Updated – March 1, 2004
Get Nyman - DVD, 3 discs (performance, explanations, bonus)
Contents
Take your front row seat for a private performance at an exclusive nightclub in London's West End. In his unique and inimitable style, Andy Nyman performs some of the most direct and powerful routines that have earnt him a reputation as one of the world's leading mentalists and creative thinkers in the world of Magic.
From numerous appearances across the globe Andy has performed in a way that always leaves a lasting impression on those who witness his style of work and here he shares invaluable tips and tricks that will help you to achieve similar results. Andy's thoughts and advice on spectator management are alone worth the price of this incredible three-disc set and will be invaluable to the working performer.
Disc One, The Show
The Hidden
No Way Out
Chair Swindle
Kick In the Head
Deep Red Prediction
The Dead Zone
Mr. Saturday Night
Charade
Magicians Graphology
Dead of Night
Disc Two, The Explanations
Accompanied by Ali Cook & Pete Firman (aka Monkey Boy and Tufty from Tvs Monkey Magic), Andy explains every routine in full detail from the technical aspects, right through to the routining and patter that make each effect impactful and entertaining; no stone is left unturned.
Disc Three, The Extra's
Over 80 minutes of extras including - "Inside the Mind of The Diamond" an exclusive 45-minute interview with Andy by Marc Paul.
"The Secret to Spectator Selection" - Andy's highly regarded work on audience management.
The extras also include: "The Nyman cut," a performance of Andy's world famous "The Sophie Trick," plus, Andy's legendary Svengali Demonstration. And "???" - The mystery clip you will not believe!
All this and much, much more!
The above was mainly gutted from Alakazam's own description, but I’m sure they won’t mind, as this serves as a free advert!
Review
Eagerly anticipated, widely discussed, and probably set to become part of many mentalists DVD collection, Get Nyman is quite simply an astounding assault on your mind.
The DVDs arrived with me yesterday (26 Feb) after their anticipated release date of the 25th... which is pretty close scheduling for a project of this type. From what I can see, this is a project put together by Alakazam themselves - with the explanations disc filmed in the actual shop!!!
What arrives through your door is a reasonably nicely done DVD case, with 3 beautifully printed DVDs - outlined above. The whole thing together has a drool factor beyond anything I've ever received - but that's mainly because I don't get out much these days, and I've been banging my head against the wall waiting for this!
In honesty, I could barely wait to get through the door and start playing these discs - but as (bad) luck would have it, I was routinely waylayed until about 9pm... so my hopes and expectations were higher than usual - and fuelled by trying to patiently play a full 3 frames of snooker!
Most of us know Nyman from his 'commercial' effects, such as Diceman, The Hidden, Killer Elite and his lecture notes. Others of us will know of his acting ability, his production and writing skills for theatre, TV and other magi, and his close friendship and affiliation with such dignitaries as Derren Brown.
Now, this in mind, I was quite upset to see that a lot of the material was stuff I already knew... and stuff that I actually use in my performances.
However... to see Andy PERFORM the effects which I knew, loved and had made my own, was simply breathtaking. And I do mean, breathtaking.
Even Mrs Seige, who is almost immune to magic, sat with me, sharing a bottle of red wine, and being totally blown away for 40 minutes.
It's pure entertainment. Nyman's cheeky, cheesy smile and his undisputable acting ability set in motion the belief that yes, I think he MAY really be doing amazing acts of real mentalism.
Of course, this is not true – or is it?!?!
He's incredibly talented, convincing showman. Plain and simple. And knowing the plots of such effects as 'the dead zone' and 'the hidden', I was absolutely gobsmacked at how well he suckers the audience in by the weaving of very clever and convincing 'throw away' lines and action, which not only cover, but JUSTIFY the moves and reasons for his actions.
And, obscurely, we see a some 'Derren-isms' in Nyman (or perhaps, we see 'Nyman-isms' in Derren? After all, Andy was ‘head honcho’ on the team of Derren’s TV shows – both as consultant, and I imagine, good friend). The timing, the comedy, the rapport - Nyman and Derren both have the same knack of portraying to the audience that these are 'intimate experiments' rather than mere tricks or illusions. And you get a gorgeous feeling from Andy that this is the first time he's 'tried' these tricks.
And I have already learned so much from the performance. For instance, the Hidden - which involves 3 spectators giving up a coin, watch and wallet respectively - and then 'dead cutting' to a single card each in a deck (which bears a printed NAME OF THE ITEM THEY SUMBITTED) - from a blank deck. My performance of this is quite dead, compared to the energy I saw last night. Even to the point that Andy LIES to the speccys about - 'Well, all that dead-cutting thing was baloney, there was no sleight of hand or trickery - it was all about me influencing you' - class. Sheer class.
And on the subject of cheek, you will see things done that you just would never imagine you'd get away with... down to my personal favourites - Mr Saturday Night, Deep Red Prediction, and Dead of Night. These are effects that will leave you wondering how on earth this was accomplished, and yet, I was still amazed after watching the explanations on Disc 2.
But what is really great about this release is that we finally get to see the 'real' Nyman, as I would imagine him. He performs in front of a small audience in a London club, a few of whom I deduce that he knew before hand, and yet his performance is energetic, cute and very, very tight.
With a performer like Andy, his cheek and almost 'nervous' performance would amply cover any mistakes or cock-ups. He seems a little on-edge throughout - but this is part of his style, and is pure acting, I think.
This DVD will certainly enhance your performance as a mentalist. This is a far cry from the deep hypnotic tones of Berger, Berglas and Maven. This is streets ahead.
We also get an insight into Andy's passion for acting, and his love of cinematography - which is evident in the naming of some of the effects, and indeed, their nature. His style is quite dark, and the plots and patter for his effects are strangely familiar if you're a fan of gangster/violent movies.
And it's this almost cinematic intrigue that sets the scene for each effect.
There's a nice split in the effects themselves between good old sleight of hand, gaffs and actual psychology. Oh, and as with a lot of mentalism, there is a little stooging in there too - but you would never know!
There's comedy. There's trickery. There's some genuinely 'weird' moments. But the underlying magic of both the effects and Andy's persona are what carries the torch.
This is great stuff, very powerful, very direct. Audience participation in mentalism is usually very necessary (by the nature of mentalism = mind reading... i.e. you can't do a solo performance
) and yet Andy manages to facilitate this without seeming obtrusive, or embarrasing his audience. There's no real pressure, and no real delving. This is just poetry.
Disc 2 with explanations etc. is very well put together. It's certainly very British, compared to the standard 'contrived and acted' A1MagicMedia and the likes. The attitude is different - with three 'funny' men of magic talking and conversing not only on how the effects are performed - but delving in to the very smallest details of what gives each one the magic.
Ali and Pete (Monkeyboy and Tufty) are ever-present during the explanations - with Ali being a bit more silent than Tufty, to my regret. Ali, in my opinion is a great close-up magician - and I'd much rather have seen him more active than Pete, who'm I've never been able to pigeonhole. This minor personal observation aside, the two aid the flow of explanation quite well, by being actively inquisitive and delving.
The explanations, therefore, the performance notes, are very well explained... and any gaffs/props needed are detailed well. I especially like the boldness of Andy's gaffs, such as his keycards and 'short' cards - you will have a hoot at the audacity and plain barefaced cheek of the obvious nature of these!!!
Disc 3
Don’t quite know where to start with this, as it is just fantastic…
Usually, magicians’ releases can be egotistical, clinical and straight to the point. However, this third disc allows us to be rather more intimate with Nyman. We meet his children, see him ‘stripped’ down to bare ‘Andy’ during an interview – and even [shock!] see him sharing a nightmarish bedroom scene with two very revered mentalists… bizarre!
Glimpse the famous ‘Sven’ routine, performed by Andy when working for Marvin’s Magic in Hamley’s in London (alongside such stars as Antony Owen and, gasp, Guy Hollingworth!)… This small and neat Svengali demonstration is simply breathtaking, and will have you reaching to the back of your magic drawer…
And then onto the ‘Sophie Trick’. What can I say… this is simply amazing. It’s performance only – and will certainly leave you scratching your head. It’s emotional, it’s paced well, and it’s got a storyline which has real meaning and clout. Lovely. But most of all, this is contemporary mentalism at it’s best.
The ‘tete-a-tete’ between Andy and Marc Paul is inspiring. During mouthfuls of Fishcake (!), Andy describes his performances, his style and even his raison d’etre for doing what he does.
And we see some clips of Andy the Actor – a small movie montage of Andy’s roles.
To round the DVD off, there’s performance-only (and very GOOD they are too) sequences of Diceman and Killer Elite – both performed in ways which will trigger new ideas and nuances for current owners of these excellent effects.
Add to this a small ‘out-takes’ section, which is not only amusing, but also gives more insight into the wonderful character of Andy, and what you have is over four hours of sheer entertainment which you will watch again, and again.
Overall
Difficulty? Hard to gauge, really. It's like most mentalism - you don't just buy it and perform it like a packet trick - as you need a lot of experience to be able to sell the effect. 90% of all the effects on the Get Nyman DVDs are performance.
Therefore, I'd give this a difficulty rating of experienced magicians only, as none of the techniques or skills required are BEYOND an amateur, but the actual performances themselves, and the subtleties required will possibly scare an amateur off.
Anyone who's read the works of Brown, Jermay, Knepper, Corinda etc. et al, will be familiar with some if not all of the principles involved. But what we have here is an utterly fresh approach to mentalism - a fun approach! And an approach which touches me deeply, which is using story-based patter - something which mentalism thrives on in my opinion.
The actual personality, charm, dynamics and fluency of Andy’s performances, down to even the smallest psychological touches, are something we can all learn from.
Bottom Line?
This ain't your hokey 'I'm going to read your mind' stuff. Neither is it totally self-working. You will need to be courageous and bold to pull some of this off. If you're frightened by acting and you're more the strong, silent type - then this stuff probably won't appeal to you.
My advice is, if you're at all interested in mentalism - Get Nyman.
It’s a hugely entertaining, sometimes weird, box of entertainment. His insights into handling the spectators, pacing the performances and being ‘believable’ are worth the price alone. Add to that the awesome routines you’ll be performing and the sheer entertainment value, and you got yourself one serious ‘lump’ of magic.
This isn’t just your regular magic DVD… this is an awesome and intimate ‘chat’ with one of our modern-day magic marvels.
And it will sit between two of my other ‘magic marvels’ - Green Magic and The Devil’s Picturebook - quite nicely.
Congrats on your first DVD Andy. Can't wait for Part II - "Got Nyman? - Get More" (or something like that!)
10 out of 10 in all departments, as far as I'm concerned.
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