talkmagic.co.uk

Street Magic Secrets
by David Penn

Ok i saw this DVD at my local library and i had seen a him a couple of times performing so i rented it.

David takes you thru 12 tricks which supposedly are street magic, and frankly they aren't.

He should have called it "Secrets of Impromptu Magic"because almost all of the effects he shows are real simple,no skill required,impromptu tricks.(thats why it was in my library and not in a magic shop probably)

The tricks are very basic, as ive said and almost anybody could do them.
I only recomend this to an absolute begginer and even so there are a lot better beginners DVDs out there.

The things that i didnt like:

*The way he presented the effects did not look like street magic.

*His vanish is probably(and i say this with the upmost respect)one of the cra**iest ive ever seen.

*He uses a lot of stooges

Scoring:1-Avoid eye contact 2-Bad 3-Decent 4-Good 5-Excellent

My Score:1
If you are a begginer there are a lot of better DvDs out there.

Is that the one in the shopping centre?

yeah he performs in a shopping centre

I am pretty sure this one is aimed at muggles (to borrow someone elses expression) or at least the very very very beginner, although that doesn't explain David's shoddy vanish.

David Penn is in my mind an incredible close up magician - certainly one of the best I have seen (and I have seen some ptretty good ones).

I have been informed he will be at the Ipswich Convention, so you'll get a chance to meet him. I was hoping to persuade him to be one of the close-uppers on the day, but he declined this year. He wants to just enjoy the day like us mortals. Maybe he will do it next year though...

Thanks for the review though - if only to warn us off.

He is indeed a great magician,at least whenever i see him perform he knows what he's doing and hes good at it so thats why i rented it,but obviosly in this DVD hes just showing the basics of basics.
I just dont know why he calls it street magic,just because he does it on the streets? Its mostly Impromptu or Close-up

sly wrote:I just dont know why he calls it street magic,just because he does it on the streets? Its mostly Impromptu or Close-up

Yes... so is street magic. Street magic as in, magic that can be performed close up and impromptu.

What's your definition?

I think street magic is basicly very visual stuff that can be done in front of someone and has to look cool.
I would'nt class Glass thru Table as street magic...
More like three card monte.
And many of his stuff has to be prepared beforehand so...

Thats my definition(correct me if im wrong,im here to learn)

Let's be fair, "street magic" is a purely market-driven term designed to sell close-up magic to da kidz. 3 card monte existed before David Blaine. There is very little difference between the magic you might perform at a cocktail party or bar and "street magic". Simple plots, not needing a surface to work from ideally and yes, "visual" magic is good, but it doesn't have to be impromptu (bitten coin is a "street magic classic", try doing that truly impromptu...)

It may be a rubbish DVD, and thanks for the warning (don't think the description would lure me anyway), but to be honest I'm glad that when a few young'uns go to buy a DVD on street magic, what they may well be getting is beginners close-up magic (like glass through table or a coin vanish) wrapped up in their preferred stylings, rather than actual secrets to high quality effects that they will then go and reveal to all in the playground. it may not be a DVD any of us want to buy but in many ways he's doing us a favour, I wonder if that's his intention...

Yes I have this too, have seen some of is shows cos we used to hang around together with Eugene Mathias back in the day.......

His Refraction DVD is very nice...

Only he always wears to much makeup lol.......

Yes the shopping mall DVD is so aimed at wana be magicians and not pros or street workers (neither of the later forms are any form of prostitution, just to be clear!)

This DVD is purely aimed at Muggles as Bananafish has mentioned above.

I do think that this review by Sly is a perfect example of reviews by allot of people. They don’t see the product for what it is.

This DVD was never and will never be aimed at any magician. Lets see how many people that critisise this DVD manage to create and release a DVD that is stocked by shops like Asda, Virgin etc and sell over 10000 units in the first week. I can tell you no one.

What about the retail price of 9.99. Surely if you are a magician you would of realised by know that all magic DVDs with about 10 routines are over 20 pounds.

Keep it real as Americans have been telling me the past week lol

Gochos The Greek wrote:I do think that this review by Sly is a perfect example of reviews by allot of people. They don’t see the product for what it is.

I don't think Sly should be criticised too much for putting up the reveiw.

He mentioned he wasn't expecting much as it was after all taken out of the local library. I think the only reason his expectations were a little higher were simply because it was David Penn, and he recognised the name.

If nothing else by mentioning it here, it stops a TM member thinking they are getting a baragain off of ebay. (I am sure it could be found there)

Although I have to say it may be a good potential gift for that neice or nephew who is keen on magic, but you don't think they are ready for the real thing yet.

I hope it does well for David. I think we all do.

Gochos The Greek wrote:This DVD was never and will never be aimed at any magician. Lets see how many people that critisise this DVD manage to create and release a DVD that is stocked by shops like Asda, Virgin etc and sell over 10000 units in the first week. I can tell you no one.

Nobody is denying that David is a clever bloke, and that his marketing works.

But let's face it, if he wants to be taken seriously why has he 'sold out' into the mainstream?

The release date of this (according to Amazon) was April 2007. Just before his name got into big bright lights with Refraction.

I've not seen this street magic thang, but although Penn's made it this far into DVD stardom, will this '10,000 unit seller' actually help or hinder future sales?

I do hope it helps, as he's a really talented guy.

Refraction is great (contrary to what some idiot emailed the manufacturer as I allegedly stated???) and although this may NOT be as good, surely it's helping people recognised Penn?

All in all, if you WANT to learn what's described on the DVD, then buy it! Simple as that.

If Penn has REALLY sold 10,000 copies, do you think he'll CARE that magician's don't find it educating?

if you want to be real about this...ok

Street Magic doesnt exist
Its just a name that David Blaine used for better advertizing(and it worked a charm,telling by his bank acount.)
so basicly "street magic" is an marketing technique which was adopted by some magicians who copied Blaine's style.