The Intro
Before I begin it may be worth setting the scene by visiting the previous post on this DVD which can be found here http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic15651.php
As you will read, I offered to review this product and Kozmo sent me a copy (full retail shrink wrapped copy) with NO conditions attached other than I don’t copy or sell the DVD after viewing. Very reasonable as far as I’m concerned, so this is my own unbiased review of this DVD title.
It was rather strange how this worked out as I was actually looking at this a few days earlier on the Alakazam site and although it took my fancy, I passed it over in favour of another DVD title.
The Effect
These are the sleeve notes from the packaging:
On the 3 DVD set you will see some of the most renowned restaurant magicians in the U.S. performing for real world audiences but even more important these seasoned pros will talk about:
(The magicians are Dan Fleshman, Garrett Thomas, Dan Tong, Kirk Charles, Paul Green and Justin Miller).
Disc 1
- Benefits of working in a restaurant
- How to get the job
- How to keep the job
- Staff relationships and more plus….
PO = Performance Only
Exp = Explanation Included.
Kirk Charles performs: his version of sponge balls (PO), An in the hands copper/silver (PO), Matches (PO), bar basketball (a chop cup routine using a short glass) (Exp), and business card (a clever way to get your business card in potential clients hands ) (Exp).
Garrett Thomas performs: Rubik’s cube (PO), the ring thing (PO), big coin little purse (PO) plus Garrett explains his amazing way to vanish and produce large props at a table.
Paul Green performs: Pygmy paddle (a great trick that will promote the restaurant with a give away) (Exp), Here there and Chicago too (here there and everywhere plot with red hot momma) and card to wallet routine with a great tip to help you never miss and give away your business card at the same time (Exp).
Disc 2
- How to approach a table
- Three ways to leave a table and more plus….
Dan Fleshman performs: Professors nightmare (PO), Momma in my wallet (new version) (Exp), card to mouth (Exp) and rising card (Exp).
Kozmo performs: Sweet ‘n’ low surprise (a sealed sugar packet vanishes and is re-produced inside a sealed sugar packet) (Exp).
Disc 3
- Odds and ends (a discussion on may issues that happen when performing in a restaurant)
Justin Miller performs: Shockingly sweet (a torn and restored sugar packet) (Exp), suggestion (mentalism effect) (Exp), and believe (Aaron Delong’s great effect) (PO).
Cost
£59.99 from here:
http://www.alakazam.co.uk
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)
Various and not really of much relevance with this review.
Review
The three disks provide you with just over FIVE HOURS of footage which takes some viewing and got me wondering just how long this review is going to be (and take to read) so I’ll do my best to keep on track.
There have been a number of releases of this type of DVD by a number of magicians over the past couple of years, some of them from high profile names such as Martin Sanderson. I’ve also bought a few of these titles myself as a performing magician just to get the low down from a pro’s perspective. What I found is that the advice and guidance tends to be restricted and that it supplements about half a dozen commercial routines. So what is different about this DVD?
To start at the beginning, the discs and the packaging are high quality and when popped into your DVD player you’ll note that the screen image is sharp and devoid of any grain that you tend to get when old video footage is converted onto DVD format. The reason for this is that ALL of the footage has been specially shot for this DVD and none of it has been taken from previously shot or released footage. That means that everything has been recorded digitally, including the sound and the quality shows. The lighting is always well balanced, the sound is crisp and this sets the scene rather nicely.
Disc 1 is the longest at a fraction over 2 hours and with approximately 80 minutes devoted JUST to the commentary from the participating magicians. By the time a routine comes along to break up the pitch, I had to resist using the fast forward to get back to the commentary as it just stunning, and I don’t say that lightly!
The difference with this title is that you get the low down from ALL of the magicians on each of the subjects addressed rather than just the singular view that other titles tend to offer. They each have a different approach to some of the topics under the spotlight which gives you something to consider but you not only get the detail of how they each work, you also get the low-down on WY they work this way and what the other considerations are. The detail and the depth that the commentary goes into is unlike anything I’ve previously seen and the first 2 hours flew.
What you get is everything that you could possibly need to know to work commercially and whilst this is aimed at the restaurant worker, nearly ALL of the content can be applied by any working magician that’s on the wedding or corporate circuit too. You will find views on how to get work, how to keep it, what to wear, what to charge, how to get on with the other restaurant staff, how to approach tables, how to select routines, how to deal with hecklers and the list just goes on and on. I couldn’t think of a single thing that they had missed and to be honest, there are many sensible things in the content that you just wouldn’t think of beforehand.
Disc 2 is more of the same but as it progresses you find less commentary and more routines and into disc 3 which continues along the same lines. Part of me was thinking that I could have easily watched this without any routines having been included, or that the routines should have been separated from the commentary. However, as you progress through the discs you realise that they are necessary and that they give good demonstrations of the topics that have just been covered.
Each magician gives his own demo of a table routine as they would perform it and of course some routines will interest you more than others. Some also include explanations whilst some don’t. Each is shot in keeping with the rest of the video so the footage is crisp and the camera angles are more than sufficient to show everything that you need to know if you want to learn.
The routines that are explained contain nothing that is too difficult to learn and will be more of an interest to those who don’t have too many commercial routines within their existing repertoire of tricks. However, each one is perhaps a table hopping classic and packs a punch when performed to a lay audience. You also won’t need to go out and spend loads of additional cash other than to buy a TT and perhaps a wallet, assuming that you don’t already have these. Stand out moments for me were the Garrett Thomas ‘ring thing and big coin little purse’ routines which were simply stunning. Garrett also gives an in-depth talk (about 15 minutes worth) on the psychology and misdirection that goes into his coin routine which is fascinating viewing.
I got onto thinking along these lines. Supposing that you’re a decent enough magician that’s now looking to break into the commercial arena and get paid for something that you love to do. Then, let’s say that just one of these magicians came to your local magic society and promoted a five hour lecture and workshop that was aimed at helping the novice performer break into this market. Would you pay £60 to sit in? You would look at this as an investment, right?
This DVD is an opportunity to ‘fast-track’ what may otherwise take you many years to pick up on your own and in saving you the time, will also help you to significantly reduce the risk of error whilst increasing the likelihood of enhancing your reputation.
£60 to many is quite a bit of money to shell out for a DVD but if you take note of, and apply the content there is no reason why you shouldn’t quickly make back this sum and much more on top.
Overall
This DVD contains advice that will be invaluable to ANYONE wanting to break into paid performances, not just restaurant working and everything within is smack, bang up to date! Forget that this is filmed in the USA (although the portion sizes in our UK restaurants have some catching up to do by the look of things
), what you will learn can be applied wherever you perform across the world.
If you’re already doing well in this line of work then good for you and you won’t perhaps need this title. If you have no intention of starting to perform commercially then again, this won’t really be for you although in both cases it’s still thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking viewing.
If you’re interested in beginning to perform commercially, or have started but it’s been slow and you want to pick up more work then this is right up your street! I’m sure that you will find the content of this DVD invaluable, particularly disc 1 of the set. If you go through the trial and error process then potentially it could take you a long time to learn the content from experience and you’ll possibly loose bookings along the way. It may also make you realise that there is more to performing that you first imagined and you may re-consider or delay your initiation by realising that you’re not as ready as you thought. This may be a positive thing.
To sum up, the content of these three DVD’s is nothing less than excellent and in my opinion, from all of the other DVD’s that have tried to approached this particular topic that I’ve seen, this is by far the best and is now the benchmark.
I can’t recommend this DVD enough if you fit into one of the categories above and you're looking for this type of DVD.
