talkmagic.co.uk

by **taneous** » Apr 5th, '04, 11:53

After almost 2mnths of waiting, this dvd finally arrived:

The DVD
It is described as a guerilla course in impromptu magic. It's definitely that. Every effect on the dvd is an impromtu effect and can be done wih borrowed items. One of the effects requires your own set of keys, and another a ring, and it helps if you wear a watch - but that's about all you need

Cost $49.95 from penguinmagic

Difficulty between about 2 and 4. Some of the effects are quite easy, but need confidence and a bit of guts. Others are just plain hard to do - but not out of reach.
(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)

Review
What I've done here is use the description of each effect from penguin along with my own impression:

Ticker Taker - A super-simple and perfectly motivated watch steal that doesn't take tons of testosterone to perform. Learn how to repeat steal a spectator's watch up to 4 times in a row.
Greg gives some nice ideas for misdirection for a watch steal, but it wasn't anything really new. He combines one watch steal with a spoon bending routine, which i thought was quite clever, but the explanation of the watch steal wasn't that good.

Quick Silver - A quarter disappears and reappears three times - in your eye socket (like a monocle), on the spectator's shoulder, and finally under their watch. All you need is a quarter.
This routine is a really nice coin routine. There are some good things to be learnt about misdirection here.

Sponge Napkins - The impact of a sponge ball routine with ordinary cocktail napkins. Greg's gone beyond the ordinary spongeball moves and has them reappearing in surprising places. Greg also introduces a new concealment that will fool you and your spectators.
I really enjoyed this. for me the 'new concealment' was what really made the routine. I was following it quite easily in the demo and then I was like 'no way - how'd he do that'. Something I'm definitely going to work in to my sponge routine.

Across - A clean and slick impromptu Coins Across. All you need are 3 borrowed quarters. Better start doing your Pinky-Pushups for this incredibly fair handling.
Very cool - as it says. A really clean coins across with only 3 coins. This one requires a lot of work - for me anyway, but well worth it. I wish he'd spent a bit more time on one of the moves, but I know it's something i can get elsewhere.

Head Trip - A Paper Balls over the Head routine with anything - and everything. Gregory grabs glasses, plates, and saltshakers - anything he can get his mitts on!! This routine alone is a postgraduate course in misdirection.
This was ok. It's not really a routine I like doing cos it seems to make fun of the person it's being done to, but yes, a good course in misdirection. He uses the term "on the offbeat" quite a lot - and i like the concept.

Glossy Finish - A smear of borrowed lipstick penetrates a spectator's tightly clenched fist. This is perhaps the most motivated and natural routine in the series! Even if you're familiar with the method, you'll still be fooled watching the performance!
Nothing really new here - but it has some good advice on misdirection.

Toll Free - A Close-up miser's dream that ends with a jumbo production! Multiple methods ensure that spectator's never see the same move twice.
This is quite good and the ending is great. It relies heavily on a certain technique that I'm busy working on - so it was great to see it in action as well as see his explanation of it.

99 Cent Trick - Multiple coin vanishes topped off with a dizzying transposition. That's all I'm telling you.
I wouldn't call it 'dizzying ', but it's ok.

Florida Keys - Ordinary keys and their key ring become a mini Linking Ring routine.
This routine seems is very similar to Sankey's 'leaving home' except it uses a keyring instead of a piece of string. I thought he rushed a bit through the explanation - but it's a nice routine.

Ring Fright - You toss a borrowed wedding band into the air and then stab it with your finger!
This really didn't do it for me - but some of the gags he uses in the presentation are good for any close up ring routine.

Questionable Trick - A very convincing copper/silver transposition with the spare change in your pocket - a penny and a dime. Now you can perform Scotch and Soda anywhere, at any time.
This is very good and quite easy to do

Playful Pickpocketing - Rob your spectators blind - they'll love your for it. Greg demonstrates how Close-up Pickpocketing can transform the audience's definition of you as an entertainer and erase the lines between performer and audience.
This was fun to watch, but he didn't give much of an explanation.

ReCap Revisited - Gregory's classic, as you've never seen it. Greg's added new subtleties, moves and brilliant new ending where the pen is pulled from the pencap!
A really nice routine - well presented and really well taught. He also gives some good lessons on presentation and misdirection. I found it quite easy to learn it, but I've been practicing some of the techniques quite a lot, so that could be why.

Overall
Greg is a really likable person. He has a unique and funny presentation style and I liked the way he interacted with the people in the live demos. That in itself was really worth it for me. I learnt a lot about misdirection and audience management. Twice in the demos one of the spectators was on to him, and it was firstly great to see that he was confident enough to leave it in, and also to see how he handled it. I had really high expectations of this dvd and it met them.
I don't think Greg is the greatest teacher, compared to say Ammar, and he assumes that you know a bit already. But having said that, I still learnt a lot from it. I'll give it an 8/10

by **BaBaBoom** » Apr 5th, '04, 12:04

Thanks for that, I was only saying to somebody the other day that Greg does a nice sponge ball type routine with napkins on this vid they should look at.

I found this vid a bit soft for what I was looking for but his enthusiasm makes up for it. Most if not all of this stuff is shown as tricks to do on strangers you find in the street/bar etc. and as such is a nice slant.
Well worth a look though not for your serious card man or sankey lover I would guess.

Thanks for the review

by **magicdiscoman** » Apr 5th, '04, 13:39

Better start doing your Pinky-Pushups for this incredibly fair handling.

taneous.

would this be the dreaded, make grown men quake in there boots coshman / tenkie pinch, a hard to start but very usefull slight that our dear mr sankey uses for the capricorn change :?: