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TheStoner · Senior Member Joined: 08 Jan 2009 Posts: 678

They say...

VOLUME 1

Ice Breaker
Lee’s 3 Phase opening routine. Cards jump from hand to hand, vanish and appear in impossible places! Included is an in depth discussion on character types for different audiences, approach and much, much more.

Walkaround 2 Cards to Pocket
Two cards are lost in the deck, then found and then they swap places. Snappy, fast and a real attention grabber. Utilizes the Ollie Mealing ‘Switch Trick’, one of the best glimpses ever! Worth the price of the DVD!

Trans-box-ition
One of Lee’s signature tricks being explained for the first time. An awesome routine in which a card jumps under the card box not once but twice and even escapes a spectator’s hand. A third phase ends with the ENTIRE DECK UNDER THE BOX. Best of all its easy to do!

You Keep Mine
A superb multi-phase routine that ends with the spectators signature jumping from their card to one that has your business details on the back. The perfect giveaway that’s sure to get you more bookings.

Bold Business
An amazing feat of mind power. Leave the spectator thinking you really can read minds! A miracle using nothing more than a marker pen and some business cards (again worth the DVD).

Third Degree
Three cards are chosen, one even imagined. All three are revealed in progressively harder ways until the magician reveals that the thought of card has been in their hands right from the start. A masterpiece of audience management and psychology.

Bonus PDF of Lee’s walkaround Lecture Notes
Included on this DVD is a complete PDF of Lee’s ‘Walkaround Lecture Notes’ which inspired this project

VOLUME 2

Just Think
You predict a card that the spectator merely thinks of and repeat the feat for an amazing kicker ending.

Business Lunch
Lee’s preferred handling for the Out to Lunch principle, leaving the spectator with the best memento they could have, your business card. The ultimate giveaway routine that’s sure to leave a lasting impression with your audience.

Key To Amazement
A self-working miracle where a thought of card is found under seemingly impossible conditions. This will freak out magicians and lay people alike!

Crazy Cuffs
A classic of magic explained. A borrowed ring jumps onto the band for a kicker ending.

Coming Together
A performance only of Paul Green’s wonderful effect where two signatures end up on the same card. If you like Anniversary Waltz you will love this. Watch Lee’s take on this for Walkaround performances.

Fifth Element
Lee’s take on Paul Harris’ ‘Whack My Pack’ plot. Sure-Fire and plays great to the largest of groups.

Bonaces
A brand new four ace routine, released here for the very first time! This is a multi-phase routine that you will learn and use!

Strike Two
Taking an old classic and bringing it right up-to-date, watch as Lee gets screams and gasps with this multi-phase lighter routine explained in complete detail.

Cost

£17.99 each from RSVP

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)

Varies between 1 and the low end of 3

Review

Lee Smith is a top-class magician and really nice guy - his name is even an anagram of "The Smile", which you'll find is very appropriate if you ever meet him. He was on fire at the recent Blackpool convention both on the RSVP stand and in the Ruskin.

On these DVDs he's taken a range of strong audience-pleasers and explains them in immense detail. They are based, in part, on Lee's recent "Walkaround Lecture Notes" (a PDF of which is included on Vol.1) but actually seeing the routines in action and with detailed visual explanations it is definitely worth getting these DVDs even if you already have the notes.

Throughout Lee is joined by Ravi Mayar, who is a superb magician and hypnotist in his own right. As Lee explains the routines Ravi keeps asking those questions that you, the viewer, would want to ask. "Show us that again from a different angle", "Can you do that again slower?", "Which finger are you pulling with?", etc. This is gold dust as many DVDs fly through explanations and can leave you scratching your head about the specifics. For example when discussing "Ice Breaker" the explanation is maybe 20 times longer than the routine itself, but this allows Lee and Ravi to thoroughly cover the subtleties, audience management, patter lines and so on.

Lee gets maximum effect from a number of moves that we probably all know (DL, pass, top change, etc) and seeing the responses he gets in live performance is an inspiration. It makes you think "There's no reason I can't do that - with just a little bit of practice". It's not like watching Tamariz or Ortiz and thinking "Hmmm, maybe in a year or two...".

Lee is a real worker and is in constant demand by some top corporate clients (Aston Martin anyone?). The DVDs show why as he knows how to entertain the layman and adapt to a variety of performance situations - refined event, restaurant or noisy pub. There are loads of tips on how to work these different audiences which I found really useful.

There are some lovely little moments where Lee shows you the easy way to achieve things. His cheeky method for the top palm (62 mins in on DVD 1) is pure genius. He also makes use of his extensive live experience to get rid of your "magician's guilt", both through hints/tips and by showing that during some of the live clips there are some minor flashes and mess-ups (as happens to all of us when performing) but none of the spectators spots them. Confidence, banter and force of personality win the day!

The best way to sum up these DVDs is to imagine spending several hours with a couple of mates who just happen to be a brilliant magicians and want to share their knowledge. Lee and Ravi are such likeable guys and so good at explaining things that watching the DVDs is a real pleasure. I'm sure that, like me, you've got some magic DVDs that you bought and have never watched all the way through - they're just sitting on the shelf. Well this definitely isn't one of those. I'm sure that I'll be constantly referring back to the STEP system and watching it end-to-end many times - there is just so much good stuff on here.

Downsides? Ravi is fantastic throughout, but isn't credited or pictured on the DVD sleeves, which is a real shame. His input is a big part of why these DVDs are so good, and he should get full credit for it. Can't wait for his forthcoming project! Also you can see that Russ has worked the guys really hard and as they get more tired (and the stubble grows!) you can't help but feel sorry for them! Some of the moves (e.g. the pass) are covered quickly and you're referred elsewhere for full details, but I think that's fair enough for most of us apart from the absolute beginner.

RSVP keep on producing first class products. They put out James Brown's "Professional Opportunist" and that was the best product of 2009 and there is a good chance that Lee's STEP System will be the best product of 2010.

Overall

Outstanding - a definite "must have".

10/10

Lee Smith

Lee Smith · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 5:53 pm Post subject:

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the pm's but people for the free DVD's for review have now been picked.

Thanks again.

TheStoner · Senior Member Joined: 08 Jan 2009 Posts: 678

No other reviews yet? Loads of people bought this in Blackpool. I know there's a ton of strong material on here to go through, but it would be interesting to hear other people's comments. I'm still loving it - great stuff!

Lee Smith · Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:34 pm Post subject:

There are many reply's on another forum everyone seems to be reviewing the STEP SYSTEM there at the moment, I am very pleased with the feedback, and are friends from overseas are also enjoying the product which is great, I have been lecturing the material and it has been great fun.

Murphy's now have the DVD's and It is now available at your favourite dealer world wide, So I would imagine more will picking this up soon.

I would like to see more on here as I am more active on this forum. So I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Many thanks,

Lee.