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Double Take DVD - by Gregory Wilson

Approx $30 USD
Difficulty: 2-5 depending on how much of this you want to learn

THEY SAY
Gregory Wilson's Double Take (DVD) - HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU DO THAT? You'll hear this and more when you master the d/l - the most vital move in card magic.

The Effect
Gregory Wilson's Double Take puts the world's greatest d/l at your fingertips. ..even if you're all thumbs. This step-by-step instructional video is packed with more than 90 minutes of dynamic material you can perform anytime, anywhere, with any deck.

For nearly two decades Gregory has been teaching his unique style of magic, as well as performing for many Fortune 500 companies. And as your personal coach, Gregory will teach you the nuances of more than 25 different double lifts ~ choose your favorites: from the top of the deck, from the bottom, from the middle, from a fan, from the table, to the table, and even doubles that flip through the air from hand-to-hand!

If you're a beginner, or have never even picked up a deck of cards, you can easily perform miracles in minutes with Greg's Quick Start-Up Section. The more advanced will enjoy studying the techniques of the masters, including Dai Vernon, Ed Mario, Martin Nash, and many others.

Included are seven powerful routines:
Phoenix Aces - Produce the four aces from mid-air ... ...really!
Weighted Aces - A variation of the legendary Doc Daley's Last Trick.
Two Wrongs DO Make A Right - A visual stunner that looks like trick cards.
Four Card Trick -Darwin Ortiz's Jumping Gemini, with an added killer climax.
Plus - three more stunners, and a live performance of Greg's own personal Ambitious Card Routine.
Master card magic's most often used move - the DL. Consider this video a historical artifact of sorts, as it was Gregory Wilson's debut to the world. It's 2 hours of action-packed, non-stop Wilson wiggle!

WHAT I SAY

I bought this primarily because I have a mental block with the D/L. I'm bold as brass with a TT, and I have no difficulty selling utter nonsense and fragmented logic as normality with mentalism routines. I'm just not a card man, and while I've never been challenged on my D/L, it makes me sweat more than any other deception I do.

I've been through Royal Road and several other tomes on card magic, but it still doesn't quell that rollercoaster feeling when I'm doing my get ready and believe that everyone and their cat knows what I'm up to.

A DVD dedicated to the DL seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. So I didn't.

It's a mixed blessing though - not because the teaching is poor (anyone that knows Gregory Wilson will know that it isn't), but because Wilson's performances are so bloody good they make me want to burn my cards and start all over again with my old Paul Daniels magic set. I'm sure he's a nice fella, and he's definitely a great performer, but I hate him hate him hate him the talented freak. And does anyone else think he has weird hands?

The recording is an old one by the looks of things - the promotional blurb says that it's the first tape he recorded - and so the DVD quality is a bit disappointing. Picture resolution is acceptible but not quite crisp, and there are occasional rolling lines of static, indicating that it has been mastered from a worn or slightly damaged analogue tape. Colours are a bit washed out too.

Performance videos are shot with a single wide camera, so it's not possible to get a good close-up view of everything that's going on. Thankfully, Greg repeats each effect at the explanation stage before showing how they're done.

None of the above grumbles affect the quality of the contents though.

On top of a healthy selection of d/l-based effects, there's exhaustive tuition on different types of d/l and handling of the cards themselves - from picking up and casually manipulating them to tossing them from hand to hand and tabling them. Wilson makes it all look easy and I hate him hate him hate him hate him.

As a card coward, I'm really glad that I got this DVD. I needed something specialised on the d/l to give me the focus to experiment, practice, and find an approach that doesn't give me the heebie-jeebies. If I have one criticism it would be that newcomers to the slight - or those who aren't particularly confident with cards - will probably feel quite overwhelmed by the exhaustive nature of this DVD. You're presented with quite advanced routines early on, and even the simplest effects look slick and out of reach of mere mortals when you see Gregory Wilson demonstrate them. Even when he messes up - which is openly and honestly kept in the recordings - Wilson still makes things look amazing. The git.

Anyway, having a good teacher and thorough training course is hardly cause for serious complaint and criticism. Nor is being insanely jealous of the host any reason to mark him down.

So it's with a heavy heart and green-eyed fury that I give this DVD 10/10.

Thanks for the utterly honest and humorous review. It's an excellent DVD - one of the first ones i bought, and it's served me well. Although the filming of it is not the best due to its age, I don't have the problems with mine that you seem to have (i.e. the static lines and such). BUt I do agree that his hands are odd; of course, it may just be that they're enormous and that he has more hair on his hands than I do on my head.

I will say that I found Phoenix Aces an interesting effect to put on this dvd, as it's more about palming and copping than d/l. But, it's a killer effect nonetheless. Also, Jumpin' Gemini is a great routine, and Greg teaches it well. he's definitely right that the trick itself is not as difficult as remembering the order and setup. Weighted Aces is an ok trick. it's fairly easy to perform, but I've never gotten great reactions with this, which I will take most responsibility for. The reactions are more ones of amusement, and it seems that with each stage, it gets less amusing. Not that the spectator has it figured out, but that it loses its novelty.

I do like the fact that there is a quick start-up section, allowing you to see practical applications very quickly and giving you the at least the knowledge (if not the ability) to perform some solid magic.

One of the other nice things about this DVD is that it provides you with options. If you don't like the P/O, you can use the strike or the electric, or any of the other 20+ ones that are taught. Now, more time is spent on the ones that are used more commonly (i.e. strike and p/o), but if you get the basics down, it won't be difficult to transfer the knowledge from one to another in most cases. Another thing I really appreciated about this DVD is that Greg spends a good amount of time talking about how to replace the d/l so that it looks casual and natural, rather than stiff and suspicous. Also, he teaches not only the flying d/l, but also a couple of snaps and twirls that are great convincers that you are not holding a d/l. I've not gotten the flying one down 100% yet, so I don't generally do that in performance, but the snap and twirl have tended to put people's mind at ease (in a subtle and subconscious way).

Overall, I think this DVD offers a wealth of information and gives great bang for the buck (i got mine for about $26). If you don't own it and you want some great teaching on this topic, then go ahead and take the plunge.

Well written and honest review there Mr Wells.
I have heard good things about this DVD and the effects look like ones worth having in your arsenal. I do enjoy performing the D/L and have to say I have never been caught out. It's a much more versatile move than many people realise.