The Effect
As always, the blurb from the box to start
David Penn is one of Europe's leading corporate magicians. He has been awarded the title of 'Magic Circle Close up Magician of the Year' and the International Brotherhood of Magicians 'Close Up Magician of the Year'. David's magic has been seen in the UK on four major TV series including 'FREAKY' on Channel 4, 'Astounding Celebrities' on ITV1 and 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' on the BBC. His creative accomplishments include the critically acclaimed 'Coinvexed' and 'Refraction' that are now used regularly by top performers all over the world.
EFFECTS AND ROUTINES:
Glass of Water Production
Biz Card Transpo
Design Duplication
The Black Eight
Tine Bend Subtlety
Psychological Spoon Bend
Salt Inspector
Linking Laces
Circle to the Forth Dimension
Penn's Vanish & Color Change
V.D.C.C.A.W.
Coinvexed Discussion
CONTENTS:
For the First Time on DVD, David tips his favorite routines and presentation concepts including knockout close-up effects like 'The Black Eight', two killer tricks that will get your business card into the hands of potential clients and routines directly from his competition act such as 'Circle to the Fourth Dimension' and V.D.A.C.C.A.W'. For the incredible 'Glass of Water Production' you will learn the real work on Patrick Page's effect in which an un-gimmicked glass of liquid is produced form inside the sleeve of the spectator's jacket.
In all, twelve effects are preformed and explained with nothing held back and, as a DVD bonus, David sits down with the UK's leading coin magician, Craig Petty, and discusses new presentation ideas for the coin bending effect 'Coinvexed'.
Filmed entirely on location in China including such sites as The Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square and the Olympic 'Bird's Nest' Stadium.
Filmed in HD Widescreen.
Running Time Approximately 68min
Cost
The cheapest that I found online was from David's own web site at £20. Visit http://www.davidpenn.co.uk
[url]Difficulty[/url]
(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)
A mixture but I'd say that there's something for everyone - between 2 and 5 depending on the routine.
Review
As suggested by the title I was expecting to sit down and watch a filmed lecture at some magic society but I was pleasantly surprised that this isn't the case.
If you've read the blurb above then you'll see that this was filmed on location in China just before the 2008 Olympics with parts filmed on the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Beijing airport and David's front room
On David's web site there is a warning to accompany this DVD that says that it's for expereinced magicians only and is not for novice magicians. Personally, I'd ignore this as I think that everyone will find something on this DVD that will suit them but collectively, the content is more than worth the price of this disc.
There is some really original thinking that has gone into the content and although David credits all of his references at the end of the DVD, there are some nice touches that he has added.
The business card transpo is very simple yet very slick and my other favorites are the black eight (forced card changes into a pool 8 ball), the salt inspector ( a very nice production and vanish of a salt cellar) and the best of all, circle to the fourth dimension which is a great coin routine using a jumbo coin. I think that this is worth the price of the DVD alone!
I also have to admit that part of the reason that I like a number of these routines so much is because they utilise a topit. The topit has gained a lot of interest of late and if you're looking for an excuse to get your topit jacket out then look no further than this. I also note that David has just released his own topit and I'll be speaking to him about this soon and will hopefully review one at a later date. I've nearly got as many topits now as I have chop cups
The DVD ends with a discussion between David and Craig Petty about Coinvexed and was filmed just after its 2008 release at Blackpool. There is a new routine explained as well as some other tips that weren't included on the original Coinvexed DVD so this DVD offers an additional bonus for those of us that have Coinvexed.
Overall
The lecture is a really nice DVD and not at all what I expected. The routines are all workers and have been audience tested. It's shot in good quality and in an interesting location.
I highly recommend this to magicians of all skill levels.
