you can easily perform miracles in minutes with Greg's Quick Start-Up Section. The more advanced will enjoy studying the techniques of the masters, including Dai Vernon, Ed Mario, Martin Nash, and many others.

Degree of Difficulty

Beginner to Expert. Wilson puts puts things in order. He assumes you don't even know what a "mechanics grip" is. He ties the introductory material up with a "quick start" segment providing three easy to learn miracles. The material gets harder from here on out. You'll find that some moves and routines have an steep learning curve.

The cool thing is, I really think a beginner could get this DVD as a starting point. There is no more important move than the DL in card magic. This will give the beginner an arsenal of hard hitting close-up magic. Then, as the novice advances, they can work on the more advanced material. Literally, this DVD will take you a long, long time to learn and perfect all of the material.

And the advanced card mage will love the Brittanica-like index of DL knowledge as well.

Teaching

Greg Wilson is like a tenured Harvard professor - only a lot more fun and a lot less boring! Each routine is performed in front of a small audience of attractive ladies donned in vintage 80s attire. He is constantly cracking jokes and flirting with the pretty ladies in his audience. During the instructional sections, Gregory moves slowly through all moves, usually several times in both slow-mo and in tempo.

Wilson has a gift for teaching. He really speaks to the physics of each move; where the pressure is applied, what direction the pressure is taking, what are the opposing pressure points, where the pivot points are located, what the sound of a card should sound like.

Wilson is also good at crediting the creators of the moves. He gives a little lecture on reading books. He downplays his own video as "supplemental" to the real material; the classic books of magic. I actually disagree with him on this one. I think magic DVDs have surpassed books as the primary source of magical instruction with books now as the supplemental resources. But that's a debate for another time and place. Wilson is obviously a very gracious and humble man - sometimes a seemingly rare trait in today's world.

Quantity of Effects

Wow! Like Wilson's Ring Leader DVD is to "ring and string" magic, this is THE encyclopedia of the Double Lift. As if the sleights weren't enough, there are a bunch of great tricks in this gem. It took me well over an hour to document the sleights and tricks that contained with this vast grimoire. So here they are:

Introduction - Greg telling you what he's about to teach you.

Basic DL - Greg does a good job explaining basic DL beginning with the mechanics of the mechanics grip and the thumb count from the biddle grip. It's a littler different from the basic DL I learned.
Strike DL - a very popular DL because of the natural moption and no get ready. Personally, I don't like it because I occasionally get a triple (Yeah, I know...lack of practice!)
Grip Strike DL - enhanced version of the Strike that adds a push over move.
Knock-Out DL - Greg's favorite and my fav as well. A litle flashy and always works for me.
The Basic Replacement - perhaps I wasn't giving this part of the DL enough attention!
Quick Start-up - three tricks to get your feet wet. These are really good tricks so don't overlook them. Includes a very nice in-the-spectators-hand transposition.

• Simple Location Trick
• Simple Reverse Trick
• Simple Switch Trick

More replacements...

Maintaining a break after the replacement
Bernard Bilis Replacement - a flourishy replacement.
Revolve Replacement - flourishy & emphasizes the singularity of of the double (that's an oxymoron!)
Juan Tameriz Replacement - cool out jogged replacement.
Racherbaumer Replacement - another cool out jogged replacement.
Vernon Offset Replacement - Yet another reason why Vernon was a genius. Pick up a double and display it away from the deck in the air for the crowd. Table it and place the cardbox on top of the tabled card. Guess what? It's already back in the deck!

Get Readys...

No Brainer DL
Auto DL
Pinky Count DL
Thumb Count DL

More doubles...

Double from a Fan
DL from a Dribble
Dai Vernon's DL
Color Changes
DL without a Pack
Tabled DLs

Tricks...

Phoenix Aces - pluck 4 Aces from the air, one at a time. This is not a back palm production. It uses some sleights that I was not familiar with.

Weighted Aces - Wilson's version of Doc Daley's Last Trick. Using 4 aces, demonstrate your ability to tell which ace is which by weight alone. Follow up with some amazing"in the spectator's hand" transpositions. Very good trick I use all the time.

Two Wrongs Make A Right - Starts out as a pick a card trick. Only problem is that you guess wrong twice. Take the two wrong cards place face up on the deck. Snap your fingers over the deck and the correct card appears from thin air, face up on the top of the deck.

Jumping Gemini (Darwin Ortiz) - Reminds me of the Color Monte on steroids. This is a difficult trick to master. Not because of the sleights but because there are so many sequences to remember. Miss one sequence and you're fricked. As a little bonus, Wilson does a great job teaching the Elmsley count.

Ambitious Card Routine

Greg performs his ACR but does provide the explanation. It's a pretty good routine that ends in a card to card box. If you don't know the ACR I would recommend the Worlds Greatest Magic by the Worlds Greatest Magicians: The Ambitious Card DVD from L&L Publishing.

Bonus Tricks...

Bizarre Twist (Paul Harris) - I loved this trick. You start with 3 red backed cards. You slide a black seven face down between two face down red aces. Twist the cards apart and the seven is now face up. Do the sequence again and this time when you flip the seven over it is a blue backed card.

Stop Trick - Drop a face down on the table. To the side, deal the remaining cards onto the table and ask the spectator to say stop. Drop the stop card onto the first tabled card. Flip them over and they are both red aces.

Double Monte - Two red aces and a black queen. You show the black queen and table it face down. You then show that you have two red aces in your hand. A quick spin and the two red aces become one black queen. You flip the tabled card over and it is the two red aces.


Quality of Effects

Even the simple introductory tricks are keepers. The people in the audience audibly gasp in each and every trick.

Production Quality

This is the only weak point in my review. This is Wilson's first video back from the days of VHS tapes and when Wilson had more hair! This DVD was obviously recorded from tape and it shows. That being said, the tape quality is pretty good throughout most of the DVD. The sub titles and transitions are were pretty good for it's time. I've seen much worse on DVDs produced in the last couple years.

The DVD menus are pretty complete. Not all of the break points are in the menu but most are and can can skip through to the ones that are not given menu selections.

Overall: 9.5/10

My highest rating so far. This is a resource that you will use for years to come. The tricks alone would make a solid DVD. If you need a resource to determine the best DL for you, this is going to fit the bill. Sure, there may be some lessor known DLs that are not covered here but there is sure to be a few that you'll come to cherish.

Penguin Magic sells this DVD for a paltry $26. That's what you call a no-brainer purchase.

Learning the Pass - Part 1

I'm finally getting around to learning one of the oldest manuevers in the book; The Pass. I had not encountered many tricks that required a pass. It seems most tricks rely on double lifts, false cuts, false counts and false shuffles. To get a feel for the power of the pass, check out the following video of a brilliantly executed pass by Jonathan Kam.



The pass is a type of card control. Controls allow the mage to move about a specific card(s) within the deck without the spectator realizing the movement is occuring. Card controls date back at least as far as was published in Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584.

Royal Road to Card Magic (RRTCM) provides a short history of the pass, implying that for centuries the pass was the most important of all sleights. Early card workers were taught that all other sleights were not important until this very difficult move was mastered. However, RRTCM makes a strong case for not learning the pass until many other more basic sleights are perfected.

In my training as a cardician, I'm certainly going to agree that the pass has not been that important so far. However, I finally came across a really nice Ambitious Card Routine (ACR) sequence that relies on the pass. Instead of the typical ACR sequence of a face down card placed into the middle, with this sequence, a face-up card is placed into the deck. The pass is used to bring the card from the middle to the top. Time to learn the pass.

I found a forum post that catalogued over 100 methods of executing the pass. The grand daddy of them all is the Classic Pass. After many hours of practice, this method is very clumsy to me still. This is going to take months or even years to perfect...argg!

The ACR sequence that I want to learn is from Tommy Wonder's delightful ACR. He uses a rollover pass. I like the look of that pass so I set out to learn the turnover pass. Hmmm...a quick Google search and look around youtube.com and there is no consensus as to what a turnover pass looks like.

So basically I'm making up my own rollover pass, I'm taking a passing action that feels a little more natural to me than the classic pass and continuing with a rollover of the deck. This seems to be a good beginner pass because the motion of the turnover hides the motion of the pass. The rollover movement of the deck matches the patter of the sequence so it all fits nicely.

Unfortunately, this simplified pass looks like weeks of practice to pull off adequately. In the meantime, I'll keep working the classic pass and let you all know how it's going. Perhaps I will post a video of my beginner rollover pass at the early stages and you can tear it apart. Then we can compare it after a few months of practice.

REVIEW: Born To Perform Card Magic with Oz Pearlman

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:

• Mechanic's Grip, Biddle Grip, Pinky Break, Thumb Break, Dribble to Secure a Break, Swing Cut, Swivel Cut, Double Lift, Top Palm

Controls:

• Classic Pass, Hindu Shuffle Pass, Double Undercut, One Handed Top Palm, Elmsley Count, Spread Cull, Swing Swivel Cut

Forces:

• Hindu Shuffle, Riffle Shuffle

Flourishes:

• 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]

Routines:

• Ultimate Transpo, Two Card Monte, Biddle Trick, Ambitious Card

There is enough material here to keep a beginner busy for weeks or even months of practice. The routines are intermediate skill level so you won't learn and perform these in one day. I beg you not to perform these until you've practice each one dozens of times.

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.

REVIEW: Worlds Greatest Magic - The Ambitious Card (DVD)

The full title of this DVD is a mouthful:

World's Greatest Magic By The World' Greatest Magicians:
The Secrets of The Ambitious Card

Say that fast, five times!

World's Greatest Magic By The World's Greatest Magicians is a series of DVDs by L&L Publishing that each focus on a famous trick or routine such as linking rings, McDonalds Aces, Stand-up magic, Coins Across, Cards Across, Zombie Ball, Coin Matrix, Chop Cup, and on and on. It's a really great idea - take new and classic footage of the best magicians all showing their own unique bend on a particular school of magic.

I recently purchased two in the series and I will cut to the chase; these are incredible DVDs and the price of each is stupid cheap (I paid $15 each). If you are interested in improving in a very specific form of magic these are the DVDs to own.

If you don't know what "taking a double" means or you don't know an Ambitious Card Routine (ACR) then you're probably not ready for this DVD. I would suggest purchasing Born to Perform Card Magic with Oz Pearlman which will provide you with a foundation in card magic and also teach you a basic ACR. Then buy this DVD! Even if you are a beginner the performances on this DVD will inspire you to learn.

For the newbie magician, an 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.

Degree of Difficulty
Moderate to Impossible. This DVD is targeted to someone with intermediate card handling skills. I would still recommend this to a beginner because there is so much to learn including the psychology of magic. The DVD does teach the basic routine so you can learn the ACR from this DVD. However, this is squarely aimed at the magician who is looking to interject some new life into their ACR.

One note on Tommy Wonder's climax sequence with the ring box. His sleight for bending a card into eighths in about 1.5 seconds will blow you away - he warns you that it will take a minimum of 50 decks of cards to achieve and perhaps as many as 200 decks to perfect the move!

Teaching
The teaching is outstanding. My favorites are Regal, Ammar and Tommy Wonder. Wonder's ACR is brilliant and he goes through the routine in detail. The real jewel here is Wonder's focus on the psychology. I just can't say enough good things about Wonder. Sadly, Tommy Wonder died in 2006.

Wonder's routine has a very slow, deliberate pace and he really does a great job of teaching why. Clearly he has perfected the timing, humor and subtle narrative that delights the spectators. Thirty plus years of perfecting the ACR and he reveals it in wonderful detail. It's a good contrast to Lorayne's lightening fast routine.

Quantity of Effects
The run time for this DVD is over 2 hours. There are nine magicians performing and teaching. With the exception of Dai Vernon, each magician performs and then teaches.

Tenacious Climber - David Regal
Ambitious Card - Harry Lorayne
Ambitious Card - Frank Garcia
Ambitious Card - Michael Ammar
Ambitious Card to Wallet - Paul Wilson
Ambitious Card - Doc Eason
Ambitious Card and Card to Card Case - Al Schneider
Ambitious Card Plus Ring Box - Tommy Wonder
Ambitious Card Story - Dai Vernon

Dai Vernon's section is more of a reminiscing of the past while showing segments & psychology of the ACR.

Quality of Effects

Top-shelf magic. All ACRs are very good but some are better than others.

Regal's Puppy Dog routine is really sharp and comedic. The spectator draws a puppy on the card and it always responds to it's master's call. This is a super fun ACR!

Lorayne ACR starts by forcing the ambitious card from behind his back. Then he goes through a dizzying sequence of moves. He is obviously a master but I tend to agree with Wonder that the slower pace has more impact. I could not keep up with what he was doing so I'm sure the spectator is overwhelmed. His teaching is solid.

Frank Garcia doesn't teach a routine but a couple moves that you can use to enhance your routine. Good stuff indeed!

Micheal Ammar's ACR is what I consider the classic routine that ends by crimping the card, placing the crimped card in the middle and having it "pop up" on top. If you are new to the ACR, this is probably the one to learn the basic routine. The performance and teaching is paced nicely.

Paul Wilson's ACR climaxes with a card to wallet sequence. The performance is okay but a little low key. However it is a really nice routine with some new twists including a gaffed card that is sure to produce some laughs. Now if I can just figure out where to buy his gaffed card!

Doc Eason is good at entertaining a crowd. I learned a lot just from watching him get the audience shouting, clapping and having a great time. He's full of great one-liners. His "card under glass" ending is classic misdirection - you'll leap for the rewind button on your DVD remote control.

Al Schneider's mechanics are a little different. It's a good routine but a little unnatural for me. He ends with a "card to card case" that might be a good alternative to your ending.

Tommy Wonder's ACR is the pinnacle of ACRs! Blew me away. His sleights and timing are impeccable. His one-liners are just brilliant. Wonder quips in his quirky Dutch accent "I'll do it this way so that you can see that all cheating is absolutely honest."

Wonder starts by setting a ring box on the table in plain view of the audience. He ends by making the card appear in the ring box in clear view of the audience. It is a mind boggling effect and causes a spontaneous standing ovation.

Card tricks do not get better than this.

Production Quality

Solid production values. There is some old video footage that is limited by the age of the taping technology. The newer footage is top notch. The DVD menuing is excellent.

Overall: 10/10

Ok, I've already gushed enough over this DVD. The performances and teaching are simply superb.