Generation Extreme - Brian Tudor
Cost
£27.97 http://www.penguinmagic.com/europe/product.php?ID=938
What they say
Warning: Don't buy this DVD. Almost no one can actually do the stuff you're about to see. It's aggressive, showy, complex, impossibly fast, and freakish. Once you master it, your spectators may notice only one tenth of what they're supposed to see... and only one one-hundredth of what is actually happening. That's no way to live... pick up a svengali deck and be happy.
This is an instructional card magic DVD featuring routines that have won Brian Tudor International recognition as one of the leading card manipulators in the world. There are no camera tricks and everything is shown at actual speed.
Prepare yourself. You're going to have to watch each explanation hundreds of times before you start to get it. You'll have to practice even more before it looks good in your hands. In the process you'll drop tens of thousands of cards. Throughout your training you'll destroy five or more decks per day.
When Tudor performs, he just kinda does it. Like an Olympic athlete, he's performing a routine that's been practiced thousands of times leading up to this moment. When he's on stage his mind goes to a place where individual moves become instinctual... he doesn't have to remember to do a Riffle Pass one moment and a Throw Change the next, any more than he has to remember to breathe or flex his heart muscle sixty times a minute. Sports psychologists have a word for this place--they call it THE ZONE.
If a stranger walked up to us and asked if we'd recommend this DVD, we'd say no. We'd say he'd probably hate it. We'd guess that he's probably nowhere near skilled enough with cards, or devoted, or focused enough even to appreciate it. You have to earn this DVD. It's not for everyone. It's probably not for him, and it's probably not for you. But if you are one of the few who MUST be at the cutting edge in the development of visual card magic, there is nothing we can say to keep you away from this DVD. And that being said, this is probably your best resource for what's new with cards.
Difficulty
Mostly 4 to 5. But some routines are about 3.
(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)
Routine Reviews
This DVD teaches many cuts, sleights and flourishes. They are all taught via one of the 6 routines included...
Show Off Difficulty: 5 (but there are some basic flourishes hidden within
)
Taught:
- The Waterfall.
The Upside-down Spring.
Pressure Fan.
One-handed Fan.
One-handed Revolution (false).
One-handed Revolution III.
Turn Over Cut.
One-handed Revolution II.
YTBN Cut.
Castro Cut.
Revolution Cut.
Bad Habit II with Split Fans.
Swing Cut.
Speed Cut.
What the Hell? (Happened to Sibil)
Tudor Cut
Perfect Rifle Shuffle
Triumph 3 Difficulty: 3
Effect: Face up cards and face down cards are shuffled. At the end chosen card is facing the opposite way from the entire deck.
Taught:
- Pull Through
Tudor Shuffle
Half Pass
Follow the Queen Difficulty: 4
Effect: Four red backed queens are shown then one by one they jump from one hand to another. Climax is visibly changing the packet of four red cards into blue backed cards, then showing them to be aces.
Taught:
- False Count
Top Palm
Brian Tudor Right Hand Production
Paul David Muck
Effect: Face up and face down cards are mixed together. The deck is cut four times, each time finding an ace. Afterwards the deck is shown to be all face down.
Taught:
- Strip Cut
Hypnotic Difficulty: 5
Effect: Basically Ambitious Card.
Taught:
- Middle Nostalgia Center Pop-out
Terry LaGerould Swingset Control
Center-to-Bottom Control
Aaron Fisher Pop-out
Dribble Pass
One Handed DL
Riffle Pass
Terry LaGerould Swingset Control Variation
Top Palm Production
3rd and 4th Finger Palm Production
Double Production
Hot Shot Cut
Ambitious Sandwich
Terry LaGerould Swingset Control (On the table)
Brother John Hammin Turnover Move
I love ambitious card routines, and i love watching this one. I just think the ending is a bit naff because, to me, he ends on an effect which isnt as good as just about everything he's just done. Otherwise brilliant!The Politician Difficulty: 4
Effect: Two cards constantly switching. Not quite sure how to describe it better than that
Taught:
- Steve Forty Blackjack Turnover
Paul David Revolution Change
Spring Change
Throw Change
Some very nice card switches are taught in this routine. Fun to watch also.
Overall 7.5 out of 10
Let's start with Brian Tudor, he's very, very good with the cards. Unfortunately he doesnt teach that well. However, maybe it appears this way because of the way the DVD was produced. There were no alternative angles showing the moves. Sorry, there was one alternative angle, and that was when he was teaching a palm and he physically turned around to show it that way.
Another gripe with the production is that you can only select the start of the Routines from the scenes menu. After recent DVD purchases which allow you to jump directly to individual teachings, i expect that as a minimum. It really does get boring wanting to watch the Pull Through and having to watch Brian perform Triumph 3 first, then get into set up of the effect, before showing the Pull Through.
I bought this DVD because i loved wathing the video demo for it. I really didnt expect to be able to learn much from this. Apart from the Show Off routine, i can see a lot of it being do able (for me) with a lot of practice.
I'm also really confused why they called Triumph 3 and The Man from New York Full Length Routines and also whey they're included on this impossible to perform DVD. They'd be better suited to instant download effects.
Brian shows his routines without any patter, and for me, that was good. All too often, after watching a dvd, i've had another magicians patter in my head when working through an effect. I found it much easier coming up with patter, i might even start muting the performance sections of DVDs from now on
