talkmagic.co.uk

Available From www.bigblindmedia.com

Cost £22.99

Released at Blackpool Convention


What They Say Enter the twisted, yet brilliant mind of the UK's Liam Montier. Famed for his inventive and ingenious solutions to every magic plot he tackles, this respected practitioner has a magicaleffect for every situation.
Like some Crackpot inventor, Liam is renowned for his ability to take ANY object at hand and construct a fantastic routine around it. Across the two volumes of 'The Wicked World', you'll find material using everything from cards, coins, bubblewrap, bank statements and lollipops to corks, business cards, socks and string - you name it, Liam will use it!

And what's better, is that this stuff is EASY!


What I Say

OK so one thing BBM do remarkably well is make good looking DVD's. The menu's inlay and DVD design are like something straight out of a Tim Burton nightmare. Ditto for the music. The whole thing is sheer wuality and avoids all those horrible trappings of 3 month old cheddar that many magic DVD producers fall into.

Before we discuss the effects, let's talk a little bit about Mr. Montier. I'm sure many people are familiar with the absolutely fantastic "Henry Sugar" routine which he seems most known for. I believe upon it's release a few years ago at B'pool it completely sold out. His "Cherry Cola Queen" ebook has many great effects using almost every implement known to man and to top this off he's also a close friend and brainstorming partner to a certain Mr. Jermay. I did say hello to Liam at the Cardiff day of magic recently and he was a very nice bloke too. Quietly sitting at the close up mat noodling on some cards whilst I tried to bully Owen and David into making some DVD's of my magic heroes (fingers crossed).

Needless to say I was looking forward to seeing this. Plus the prospect of David Forrest in bunny suit was too good to miss.


The Effects

Here's a list of the effects on Vol. 1 followed by a quick opinion and rating out of 10.

Stickman Sensation - A very Sankey esque card routine featuring a post it note with a stick figure on it that locates a spekkys card and then mysteriously appears once more under the spectators hand.- Great routine this. Would work really well in a table hopping environment, very visual and ensures involvement from your audience

9-10

Hof Slap - Hofzinser Ace problem combined with a great move we all know and never use - I liked this, very traditional card magic and a refreshing change from the usual material you see these days. Very simpl but extremely effective. Great impromptu effect for the bar/

9-10

Worry Dolls - A Jermay like presentation combined with a Williamson method featuring Guatemalan worry dolls .- Very nice routine for formal close up shows. Although I'm sure principle can be applied elsewhere. dolls disappear from your hand very cleanly and reappear in their box.

8-10

Lollipop - A cute Sankey-esque routine which could also be called torn and restored lolly. - Not really a trick as such but a nice little bit of business. Not sure if I'd ever use it but kinda sweet looking none the less.

6-10

OOTW - 999 - Cool packet version of the Paul Curry effect, with a surprise phone number reveal ending. - Very nice routine, I remember seeing a very similar method in Lewis Jones' Seventh Heaven book. This routine is inspired by a Fulves trick and the phone number climax is a killer.

9-10

Visual Voodoo - My joint fave routine on the disc. Six figures are drawn on a business card and a selected one of the six little guys disappear in a Voodoo themed flash. - Rick Maue meets Matthew Bich

10-10

Triumph Twist - A Paul Harris Triumph routine with the addition of a selected card. - Extremely visual ala the Harris routine, good reaction from spekky, but nothing revolutionary. A good worker though

7-10

Cheater - Nice pseudo gambling dem. - A new take on 'nothing up my sleeves' great for walkaround.

8-10

Psy KIK - Direct Close up mindreading using ESP cards and a freely select name/number. - My other fave on this disc. Fooled the pants off me and then kicked myself when I saw the method. Truly great and the gimmick is cheap as chips too. Well routined and about as direct as you can get. This one is going straight into my repertoire.

10-10

Coincorde - Cool ring on rope routine- I don't like these kind of trick usually but I have to admit this one looks pretty magical. Could also be used as part of a longer routine.

7-10

Withdrawal - Great effect with a printed out bank statement which transforms into a bank note, the value of which is then magically deducted from the statment. - This is awesome, a real crowd pleaser and anything which is influenced by or contained Stephen Tucker (tragically under rated) is well worthy of a look.

10-10

and lastly.....

Psychic Pickpocket - Great example of pick pocketing crossed with a Pick-a-card routne. This is a winner for cocktail party/coporate walk around.

Well hope that's been of help to some people who might be interested in it. As usual with BBM the explanations are very thorough and contain loads of humour to stop them from being boring. It's nice to see that normal people do magic too!!!

Well worth the price for the effects, am curious to see what Vol. 2 holds now....





Overall - 9-10

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to write it. It sounds like a good overall collection of different effects. Just out of curiosity, "they say" that this stuff is "EASY." Would you agree with that statement, or is it a bit of an overstatement? Thanks again.

Yes I would. There's nothing on this DVD that requires any taxing sleights (there's a few double lifts and an Erdnase change in there) at all. Just very well thought out handling. Besides I'm not aware you can perform a DL on a lolipop

It's definitely worth checking out. Especially for Visual Voodoo and PsiKIK. I'm looking forward to seeing Vol. 2

Just to echo...

The WWOLM is absolutely fab.

Liam's no stranger at TalkMagic, and this DVD is possibly one of the most diverse and entertaining productions this year so far.

It's got it all... cards, billets, fire, voodoo, lollipops and weird white rabbits.

Nothing short of simplistic genius is present throughout... the 'Twisted Triumph' routine alone will become part of your little 'I can do that with cards with no bother' routines.

If I had ANY criticism at all it's that the DVD cuts short... there's far too little in there to give Liam's huge brain and sheer versatility justice.

Again, BBM have surpassed the rest with their 'Jollywood' production. I had to crank down our surround sound system to almost whisper quiet to stop the bass tones cracking the floorboards, and I had to re-adjust the TV as it was drooling with crisp clarity at the overall production.

What you WILL find on this DVD is lots and lots of simple, ready-to-rock magic. What you WON'T see on this DVD is 'filler' material. Liam's textbooks are literally bulging with material, and this stuff is literally the tip of the iceberg. BBM and Liam must have had a real tough time determining what to put on this volume, and what to leave out.

Again, under direction of magic rawk-hound Owen Packard (rawwk on, el dudician) we find clear, simple and straightforward explanations, and the pace and momentum with which Owen keeps the flow going are now becoming legendary.

From the perspective of the viewer, you'll either love this or hate it. Liam's a young, vibrant and often modest talent in contemporary magic, and it's hard for individuals NOT to feel intimidated on an outing like this... especially with Mr Packard at the helm.

But Liam pulls it off with ease.

Entertaining, educational, well produced and a breath of fresh air.

I give it 5 thumbtips up out of 5.

Now... where is volume 2? Somewhere deeper down the rabbit hole, I think...

I was thinking of getting this aswell as the Casanova Concept. I liked watching the Stickman Sensation preview on their website, very clever!

They might have to wait until payday though, I've just got a delivery today that I need to dive into.

I'll be putting my order in next week..
Re: BBM if you join their mailing list at www.bigblindmedia.com, you get to buy their DVD's Pre Release, whish I feel is a good thing if a DVD or set may sell out pretty quick. Or just keep up to date with whats new lol

Take care all

We really must thank Mr Deck for all the trouble he takes in writing reviews. He obviously has a lot of time on his hands.

I think we need to thank geetarfreeek for this review

I do apologise. I thought he had a Welsh accent. Now that I see that he doesn't I am sure the review is an accurate one.

Of course it is possible to outwit bad reviews and make money out of them. I rather think I know a master of such techniques.

Hi peeps,

Hope you enjoy these. Sorry Mark, you totally lost me mate?

Just to let you guys know there's a good deal on both dvd's and a free effect thrown in if your on the BBM mailing list.

Any questions, drop me a line via PM for email at montz@talk21.com

Cheers dudes,

Liam.

Sorry to lose you old chap. Just ignore me. I merely thought I heard a Welsh accent but didn't. As for the rest I was merely thinking out loud.
Carry on, carry on......................

Visual Voodoo
I have taken this effect a little further with a story and a lighter (Not paper) If anyone wants a little effect that leaves the spectators still scratching their heads days a after the performance please pm me and I’ll let you know. (Owners of this DVD only I’ll test you ):wink:

Take care all

I know this DVD is an old one but got his of Liam @ Blackpool

Can I just take a moment to say what a nice chap he is.

Anyway back to the DVD.

I have watch this many times now and everytime I watch it, it got better and better.

The thing I like most about this DVD is the simplicity of the tricks.

These are tricks that are simple to do but pack strong.

Well Done liam keep up the good work.

I want some worry dolls they are so creepy...