talkmagic.co.uk

Ok long time listener, first time caller..heres my first review, payback for all the great ones I've read on this forum , hope this helps...

The Effect

Twisted moves and unparalleled teaching in Crash-2 give you hard hitting reactions from spectators... walk into any room and know you have the power to entertain.

A signed card is placed unmistakably into the middle of the deck. Again and again the card rises to become the top card of the pack. Finally a huge bend is placed in the card... spectators SEE the bent card hit the top of the pack as it rises.

01. PREVIEW
02. CALVIN
03. BRAD WELCOME INTRO
04. PUSH OFF DL
05. STANDARD DL
06. BREAKING DOWN A MOVE
07. CARD REVERSE TURNOVER
08. MAHAL
09. LEPAUL BLUFF PASS
10. MARLO TILT
11. SPECTATOR CARD INSERT
12. JAMES/ELLIS LOADING MOVE
13. BRAUE POP UP MOVE
14. BRENNA
15. ROUTINING
16. JERRY SADOWITZ SIDE JOG
17. AMBITIOUS PURIST?
18. ONE HAND TOP PALM
19. CATCH CARD INVISIBLY 20. TENKAI PRODUCTION
21. MORE ON ROUTINING
22. TOP CHANGE (2 WAYS)
23. GET EXPERIENCE PERFORMING
24. TILT COLOR CHANGE
25. AIR FLIP-OVER
26. VICTORIA
27. UTILITY DL GET READY
28. THE PASS
29. JACKASS
30. RUBAWAY KNEE VANISH
31. WOODFIELD'S TORN & RESTORED CARD
32. TORN & RESTORED TALK
33. HAVE FUN AND EXPERIMENT
34. JUNE/TRICK SHIRT PERFORMANCE
35. WRAP UP / MORE
36. BONUS BIDDLE PERFORMANCE
37. NATE STANIFORTH ROUTINE

Cost
$29.95 download or DVD


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 - all sleights from DL to the Pass.


Review
You know Ellusionist do get a lot of Sl*****g off on here but personally I quite enjoy Brad Christians teaching style, he seems to have a genuine enthusiam for the subject (without the OTT Jay Sankey style which personally I can't stand and can only last about 30 seconds listening to him) ;the video itself does what it says on the tin , teaches the Ambitious Card with lots of variations but really encourages you to try out your own routines and build your own style. I would never have learned the number of moves and put them together without this DVD and it does encourage experimentation and creativity in your routine rather than just developing a fixed static style. Good quality DVD as well - the downloaded version I don't like as much (I bought both to compare) as the quality doesn't seem so good and you're stick with the dimensions of the download file. Its also nice to be able to watch it on your TV.

To me it was worth getting just for the push off DL tutorial ,this lasts about 10 minutes alone and really helped me with this move , now I can do it no problem.


Overall
9/10

I thought that this title was one of E's better productions and as a title was very thorough.

The reason why 'E' tend to get slagged off has a lot to do with their marketing which very much tends to ' over-hype' up their products. They have some good titles and some not so good ones when it comes to DVD's.

Their non DVD related products such as gimmicks and cards tend to be over priced for what they are and a some are little more than re-invented methods and tricks from yesteryear.

Brad Christian is not a bad teacher, he just rambles on way too much for my liking. Not to mention he wears make up and looks a bit like an Alien.

Seriously though, get the Daryl Ambitious Card DVD over this, no contest.

I've seen the crash 2 DVD and it was very good at teaching a few things, especially the Push Off DL which it goes into in great detail. I also really like the way he deals with getting 'busted' in his performance to the 'jackass' kid, that's always one of my biggest fears when performing and the way he dealt with the situation (and advises you to deal with it) is some very good advice!

However for a more comprehensive DVD for the Ambitious Card routine I would have to agree with majortom and suggest Daryl's Ambitious Card DVD! Daryl takes you through his preferred way of performing the Ambitious Card routine and then shows you so many other moves you can put into your Ambitious card routine it will make your head spin!

Daryl really encourages you to approach it like a 'Jazz musician' - You know how exactly how you're going to start and you know how you're going to end the routine, it's all about mixing up the moves in-between to basically improvise the routine each time you perform.

Also, as pointed out my majortom, Daryl doesn't wear nearly as much make-up as Brad Christian have you seen Brad in the Vegas Cheat DVD (I think it's one of the ninja series that covers the pass), he's wearing more make-up than my girlfriend!

Ah, short-term nostalgia! This was the first DVD I ever bought on card magic and it really gave my enthusiasm a boost.

I absolutely love it, and I still go back to it for a re-watch every month or so.

I was an absolute beginner before I watched it, and afterwards, even before I'd practiced the moves properly, I kind of felt like I was 100 times more knowledgeable about the ACR.

Brad's an OK guy in my opinion. It's his website I don't care much for, and the hideously over-priced effects that seem marketed directly at children who can barely afford them.

In my humble opinion, this is one of those DVDs beginners just MUST buy.

Oh, and yeah - that little kid he does the routine on is cute as hell

It's funny looking at brad teach because it seems to me that he just doesn't have sufficient vocabulary sometimes and instead of explaing the motions hes doing,hes usually just blabbing on saying things like ''From here,to here,to over there and back to here''.I find that quite funny for some reason

Although I have not seen this one, I echo the comments above that Daryl's DVD takes a lot of beating when it comes to the Ambitious Card. So many great tips and moves on it and his teaching method is clear and relaxed.

Personaly i realy dont like Ellusionist for various reasons (mainly overpricing ) but this DVD is realy great. Half the moves in this DVD i would have never even thought of and although Brad wears FAR to much makeup he goes through these moves realy well . If the price were less this would probaly be a 9/10 but instead id have to give it a good 7.

bought this one.Amazing...But where i could get that trick with the card on the t-shirt?