talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect
This ia an inexpensive beginner DVD which includes the following tricks:

The Four Ace Production
The Magic one
The Prediction
Impossible Location
Strong Connection
Magical Straight
The Levitation
Ace Elevator
Major Jokers
The Accordion
Flash Production
The Card Morph

It also teaches these sleights:

Criss Cross force
One card break
Slip cut force
Palming

And includes a lot of help on:

Misdirection
Story and Presentation
Engaging the Audience
The Bad Audience
The Trick Goes Wrong

Cost
$13-$15 from Amazon.com sellers

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)
1-3 however, the sleights are quite simple.

Review
Perhaps the best review is an anecdote.

My wife and I go to the casino occasionally. She plays the penny slots and I watch DVDs on my portable. A few weeks ago I took Stephane Vanel's DVD.

She limits herself to $20, so she was back in about an hour. When she returned I performed four of the tricks on the DVD. She admits they were entertaining and was amazed when I said that she could perform any one of these with 5 minutes of teaching and 5 minutes of practice!

Now, this stuff won't get you a Vegas booking, but I'll bet that a couple of the routines could be used by professionals who want to include a few tricks that allow them to concentrate on presentation instead of special moves.

You can check out his handling and teaching of The Prediction on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4ExVSIjIdY

Overall
This is a very good teaching DVD, and at this bargain price I consider it a "must buy" for it's target audience.

So, if you are looking for an inexpensive gift for a friend or nephew who wants to get started with card magic, then this DVD should be on your list.

Rating
9/10

I was going to review this, and I'm very happy that you not only beat me to it, but did a much better job! I agree with your "overall" section 100%. This is the DVD that got me started, and had me doing a few routines in under 45 minutes (I'm a bit slower of a study...). The presentation, production values, and practice points really increase the value of what's included, imho.

True, you won't likely get paid for the routines on here, although after a few runs through them, Mr. Vanel had me thinking I could.

For me, what turned out to be the best feature of this DVD was after I contacted the publisher to inquire about vol 2. After they responded that there wouldn't be one, a series of searches for a substitute somehow led me here to TM. The rest isn't so much history as a bizarre yet fortunate coincidence.