talkmagic.co.uk

Burger's Spirit Magic - Greater Magic
http://www.worldmagicshop.co.uk/product ... ts_id=2445

Price - £23ish..i got mine for £19, but cant remember where…sorry

Sleights - 2
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

Blurb/Advert
From the site

Performance Only:
Seance in Progress
Performance and Explanations:
Spirit Candle in the Bottle
Acrobatic Matchbox
Rising Bill
Rising Card
Spirit Messages
Seance (Glorpy and Out to Lunch)
Explanations:
Comments on performing spirit magic
Thoughts on controlling a seance
Ideas on presenting luminous materials
Suggestions on using antique magic

Overall
Ok then, it runs for about 50 minutes, and what a 50 minutes! Let's start at the beginning shall we…

Darkness all around…. abruptly a bell rings out - once, twice, three times…a small candle on the table infront of Mr. Burger comes into focus and the lights slowly raise up…he is sat at that table with 4 people as he recants the poem "The Ballad of the Harp Weaver".

(here's a little snippet - it's by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY by the way)

And in the deep night
I felt my mother rise,
And stare down upon me
With love in her eyes.
I saw my mother sitting
On the one good chair,
A light falling on her
From I couldn't tell where,
Looking nineteen,
And not a day older,
And the harp with a woman's head
Leaned against her shoulder.


And when he finishes…he reveals a long needle running through his arm, blood dripping slowly as he runs the sharp needle through his arm like a fiddler at his bow. And he laughs….a laugh that chills you to the very marrow…

Now that, is what I call a start….possibly the most awe inspiring start I've so far witnessed in any magickal presentation. He's an utter genius from the word go. And that voice! Commanding yet subtle. Throughout his presentation, he has this gentle yet strong verbal style…something to bear in mind surely….

So, there's nothing difficult sleight wise in this, some IT will be needed, and a few bits 'n pieces too…nothing someone interested in this style of magic shouldn’t have anyway…candles, bottles and so on… and you are shown absolutely everything in a very straight forward manner. Each method is explained thoroughly with little tips thrown in throughout.

What I would say to you is to remember that these are clean simple methods. There's nothing flashy or showy about it. You can keep your knuckle-busting, you can keep your 'magician-fooling moves'; the key is in the presentation (which is how it should be in my opinion)….

This is not just for those of you who enjoy the darker side of magic, he also offers lots of excellent advice for presentations as well as the whole psychology behind magic in general…

10/10 for me. See a real master at work…

I have been asked about this recently by another TM member. I thought I could add a little more on each of the effects.

Catch a Spook (Rising Dollar Bill)

I really like this. Its quick and easy to get into so you dont need to be wearing a hook up, just having the necessary items in a pocket is enough. He also shows you how to easily carry around the nessesary stuff, making it more portable. I like the fact you can do this off a spectators hand.

Spirit Message

This starts with a rising candle in a bottle. The spectator ca command the candle to go up and down and to extinguish. Again he shares some really good information on how to carry this around and set this up. The little bottles he uses may be difficult ot get hold of, but 5cl liquor bottle may work. I think this is a really charming effect.

Then you have a spirit message appearing on a small piece of paper that the spectator has held in their hand. This is another effect that you can set up well ahead of time and is really portable.

Spirit Seance

In this effect, a spirit message appears on an index card which the spectator has signed both sides of. The spectators are shown a selection of cards that have items written on them that are supposed to attract spirits. The spectator names a number between 1 and 10 and the choosen item ends up being slightly humourous (like 'creative massage' in the performance). A spectator signs both sides of an index card and this card goes into a hankerchief with a pencil. The pencil is seen to rise up inside the hankerchief and move about. When it drops, the cloth is unfolded and the spirits have apparently written a matching word on the index card. The card is completely examinable and can be kept as a souviner.

Part of this effect is the acrobatic matchbox. This is a really nice piece and its quite easy to do. The complete box and matches can also be examined after the effect. For people that havent seen this effect, the box stands up on the performers hand, then falls over, then opens the drawer.

Rising Card

This is another effect that Eugene has taken and greatly simplified the handling of. This is a completely ordinary deck which cn be examined or could be borrowed.

Additional

There is a section on other types of apparatus that can be used for spirit theatre. Most of these are also explained in terms of their workings. There are assorted items including buzzers, bells, reaching rods, rapping devices ect

There is a section on luminous material and what is most effective

There is a brief talk on the 3 ways of presenting spirit magic - serious, comic, tongue in cheek


Overall, I think this is a really good dvd. It was very expencive when I bought it from the internet, but I believe it is cheaper now.It will be most of interest to people who like bizzare magic but many of the tricks could be perfomed in most settings with a few changes to the patter. People who love story telling magic will especially like this