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Card Tricks Made Easy - Jerry Sadowitz - DVD
Polygram Video
Running Time : 59mins approx.

£4 on Amazon (Plus P&P)

Difficulty : 1-3
(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)

Review

I saw a link to this video when reading a profile of Jerry on a comedy website. The VHS version is fairly expensive, about £25 I think, but someone posted a link to the DVD version, and it was so cheap I bought it.

Before the review, here's the chapter list:

Magic Breath
The Slap Trick
The Reverse Card
5/3 Personality
The Hummer Trick
The Shuffle (Technique)
The Cascade (performed by Mark Lawrence)
Think of a Card
The Piano Trick
The Circus Card
Poker Players Picnic
The Sandwich Trick
Point to a Card
Eight Card Trick
Colour Separation
Sensitive Fingertips
The Poker Trick
The Chameleon Card (performed by Mark Lawrence)

It was filmed in 1995, so there's nothing fancy on this DVD. Two basic menus and that's it. This is a DVD for the beginner in card magic. It would be a good buy if you're just starting out, and want to learn a few easy tricks that require almost no sleight-of-hand.

Jerry Sadowitz is very presentable on here... not one swear word in sight. When he's talking about magic his character is very different from his on-stage persona. He tells the viewer about some of his favourite books on magic, including Royal Road, which was his first purchase apparently.

There are a couple of tricks that are performance only. These are Casacde and The Chameleon Card, both performed by Mark Lawrence. Jerry also discusses the basics of the Riffle Shuffle on here, and it's application in a couple of tricks.

Everything else is basic stuff. The card tricks are performed by Jerry to one person, then he goes over the step-by-step technique for the trick afterwards. It's very clear, and well explained, so I don't think anyone would have any trouble following him.

Overall : 3 out of 5

A good DVD for the beginner. There's some good starter tricks on here, including The Piano Trick which my Grandad showed me when I was a young nipper. Definately not one for the more experienced enthusiast.

Good review. I have thought about getting this for a while and although you say it is only really suitable for the beginner, at £4 it still seems a bargain, if you can only get one useable effect from it.

I am sure I have paid a lot more for stuff in the past that has been put straight in the draw with other unusable stuff.

Its also nice sometimes to see an acomplished cardician perform simple stuff and try and take tips etc. from there performance and patter.

It's not bad for £4. Some of the tricks on the DVD are pretty good, even though the idea behind them is very basic.

I quite like the trick called 'Sensitive Fingertips'... very basic idea, but when I showed my flatmates, they were amazed I could predict cards by feel alone.

Enjoy!