REVIEW: Packet Tricks & The Color Monte

Marketing Fluff

"Show three cards; one with a blue spot and two with a red spot. Explain that this is a game for gambling, and whoever finds the blue spot wins a dollar, but if that person is wrong, he must forfeit a dollar. Then explain that you were once taken by this game, and show how you were taken, losing three dollars because every time you thought you picked the blue card, it was red. So, you accused the man of not even having a blue card. He showed the bottom card as blue, so you lost another dollar! So, you said that if it was the card on the bottom, it couldn't be the one on top, but again, you lost another dollar! It is then showed as the center card as well, and by then, there's been six dollars lost. So, you said that you thought he was using more than three cards, but were proven wrong and lost another dollar. So, the gambler gave you another chance, double or nothing. He showed you that one card was red, another as blue, and all you had to do was name the color of the third card. Red, right? Wrong again! It's not red, nor is it anything anyone would expect!"

Degree of Difficulty

Beginner to moderate. This trick is a series of moves using one of the most basic sleights in all of card magic. Each sequence is very easy to pull off. The difficulty is in remembering the story (or patter) that motivates the routine. Practice 10-20 times and you should have it down and ready for showing your pals.

What's a Packet Trick?

A packet trick is a small set cards for a specific trick. Packet tricks are very easy to tuck away in your pocket so that you are always ready to entertain. Packets usually have specially made cards called "gaffs" of "gaffed" cards. Packet trick are usually inexpensive and provide a big impact so you have every reason to buy one. I would suggest Color Monte as a killer packet trick.

You'll probably want to find packet tricks that have Bicycle rider-backs if you use the popular Bicycle playing cards.

The Effect

The Color Monte comes with 3 cards. Instead of normal faces, two cards have a red diamond and one card has a blue diamond (or so it would seem).

This is a "follow the card" trick where you tell the spectator to keep an eye on the blue card. Unfortuately for the spectator, that blue card is elusive and hard to find. Then the red card becomes hard to find. At times, it appears that all cards are red or all blue. Finally, a red card is turned over and a blue card is turned over. The spectator is asked to guess the color of the last card. The spectator will most certainly be wrong as it is neither red or blue!

Overall: 8/10

For under $6 you get the cards, access to the private forum for this effect, a performance web video, and a instructional web video featuring Jay Noblezada. Jay is an excellent teacher and covers the set up and all of the sleights required.

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: 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."

REVIEW: Mind Stunts and Mind Stunts 2 by Patrick Kuffs

Patrick Kuffs' Mind Stunts and Mind Stunts 2 are a collection of original mentalism routines presented in Kuffs quirky style. Let me preface my review by saying I'm never been all that wild about most mentalism routines. So if you are thirsty for new mentalism, this may be the ticket.

Degree of Difficulty
Easy. There are no tricky sleights to learn. 90% of the routines are timing and acting. However easy these may be, I don't think this would be a good introduction to mental magic.

Teaching
Kuffs plays both magician and spectator and uses editing to portray both roles. I prefer seeing trick performed for a real audience to gauge the reaction to the presentation. Combining a thick accent and goof-ball style, this teaching style was really hard for me to watch. Perhaps his style works in front of a real audience but we don't get to see that, now do we?

Quantity of Effects
There are a total of 7 effects and Kuffs blatantly tells you that he is not going to show you the last trick, Nostradakuffs and to figure it out for yourself. So 6 tricks for your hard-earned clams.

Quality of Effects
These tricks don't do much for me but I think that some of the material is usable. The Book Test 4 Dummies was my favorite. The name is appropriate because someone who is not a dummy might be suspicious of the method. If you are not familiar with book tests, it goes like this; some picks a random page from an seemingly normal book. The mentalist then reads the mind of the spectator and predicts the word. In this trick the spec selects the first word from a random page out of a truly random book and writes the word on a business card. Then the magi does the same. Viola, the words match!

Blindfoil uses aluminum foil and duck tape to cover the mage's eyes. The mage then is then spun around to a random heading and sketches the scene in front of his face. Wow, it matches! Kuffs does this outside so he can accurately draw some trees and a park bench. Yawn.

Watchism is a watch prediction with the spectator's watch. Perhaps this would work on a blonde - but it seems too obvious for a brunette. (Just kidding, you blondes!) Again, I might be more convinced if he used real spectators for the demo.

Dangerous Monte is a three bag elimination were the last bag contains a broken bottle. Don't worry, you're never really in danger - even if you make a wrong guess. The spectator mixes up three cards number 1, 2 and 3 and lays them in front of the paper bags. The cards determine the order in which the magician crushed the bag. I feel danger in the air!

Production Quality
Kuffs using little vignettes in a variety of settings to frame each trick. At times there is clever editing and the video quality is good. However the hand held camera work is all over the place. Zoom in, zoom out, jerk the camera this way and that way. Kuffs was trying to be overly clever and comedic with the presentation. It just wasn't my style of humor and I'm not a fan of hand-held videography.

Overall: 4/10
I think if your a fan of mentalism, you're going to find a way to use some of this material - especially if you are mixing humor with your mentalism act. I have to be critical of any DVD that shows you a trick and then doesn't provide the secret. Isn't that what we're paying for? Mind Stunts 2 is more of the same so if you think you might like this DVD, I would suggest getting both. Personally, this wasn't my cup of tea.

REVIEW: Complete Course in Magic with Cups & Balls

I hadn't seen a review of this DVD set so I thought I would post my first review. I received this DVD set as a promo about 6 months ago and just got around to really spending some quality time with the material. I wanted a Balls and Cups DVD and Penguin had it as a promo so I went against the conventional wisdom (Michael Ammar Cups and Balls DVD #1 and #2) and got Eddy Ray set instead. This is a two DVD set and currently sells for 37.95.

I can't really compare the quality of this set to the Michael Ammar Cups and Balls DVDs because I never seen them. However, I did a move by move comparison and they are very comparable from a content standpoint. The Ammar set appears to have a little material that is not on the Eddy Ray set however the reverse is also true (more on that in just a sec).

The Eddy Ray has about 80 sections broke into the following categories.

DVD 1
Introduction (props, terms and the professional routine)
Essentials moves and Sleights
Holding Out
Essential Secret Loads
Steal Balls from The Tabled Cups
Faking the Load
Cup Manipulations

DVD 2
Wand Manipulations & Moves
Starting Your Routine
Starting Sequences
Middle Sequences
Final Loads
Final Sequences
Final Load Revelations (Rhythms)
Roy Benson Bowl Routine

There are also 2 performances clips

The DVD is well produced. It has a classical music sound track which I like (I can imagine some people might not). The teaching is a tad dry but very good. Ray occasionally flashes but overall he seems to be a very capable Cups and Balls performer.

Being a noob to the Balls and Cups, I didn't understand the organization of the material at first. Once I got midway through the 2nd DVD it all became clear and I got excited about the possibilities. You really are given the building blocks to creating your own routine. The building blocks are roughly presented as a series of beginnings, middles, and endings.

There are a few things that are on this DVD that I gather may not be on the Ammar DVD. These are:

The Eddy Ray Advanced Stack Move - loading two balls into the same nested cup.
The Eddy Ray Cheat Move - a better version of the Click Move - this is one of the best moves on the DVD.
Francis Carlyle's Proposition Bet - not really a trick - more of an optical illusion
Four wand spins
Wand Appearance with a silk
Wand Disappearance with a silk
Eddy Ray Wand vanish
Roy Benson Bowl Routine

The Roy Benson Bowl Routine is a bonus. Basically a single cup (bowl) routine with sponge balls. His final load is a deck of cards so it is a really great transition routine.

My only complaint was that I wish Ray provided a little more instruction on misdirection, acting, patter and presentation.

I have 12 instructional magic DVDs and this is one of the best I have so far. I give this DVD set a 8/10 rating. He lost points for some lazy editing on the second disk and a dry presentation.

Editor's Note 10/6/08: I have 33 DVDs now and it's still one of my favorite DVDs simply for the sheer wealth of material.

REVIEW: Ring Leader with Gregory Wilson (DVD)

The Effect
"Picture this - A spectator's ring is magically plucked off the center of a rope and just as effortlessly thrown back on - without letting go of the ends! In a flurry of non-stop action, the ring takes on a life of its own - it hops and pops, slips and slides, jumps and bumps, moves and grooves. In other words, you can't stop it!"

The DVD comes with a ribbon and a ring so you can get right to it. There are no gimmicks involved so you can literally use your shoe string and a borrowed ring and you've got material for a killer routine - although Wilson doesn't like using shoe strings.

Degree of Difficulty
Moderate. These are pretty easy sleights to master and perform. It will take you a few weeks of practice to perfect a good routine.

Teaching
Greg Wilson has to be one to the best teachers in magic and a very funny guy. He moves slowly, provides patter ideas and suggests alternative presentations. He has a jewelry store story line which provides the motivation for the tricks. He goes over the source books (where he learned from) and credits the inventors of the effects. He provides a lot of subtilities and misdirections that help to sell the tricks.

Quantity of Effects
There are a lot of tricks. Once you get good at these you can start with the Jewelry store patter and improvise a five minute routine with ease. You are given the Ring Leader routine that Greg demos - it is an okay routine but there are so many great effects that I suggest weaving in 3 or 4 other effects for a full routine.

Quality of Effects
It may not seem like a ring and string could produce jaw dropping effects but they do. These little illusions are visually striking. There are a lot of good closing effects so you can build up to some great climaxes such as the Gold Medal Insertion. Some of these effects have audience participation elements. My favorite effects are:

* You thread the ring on the string, then unthread the ring. Then you throw the ring at the string and it pops right into the middle the string.

* With the ring on the middle of the string, you hand one end of the string to a spectator and the other end to another spec - then pluck the ring from the middle of the string - mind blowing!

Production Quality
Not a flashy production but video and sound quality are good. You are often given multiple angles.

Overall: 10/10
This is the DVD reference encyclopedia for ring and string effects. I now carry a string and ring with me so I can practice or perform anywhere. There is enormous value and all of the routines are very usable in any number of settings; kids and adults, parlor and close up. You just can't go wrong with Gregory Wilson's Ring Leader.