DVD Review: Money Starring Jay Noblezada

Jay Noblezada has a new instructional DVD on money magic; appropriately named "Money Starring Jay Noblezada." Jay had a smash hit DVD on coin magic called "In The Beginning There Were Coins" (ITBTHC) that is a brilliant introduction to coin sleight of hand. Money magic is a slightly different genre of magic than coin magic. It has a different vibe. People get interested when you're waving valuable bills around. Money magic also differs by relying more on presentation and gimmicks than pure skill.



The format of the Money DVD is quite a bit different than Jay's earlier ITBTHC DVD. ITBTHC was a introduction to coins starting with individual sleights such as palms and vanishes. Money is pure magic tricks. These are hard hitting illusions with paper money.


Marketing Fluff


From the Penguin Magic web site...

MONEY. It's hard to imagine a better item to do magic with. Everybody has it. Your spectators are literally walking around right now with your props in their wallets, pockets, and purses. And everybody cares about it. When there's money in play, you've got their attention. This DVD will take you from beginner in money magic to the point where you can do an entire act with just the money and props in your wallet. The focus of the DVD is four show pieces. These are four of the strongest effects in money magic. Learn these effects and you'll be able to entertain anywhere you go. The DVD also features a bonus section packed with fun money tricks and puzzles. Incorporate your favorite items from the bonus section into your money act.

Degree of Difficulty

Beginner. But don't let that put you off if your an intermediate to advanced mage as they are strong effects. The difficulty is in the presentation. A creative presentation is going to make these tricks appear to be miracles. A good presentation is going to hide the flaws, dirty work and gimmicks associate with your money magic.

Teaching

Jay Noblezada is one of the best instructors I've seen. He is thorough and his pace is slow. He gives you many different handlings and variations. He makes this DVD engaging and fun to watch.

One of the key factors in the DVD format in comparison to books is the ability to show actual performances for real people. You get not only one street performance but multiple street and restaurant performances of the same effect. Although it looks a bit silly, you also get a spectator point-of-view helmet camera!

Jay doesn't credit the creators or reference external resources for the effects during his instruction. You will find that some of the effects are prominently credited within the ending credits. I'm guessing that a few of the originators have been lost. Joshua does credit some of the basic sleights in his effect.

Quantity of Effects

You're going to get a lot of material on this DVD - a total of 16 effects. I'm not sure I would classify any of these effects as a "routine." My definition of a routine is a multiphase trick or lengthy presentation of an effect. With the exception of Cornered, these tricks are quick and hard hitting. Only 12 of these are tricks - 2 are gags and 2 are puzzles.

Penguin is marketing this as four effects. The other material are bonus effects. I think I would have been happy with the four effects so the bonus material is just icing on the cake. Penguin sells a few of these effects as instant downloads so this DVD is a more cost effective method of purchasing a variety of money magic than forking out $10 per trick. Here are the effects you'll get:

Five and 1 Transpo
Two Dollar Window
Cornered by Joshua Jay
Alpha Cash

Joke the Ripper
George Smiles
Torn and Restored Bill
Insta Cash
Pennie Split
Dollar Division
Psychic Steal
$100 Bill Switch
Sweet Surprise
Haunted Dollar Bill

Five Coins
Heads and Tails


Quality of Effects

From jaw dropping to ho-hum. The four "showcase" effects are very strong. Among the bonus effects, Psychic Steal and Haunted Bill are my favorites so I'll review these tricks:

Five and One Transpo is an in-the-spectators-hand effect. It uses a gimmicked bill which is easy to construct. The spectator is holding the $1 while the mage holds the $5. The mage waves the bill and it visibly transforms into the $1. The spectator is surprised to find they are now holding the $1.

Two Dollar Window is my favorite so far. This trick relies on another brilliant, yet easy to construct gimmick. The mage show the front and backs of two $1 bills. The mage hypnotizes the spectators as he/she folds the two bills into a small packet. Without skipping a beat the mage unfolds the packet. In place of two $1 bills there is now a single $2 bill in it's place. You show the bill front and back and you look extremely clean at this point. This is going to be the opener I utilize to grab attention in an impromptu setting.

Cornered is a creative torn and restored bill by Joshua Jay. Joshua provides the teaching and does a great job. He provides some interesting variations that would astonish. This is my first Joshua Jay trick and I would certainly purchase more of his materials in the future.

Alpha Cash is a rework on Patrick Page's classic Easy Money. There are a number of variations of this effect on the market. Extreme Burn, Heiny 500, Hundy 500, Prophet, et. al. If you're buying this DVD just for Alpha Cash then you would be happier with one of the others. After watching the other versions, Heiny 500 is my favorite. The count is more natural than Alpha Cash and the change is more startling.

That being said, Alpha Cash is still a strong effect. The plot is simple; you count out five $1 bills. A quick flip of the wrist and the change to $20s. I haven't performed this one yet. The downsides are the strange count, it is very angle sensitive and very dirty. Plus, if you follow Jay's presentation, someone might walk away with your $100.

At the end of the DVD, Jay shows an alternate presentation of Alpha Cash using ordinary paper instead of $1's. It's a fun bit to watch Jay pay for his restaurant bill with worthless paper - only to shake it into real money for the dumbfounded waiter.

Psychic Steal is the best of the bonus material. It is a dandy little feat of mentalism. Nothing new or groundbreaking but Jay's handling of the revelation is novel. Borrow a dollar bill and divine the serial number. Like most mentalism, it's 2% sleight of hand and 98% acting.

The Haunted Dollar Bill is another Penguin instant download that made it onto this DVD collection. I loved the Haunted Deck! I had almost added it's brother, the Haunted Bill to my shopping card many, many times. The method is be easily discovered if you're not careful with the lighting and clothing selection. Almost self-working, the real skill comes in camoflaging the method and coming up with a scary story. I'm thinking about to to a coin shop and purchasing an old (but not too rare) bill to add to the mystique. In the right situation (Halloween party) this is going to freak your friends.


Joke the Ripper and George Smiles are not tricks at all. Amusing diversions at best. George Smile might be fun to teach your kids - making George Washington smile and frown via a little optical illusion.

Insta Cash is a little ditty that use two credit cards. Showing front and back of each card cleanly (sort of), you shake a bill from between the two cards. Insta Cash teaches you a nice little sleight that could come in useful with credit cards and playing cards.

Torn and Restore Bill has you tearing out George Washington's head, eating the head and spitting it back onto the bill. When Jay demo'ed it on the street it looked great one time and really bad another time. I think any kind of close examination by a non-drunk spectator is going to reveal the method.

Production Quality

Cool factor is high! Noblezada makes the hippest magic DVDs out there. It's tough to completely comment because I haven't receive the physical media yet. This review is based on the downloadable version so I can't comment on the menuing system yet as the download version plays like a video tape. The music is catchy but a little repetitive.

Overall: 7/10

For someone who doesn't have a lot of money tricks in their toolbox, this is a great value. Two Dollar Window is an over-exposed effect but it is a killer effect so don't over look this gem. This trick is permanently replacing the Greed gimmick in my wallet. Pull out this little $2 wonder and you're going to instantly establish yourself as a real magician on the spot in every circumstance.

If you already know some of this material, you might give it a much lower score than I. This DVD doesn't have the wealth of foundational material that ITBTWC does but it packs in a lot of tricks that could fill out your repertoire and add a welcome break from your deck of cards.

Magic: Good or Evil

How does perform magic effects and illusions square away with being a Christian? This has been a hotly debated subject because the bible expressly fobids the practice of magic. Being a Christian, I've had similar misgivings. However the art of magic has little to do with the practice of "real" magic. For the record, I don't believe in "real" magic. I prefer to place my faith in a higher power; a benevolent god.

Although 90% of American's identify themselves as Christian in polls, it is not a prevelant belief amoung magicians. Chris Angel recently remarked on the Larry King show that he felt most magicians are atheists (Angel remarked that he grew up in a Christian home and was a believer). From my experience on the magic forums, this appears to be true.

In fact, I would have to say that, from my experience, magicians can be downright hateful to anyone with a Christian point of view. My guess is that due to scriptural references against witchcraft is what keeps the faithful away from magic.

First a quick definition from the Konjurer dictionary; "magic" in the context of this article and this blog is the practice of an entertainment art form. It is akin to juggling, acting, singing or playing a musical instrument and is meant to bring joy and wonderment to the people who watch. Like the other fine arts, it is a craft that requires hours of weekly practice and years to perfect. Believe it or not, there is no supernatural component to magic.

There is a lot of debate on the subject of magic and Christianity; especially during the rise in popularity of the Harry Potter books. Although I think the practice of magical entertainment as a Christian is a different topic altogether. Magic is an entertainment medium and has nothing to do with the occult or witchcraft except by misguided mediums who are looking to fool the gullible.

Although words like "conjurer" and "magician" may have some historical roots in a pagan practice, they have a completely different meaning today for 99.9% of all modern magicians. For us Christians, if the historical roots of the English language is going to be the standard for when not to use certain words then we're going to have difficulty speaking the English language without researching the etymology of every word we speak.

Atheists accurately point out that the holidays we now celebrate as Easter and Christmas have pagan roots. Should we not use those words or avoid the traditional dates of these holidays because they coincided with pagan celebrations?

So feel free to be a practicioner of the conjurering arts because, in modern times, it simply means you love to entertain people with some skillfully executed, non-supernatural feats. If someone gives you grief about being a magician then look at it as an opportunity to minister to or witness your beliefs.

If you are a Christian and a magician and you are struggling with this whole concept, keep in mind that there is a whole branch of magic called Gospel Magic. You can purchase magical effects that correspond to a Christian message or object lesson. There are a lot of magicians that use magic as a ministry to communicate Christian messages.

Note: Although there is no chapter in my region, you could also join a chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians. http://www.fcm.org/

Stacked Set-ups: Stacking the Deck for Mulitple Effects

I'm surely not the first magician to discover a method for stacking multiple preset tricks in a single deck; a method I've dubbed Stacked Set-ups. However I can't find any information about deck stacking other than sequential stacking methods such as the Si Stebbens or Eight Kings. Sequential stacking or memorized decks serve a different purpose than the Stacked Set-ups I have employed here. I'm simply setting up multiple tricks in a single deck in a fashion that doesn't look like I've stacked the deck.

I stumbled upon this technique after practicing a series of new tricks. Each night, I would put away the deck into the case with various card packets on top so that next practice session, I would just grab the top cards and work through each trick.

The interesting by-product of that practice regimen was that I found a method of running through a series of tricks, each requiring specific cards, in a way that gives the illusion of working with a normal, shuffled deck.

Let's take a closer look at the problem that I am solving. Just as I've seen many other magicians, in my magic carrying case I have several decks of cards. Each deck has a purpose. A haunted deck, an ace assembly, a deck with gaffs, a deck with two 6 of diamonds, and so on. Most of these decks are setup for one trick. Switching packs between tricks raises suspicions amongst your spectators and isn't terribly practical. So how about packing several complimentary routines into a single deck by stacking the set-ups?

A lot of magicians shy away from tricks that take a lot of set-up in favor of tricks that can be performed with any deck of shuffled cards. That's a valid argument. But that perspective rules out a lot of killer card effects.

Let's look at my accidental solution. I have been working on four great tricks loaded up in a single deck of cards. The tricks are Weighted Aces, Pip-Thru (using a gaffed card), Jumping Geminis and an in-the-spectators-hand transposition. This sequence provides about 15 minutes worth of material package nicely into a single deck. The scripted sequence also has benefits of polishing the presentation so that all four trick flow smoothly.

Here is the order of the Stacked Set-up deck:

Weighted Aces
A-H, A-S, A-D, A-C randomly placed in the deck

Pip-Thru
2-S (to be forced), 3-S, 3-S gaffed

Jumping Geminis
K-D, K-S, 10-H
4-C randomly placed in the deck

Ultimate Transposition
6-D, 6-D

Biddle Trick (closer)
Doesn't require set up so I just do a real shuffle and perform the Biddle Trick.

To recap, the top-loaded cards in order are:
2-S, 3-S, 3-S, 2-S, 3-S, 3-S gaffed,K-D, K-S, 10-H, 6-D, 6-D

The rest of the deck is random including the cards I pull out of the deck as needed such as the 4 of Clubs for the Jumping Geminis trick. Locating and removing certain cards from the deck implies a randomness that eliminates the need to do a lot of false shuffles or cuts between tricks.

I begin by executing a false cut and then spread the cards face up on a close-up pad. I invite the spectator to look over the cards as I find and remove the 4 Aces. Because most of the deck is in a random order they have little reason to think differently. I turn the remaining cards over and perform the Weighted Aces.

After the Weighted Aces I discard the Aces and retrieve the pack of remaining cards. The next three cards are already queued and ready to go. I force the 2 of Spades from the top and do the Pip-Thru effect. This effect ends with an obviously gaffed card so I discard a double and I'm loaded for the next routine.

Next is the Jumping Gemini trick which requires a 4, a 10 and two Kings. Again, I spread the remaining deck face up, locate and remove the 4 of Clubs. The spectators again sees the cards face up in apparently random order. I take the 4-C and patter about the "4 Card Trick" as I gather in the spread cards and turn over the deck. The I deal what appears to be 3 indifferent cards, face down, from the top of the deck as I remark "this is also called the trick with 4 cards."

There are two 6 of Diamonds next in the sequence at the top of the deck for the Ultimate Transposition.

Finally, a do a real shuffle and finish with the Biddle Trick or Ambitious Card Routine which has no setup.

This may seem an obvious method of working through several tricks that require setup. However there are some subtleties that hide the setups. Not every trick requiring setup would work in a Stacked Set-up. However, it does allow you to carefully script and sequence 4-5 tricks for maximum impact. I'm going to be devising other Stacked Set-ups and I'll report back.

I would be curious if you have run into any resources on this subject or if you come up with any killer Stacked Set-ups that you would like to share.

The Ultimate Magic Showdown: Books versus DVDs

Warning! This blog is sure to offend. Feel free to gently flame me to a crispy crunch in the comments section.

What's better for learning magic; books or DVDs? This debate rages on at places like the Magic Cafe and Penguin Magic Forums. The real winner of that debate is both books and DVDs. It all depends on your learning style. If you like books better, good for you. If you like DVDs better, like me, then I think that is just dandy!


Okay, enough of the fair and balanced crap. I am now going to bloviate from my highly opinionated brain matter. DVDs are really the better choice for most magicians, especially beginner to intermediate mages. And this is blog site is for beginners to intermediate mages. Don't fall victim to magic snobbery that would have you believe differently. Boldly put, I'm going to make the irrefutable case for DVDs over books.

Book Are Not Evil

I like books. I love books. There are a few good things about "classic" books. I'm specifically referring to the great tomes that have stood the test of time such as Royal Road to Card Magic. Many are relatively inexpensive and you get a lot of information. They can be taken places where a DVD isn't always practical or welcome - in bed with your wife or on the toilet for example.

Before the relatively recent invention of motion picture technology, there was one thing you could do with a book that you can't do with all the technology in the world; record the thoughts of the great masters that either lived before the ability to capture moving pictures or were just never captured on film or video. Magicians that now live only in legend can only be read about. Imagine if we had David Devant's Our Magic on DVD with him actually teaching us his methods? So much of the art that wasn't written down has been eternally lost.

But even the best books provide an inferior learning experience. Check out this seminal text from the description of the Overhand Shuffle from Royal Road to Card Magic by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue:

"...seize the lower half with the right hand between the top phalanx of the thumb, at the middle of the inner end, and top phalanges of the middle and ring fingers at the middle of the outer end."

Say what? Prepare to spent a lot of time figuring out where your phalanges are in relationship to the deck! Okay, enough said about that patently inferior book technology.

DVDs Rule the World

Books are great reference materials but there is almost nothing you can do with book that you can't with a DVD. On the other hand, there are a LOT of things you can do with a DVD that you can't do with a book.

Keeping It Real

With DVDs you can observe real magicians performing real effects to real people, for real reactions, under real conditions and probably getting paid with real money! Usually you get a performance followed by a teaching session. You can watch the performance over and over to see the trick performed at speed and from the spectators view.

Lights, Camera, Action

DVD producers frequently film the instruction from multiple angles sometimes at the same time. The magician can perform the trick mulitple times at differing tempos. When viewing an actual magician you get a spactial representation that you cannot get from a photo or drawing. You can see the angles of the arms, legs and body as the move is demonstrated. You can observe the artful movements; a swish of a hand in an elegant manner as the body turns slightly to catch a good angle relative to the spectator.

The magician can also perform variations of the trick or routine - sure you can write about variations to a routine in a book with some success - but it's not easy to write or read. If you can't visualize one step of the literary interpretation you're pretty much hosed.

Lastly, you can slowdown, speed up, rewind, jump around to different chapters with the touch of a button. Put down that dog-eared text!

I've Got Rhythm

DVDs allow you to watch actions combined with timing and patter. Sorry but you can't effectively show timing with a book. Take Greg Wilson's Napkins Spongeball Routine from the On The Spot DVD. The performance shows Wilson repeatedly using misdirection on a spectator along with the clever vanish of the napkin balls during the "offbeat." Wilson confesses that he can't describe the maneuver using words. You could write a book on this technique but you would never learn it because you could never accurately describe the patter, eye contact, body position relative to the spectator, the arm and hand actions, the speed and the timing of the move.

Non-linear Thought

The thought process of writing is so different from the thought process of performing sleight of hand magic. There is no live person to react to in a book. There are no natural missteps that can be talked about and corrected. When you write a book, you've got to brake down so many little things into a linear set of steps.

The problem is that sleight of hand is not linear. You have multiple actions happening in concert to form an overall effect. When a magician authors a book or article on magic, the process takes him or her out of their element and into a flat, formless space.

I'm not suggesting we have a book burning. In fact, you'll get my Modern Coin Magic when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. However, some people need not defend magic books as the only method of learning with such a religous zeal. Other than person to person, a good DVD will always be a better way of learning a new school of magic.

Flame away my friends!

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.

REVIEW: Pip-Thru by Tank (DVD)

After Greed and Spun, I made a solemn vow to avoid single trick DVDs. Not because thoses DVDs were not worth the money but because there are so many good DVDs that offer a smörgåsbord of tasty effects on a single DVD. If you've read my other DVD reviews, you'll see that I value a healthy mix of quality and quantity.

So why would I buy I single trick DVD such as Tank's Pip-Thru DVD? This purchase was the result of attending an excellent lecture by renowned mentalist/magician Kenton Knepper of Wonder Wizards.

Although Knepper luggage didn't make the flight into Iowa, some of his merchandise did. DVDs available for purchase quickly sold out. I was stuck choosing from a few remaining products. I choose the Pip-Thru DVD because I thought it might be similar to an effect I once saw where the pips melted off a card.

Alas, I would be disappointed. But stick with me for a just a minute as my opinion eventually improved. Pip-Thru is fun to perform and I learned a hand full of moves that were new to me.

The Marketing Fluff
"Tank brings you all of the tools you need to manipulate the perception of reality for your audience. Not only does the card visually change in front of their eyes, they see PROOF of physical transformation."

Degree of Difficulty
Easy to moderate. An intermediate card magician won't have any problem with Pip-Thru. If you are a beginner it will be challenging but not overwhelming.

Teaching
J. Tank is an adequate teacher but he could have made this so much better. The pace of the DVD seems rushed. Frequently Tank looks over to his notes to see what he is supposed to talk about next. The explanations are quick with very little attention to the supporting details and nuances that might help a beginner master the moves.

Quantity of Effects
I have to admit that I was very disappointed in the short run time of the DVD and the shortness of the trick itself. The demo of the trick clocked in at about 65 seconds. I guess that I'm spoiled by some great DVDs that are fully loaded with great moves, effects and routines.

Upon further ruminations (a second look), I'm a little more excited about the material. Here's what you get:

* gaffed card - Wonder Wizards generously gives you 4 gaffs in both blue and red backed Bicycles.
* the roll-over force
* handling of the gaffed card
* bonus section teaches two color changes and a really nice false cut
* Kenton Knepper teaches two more color changes

Kenton also shows an psychological effect for showing the same card to two spectators; yet each person sees a different card. He doesn't give you a routine using this effect but he plants the seeds for you to build your own.

For a beginner to intermediate card handler you're going to pick up a few new moves that you can reuse in other situations.

Quality of Effects
Pip-Thru is a fun, easy miracle to perform. It has a visually striking transformation that will have spectators doing a double and triple take. My biggest compliant is the shortness of the trick that is supplied. This a utility effect that would best be applied as the climax to a larger routine.

I really enjoy the rollover force and Tank's false cut is awesome. I follow the false cut with a Trinary cut and it makes for a showy effect that look more complex than it really is.

The quality of the gaff is very good.

Production Quality
Poor. This bare bones production appears to have been hastily assembled. The menu system has no flair or style. The performance appeared to have been video taped in someone's living room. Apparently it was laundry day at Tank's house as he was sporting a plain white tee shirt. This whole thing just looked rather thrown together.

Overall: 6/10
In the end, I'm happy with my Pip-Thru purchase because I'm going to get some great mileage out of the trick and gaff. Hopefully, I will think up some creative way to incorporate Pip-Thru as a climax to a full routine. If you are a beginner to cards, you're going to get a lot of use out of the force, color changes and you'll learn an impressive false cut.

Pip-Thru did lose points in my rating scale because of lackluster teaching, poor production quality and brevity of material on the DVD. The strength of the DVD is the strength of the gaff card and the effect it creates. With a standard color change, there is no evidence that the card physically changed; because it didn't really change. With Pip-Thru, your spectator will see evidence that the card underwent some kind of physical metamorphosis. And that evidence is going to leaving your specs laughing and amazed.

FREE MAGIC TRICK - The Best Card Trick Ever

Since this is a blog about amateur, hobbyist or beginning magic, I thought it would be fun to start a series of free tricks to get your feet wet.

Before you start read this early blog entitled So you want to be a magician - START HERE.

This series of free tricks are good first tricks. However, I encourage you to learn the really cool stuff that takes practice and skill. While hard to learn, these routines are the most eye-popping, jaw-dropping illusions and are thrilling to perform. So start with my blog entitled So you want to be a magician - START HERE. Then come back and learn this trick.

Here is a great, self-working magic trick that every beginner should know. I learned it as the "Best Card Trick Ever." I've also heard it referred to as the "21 Card Trick." While it's not the best trick ever, it is probably one of the best self-working tricks.

Even though it is self-working you will need to practice this 4-5 times or more to get comfortable with the presentation.

The "Best Card Trick Ever"

Set-up:

An ordinary deck of cards

Effect:

The spectator mentally selects a card from a stack of 21 cards (called a packet). The spectator shuffles the cards and hands the packet of 21 cards to the magician. The magician lays the cards into 3 columns of 7 cards and asks the spectator to point to the column with his selected card. The magician collects the cards and deals out the cards again and repeats this process two more times.

Note, the trick is done - the rest of the trick is pure acting on your part.

Now the magician deals out little piles of cards in a "star" shape. Here is where the fun begins. The spectator selects piles of cards to remove or keep. This process of removing card piles is continued until one pile is left. The magician separates the four remaining cards as asks the spectator to continue selecting cards that are removed until one card is left. Amazing, the magician flips over the last remaining card and the spectator gasps because it is their selected card. It appears that the spectator has randomly removed 20 cards and the last card remaining is their selected card.

Instructions:

Count out 21 cards and hand to the spectator. Tell them to shuffle the packet and mentally select a card. For kids and larger audiences, it may be a good idea to have the spectator write their select on a piece of paper so that the can reveal their choice at the end. That makes it a little more exciting to the rest of the audience. Take back the packet.

This is important, you must deal these 21 cards out the 3 rows of cards exactly as described here or the trick will not work. You must also pick up the cards in the order described.

Deal the cards face up into 3 columns, one row at a time, until you end up with 7 cards in each column. When dealing into a column, overlap the cards in each column. This will make it easy to keep the cards in the correct order as up pick them up. Ask the spectator to point to the column that contains his/her card.

Square up each card column into three piles - if you overlapped them they will be in the order dealt. Place one of the piles that the spectator did NOT select on top of the pile the spectator DID select. Then place that stack onto the remaining pile that the spectator did not select. In order words, the column of cards that the spectator selected should be in the MIDDLE. Therefore, the selected card is somewhere between the 7th and 15th card. You are going to repeat this process two more times.

Once again, deal the cards face up into 3 columns of 7 cards and repeat the process.

Once more time, deal the cards face up into 3 columns of 7 cards and repeat the process. Now their selected card has worked it's way to the middle of the packet. Stack up the cards as before and their card is the 11th card in the packet. At this point the trick is done - their card is the 11th card.

Some versions of this trick will have you turn over the 11th card and the trick is over. However add these next steps really misleads the spectator and makes this a true miracle.

Remember this one fact, do not forget where the 11th card is! If you forget the location, the trick will fail.

Create card stars by dealing four cards, face down in a little star-shaped pile. Create another star. Count the cards (quietly inside your head) and keep track of where the 11th card is located. You'll end up with 4 piles of 4 cards and the last pile will have 5.

Now you are going to give the illusion that you are turning the trick over to the spectator to control.

Ask the spectator to select two of the card stars.

IF one of the two card stars contains the 11th card then remove the other three card stars from the table. ELSE if one of the three remaining card stars contain the 11th card then remove the two card stars the the spectator pointed at.

Ask the spectator to select one of the remaining card stars.

IF the selected card star contains the 11th card then remove the other card stars from the table leaving just the one card star. ELSE if one of the other remaining card stars contain the 11th card then remove the card star the the spectator pointed at.

Continue this pattern until only one card star is remaining. Separate the 4 cards into a row keeping track of which one is the 11th card. Ask the spectator to select any two cards. Again, repeat the pattern of either keeping the two cards that contain the 11th card or removing the selected two if the 11th card is not one.

Now you are down to two cards. Ask the spectator to select one card. If they pick the 11th card, turn it over to reveal their card. If they pick the card that is not the 11th card, simply remove it from the table leaving just the 11th card and then reveal their card. This trick will fry their brain! Try it.

Magic Under the Christmas Tree

Christmas, that magical time of year. Magical, as in I finally get to order a bunch of magic stuff! My wife gave me a budget for Christmas this year and told me to figure out what I wanted. Upon informing my wife that I had placed an order for $155 worth of magic stuff she quickly chastised my reckless purchase.

"What's the big deal," I exclaimed. The order was well under my $200 gift budget. Come to find out, she really didn't mean to go and actually purchase what I wanted. Apparently, some of that budget was already allocated for things I "really" wanted like underwear and a new belt.

I foolishly thought that the remaining $45 would go towards other magical essentials; like a couple dozen Bicycles or some silks. After getting the "voice" (you long time married guys know the "voice," a tonal quality somewhere between disgust and fury) and the evil eye (you don't even have to be married to know that look), my wife told me that the remaining $45 had been already spent. Probably on socks, steak knives and an Old Spice gift pack.

But my woeful tale of Christmas' magic gifts doesn't end here. Oh no, it doesn't end. Yesterday, a little box from labeled Penguin Magic showed up at my door. My wife, in all of her Christmas wisdom, decided that she must immediately wrap my gifts and place them under the tree with a joyous little sticker that says "Don't open until x-mas!"

I doth protest this Christmas injustice! It's not like I don't know what's in that box. I argued that at least I should be able to keep the free promotional items that I received.

My next argument was simple and logical. I must inspect the shipping manifest to determine whether all magical items and apparatus were accounted for. Only one who truly knows magic, can account for all of the mysteries held within that little cardboard box. She bit on that subtle misdirection as I palmed a DVD into my breast pocket. Well, something like that happened.

My wife had acquiesced to my infallible logic. She said, "Okay, but just the free DVD." Now I had to make a quick decision. Think, think. I only get one so which one shall I tell her is the free DVD. Of course, I knew well that the free DVD was "Brian Tudor's Extreme Generation," a highly rated DVD treatise on extreme card manipulation.

Now Extreme Generation is the "Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events" of magic DVDs. You don't really want it, don't order it, it's too hard, you can't do it, remove from cart now. Did I want that as my only source of new magic until Christmas morn? Hell no! Think, think.

After a few hasty milliseconds of indecision, I lunged for the "Double Take by Gregory Wilson" DVD. My DL needed some attention and this DVD had some routines I could actually show-off at Christmas dinner with the in-laws. "Yep, here's the free DVD!" I proudly exclaimed as I snagged the treasured DVD.

So far I am happy with my split second decision. My basic DL is so much better and I've learned a couple other DLs that will be an awesome addition to my arsenal of finger trickery. Although my appetite for magic is temporarily sated, I yearn for Christmas morning when my nimble fingers tear into a cornucopia of new magical knowledge and wisdom.

There is a lesson to be learned here - don't wait for your magical Christmas gifts to come to you - spend early and often before well meaning spouses or parents buy you that cool Scooby-Doo Chia Pet.

In case you are interested, that gaily wrapped shoebox under my tree contains the following magical bling:

On The Spot with Gregory Wilson (DVD)

Pyrotechnic Pasteboards with Gregory Wilson (DVD)

World Class Manipulations #1 with Gregory...just kidding...with Jeff McBride (DVD)

Worlds Greatest Magic - The Ambitious Card (DVD)

Worlds Greatest Magic - Stand Up Magic (DVD)

Two books, a silk and a set of Vernet Multiplying Balls

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Festive Festivus!

Konjurer

REVIEW: Visu-Antics DVD by Jim Pace

The Marketing Fluff

"Jim Pace is one of magic's most visual close-up artists. Working 4 restaurants per week for over 20 years has taught him to create flashy, attention-getting magic that makes audiences scream. It's magic that's low on set-up and high on pay-off. The video is jammed packed with some of the best gags, stunts, and magic routines you're ever going to see. Best of all, this stuff is easy and you'll wind up doing most of it!"

Since this blog is oriented towards beginning to intermediate magicians, I would say this DVD is going to be an average addition to your DVD library. If you are a working, walk around/restaurant magician, I think this DVD will be more valuable to you. Overall, your going to get some good, quick tricks with high impact.

Degree of Difficulty
Moderate. Some very easy tricks and some are going to require moderate practice depending on you skill level with coins and cards.

Teaching
Jim's style is easy-going with some dry wit. Overall he is easy to understand and explains the tricks in adequate detail. There is one uncomfortable moment in the video where Pace pulls a pocket watch out of his fly. It is out of place and a little creepy. In the end, Jim Pace is a likable guy who's seems to have been performing magic for a long, long time.

Quantity of Effects
You get reasonable value for your money as there are 20 effects. There is a real odd mix of stuff; coins, cards, sight gags, pen tricks and mentalism. I see this material as supplemental tricks; attention getters or quick hit tricks between your bread and butter routines. If you only find one or two usable tricks then you probably won't be happy with the DVD. However, I think anyone should be able to take away 5 or 6 really good tricks from this DVD.

Quality of Effects
You'll find some really good tricks and some ho-hum ones. Some of the tricks are not 100% guaranteed to work as they rely on certain principles that your spectator might not follow. Here are my favorites.

I have read other short reviews where the favorite seems to be Crushed. This involves the appearance and disappearance of a 20oz. soda or water bottle. This illusion is quick and eye-popping. Pace gives you a variation with a silk that looks pretty magical. Plus it makes a cool noise that gives you an audio component to the illusion.

The Impossible Color Change was almost worth the price of the DVD and has become my default color change. A wave of the hand and the card changes. I like this because of the economy of motion - unlike the Erdnase which requires a longer motion to achieve the change. Plus you can be much more dramatic with the magic wave than with an Erdnase.

Quick-o-Chink is a super fast coin matrix effect. Four coins are arranged in a typical coin matrix (square) pattern. A quick wave of your hands and all four coins jump under one hand - very cool indeed.

I don't remember seeing this vanish in Bobo's Modern Coin Magic. The TV Coin Vanish starts with a coin resting on a couple fingers, the coin is taken into the other hand. The first hand is opened to show that it is no longer in that hand. Then the other hand is opened to show that it is clean as well (sort of anyways :) Then the coin is plucked from mid-air. No sleeves or gimmicks are necessary.

The Bet involves a free selection of 3 cards by the spectator. The magi inserts the cards into the deck and the deck is squared. The magi pulls an valuable object from his pocket as a motivator for winning a bet. In one swift motion, the deck vanishes and the magi snaps the specators 3 cards from thin air.

If you're a seasoned pro (ie, someone who earns money doing magic) then you've seen most or all of the sleights on this DVD. For an amateur, you'll probably pick up a handful of new skills.

Production Quality
Poor. There is a single hand-held camera for most of the DVD. The camera is shaky but not overly annoying like in some other DVDs I own. Is owning a tripod too much to expect for a video producer these days? To show an alternate angle, the camera man simply walks to the new angle and Jim repeats the move. The menus have no style and no frills.

Overall: 6/10
As the name of the DVD implies, these are visual gags and effects. No five minute routines here - just smash 'em upside the head tricks. The material is probably most useful as supplemental material for a close up magician. Jim loses points for mediocre production quality and the overall usefulness of the material is not as good for amateurs as would be DVDs that specialize in a particular form of magic like just cups, just cards or just coins.

Watching some of the tricks your going to think "duh, that's kinda stupid." However these are Pace's time tested tricks that should impress an audience of lay people. As Jim frequently says "just give it a try."

So you want to be a magician? START HERE!

Where do you start when you want to become a magician? Well, first I think you must decide why it is you want to learn magic:

a) I want to impress chicks/dudes at school
b) I want to be the next Criss Angel or David Blaine
c) Because I love magic

If you answered a) then you picked a great answer! Too bad you're not cut out for magic though. If you picked b) then you have lofty goals but I doubt you'll get there because you didn't pick c).

c) is the best answer and THE place to start.

Note that a) and b) are the results of c).

To be a good magician you'll need to develop a love and respect for the art of magic. Plus you'll need patience and a strong work ethic in order to put in the hours of practice necessary to get to the point where you can perform in front of another person.

If you think you are ready for the next step, repeat after me...

As a magician I promise never to reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, unless that one swears to uphold the Magician's Oath in turn. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic.

This oath is sacred and must be followed. As in all things we must live by principles and morals and that set us apart from all other living creatures. There are some key ideals in this oath that merit your attention.

Never reveal. People will ask you for the secret, perhaps beg you. But they don't really want to know. Once you tell the secret a couple things will happen:

1. You will no longer be respected as a magician by the spectator.
2. The illusion is shattered and the entertainment value is gone.
3. Every trick you do after that will not be as impressive to the spectator.
   
4. You've let down you brothers and sisters in the fraternity of magic.
   

The secret is never as impressive as the illusion so don't ruin it for the audience.

Next, find two or three good tricks and practice them until your fingers are raw.

1. Practice in front of the mirror
2. Practice without the mirror
3. Use a camcorder to record your practice sessions, record from different angles, review the video and fix the mistakes
4. Work on the patter (your narration of the trick) make it interesting and rehearse it dozens of times until it flows from you without thought
5. Make the trick your own. Come up with your own patter, your own slant and add your own character.
   
6. When you think that you are ready to perform the trick, go to step one and repeat.

A good trick will take weeks or months to perform. I read comments from young mages on forums that speak of a trick like this.

This is the best trick ever, I was performing it flawlessly in 5 minutes after I got it!

First, it probably isn't the "best trick ever." No best-trick-ever takes 5 minutes to perfect. And you did not perform it flawlessly. If you watched it in front of a mirror or camcorder, you would have known that you were not as flawless as you thought.

Next step. By now you probably really enjoyed one of the tricks more than the others. Focus on that style of magic; be it cards, coins or reading minds. Go out and buy the "bible" for that form of magic. They are usually inexpensive and you get dozens of magic tricks for your money as well as the bread and butter training. Or if you are more of a visual learner, like me, get a DVD that covers the same material as in the books. Here are some examples:

Books:
Modern Coin Magic - J.B. Bobo
The Royal Road To Card Magic - Hugard & Braue
Practical Mental Magic - Ted Annemann

DVDs:
Born to Perform Card Magic - Oz Perleman
In the Beginning There Were Coins - Jay Noblezada

Lastly step before performing a trick; watch the masters. We live in the Internet age. Go out to youtube.com and watch other magicians perform the same effect - especially the masters of the craft!

If you study one form of magic for 1-2 months and you are willing to put in an hour or two each day, you'll be ready to begin impressing your friends and co-workers. Don't try to learn 20 tricks - just 2-3 killer tricks to get your feet wet and you'll fry people's brains with the simplest of illusions.

Note: In The Linking Rings section to the right is a link to the Theory 11 Beginning Magician's video. This is highly recommended as a place to start.