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First of all, The Ferryman is by Alain the Soryteller which I couldn't fit in the title.

The Effect

What it says on the box:

Remember Friend as you pass me by, as you are now so once was I. As I am now you soon will be, so prepare for death and follow me. Into the world of magic and mystery, The world of Alain’s Storytelling.

Alain has long been recognised as one of the best magical storytellers of today, with an excellent blend of sleight of hand and storytelling.
You now have a chance to see his work and follow some of his stories.

Stories of hope and happiness, witchcraft and magic and the devil and his work. Travel with the Ferryman across the misty river and learn how you too can perform magic on the darker side.

We hope you enjoy the journey.

Cost

£20 from Kaymar Magic Company – http://www.kaymarmagic.com
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)

2 to 3

Review

This DVD falls into the category that most magicians will refer to as Bizarre Magic, which is a bit of a niche as far as mainstream magic is concerned.

This DVD contains three routines that owe their origins to mainstream magic but which have all been adapted to fit into a storytelling theme that focuses on the mysterious.

Routine one is ‘The Mountebank’s Last Tale’ which is a three phase routine consisting of some basic coin sleights, a chop cup routine using dice, and a card routine using Tarot cards.

Routine two, ‘Lovecraft’ is a rather nice card routine, again using Tarot cards and the wild card principle along with a book by HP Lovecraft.

Routine three, ‘The Hand of Azbael’ is the final routine and is a copper / silver coins across routine using some very nice props.

All of the routines are accompanied by a fitting story with the magic becoming an integral part of the storytelling.

A full explanation of each routine is included and the various sleights are taught well by Alain who goes into a good level of detail. The material is not that hard to learn for an intermediate level magician or a beginner for that matter but what the DVD does give you is a very good introduction to the bizarre.

Some magicians have a dislike for magic and storytelling when combined but Alain combines both with some ease. All too often what lets some bizarre performers down is that they’re either not a skilled enough magician, they are not good storytellers, their stories are uninteresting or they have a combination of all of the above. Alain is a master of all and he captures both your attention and imagination with good stories that are expertly told and illustrated with his sleight of hand which is very smooth indeed. I personally enjoyed watching and listening to each of the routines and I do like this genre of magic when it’s performed well.

You can use the material on the DVD as is, but I tend to think that the DVD is intended more to illustrate what can be achieved with your own thought and imagination and for that reason this make it a valuable purchase for the price.

The filming and sound is decent quality and betters some titles that hit the market these days from bigger producers than Kaymar.

Overall

If you’re trying to build a mystery act then this DVD should be of significant help and inspiration to you. There should be something in here that’s of interest to most people and I’ve certainly got a couple of ideas from the content which I intend to develop over the coming months and build into my parlour act.

It’s definitely worth the cost.

Volume Two reviewed here: http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/sutra366001.php#366001