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Has anybody been fortunate enough to have be able to afford this £35-£50 set (Depending where purchasing from..)? If so what is the teaching style like? does it teach everything from the book and is it work the money? stuart

I love technical card magic, I've always been so tempted by this, after watching the royal road DVD set. If it was RP Wilson teaching, I would have bought it ages ago, but like you, I have no idea of the teaching quality etc.

If this is the Wesley James DVD set, I can only give you an opinion from what I've heard from others: DON'T BUY IT.

The set was almost universally rubbished, the main reference being the HUGE and in-depth review done by The Phantom Notebooks blog, which unfortunately has been taken down.

From the reviews, basically, Wesley James couldn't perform a single move correctly. Even the overhand shuffle was beyond him, and he couldn't pull off a Charlier cut.

Furthermore, the methods he explained constantly deviated from the text; he ignored Erdnase's teachings completely. He didn't even mention that he was teaching something different. His 'improvements' was a slap to the face of Erdnase (whom he blamed his crappy moves on, instead of his own inability and misunderstanding) and the Erdnase philosophy (naturalness!).

When he was performing tricks, you could actually see him pause during a shuffle, put on his thinking face, then see his lips move as he counted to himself the number of cards needing to be run off.

Basically, the product was rushed to the market to capitalize on the announcement of Allan Ackerman's Erdnase product, and it showed.

I only wish the original Phantom Notebooks review was up, as it explained all the discs in detail, as well as provided video clips of Wesley (taken from the set) disgracing the legacy of Erdnase (and Dai Vernon by assosciation).

Stay away.