The Effect
"The most anticipated DVD release of the year - NOW AVAILABLE! Finally, a card magic DVD that will take you from beginner to pro!
Learning card magic is like building a house. Everything starts with a strong foundation of basic building blocks.
This DVD will start you at the beginning of card magic and take you to a working professional's level. You'll progress faster than ever before by focusing on the most powerful moves. This is a complete course in card magic without the filler. There's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars buying a set of 3 or 8 or 10 DVDs when you can learn the core skills (the ones that get used over and over again in thousands of tricks) on one DVD. This is that DVD.
By the time you're finished you'll have learned 4 full-length routines--including the Ambitious Card. You'll have mastered the fundamentals, learned seven of the most powerful and practical controls (including the Classic Pass), developed two high-powered forces and picked up eight ultra-visual flourishes.
This isn't an encyclopedia... it's an arsenal. All of the most powerful weapons of card magic are included.
Once you've mastered these key moves you?ll be able to perform anytime, anywhere, with just a regular deck of cards. Imagine how it's going to feel to have that power to entertain. This is a technology that changes you. It's like riding a bike, learning a new language, or flying an airplane. It's freedom... with a deck of cards."
Cost
$29.95 from PenguinMagic.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)
1-3 in my opinion. Starts out with some basics, how to hold the cards, how to hold a break, and then moves onto some more advanced stuff, finishing with some flourishes. The most difficult moves on here would probably be the Pass, the Hot Shot Cut and performing the Ambitious Card routine that Oz lays out.
Review
What's included on the DVD:
Fundamentals:
* Mechanic's Grip
* Biddle Grip
* Pinky Break
* Thumb Break
* Dribble to Secure a Break
* Swing Cut
* Swivel Cut
* DL
* Top Palm
Routines:
* Ultimate Transpo
* Two Card Monte
* Biddle Trick
* Ambitious Card
Controls:
* Classic Pass
* Hindu Shuffle Pass
* Double Undercut
* One Handed Top Palm
* Elmsley Count
* Spread Cull
* Swing Swivel Cut
Forces:
* Hindu Shuffle
* Riffle Shuffle
Flourishes:
* 2 Handed Thumb Fan
* Le Paul Spread
* Springing the Cards
* Erdnase Color Change
* One Handed Thumb Fan
* Hot Shot Cut [Daryl]
* Pendulum Cut [Hooser]
* Trinary Cut [Acer]
Pros:
At 1 hour 44 minutes, this is a fairly lengthy DVD, and it is packed with some great stuff. Like the hype on the site says, this DVD does have a lot of material to enable you to make a lot of progress very quickly. It certainly helped me a lot, and the routines are killer. This is great value for money (much cheaper than Ellusionist's Crash Course in Cards), and watching Oz in action performing for people on the street in Vegas gives you a great idea of how to perform the tricks. While the hype does seem a bit much, a lot of what they say is true. This DVD really does give you some great fundamentals and building blocks to go on and really improve your card magic.
Cons:
While the 4 routines are fantastic, they are the only tricks you will see on this DVD (also, don't expect to learn any false shuffles). Most of the techniques learnt in the DVD are not used in the routines, and at one point in a routine you are told to force a card on someone. The problem? You haven't been told how to force a card yet. Also, it would have been nice to see Oz perform some of his better tricks and leave them unrevealed: after looking at some of his videos on PenguinMagic, he's much more than ust what we see of him on this DVD. However, for something of this quality these are minor gripes, and the pros easily outweight the cons of this material.
Overall
In my opinion this DVD has been a great companion to RRTCM (which remains the best way to learn card magic, obviously
. This DVD deserves a 9/10: very solid, impressive stuff to enable you to go on and become a great card magician, but just lacks one or two things to make it a perfect DVD.
Hope you enjoyed my first review, more to come. Any and all feedback is appreciated.
