by Slightly Magic » Sep 6th, '07, 16:54
Again, I feel I've come a bit late to the party on this one, but wanted to throw in my tuppence worth, since everyone else seems to rave about it.
I bought this as a relative beginner in card magic, against the advice of DB (and a good proportion of this forum perhaps) because I was keen to see what was possible. I'd been lumbering through Royal Road, and while it is good, some of the tricks seem a bit ... neuh. Do them for a friend and you're unlikely to raise much more than an eyebrow and a 'yes, very clever, now put them away'.
I would heartily recommend DPB even to beginners, provided they are serious about wanting to learn card magic. DB explains a range of techniques that are tricky, sure, but not impossible. There is no reason why anyone couldn't acquire them with a bit of hard graft. I haven't been tempted to try any of this stuff as yet, but it has certainly given me a bit of momentum to get the basics polished up.
As has been mentioned elsewhere, there is also much to learn about routining, audience-management and creating 'off-beats' in your performance to misdirect the audience. This DVD set has inspired me to want to be really, really good, and is one to watch again and again.