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The Effect

A dvd from Alakazam featuring James Brown, the 2006 Magic Circle Close-up magician of the year. Mostly cards except the title effect.


Cost

25 quid

Difficulty
(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)

3-4 I'd say. Relies more on misdirection than sleights but you'll need to be confident with stuff like top changing, side stealing and palming.

Review

Well here it is folks. After a delay of release due to some legal wrangling this long awaited production is finally here. and very much worth the wait it is too. So what's on it?

Alakazam say:

James Brown - Still Fancy A Pot Of Jam? DVD

Below are just a few of the eye popping routines that have help earn James a very good living and the coveted title of "Magic Circle Close Up Magician of the Year 2006!"

It's now time to take your performance to the next level!


Brainless Travellers - The routine James wanted to keep to himself! Two piles of ten cards…the spectator merely THINKS of a card from one of the piles…it immediately vanishes from this pile…only nine remain…the second pile is counted…there are eleven…the thought of card is shown to have travelled across…But Wait… another spectator thought of a different card…NO PROBLEM! With just a click of the fingers and without even touching the piles… the piles are counted (by the spectators) and one pile now contains only eight cards and the other twelve! The second card has now travelled across!

Now get this no gimmicked cards, no setup and the best part it can all be done with a borrowed deck!


Signed Card to Sealed Envelope - This is not your standard Signed Card to Sealed Envelope; it's all done by the spectator! A signed card vanishes from your spectator's possession and impossibly reappears in a sealed envelope held by the very same spectator!


Psychological Deck Vanish - The ultimate solution to the "Show me a trick!" request that will blow them away! The deck vanishes from between yours and the spectator's hands, leaving nothing but their previously thought of card!


Card Under Box - The classic effect with some great new twists! See James perform this in all the "wrong" situations and successfully blow people away! Repeat card under box, deck under box & optional vanish! This is a great lesson in misdirection as James proves that with the right thinking, you CAN do this anywhere!


Card Under Watch - This one gets people talking! When a spectator finds their signed card folded & wedged snugly under their watch, they literally freak out! James has routined this in such a way that the spectator's will NEVER be able to backtrack the load. A fantastic lesson in time misdirection!


Fancy a Pot of Jam? - Pitching & loading for the real world! This effect takes a simple coin trick and gives it an ending that is so surreal that it will be remembered for a very long time! James begins with "The World Famous 11p Trick" & ends it with a mind blowing production of a pot of jam.


Cards Opener - A brilliant routine combining the best elements of card Magic, to create an action packed showpiece that is ideal to begin your set with. Cards to pocket, card changes and a deck vanish make this something to really show you mean business when you have a deck of cards!


Cards to Spectator's Pocket - Sounds impossible! You have to see, learn it, then go out and try it! This really works and takes the popular cards to pocket plot, but amplifies the impact! Especially as the spectator actually removes the card from their own pocket and the WHOLE DECK when the effect climaxes with it vanishing & appearing in their pocket! A reputation maker for those who are willing to go out there & do it!


Diminishing Switch - A fantastic transposition effect that is not the norm! A SINGLE card on a spectator's hand changes places with FOUR cards from your hands! This routine takes a well known sequence, builds a trick around it, then delivers a knock out transposition ending that is just impossible!


Band Up! - Visual card Magic at its best! A selected card literally appears from nowhere on the back of a spectator's hand. The deck is wrapped in a rubber band; the spectator's hand goes on top, then BANG, the selection jumps onto the BACK of their hand! It looks like trick photography on film!



"James's sensational audience management will make you shake your head in disbelief. I have seen James in action for real people and trust me when I say he is a master of misdirection. He is consistently excellent with his magic. This DVD is a must for anyone who wants to learn from a real worker. GREAT! GREAT! GREAT! You can only mess with the classic principles of magic when you fully understand why they work; James fully understands why they work, period!"

Martin Sanderson; "Corporate Close up Magic Legend"



"James Brown does the material we all wish we had the nerve to do. Misdirection and spectator management are the real secrets to his work and he is an expert at both."

Peter Wardell; "A street performer to be reckoned with"


I have to say this is all free from hyperbole. All the effects play as described. The ones that immediately leapt out for me were Brainless Travellers, Card Under Box and Fancy a Pot of Jam, for varying reasons.

Brainless Travellers is James's version of the recently much discussed Strange Travellers, except it genuinely uses any spectator shuffled deck. It only has a couple of moves in it and shouldn't be any problem for most magicians with a little experience with cards, although the main move is one of those things that you just have to do smoothly and confidently to get away with. Absolutely stunning to lay people and probably could have been released on its own, I don't know how Strange Travellers works but bearing in mind the price of it and the fact that it requires some gaffs I'd say that this effect probably beats it for most amateurs, maybe even the workers among you.

Card Under Box is a joy to behold, a seamless piece of very cleverly routined trickery. James teaches a couple of versions, the one I'm practicing goes card under box, deck under box, card in box. The deck under box load in particular is bold but effective and very satisfying to perform.

Still Fancy a Pot of Jam? Caught my attention as it's similar to something I've been trying out recently. A fairly standard 'coins in the hand, put one in your pocket and it's back again' routine but with a surprise climax of a pot of jam appearing.

Everything on the dvd is influenced by James's obvious expert knowledge of how to use great misdirection in real-world settings. You'll need to be fearless at times and you'll have to already know some moderately advanced sleights to pull the material off. The explanations are thorough but at times quite quick so you'll have to be ready with the pause button
and some were filmed at a lecture so the picture quality isn't fantastic but you'll get the gist. A couple of replays will fill any details you missed.

Overall

Lovely stuff but not for the inexperienced or faint hearted.

9/10

lovely review


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Damn! I like this kind of stuff!

Kati

Great review.
I think it just cost me another 25 quid. I love the sound of this dvd.
I have a feeling I saw either brainless travellers or something very similar at a recent local circle meeting. I noticed the similarities to strange travellers, however it was with a borrowed deck with 2 cards travelling. 2 specs were used. If it is the same, it is astonishing!

Could be the same routine, the beauty of it is that after the spec has counted the two piles to show there's 9 in one and 11 in the other, and you've then revealed that their card has travelled, the whole trick is done. You ask if anyone saw a different card and if they did you simply click your fingers to show that the piles now contain eight and 12 cards respectively then pull out the second spec's card. Beautiful.

A nice review

isn't brainless traveler like the david blane one (i forget what it was called)?

isn't brainless traveler like the david blane one (i forget what it was called)?

Strange Travellers, yes it is. Someone had already said that a few posts back. I was actually JUST looking at his the other day and debating whether or not to buy it. Excellent review. Now I have to find an American Retailer with it.

wow it's not american

thaths a first

It certainly isn't American

James is from sunny Bournemouth

Yeah, I was hoping an American store would have it though...I doubt it.

Don't fret Dom, Alakazam have a US store. Check www.alakazam.co.uk and you'll find the link.

Excellent! Found the URL for the US store...and they have it in stock! Thanks guys!

By the way I mentioned on another forum (ahem magic bunny ahem) that I was having trouble with the Banded Up trick due to the explanation having been filmed in a lecture and therefore was lacking a bit in clarity. James himself pmed me to offer some help and even left his mobile number so I could talk to him direct

That's service for you.

I've just got this DVD today, thanks to this great review. It's quite good really isn't it. The only issue I have is with the explanations. Sometimes James goes through them very quickly and it's often hard to keep up (but I guess that's what the pause and rewind buttons are for!). Yes 'Band Up' was not that clear but I got the set up in the end.

Overall the magic on this DVD is very strong. I think alot of practice is required to get it just like James, but I can't imagine myself doing the routines exactly as he performs them. There are lots of great ideas in there, and it's quite inspiring really.

Brainless Travellers is my favourite trick on there. I performed a rather rusty unpracticed version on my mum and aunty today and it went down very well.

I also just 'had a go' at the "Psychological Deck Vanish" and I got away with it no problem, much to my surprise.

There is only one trick I don't like much, which is "Signed Card to Sealed Envelope". I just don't think that one's for me.

But all the tricks and routines have something that I will take away with me. I obviously need alot more watching just going over it agian, but so far it has had a good impression.