Brainstorm: The Creative Card Magic of John Guastaferro

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Brainstorm: The Creative Card Magic of John Guastaferro

Postby Demitri » Jul 20th, '05, 23:05



I did a search and didn't find this on the forums. I've only had this for about a week now, but I don't think I need all that much time to sing the praises of this masterpiece DVD!

Brainstorm - The Creative Card Magic of John Guastaferro Volume 1(DVD)

Available from:
UK -
http://www.magicshop.co.uk/
Price: £24.99

US -
http://www.elmwoodmagic.com/
Price: $34.95

Difficulty:
3-5 of 5 - Anyone with some experience will be able to pick this up with practice. I wouldn't recommend it for a complete beginner. Some of the effects on here are knuckle busters. Some knowledge of more advanced sleights is needed.


What You Get:
Performances and Explanations of the following-

Ballet Cut
This is John's flourish/false cut. It's incredibly easy to learn, and is also surprisingly useful. You'll see this move used throughout the dvd, and it is nicely adaptable to all kinds of effects. I wasn't expecting much from this, really. It didn't look all that great in the demos - but once I watched it in action, and gave more thought to applications, it's a REALLY nice, subtle move that you can use all the time.


Fairy Tale Frogs
Nice packet trick. I'd say it's geared more towards children, but it's strong enough and interesting enough for adults as well. Performer shows 4 frog imprinted cards turn over one at a time, then change into 4 princes when a spectator blows a kiss. Then, as a final surprise kicker, the cards vanish right before the spectators' eyes, leaving only a single frog in the performers' hands.

I wondered why they didn't go the Ammar route - supplying the necessary cards for this effect. You'd need to construct this (or use a few gaffed cards) on your own to perform, but it's worth the effort. The trick is really nothing new, but it's a nice storyline effect that can work well in a show.


Troubleshooter
Johns' version of an all backs routine. Spectator chooses a card, only to find out the deck has "crashed" leaving only double-backed cards. After a brief message from "deck support" the deck is returned to normal - but the kicker comes when the selected card is no longer compatible with your deck. This is a nice effect - strong, visual magic. The patter works well, too. Up-to-date, with present day references makes this perfect for walkaround.


Lost and Found
A three phase KILLER!!! Signed card vanishes from inside a clear plastic wallet then makes an impossible flight BACK into the wallet. Though this dvd has killer material, I think this one is CLEARLY the gem!

Phase I
Magician takes out two cards, which serve as the skycaps, and a clear plastic luggage tag. A card is selected, signed and place inside the luggage tag. Picking up the Jacks, the magician sandwiches the luggage tag between them. Then, right before the eyes of the audience, the jacks are pulled aside and the luggage tag is now EMPTY! The two jacks are turned over and examined - the card is GONE! After pattering about how your luggage was lost, the deck is spread and the signed card is now face up in the middle of the deck.

Phase II
Magician sandwiches signed card face up between the face up jacks. Talking about turbulence, the cards are spread to show the signed card has turned face down. Turning the jacks face down now, more turbulence causes the signed card to turn face up in the face down packet.

Phase III
The signed card is placed on top of the deck. The empty luggage tag is now placed between the two jacks and turned face down. Handing the packet to the spectator, the magician now pulls the luggage tag out from between the jacks - and the signed card is now INSIDE THE CLEAR LUGGAGE TAG!!!!

This effect alone, is worth the price of the dvd. Clever method, wonderful concept. If you're looking for an effect that will just pound your spectators in the head, this is it. Some say it's dangerous to call certain singular effects a reputation maker. Well, this one is a reputation maker!!!


Color Blind
Ace-cutting demonstration - this is more a variation of Dr. Daley's last trick. It's not all that killer, but works nicely as an opener to any kind of four ace routine. I find it to be a stronger method than other variations, putting it up their with Greg Wilson's Weighted Aces routine (I prefer color blind). Again, this might not FLOOR people, but it's a good effect and works great as a transition/opener.


Palm Reader
A card is selected and lost in the deck. For the example, we'll say 8 of clubs. Attempting to read the spectator's palm, the magician, using the four aces over their palm gets a "feeling" - showing the ace that matches their suit. After dropping the Ace of clubs down, he reveals the next card has turned into the ace of clubs, as well. The third card does the same. With the fourth card, the magician reveals the ace has turned into their selected card. As if this wasn't enough - you send it into overdrive, taking the 4 cards now on the spectators' palm, the magician turns them over to reveal they've turned in to the 8's. This is another killer effect.


Club Sandwich
Two selected cards magically change places. Two cards are selected and placed back into the deck. In a flash, two jokers appear from the deck. From here, the jokers manage to "capture" one of the selections between them. Placing that face down - the jokers capture a second card - which is turned over to reveal.....THE FIRST SELECTION??? Turning over the tabled card reveals the second selection! This is a nice quick sandwich effect with a great in your face transposition effect.


Double Monte
Using the two jokers and the two selections from Club sandwich - one selection is removed and a three card monte routine commences. This is a wonderful variation of a color monte concept. It ends with a killer transposition that is remniscient of Hammons' Your Signed Card. This is, yet another killer effect. Are you starting to sense a pattern here?


No Jokers Allowed
While attempting to perform an "award winning card trick" the jokers keep popping up everywhere. As you try to find the selected card, you continue to stumble upon jokers - tossing a total of 5 on the table before giving up. Now picking up the 5 jokers, the magician asks the spectator what their chosen card was. Instantly, the top joker changes to the selection. Placing it face down on the table, the magician shows that all 5 jokers have now turned into the selected card.Dropping the final card face up, the magician waits for applause. To top it all off - to prove the jokers are wild, the magician turns over the four face down cards to reveal the four ACES! As a climax, the magician now spreads the entire deck showing there are actually no jokers in the deck, proving it as he pulls the joker out of his pocket.


Detour
A nice variation of an ambitious card routine. A spectator draws a car on the face of a card. Honking a "horn" the card keeps returning to the top of the deck. The card suddenly escapes from the deck. The magician pulls a card from his pocket which says "Look inside the card box" on the face. The spectator opens the card box, revealing the magician's drivers license. Surprised, the magician takes out his wallet, having a spectator open a zipped pocket. Inside is the selected card! Yes - this requires a special wallet - but if you already have one, this is a great version of an ACR which has a few nice surprise twists in it. I like this because it's a welcome deviation from a typical, sometimes repetitive ACR. Great effect.


Tidal Wave Aces
Magician shuffles the deck openly, outjogging four face down cards as he does so. Turning them over, he reveals the four aces! Then, he tells a story of how his teacher tried to fool him - shuffling face up into face down, telling the magician to cut to the four aces now! Magician expertly cuts to the four aces in a dizzying display of magic. For a bonus kicker, the deck visually changes color right before your very eyes! Another strong effect. Great color change concept.


Overall:

There isn't a bad trick on this DVD. I must admit, when I first saw it, I didn't know who John Guastaferro was (I'm sorry!!). I'm glad I took the chance, though! This dvd is just PACKED with killer magic. Some effects require a set-up or extra props but none of it is all that unusual, and all of the setups are well worth it. A few cards from another pack and you're good to go. These effects can be done on the fly, anywhere. Lost and Found is all you'd really need from this, but you get SO MUCH MORE! There isn't one effect on this dvd that I won't use. The material on here is THAT good - you WILL perform most, if not all, of the effects.

This dvd is no cakewalk, either! No self workers here, folks! Some of these effects use multiple sleights, moves and counts. Nothing astonomically difficult for card workers, but they'll keep you busy. The patter is involved, the effects are involved. I'm still trying to remember every little detail and move. This DVD will require A LOT of practice - but it will pay off in spades!

What makes the effects even stronger, is that Johns' routining and patter are a cut above. He gives each effect a purpose. Nothing is filler, nothing is without a cause. What I love, is how most of the effects can blend seamlessly into each other.

Watching this gives you a great glimpse into how to pull singular effects together into a cohesive, stunning routine. While it's not expressly TAUGHT on the disc, you will immediately pick up on how he builds his effects. It's already given me ideas on how to pull some other effects into bigger routines.

The teaching is first rate. John is thorough - never rushing through anything. You're expected to know some of the basic sleights (elsmley, etc.) so don't expect detailed explanations of those. However, with the sleights he does teach, he gets every aspect down. Another nice touch is the simultaneous multiple view that comes in now and then. This gives a nice front and top down view of what John is doing, better visualizing the entire effect.

Overall, this is an INCREDIBLE dvd. The effects on here are super strong, powerful, visual - everything you could ask for. The effects can be adapted to any style, the concepts can be adapted to any situation. The Ballet Cut will open your eyes to tons of ideas. Bottom line - if you don't own this DVD, something is wrong!!! GO BUY IT NOW!!!

10/10 - I'd give it a higher score if I could. Think Spinal Tap, folks - This DVD goes to 11!!!!!!!!

I'll definitely be getting volume 2 - and I will put a review of that one up, as well!

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Demitri
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Postby bananafish » Jul 21st, '05, 10:04

Nice review Demitri - and I totally agree with everything you said. This is a nice DVD and has some great material on it.

In fact thanks for reminding me, I think I will drag it out and watch it again...

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Postby seige » Aug 20th, '07, 14:36

After a 'forced clearout' of old magic from my loft, I re-watched this on Sunday night.

Fantastic.

Way back when I originally watched these, I think I may have under-estimated how creative this guy is.

I'd like to bump this thread to try and re-kindle some interest in this stuff. There's a great sense of passion in this guy's card magic, which I've only seen recently in Iain Moran's stuff.

Very good. And definately not on my 'Put it on eBay' list ;)

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Re: Brainstorm: The Creative Card Magic of John Guastaferro

Postby CArlight1958 » Oct 31st, '11, 16:38

I love this dvd, & every single trick on it.
In fact, I loved it so much, I bought the two follow up dvd's.
"1st, & 2nd Storm"

I now have quite a few of the routines down, & although it's not been easy,
the suprise I get from people who I perform them for, has well been worth the effort.
I think John Guastaferro is one of the most entertaining magician's I have watched, not to mention being one of the most creative.

"Fairy Tale Frogs"
"Lost & Found"
"Bizarre Prequel, & Out of The Blue" are some of the most visualy stunning card magic I have seen.
Having said that, I love every routine on here, & it's certainly my favourite purchase to date.

10 out of 10 from me.

CArl...

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CArlight1958
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Re: Brainstorm: The Creative Card Magic of John Guastaferro

Postby CArlight1958 » Nov 30th, '12, 11:51

Talking of resurecting old threads.

This 2 dvd set has some of the most creative magic on it I use often, & for anyone who doesn't own this.
It's worth every penny.

Just thought I would give this another plug for those who haven't seen it.

CArl...

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