talkmagic.co.uk

DVD: Great Scott It’s Magic by Scott F. Guinn.

DVD: £23.99 from :// www.emagictricks.co.uk
http://www.emagictricks.co.uk/product_i ... ts_id=4611

The Review

I must admit when I originally bought this DVD it was purely for the “bonus” ring and rope routine which I had heard so much about, and so for me the other 10 very strong tricks are the real bonus.

This was the first time I had seen Scott Guinn perform and I must confess I was extremely impressed. I just love his sense of humour, his magic “style” and of course his skill as a magician. He comes across as a kind of Bill Murray of the magic world. Maybe not every ones cup of tea, but I found him to be very entertaining and after all that is (IMO) one of the main criteria for being a great magician. I think I learnt as much about performance from this DVD as I did new tricks.

Scott did most of the performance around the dining room table, with 4 spectators, one of which I believe was his wife, who has probably heard his jokes, and seen his tricks a thousand times before. Consequently the four took a little while to get warmed up properly. In fact at the beginning they positively looked bored. In fact I swear at one point on the DVD there is someone yawning. Now most of the magic DVDs I have been privileged to watch so far are from the L&L publishing team, and anyone who has seen any of their work will know what I mean when I say that their audiences are all very happy-clappy-woo-hooing-high-fivinging-jawdropping-magic-loving-junkies to the extreme (and I do mean that in a nice way). I couldn’t help but wonder how much difference it would have made if they had been watching Scott’s performance. However, in saying that Scott’s four did warm up as he went on, and there were some really genuinely astonished faces at various points, especially from the lovely “Giselle”.

I am never quite sure if “genuine” could be used to describe the L&L bunch.

The only single real criticism I have about this DVD is that in some of the explanations the camera is just too far away, or not quite at the right angle. The Ring and Rope routine was fine, extremely well explained, repeated from different angles at different speeds but I found some of the card sleights a little confusing and in fact downright difficult to catch, and I know that I will need to watch and watch and watch again before I get them all. In saying that, that could just be me as I still have much to learn when it comes to the card magic, but then after all, that’s one of the reasons I buy these DVDs in the first place.

Difficulty.
Each trick has been graded separately using the following system
1=Easy peasy lemon sqeazy, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

The Tricks

1. Idaho Travellers..
Difficulty: 3/5
A simple strong version of the Dai Vernon classic.
Effectively 4 queens are removed from the pack. The pack is shown to clearly have no extra queens. One by one the 4 queens are placed throughout the deck, and then they just disappear. *poof*. Only to reappear one by one in the magicians pockets (4 different pockets).

This was strong, funny and very visual. I knew that if everything else was to this standard this would be a great tape.

2. Visit to Boise.
Difficulty: 4/5
Scott’s streamlined handling of Larry Jennings’ “The Visitor” classic.
Well I haven’t seen Larry Jennings’ “The Visitor” – so I can’t comment on how streamlined it was – but it certainly was extremely slick. (I’ve no idea where “Boise” is though)

The Queens are again removed (this is obviously a great follow on from the previous trick). The spectator is asked to select a card from the body of the deck and signs it. The signed card is then placed face down between two of the face up queens – either the red ones or the black ones.

The deck is cut in half and the packet of three (two queens and the signed card) is then placed in one half of the deck, and the packet of two (the other two queens) is placed in the other half of the deck.

To recap – we now have half a deck on the right, with the three packet, and the other half deck on the left with the two packet.

The magician does a magic move. (Well I thought it was funny – the 4 around the table weren’t so impressed), and the spectator spreads the first half of the deck to see that the card is now missing from between the queens.

The spectator now spreads the other half of the deck – and sure enough – the two queens have a face down card in between them. The card is turned over and “tada!”

This is the one trick I am having a little trouble with the camera maybe not being as clear as I would like. But it’s so strong I will keep trying.

3. Red Hot mama’s lips.
Dificulty: 3
Red Hot Mama with a charming theme and a killer kicker!

One (male) spectator freely selects a card from the deck and signs it. The card is replaced in the deck and the deck is shuffled. The spectator is asked to tell the magician to “Find my beautiful card”.

The deck is turned over – and although the back of the deck is blue – one card is red. Clearly blushing from being told it is beautiful by the spectator. The card is turned over – and is obviously the signed card.

The magician now places the signed blushing card face down on the table, and says he will attempt to repeat the trick with a female spectator. The same scenario occurs, a card is selected and replaced in the deck, although this time it is not signed – instead the magician asks his “lovely assistant” to blow a kiss at the card.
[“thank you for that, but can you now blow a kiss at the card and not me”].

Again the cards are turned over. The magician searches through the deck for one that is blushing but can’t find it. [“well this is embarrassing, that’s the first time that has happened – again”]. He then picks up the original red card from the first spectator – and now – even though it has been in full view all the time, it is the lady’s card – and not only that it is clearly marked with a red kiss.

And where is the original spectators card? Why in Scott’s pocket of course.

This is not just a great trick it’s a great routine. I really loved it. Even the four spectators were now beginning to wake up and get excited.

4. Peanut, Butter and Jelly.
Difficulty: 2-3
This is a sponge ball routine which I’d be surprised if there were many people that do sponge magic and hadn’t heard of it. In short it is a classic. Up til now my favourite sponge routine had been the “Multiplying Rabbits”, but cute as those little bunnies are this is stronger as a comprehensive routine.

Scott has some great insights when doing this, and he really has made it his own. I think everyone could learn a lot from seeing Scott perform this.

As I have now come to expect from Scott, the puns are absolutely awful – but then I just love bad puns.

“Now take [the sponge ball called] butter in your hand and squeeze tight – don’t let it go. No not too tight or it will explode, and then you will be covered in butter. Oh. I see. That’s happened before hasn’t it?”.

And as for the finale when three balls are made to disappear and both hands are shown as empty – well that is “magic” at it’s purest.

5. Magic Western Union.
Difficulty: 3
Larry Jennings exclaimed that this was the best presentation for "Flying Eagles" he’d ever seen!
This is basically a very impressive coins across routine. The only coin magic on the DVD. I don’t do a lot of coin work at the moment – but I am actively reading (and re-reading) “Bobo’s modern book of coin magic”. Again, I like having a story to tell whilst showing a trick and Scott does this so well.

The kicker for me was the Jumbo coin production at the end. Probably many of you guys can do this just as effectively but I tell you I have never seen it done so sweetly. He has a coin in his right hand – he places it in the spectators open palm and now it’s a jumbo coin. Even when watching the explanation done really v e r y v e r y s l o w l y it still looks like magic.

For me this is an excellent reason for getting some basic skills with coin work. It really does look like magic when done well.

6. Universal Appeal.
Difficulty: 4
A very easy but extremely powerful "Universal Card" routine
This is a trick done with three Chameleon cards. Surely you have heard of Chameleon cards No? well read on.

The deck is cut and three cards are removed and laid face down on the table. The first card is turned over, and is added to the packet of three “chameleon” cards. The four cards are now turned over one by one and it is clearly shown that all 4 are the same.

The original card is laid back down again and the next picked up. Again all 4 cards are shown to be the same. This then is repeated with the last card.

And if this wasn’t enough, one of the chameleon cards are then placed on each of the three base cards – and each set of two are turned over and of course – the chameleon cards have each changed to their corresponding base card.

This trick is very visual.

7. What The….
Difficulty: 3
Super easy effect inspired by Marlo’s "Devilish Miracle"

The spectator thinks of a number between 5 and 10. Then whilst the magicians back is turned [“It’s alright I’ve seen this one before”], they shuffle a deck and silently count down the chosen numbers worth of cards on to the table. The top card of this packet is turned over and the remainder of the deck is handed to the magician as he turns around again.

The magician then splits the deck in two and the spectator places the packet of the chosen cards into one half of the deck, whilst the magician takes the other half.

The two halves are now on the table. The spectator knows full well which half of the deck has his chosen card. And yet – It not only is seen to have disappeared from that half – the magician hands the other half back to the spectator and asks him to again count down the number of cards originally thought of.

Remember this is a number that the magician doesn’t even know about, and yet – when the last card is turned over...

“What the…” says it all.

8. Treasure Valley Twist.
Difficulty: 5
Yes, it’s a "twisting" routine--but just wait until you see it!

Four cards are shown. The ace to four of hearts. They are then turned over, so only the backs are visible, then one card is given a “twist”. This is from top to bottom, it isn’t turned over.

The magician says this is a magic move, and when it is done it causes a strange thing to happen. The magician now shows the 4 cards again, and now the two of hearts has turned face up.

The two is placed on the bottom, the top card twisted again, the four cards re-shown, and sure enough the two has turned back over and now the three is face up.

The three is placed on the bottom, the top card twisted again, the four cards re-shown, and now as expected the three has turned back over and now the four is face up.

Of course everyone knows what to expect next. But the magician says the ace is special. Instead of twisting the top card like before, this time the magician turns over the top card himself. The ace of hearts. The magician explains that when the ace turns over, they all turn over. And one by one the 4 cards are shown to be face up.

And if THAT wasn’t enough! The cards are then all turned over and each back is from a different deck!!!!!

I’ve rated this trick as a difficulty of 5, as I know that it’s going to take me a lot of practice. But if there was ever any incentive to practice card sleights – then this trick is it.

I can honestly say this is one of the most powerful looking card tricks I have ever seen.

I said that “universal appeal” was very visual. Well, I take it back. This makes “Universal Appeal” positively blind in the visual stakes.

(to summarise, I quite like this one).

9. Simply Stop.
Difficulty: 1
Simple in method, strong in impact

Well, I’ll be honest – I found it refreshing to have a trick on the DVD that is so mind numbingly simple to do. Having said that – it doesn’t make it any the less strong from a spectators point of view.

A prediction is made, in this case in the form of a large jumbo card (as opposed to a small jumbo card?) placed face down in full view of everyone.

There are two wine glasses on the table, one containing a deck of cards (with their backs to the audience) and one empty. The magician says he will take the cards one by one from one glass and place it in the other glass until such time as a chosen spectator shouts stop.

When “stop” is shouted, the magician freely gives the spectator the opportunity to continue.

Wherever the spectator says stop, the current card is shown to be the prediction card.

So all the cards are the same right? No. both glasses are then turned around it can be clearly seen that if they said stop one less or one more – then totally different cards would have been selected.

Now that’s spooky…
10. Magic Jump rope.
Difficulty: 2
Kids show rope routine--lots of fun!

This is a great routine that works especially well for kids, as you effectively would take three bits of rope a magically restore them into one “jump” rope. (that’s “skipping” rope to us Brits).

There is nothing much knew to this if you already do any rope magic, apart from – and most importantly so – the presentation. Scott Guinn has taken an everyday routine and adapted it into a specific piece magic for a specific occasion. This is something that came across very well in the DVD in general.

Bonus. Ring and Rope routine.
Difficulty: 2-3
This was the one reason I originally bought the DVD, and I would have been quite happy if this was all that was on there. It is that good.

This time Scott is performing to a real audience – and even though the whole routine is pretty much just magically putting a ring on a rope, and then magically removing it – it just flows perfectly. In short it is beautiful. It is truly magical.

I don’t think I have ever seen a rope routine put together so well and ok, I admit I haven’t seen hundreds of rope routines, but I have dabbled a little myself and although most rope routines are (simplistically speaking), just a matter of taking various already known “rope tricks” and placing them together in a sequence, it actually takes great skill to make that sequence flow.

Well this does just that. There is no manually threading of the ring on the rope, or taking it off. It always goes on magically, and always comes off magically. It’s done smoothly and with witty entertaining patter. Every time one part is ended it is naturally set up for the next part of the routine.

And, in my opinion it grows from strength to strength as the routine progresses, each part is seemingly more impressive than the last.

This routine made the DVD value for money on it’s own.

Rating. Effect/item: 10/10, Quality of goods: 7/10, Value for money: 9/10

Bottom Line.

Scott has a great talent for seeing a trick and adapting it to his own style and presentation, and I think this is one of the strongest lessons to learn from this DVD.

It is all to easy to learn tricks and the patter from books and DVDs almost word for word, but watching Scott helped me to realise that we all need to develop our own style and patter. We all need to adapt any new trick to work for us.

Most will already have grasped that simple sentiment – but I am still learning and it’s DVDs like this that help with the important details like that.

I also like that Scott gave proper credit on each trick to the originators – although this is generally the norm on all the DVD’s I have seen – it is not always the case. Personally feel it is important and I always like to see it done.

I know that this DVD is not necessarily aimed at beginners but I really think that magicians of all standards would get a lot from it. I certainly will, and I class myself very much as a beginner still.

I'm knackered just from reading that!

Actually thats sometimes a problem isn't it. If i watch something like this, I feel I have alot to say about it and want to try and do it justice, but by writing a longer more comprhensive review am I actually putting people off it?

There is probably a happy middle ground somewhere - but then again, if anyone is considering buying this, at least they are pretty aware now of what they will be getting - well my views on what they are getting anyway.

Great Review.... in my book 'more' is definitely better especially when you get a feel for the impact the 'item' has had on the reviewer... which really I just about got
It's reviews such as this which definitely help me make up my mind in deciding whether this was an 'item' I would like to pursue further.
Cheers
Vats

Superb review! This will have to go on the Chritsmas Prezzie list as I'm a bit short of the readies at the moment!

Having said that, I reckon Christmas could come early this year......now where's that credit card......

Mate you have more than enough experience to make these calls! You go with your judgement! A big review that is balanced and informed (as yours always are) is never too much!

Can I just second that, when I started out there was a strong feeling of "no, I'm not going to tell you what you are buying but please give me your money" on a lot of sites. Obviously there is a need to keep the secret but still, if you want my money I need to know what is in the box.

More info might put the odd person off but more people will surely think "ahhhhh ok, I'll have that" if they know what they are buying.
We have all been ripped off in other non-magic markets and as such we like the info, helps calm the cynicism factor.

BaB

Simon (banafish) sent me an email about this review. All I can say is, "WOW!" Thank you, bananafish, for your kind words and very thoughtful, extensive review. It is gratifying to know that people find the DVD useful.

This DVD was a HUGE chore to get completed. It had to be completely re-shot TWICE, due to a crooked cameraman, the director was very unorganized, everyone took months longer than they said they would, and there were problems literally every step of the way! Finally, I had so much time and money invested in it, I was at the point where I had to either put it out as-is or not put it out at all and lose all that money. So, while I wasn't completely satisfied with it, I put it out.

There are some problems with the DVD. There are not NEARLY enough close-ups, particularly in the explanations. If anyone has questions about something, please do feel free to email me and I will do my very best to help you. There is a "glitch" at the end of every segment on some players, where the DVD will freeze for a few seconds before moving on. It plays beautifully on computers, though.

Regarding the audience, yes, one of those four was my wife, Kristi. She has been so supportive and helpful it is unbelievable. Trust me when I tell you that, in our marriage, it is SHE who is TRULY AMAZING! The other three I had never met until the shoot. Part of the reason they weren't "warmed up" is because we were very short on time and had to get right into the shoot before I met them properly, and we started at 8 AM on a Saturday! Every one was a bit sleepy, they had never done this before, they didn't even know each other (Vic and Giselle did, but that's all), so it was a little awkward and uncomfortable. I don't think they knew it was OK to react enthusiastically--they didn't want to "steal the spotlight." Still, I think that in real-life, four people around a table are more reserved than 40 people who know each other well in a big room, when being a DVD audience is old hat and they all know each other.

In the explanations, the "audience" is composed of my magic friends from Idaho. The guy who was yawning had a show that went late the night before and then he drove three hours to be at the shoot. He apologized profusely, but I think it's kind of funny.

So now you know a bit of the "inside scoop" of the DVD. I will tell you that EVERY ITEM on it is in fact directly from my repertoire for paid bookings. None of it is "pipe dream" stuff or routines I haven't actually performed many times for real people. I do not think it is the best DVD ever released, and I don't think I am the best magician ever. I DO firmly believe that I know how to entertain an audience with magic in the real world (having done so as my only source of income for the last decade), and that the material here is solid, commercial and proven stuff. If you are a sleight junkie who wants the latest cutting edge moves, though, you'll want to pass on this DVD.

Sorry for the length of this post. I started out just wanting to say thanks for the great review!

Regards,
Scott
_________________

I'm sorry Bananafishy, what sort of a review was that!!!!!!......

.......you didn't even describe the cover artwork!!!!!!!! humph!

I can speak to that--the cover artwork is absolutely, stunningly GORGEOUS< as it is a photo of ME! Women swoon, men turn green with envy, and the hearts of children warm at the sight...

OK, I'm making MYSELF sick!

wow. I am tremendously impressed Scott that you have taken the time out to reply to a review. Especially as this is a forum and not some high gloss, high circulation magazine. Thanks for your honesty about the DVD situation and for clarifying that you aren't exactly happy with it, there are others out there who would have just put it out and never really clarified the quality issues.

Don't know if this is of any use to you Scott but some friends of mine who are involved in the music industry set out to make a hard dance promotional video. Anyway after being shafted by so called "professionals" they had to find another way to get the promo done. What they did was to turn to their local colleges and find out where Film and Media Studies was being taught. They then gained permission to place a poster on the course notice board aimed at students in their final year giving them the opportunity to assist in the production of a promotional video. The reward was negotiable with the main reward being that they would be allowed to submit the work as a part of their final coursework.

About five students put themselves forward and after interviewing they chose to work with two of them, one for production techniques etc and one for artistic direction and cinematography. THIS WAS HUGELY SUCCESSFUL FOR THEM! The students got high marks, my friends got a break and ended up touring Australia last year.

This all happened three years ago for them but there's no reason why anyone looking to create a lower cost promotional tool can't utilise this method. Especially as these days it's easier to burn your own dvds etc. Just a thought!!!

Scott F. Guinn wrote:the cover artwork is absolutely, stunningly GORGEOUS< as it is a photo of ME! Women swoon, men turn green with envy, and the hearts of children warm at the sight...

I have to be perfectly honest here and say that in no way was I influenced by the cover artwork when I bought the DVD.

I did think that maybe this was because I wasn't a swooning woman, so I showed it to my lovely assistant (the wife dontcha know), and asked what she thought. And she just giggled (nervously I might add).

So there you go.

Jordan,

I think it's only fair that I call a spade a spade--on my own work as well as that of others. Do I think it's the best DVD ever? Not even close. Does it contain solid material that plays well in the real world and that virtually anyone can do? I'd say yes. Could the priduction values have been better? Certainly. If I'd had it to do over again, I'd have gone the local college route.

I'm already starting work on a new project of three DVDs. One will be all cards, one will be no cards, and one will be restaurant material with me performing live in a real restaurant with people who have never met me previously. It will show everything: the approach, the routines, the mistakes, any hecklers, the background activity--a REAL restaurant performance taped live. Then in studio I'll explain the routines and talk about the performance and some theory and business tips. I'm very excited about the project.

Simon--and everyone else--do NOT show my picture to your wife/girlfriend! BIG MISTAKE! It will be all they can think about and you will be merely a distraction from that day forth. I know this is true from real life. Just today while walking through a restaurant, a beautiful woman at a table with her husband looked up at me as I approached, dropped her fork and said I was so stunningly handsome, she couldn't concentrate on her meal. REALLY! She said, "When I look at you, I just can't eat!" PROOF of my power over the fairer sex....

I'm already starting work on a new project of three DVDs. One will be all cards, one will be no cards, and one will be restaurant material with me performing live in a real restaurant with people who have never met me previously. It will show everything: the approach, the routines, the mistakes, any hecklers, the background activity--a REAL restaurant performance taped live. Then in studio I'll explain the routines and talk about the performance and some theory and business tips. I'm very excited about the project.

I look forward to the release. Any ideas on time scale yet?

Probably six months to a year. We hope to do the shoot in January or February. Then there's editing, authoring, designing the case insert, replication, etc. They won't be released all at once like many are doing. We'll release one every couple of months.