Shock fx andrew maine

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Shock fx andrew maine

Postby Figo » Nov 29th, '06, 22:58



The Effect
You'll become master of 13 tricks, stunts and gags for the modern conjurer.

Produce a bowling ball in an impossible way, stab a pencil through your face, use insects to perform psychic feats, learn Andrew's brand-new handling for the paperclip through arm effect and much more!

Also included on Shock FX is Andrew's brand-new one-man illusion Brain Damage-a head penetration effect using umbrellas which can be constructed in five minutes for less than five bucks.


$24.95 on average from various places



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


Review

Having bought a few of Andrew Maines products before, i have been on tender hooks for this DVD arriving for quite some time. I bought gut buster which is an excellent comedy effect in my show. I bought mind fx which i enjoyed and while i don't do any of the tricks on it thats only because i haven't found a place for them in my show.
Needless to say as soon as shock fx arrived my copy of the BFG was out of the dvd player and Shock fx was in. The anticipation was extraordinary as the title scene rolled up, i don't think the remote control knew what had hit it when i dived to press start.
Have you enjoyed my review so far? No? wish i would just hurry up and get to the good stuff?..... funny coz that was exactly how i felt throughout the entire 50 minutes of shock fx. i have never been more disapointed in a purchase throughout my entire magic career.
There are 12-13 tricks on this dvd of which i will use none. for the most part they are pranks you would have done in high school and there is nothing ground breaking or even good here. The only half decent trick is brain damage but the props look like you've been raiding a bin.
ok i might be being harsh due to my feeling of frustration but i just feel that andrew has sat done and thought what gross tricks can you do, then got a camera and made them up on the spot no rehearsing and for the most part no looking at the dvd to see if he could have done them better, a lot of them look really poor, the paper clip through arm is dreadful coz he spends what feels like a minute sorting the paperclip not very effective or subtle. pencil through cheek as an opening effect nearly reduced me to tears and not the good kind it just looked terrible. i think by far the worst effect was bob roach the psychic entertainer. anyone who has bought geek magic by tomas medina will have seen the very funny and very effective way he does this trick, this is not the way andrew does it, it is not funny or effective it is Awful. so 50 min went by, i, feeling totally dispondent, went and made myself a big mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and squirty cream put the BFG back in my dvd player and tried to forget about the worst magic purchase i've ever made

Overall

2/10 give this a miss it will just gather dust on your shelf if you want to find gags that will freak out your mates at school then you will find alot better ones elsewhere and if you want to do shock magic buy geek magic by tomas medina which is in a different league to the poorly rehearsed badly performed and down right predictable and obvious "tricks" on this dvd i gave it a 2 coz it makes a nice coaster

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Postby bronz » Nov 30th, '06, 17:24

What a pity, I saw the trailer for this on the Ghostvision dvd and was quite onclined to getting it. Actually I was most interested in the brain damage effect, I don't mind what the props look like so is the illusion itself any good?

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Postby Figo » Nov 30th, '06, 18:21

i would say it is very angle sensitive but it has great potential and if you work on the basic concept i think it could be a good trick

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Postby Sexton Blake » Nov 30th, '06, 21:32

I think you're being a little harsh, Figo. Actually, this is almost inevitable when you're really, really looking forward to something - you'll nearly always be dissappointed because you have expectations that couldn't possibly be met. Having said that (and admitting that I can't compare it to the Geek Magic thing, as I've never seen that) it isn't great, no. But it isn't awful either - especially not within Mayne's, um, 'style'. The effects are often prankish, but they're quite fun pranks. The 'making your own head explode off' one isn't going to baffle anyone two seconds after they've seen it: but it's surprising and funny all the same. I do the 'pencil through the face' to small children (Yeah - I like to give something back) and they always laugh, and then - thinking they know exactly what I've done - instinctively pick up a pencil and try it themselves... only to discover it's not quite that straightforward for them to reproduce. You say you love Gut Buster. I don't have that, and I wouldn't dream of getting it - it seemed immediately obvious the instant I watched it for the first time. But, as you say, you use it as a comedy effect; I'm sure you could use some of the things on this DVD effectively in the same way. I mean - come on - (assuming you're on a stage that can stand a such a heavy weight crashing down on to it out of an empty paper bag) that bowling ball production is a good opener, surely?

Also, the paperclip through arm one was solid, IMO (try it) - and the spike through tongue looked OK to me, though I wouldn't do it myself as I think it'd be too tricky to end clean (and you'd have to unless you were on stage, where no one was able to say the otherwise certain, 'Let me have a look at that spike.')

Relatedly, when he's not being (entirely) prankish I think the simplicity (in a good way) of his methods and his intelligent thinking can make for some lovely impromptu effects - I like the bank note tricks Ghost Bills and Infusion lots. Also (this, obviously, isn't a reason to buy this particular DVD, but it's something I think is to Mayne's credit), I'm glad there's someone out there who is doing something other than producing yet another card trick or yet another coin vanish.

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Postby Figo » Nov 30th, '06, 23:52

thats a really good point sexton thanks for your opinion. and you are right the bowling ball prod is a nice effect. my problem i think is that i don't work on stage or for kids and i do shock magic so most of the effects are of no use and the way that andrew performs them is crude and looks really bad. the spike through tongue i thought was terrible and the second part of the trick made me scream at the tv it was so bad. i will agree with you that if you want to do pranks and stunts then look at this dvd but i stand by my point that there are loads of better resources out there.

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Postby Sexton Blake » Dec 1st, '06, 00:35

Yes, it's possibly partially a marketing problem. Had it been titled something like, 'Surprising, Mostly Freaky, Sometimes Quite Gross, Stunts and Pranks to show to your Mates or to do for a Laugh at Student Parties, and that Kind of Stuff' it might have been better. It's much, much more Candid Camera ideas for an MTV show than hard-hitting Bizarre Magic(k). And perhaps this mind-set means that Mayne doesn't present them with the care and thoroughness he generally provides.

Thanks for alerting me to an accidental Eek! too. When I said I did the pencil effect 'for children', I meant for my own, or those of friends (who know me and are aware of exactly what they can expect if their parents allow me in their houses). I am not remotely, in any way whatsoever, a professional kids' magician. If I were, and I opened my Youngsters' Birthday Party set by driving a pencil through my face, I suspect I'd struggle for repeat bookings.

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Postby Perfelti » Dec 1st, '06, 01:15

ouch, harsh :lol: :lol:

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Postby dimabbq » Jun 1st, '08, 20:46

I have to agree with Figo, it is one of the worst DVD i have ever witnessed.

Shame, because i like Ghost Bills.

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Postby Lyndon Webb » Jun 1st, '08, 22:18

I concur, but it does make a nice coaster!

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Postby Jammyx » Jun 2nd, '08, 16:40

Is the bowling ball production on any other dvds/books?

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eh

Postby gymguy203 » Aug 14th, '08, 05:38

Andrew Mayne is a great magician but this might not be the best one to get. I know the demo looks really cool, but yea some of the effects are ridiculous. I'd recommend pencil through cheeck and stabbed are pretty much the only ones that work. Others are just throwaways. Personally I'd save your money and spend it on something else.

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