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THE EFFECT

The complete trilogy of Close Up, Up Close contains some of the strongest commercial close-up magic from a young magician who is very accomplished. To keep this, my first post, light and unobtrusive, I am reviewing Volume 2, my favorite of the three.

The effects and routines included are as follows:

Shrunken Revelation - A four-card production with a "diminishing" kicker.

Inflated Transposition - A killer bill switch with a neat twist.

Heightened Senses - A prediction effect that packs small and plays very big, literally! (Previously reviewed by Relish in this forum under the title "Joshua Jay - Methods in Magic")

Dear Journal - a delightful card prediction with a real sweet presentation.

Princess in My Wallet - The Princess Card Trick outdone!

Pulling My String - an instant and visual rope stretch.

Prediction Piece - another stunning and unusual card prediction.

This DVD also contains a discussion on memorized deck magic with Simon Aronson and Jay as well as some impressive effects, as well as some new sleights.


COST
$34.95 from L&L Publishing ($99.95 for the entire trilogy)


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)

Mostly 3, with Shrunken Revelation being a 4, unless tabled-card-palming is a breeze for you.


REVIEW

The first highlight effect on this DVD is Shrunken Revelation, a very slick four-card production with a kicker ending having those same cards shrink visually in size. This is the only difficult effect on the whole DVD requiring slightly advanced card techniques.

Inflated Transposition is the most clever bill switch with a transposition kicker ending. The handling is streamlined and comfortable to perform, leaving all the emphasis on presentation.

The idea for Heightened Senses, as Jay states, is unorthodox. A tape measure is brought out and someone is asked for their height. When the tape measure is fully extended, the spot marking the spectator's height has an X on it. The only mark on the tape measure. It sounds silly, but you should see the reactions it gets. The method is ingenious and you will have no trouble mastering and performing this one.

Dear Journal, one of Jay's earlier works, is a card prediction with a charming story. This is a true presentation piece and worth the minimal investment of time to prepare the gimmick.

A classic effect, The Princess Card Trick, is made even stronger with Jay's handling in Princess in my Wallet. Not only does the chosen card vanish, but it reappears inside the magicians wallet. Other than the required gaffs which are easily obtainable from any reputable magic dealer, and a little preparation, the handling is swift and the effect is a killer.

Pulling my String is a very instant and visual impossible stretching of a rope that you can use to introduce any rope routine.

Jay remarks that he finds a lot of coin magic to be unnecessarily complicated. Coin magic does not get any easier or more amazing than in The Invisible Coin Purse. Think of the Hanging Coins with no sleights and a clean, bare-handed vanish and you have got a great piece of coin magic. My only quibble with this effect is the complete disappearance of the coins at the end, but perhaps that is what makes it more interesting.

Prediction Piece is another stunning card effect whereby a prediction is left on the table and various cards are torn to pieces. Through a fair and random selection process, all the card pieces but one are eliminated. The remaining piece fits the missing piece in the predicted card, which has been in a sealed envelope in view the whole time, perfectly.

The effects produced with the memorized deck are pretty sweet. There is also a segment where Jay demonstrates his close-up magic case and offers helpful advice on creating your own.


OVERALL
9.5 out of 10

Besides a couple of "performance-only" effects which did not grab my attention, Joshua Jay, Close-Up Up Close Volume 2 is one of the few close-up magic DVDs that offer so much and are worth every minute of your attention. I deducted a few points because I felt it was a bit pricey compared to other DVDs of the same caliber.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope you find it useful. I am happy to be a member of Talk Magic.