Name: The School for Scoundrels DVD on The Three-Card Monte (Available from The School for Scoundrels)
Author: Whit Haydn and Chef Anton
Price: $55.00 (roughly 25 pound sterling)
Publisher: School for Scoundrels
Date: 2004
Pages/Length: 2 DVDs, roughly 90 minutes altogether
Difficulty: 2 - 3 (out of five, but see below)
Out of 10: absolutely a 10
Contents:
DVD #1:
- Introduction
- Performing Surfaces
- The Cards and Preparation
- Basic Moves (The Mix; The Toss; The Hype & Flash Hype; Patterns; Calling the Card Face Down)
- Advanced Moves (Three-in-one-hand Toss; Flushtration Count; Buckle Double-Lift; Vernon's Optical Move; Flip & Flip Change; Mexican Turn Over)
- Bent Corner Hooks (Bent Corner Hook; Easy Bent Corner Hook; Doc Eason's "Slick" Bent Corner; Gazzo's "Creased Lightning"; Ron Wohl's "Double Bent" Corner)
- Our Book and Other Resources
- Credits
DVD #2:
- The School for Scoundrels Routine
- The Routine Explanation
- Paul Wilson's Three Ace Ending
- Bob Kohler's Knifed! (The Perfomance; The Explanation)
- The Real Game in Action (Khiva, Uzbekistan, 1990; London Mob - A Reenactment [The Tetley's; Gazzo on The London Mob]
- Our Book and Other Resources
- Credits
Embedded Extras:
- Chef Anton (folder: includes an interview, pictures, more)
- Gazzo (folder: includes pictures, products, more)
- Whit Haydn (folder: includes interview, essays, pictures, more)
- Photos (folder: 78 photos, some used in texts, some unused)
- School for Scoundrels (folder: includes printable study aid, other thoughts and ideas, web resources)
- School for Scoundrels Notes on Three Card Monte (the entire book on PDF, which, if bought seperately, goes for $35.00)
- More Historical Sources (folder: contains pictures and articles from a century or more past - a vast study aid in the history of 3 card monte)
-All articles included in this section of the DVD are on PDF-
Comments: I have no reservations about saying that this is, by far and beyond, the best money that I've ever spent on a DVD, bar none. The amount of information that is given embedded in the DVD alone is worth the price of this DVD for any historian of the Three Card Monte con. If I had one complaint, it was the difficulty that I had in finding the material, as it is not expressly stated how to find it - the computer illiterate will have a real hard time trying to figure it out. In that, the explanation of how to find this embedded material could have been better.
The "Notes" section, on PDF, is the entire book for the 3 card monte, including its rich history. Not a stone is left unturned in this text, which covers closed and open games and the characters in history who made fortunes off of this game. Included is also Gazzo talking on the Tetley's, who ran the mob and how it worked, including all the psychology of the game and why those who knew its workings could still be drawn in and taken by it all. Police detectives are also interviewed, with a detailed look at different cities in the states and what the legal ramifications are of running a monte mob.
And, that's just scratching the surface...Now, onto the DVDs themselves.
The first DVD is the complete system for throwing (I can't say "Tossing") the game. From the surfaces that are used to the preparation of the cards, the hows and the whys are all explained, in depth, as Whit shows you how to toss the cards.
In the throwing techniques, the DVD moves from the basics to the advanced moves. With a little time and commitment, anyone can pick this up and be an advanced monte player. I can't imagine that, after watching this DVD and putting in the time and following the instruction, that even the most incompetent performer couldn't successfully perform this game.
My only complaint here is that Whit suggests the cards be laid onto each other to perform. Personally, I leave a bit of space between the cards and I do believe that some time should have been spent explaining this, and how to avoid flashing the top when showing the pair. This has always been a problem with DVD and video, you must mimmick the teacher to make it work, rather than find an alternate way of doing something. Never the less, the explanation is thorough and clear.
The second DVD focuses on playing the game itself. Chef Anton performes his routine, then goes into an explanation. I was particularly impressed that the routine was broken into phases, rather than just a long explanation of the whole thing. Chef Anton explains each phase, gives an alternate handling of one phase, and goes into the psychology of why the routine given is so very strong. The student will find that putting together their own routine, using Chef Anton's insights, will be very easy to do since Chef Anton's insights are thorough in their explanation.
Also, you get a full reenactment of the London mob that Gazzo was involved with and how they played the game. Gazzo is the tosser (oops, I can't say that, I mean the dealer, or thrower) and the extra parts of the mob are played by Chef Anton, among others, with Whit as the sucker. If you ever wondered how this game is played on the street, you get to see it and get the inside track. Just amazing!
Both DVDs, with teaching sessions featuring Doc Eason, Gazzo and Paul Wilson, make for the most complete work on the Three Card Monte that you'll ever find, anywhere, anytime. If you have a small interest in this game, or a huge interest, you will not waste your money purchasing this package.
Very Highly Recommended.
Mike.
