In the summer of
2004 Five Star Magic Media released "LVMI Live 2003" which contains a mix of 35
performances and explanations from both the headliners and attendees of the 2003
Las Vegas Magic Invitational.Product Reviews
Reviews written by Dan Watkins
In the summer of
2004 Five Star Magic Media released "LVMI Live 2003" which contains a mix of 35
performances and explanations from both the headliners and attendees of the 2003
Las Vegas Magic Invitational.
I am not going to do my traditionally detailed review of this DVD set, but I did want to point out that there is a good amount of coin magic on this DVD set (2 DVDs). It retails for $49.95 and is available through your favorite magic dealer.
Here is a highlight of the coin material:
The following are the coin routines that were performed and explained:
Geoff Latta's, "A Trick with Three Coins". This is a great three coin production/vanish sequence with a fingertip coins across thrown in for good measure. Arguably worth the price of admission, Geoff fully explains the routine and the wonderful technique that goes with it.
Curtis Kam's "Coins and Goblet" This routine is an eight coin production while holding a goblet (close up misers dream), followed by an eight coins to goblet, where coins magically travel from Curtis' hand to the goblet. The routine is taught in detail by Curtis, and it also includes, coin roll downs, coin stars, and multiple coin aquitments.
Danny Archer's "Pick a Coin, Any Coin". This routine fooled me, it's pretty devious. Danny is able to find a quarter that a spectator initials with a Sharpie after it has been dumped into an opaque bag of quarters and shaken up.
Robert Steven's "Don't Blink" is a bare handed instant assembly. Four coins are placed in a square pattern on a close up mat. Both hands move forward and instantly, all the coins travel to an upper corner.
Michael Rubinstein's "Triple Coin to Card": A sticker circle is affixed to a coin which is initialed by a spectator. Three times the coin vanishes from Mike's hand and is found underneath a card on the table. At the end the sticker is affixed to the card which is handed out as a souvenir.
Howard Stevens' "Invisible Matrix": Cards are placed one at a time on the table. Magically four coins appear under the cards. The coins assemble into one of the corners, and than they instantly backfire. There is both an interesting gaff to help the productions, as well as a gaff set of coins that make for very clean vanishes.
Performance only coin routines:
Bob Fitch performs a really great routine whereby four coins appear one at a time as he tosses them in his right hand. The coins are dumped into a glass goblet. One at a time Bob takes each coin from the goblet and each coin vanishes in four different ways. Suddenly, all the coins magically return to the glass goblet. Bob dumps the coins into his hand, and they all vanish at the end. The routine is accompanied by Bob's theatrical patter.
Simon Aronson performs a quadruple spellbound routine. A silver half dollar held in his left hand changes into an African coin, then an English penny, then an Asian coin, then back to the half dollar, all in left hand spellbound position.
Dean Dill performs "Explosion" which is his trademark coin routine that combines a very clean Translocation sequence, bare handed assembly, instant assembly, followed by the magical appearance of 16 coins on the mat.
David Neighbors performed a quick sequence were a rubber ball and coins change hands, with excellent sound deception.
Dan Watkins (yours truly) performed a routine called "Molecular Spellbound". A gold coin is held in my left hand. The coin is quickly covered and uncovered four times. Each time the coin changes from gold, to silver, to copper, to brass, then back to gold. Four coins are dumped to the table to show that it was not really magic, but rather a demonstration of fancy sleight of hand. To show what it would look like if it was real magic, I pick up the gold coin, leaving all the others on the table, and repeat the effect.
John T. Sheets performs an effect where a spectator takes a quarter and initials it with a sharpie. The initialed coin then bends right at his fingertips and drops into the spectator's hand. The coin is truly bent and is kept by the spectator as a souvenir.
Gary Norsegian performs a version of "Karate Coin" (his finger penetrates a coin).
Mickey Silver demonstrates a coin going in one ear and out of the other, eating a coin, which then jumps back to this fingertips, and his "Human Slot Machine" where showers of coins fall from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
This
DVD is a 2004 copyright of Twin Cities Magic & Costume Co., who apparently
bought the rights from Stevens Magic Emporium.
Much like Coin Classics Vol. 1, Vol. 2 is a compilation of coin routines by various magicians at various times in the past. The footage is all studio shot, and the sound and visual clarity is very good considering the age of the clips.
What is on it?
Routine #1: "Paper Prison" by Jay Sankey: Jay shows a quarter in his left hand and a dollar bill in his right. He crinkles up the bill and tosses it into his left hand. The quarter is now found inside the balled up bill.
This is a quick trick. It is visual and could work well in a walk around situation there is no reset. Jay teaches a move that is similar to Williamson's Striking Vanish or the Sylvester Pitch to create the effect. It is worth checking if you are looking for a "simple quickie" to add to your repertoire.
Routine #2: "Coins Across" by James Cielen: Four coins are produced one at a time. One of the coins is used for a quick coin flurry. One at a time the four coins travel from James' right hand to his left hand.
I have to admit, this is a pretty interesting coins across routine technique wise. It is a closed coins across (where hands close over the coins) but James uses a more open display as the coins arrive in his left hand, by holding the coins at the fingertips in a fan more akin to the Visible Coins Across or Three Fly type routines popular today, even though he created this routine back in 1983 before the visible coins across plot became wildly popular. Also utilized and taught in this routine are the Gallo Pitch and a Muscle Click Pass. This routine has a nice combination of handlings to create the effect.
Routine #3: "Coin in the Bottle" by John Carney: A coin is borrowed and John provides a Perrier bottle. A spectator is asked to push the coin into the bottle. The coin is too big for the bottle. John takes the coin and makes it so small that you cannot even see it, and drops the microscopic coin into the bottle, and you can hear it clink inside. Then he turns the bottle over and shakes the coin back out which is now visible and full size. He gives the coin to the spectator to try again. The spectator fails. This time John takes the coin and rests it on the side of the bottle, which lies in his hand. John gives the bottle a 180 degree spin and the coin penetrates the side of the bottle and can visibly be seen inside. John then gently moves the bottle up and down, and with a subtle shake, the coin drops out of the side of the bottle into the spectator's hand.
John has a very nice handling. It gets away from more standard handlings of banging the coin through the bottom of the bottle (supposedly) and vigorously shaking the coin back out which often causes the gimmick to break or come apart (I have experienced this problem). John's routine is very elegant, and the first phase is a nice introduction that builds the 2nd visual penetration phase. The spinning penetration is also very smooth and elegant compared to smacking the bottle. I plan on working on some of the touches John teaches here to soften up my personal performance of coin in the bottle.
Routine #4: "Two Quarters" by Daryl: Daryl takes one quarter from his right pocket and puts it in his left hand. He reaches back into the pocket and drops a second quarter into his left hand. He reaches back into the pocket and gets a lighter; lights it, and puts it under his left fist. He opens his hand to show that the two quarters merged into one half dollar.
This is a really simple routine. It's just a little too many trips to the pocket for my taste. Other than that, the routine is easy to learn, very straightforward, and is super clean thanks to convenient trips to the pocket.
Routine #5: "Nickel on Forehead" by Don Alan (performance only): Don sticks a nickel on his forehead and it stays. He takes it off for a spectator to try and a big nail is stuck to the tail side of the coin. (Gag routine not much I can add to the description).
Routine #6: "Sotch & Soda" by Don Alan (performance only): Don shows a Mexican Centavo and an American half dollar. Both coins are given to a spectator who puts them behind her back. She puts one coin in each hand. When she brings the hands back, the silver half dollar is in one hand, but the Centavo is gone from the other, in its place is a quarter. (This is the standard handling for Scotch and Soda).
Routine #7: "Double Coin Vanish" by T.A. Waters: Two coins are dumped from the fingertips of one hand into the other hand. When the receiving hand is re-opened, the coins are gone.
This is simply a teaching of the Himber Pass. It is a good pass, if you don't know it, learn it.
Routine #8: "Coins Across" by Masao Atsukawa: One at a time 4 coins travel from Masao's right hand to his left hand.
Routine #8 continued: "2 Coin Sequence" by Masao Atsukawa: Two coins are tossed to the table one at a time from each hand, and picked back up with the same hands that tossed the coins. Magically, both coins coalesce to the right hand. The effect is repeated, this time the coins coalesce into the left hand.
I like the routines not so much for the effect, but for the methods. First taught is a technique called the "MA Pass" which is a unique coin pass akin to a muscle pass from the back side of the hand. It is used to secretly propel a coin from one hand to another under some type of cover. This technique is quite deceptive, however there is a tell tale flinch of the hand when the coin is propelled and you need proper cover.
The second technique taught is a loading technique to secretly load a coin into a hand as it is taking another coin from the same hand. This technique is very deceptive and is impossible to catch.
The third technique is Masao's version of the Han Ping Chien. This technique is VERY close to the Gallo Pitch.
The routines themselves have a bit too much coin "tossing" which makes me think he is doing something "tricky". So while I enjoyed the technical teaching, I will personally use other methods to achieve the coins across plot.
Routine #9 "Vending Machine" by SAWA: This is also often called SAWA's "Splitting Silver". The story is that SAWA was at a vending machine and wanted to buy a drink. All he had was a silver dollar that would not fit in the slot. So he crushes his silver dollar into two half dollars. The half dollars still do not fit, so he crushes them into quarters.
I really enjoyed the SAWA segment of this DVD. He has some wonderful coin magic. His Vending Machine uses some heavy sleight of hand. He teaches a way to hold four quarters, 2 half dollars, and a silver dollar, and it only appears that he is holding just one coin. A superb coin change of Dai Vernon's was taught, to explain how he changes from the silver dollar to half dollars. Vernon's change was taught with a Chinese coin and a half dollar, the change is stunning. There is a serious back clip retrieval/steal into the opposite hand that will take some practice.
Routine #10: "Heads or Tails" by SAWA: SAWA shows a silver dollar and plays a game of heads or tails. He spins the silver dollar and smacks it on the table. The spectator guesses heads or tails. After a few tries, when he smacks the coin flat on the table, a second one appears. He repeats and a third one appears.
This appears straightforward enough a coin production. Definitely not my favorite thing on the tape, but I did not catch that he was holding out another unknown coin, which sets up the next routine.
Routine #11: "Submarine" Three coins are laid in a row on a blue close up mat. SAWA says to imagine the mat was the ocean, and the coins were submarines. He covers two of the coins, and the coin under his left hand travels under water to the coin under his right hand. His left hand covers the middle coin, and it too joins the two coins under the right hand.
This fooled me. The technique SAWA uses to vanish the coins from the mat is a very standard move, but he did it so darn well I did not think that is what he was doing. Sorry for the vagueness of my description, I'm trying not to tip things. Needless to say, anything that fools me I like. You do have to be seated at a table to do it.
Routine #12: "Coins Through the Hand" by SAWA: Four coins are shown. One at a time they are pushed through the right hand.
I am not a big fan of this plot. This version however ranks among the best I have seen. The cool thing about this routine is that the coins go through one at a time out of a stack. So he takes a stack of four coins, puts them on the back of his hand, and one coin goes through, leaving 3 on top. Each time a coin goes through, one less is in the stack, and this is a great convincer.
Routine #13: "YenSational" by Karrell Fox: A half dollar is tossed into a handkerchief. When the handkerchief is opened, the coin has changed into a Chinese coin. Under the handkerchief is a jumbo Chinese Coin, when he flips over the silk again, there is an even larger jumbo Chinese Coin.
Performed seated very easy to make the steals and loads. It's an "okay" trick. Definitely pales in comparison to the Fred Kaps original.
Routine #14: "Washington's Wig" by Karrell Fox: A quarter is produced from a spectator's shirt. Washington is shown to be wearing a wig. Then Karrell reaches over to pull off his wig and pulls apart cotton the coin is gone.
Really simple trick here. A coin vanish where you must be wearing long sleeves and have a cotton ball to tear apart. Maybe this appeals to some. I did not care for the trick.
Routine #15: "Coins in the Glass" by Richard Ross. A glass is covered with a silk. Three coins one at a time are tossed into the air. They vanish and are heard to clink into the glass. At the end, the silk is removed and the three coins are poured out.
This fooled me. After I watched the explanation, I did not even have a fighting chance to have caught Richard. Gimmicked glass, hidden mechanisms, assistant off stage doing secret work for you, etc. Definitely not an impromptu close up miracle. Really cool stage piece.
Comparing Vol. 1 with Vol. 2, I did prefer Vol. 1. This DVD was a bit of a mixed bag. Some good stuff, some not so good. Carney's routine as well as the SAWA footage are the highlights of the tape. Fortunately the SAWA material takes up a big chunk of the time on this DVD, and is arguably worth the price of the DVD alone.
You can buy the DVD directly from Stevens at www.stevensmagic.com. It retails for $30.
Coin Magic for the Walk Around Performer. By
Doug Brewer.
The Unexpected Visitor is a 2004 DVD release by Doug Brewer. Most of the material is the same as Doug's 2001 same titled book release, also reviewed here. Missing from the DVD, that was in the book are Doug's routines, "Three Across the Fly", "After Dinner Trick", and his chop cup routine, "Chopped Taters".
However, Doug has three new routines on the DVD "Wishing Cards", "Payout", and "Coins & Cylinder" which is a performance only version of Ramsay's "Cylinder & Coins".
The performance segments and explanations are studio shot, the video and sound are both very good.
As I wrote in my prior review, Doug is the 1998 SAM Close-up Champion in New Orleans. The coin material presented in his DVD are Doug's workhorse routines that have served him for years as a professional close-up magician. Doug's routines are have been tested in strolling or restaurant environments, the routines tend to be simple, direct, quick, and have a strong impact.
Regarding the title of the DVD, (I will borrow from the book review where Doug wrote): "The unexpected visitor is often how I think magicians are first perceived. People express great surprise that a real magician is at their table. Most have never seen a magician before, and if they have, it's probably only from television."
The routines (I am going to borrow heavily from my prior book review for the routine explanations and reviews but I have indicated where the DVD is different than the book):
Routine #1: "Sounds Familiar". Three English pennies and a Chinese coin are displayed. The Chinese coin is placed in a spectator's hand. One at a time the Pennies travel to the spectator's hand. For the last coin, the Chinese coin is placed into the magician's pocket, and he retains the copper coin. Suddenly the copper coin magically travels into the spectator's closed fist, and the Chinese coin re-appears in the magician's.
This routine is an interesting twist on a coins across to a spectator's hand in that a Chinese coin is used as the "magical coin" that cause the pennies to travel from the magicians hand to the spectator's. The Chinese coin adds an element of unpredictability that a typical 4 coins across routine may have. The ending is particularly strong with the instant double whammy of a coin traveling into a spectator's closed fist and the Chinese coin appearing in the magician's hand. I generally like this routine.
Coin routine #2: "Backhanded". A half dollar, an English penny, and a Mexican centavo one at a time vanish from the magician's hand to reappear under a single playing card. On the last coin, the magician mimes dropping it through the card to the other coins, and suddenly all the coins are back in the hand, with nothing under the card.
In walk around magic use of a table is generally not feasible, quite honestly, you don't really get to sit down and clear away a nice big working space at someone's dinner table. This typically eliminates matrix or chink-a-chink type effects from a walk around magician's repertoire. This routine is arguably different. Yes, you need to utilize a piece of table, but only the little space of one playing card. This routine combines ingenious use of some gaffs (nothing off the wall these gaffs any coin magician should have) and some very simple, yet extremely contextually powerful usage of click passes to create a very strong effect. If your working environment usually precludes tabled matrix routines, this is a very viable option. I recommend learning it.
Coin Routine #3: "The Famous Three Coin Trick". Three coins are shown from inside a coin purse. The coins are dumped out onto the table. One at a time, the coins "turn invisible" as they are placed into spectators' hands. Doug make's the first coin re-appear, takes the 2nd "invisible" coin from the spectator, with a shake it turns visible again. Doug waives his hand over the 3rd "invisible" coin lying on a spectator's hand. Suddenly it appears on her hand. Doug vanishes the first and second coin in his hands again, and then shows that they traveled magically back into the coin purse. Doug hits the last coin with the coin purse, and the coin penetrates the purse. All three coins are dumped out.
This is one of my favorite routines that I originally learned from Doug's book. In the book the routine was presented as a routine that happens entirely in the hands of the performer. The DVD version slightly changes the structure to utilize the hands of two spectators, which is always a good thing. Magic that involves your spectator is always a very strong plus. Doug used this routine as his walk around opener for years. If the required sleight of hand is mastered, this routine is a gem. It uses the often underutilized one behind principle which is attributed to Mike Gallo. Jay Sankey has also popularized some routines using this principle. One of the sleights that have to be learned for this routine (The Himber Click Pass) is based on ideas from David Williamson and Jay Sankey. One really great aspect of Doug's routine is that you start out and end with the proper amount of coins. This makes the use of the one behind principle very clean and much more sellable to an audience.
Coin routine #4: "EZ Triple Wildcoin". Two half dollars are removed from a coin purse, each half dollar one at a time changes into an English penny. Both pennies are placed into the purse, which are subsequently dumped out to reveal they have changed into Chinese brass coins.
This is a plot popularized by David Roth. The use of a gaff makes this routine strikingly easy to accomplish. I don't typically like to reveal the gaffs in use, but with Doug's permission I wanted to let the readers know, if you always wanted a new routine that takes advantage of the sun and moon gaff coin that is part of a Hopping Half set, this is the routine for you. If you have a Hopping Half set, put away the silver coin and shell, and remove the first copper shell. What you have left is the sun and moon coin. It is a very neat gaff and sorely underused by most.
Coin Routine #5: "Down Spout". This is a coin in the bottle routine. A quarter is borrowed, is fairly placed into a funnel, the funnel is placed into the bottleneck. A pencil is used to push the quarter down the funnel into the bottle. The funnel is shown empty. Finally, the quarter melts through the bottom of the bottle.
This trick has the possibility of fooling magicians. The fairness of putting an un-gaffed quarter into a funnel and pushing it into the bottle is very baffling. For laymen, it is equally baffling. For this version you need to carry a funnel with you and a pencil. There are also some additional small items and a gaff needed to perform the miracle. This is a really nice parlor presentation of coin in the bottle.
Coin routine #6: "Cap-tivating". Three coins are cleanly produced one at a time from a pen cap.
The description is accurate. This is a very simple, fast paced, production of 3 coins from a pen cap. It does not take long to master and it gets the job done. The DVD version differs slightly from the book in the last coin production. In the book version Doug used a Palm-to-Palm change. In the DVD Doug uses shuttle pass techniques instead.
Coin routine #7: "The Hook Revisited". Three coins are hung invisibly in the air on an invisible hook. The hands are shown cleanly after each vanish and you end clean.
This is a very nice adaptation of Larry Jenning's "The Hook", also very similar to David Roth's "Hanging Coins". Subtle use of a gaff makes this miracle extremely easy. This version of hanging coins is as advertised. After each vanish the hands can be shown clean, and at the end the hands are empty. The routine involves no lapping, sleeving, topiting, hand washing, and can be done surrounded. Doug's bold and flagrant coin ditching is a great principle. It is done purposefully right in front of the spectators. In the context of the routine that Doug has put together, the ditching is properly and logically covered within the routine. One of the major reasons why Doug can get away with the flagrant coin ditching is because of the aforementioned fairness of the vanishes, you can clean up extremely well on the offbeat.
Coin routine #8: "Wishing Cards". A spectator names any card, which is then put on the table. Doug reaches out and produces a coin from the air. He waves the coin over the card, and produced a 2nd coin from under the card. The 2nd coin is covered again by the card, the first coin is picked up and it vanishes in Doug's hands. The card is tilted up and the 1st coin re-appears under the card with the 2nd coin. The deck of cards is cut to a matching card (matching number and suit color) of the spectator's original selection. The two cards are pressed together and a 3rd coin falls out from between them.
Coin routine #9: "Payout". Payout continues where "Wishing Cards" left off. One of the coins is placed into Doug's left hand. One of the cards is placed on top of his left hand. When he opens his hand the card falls onto it and the coin vanishes. The two remaining coins are placed into his left hand and one is subsequently removed. The remaining card is placed on top of his left hand. When he opens his hand the card falls onto it and the coin vanishes.
The cards now rest on the table and the last coin is taken back and forth at the fingertips of both hands, and it vanishes.
Doug lifts the two cards and the three coins suddenly appear in a row on the table.
"Wishing Cards" and "Payout" in my mind are really one trick broken down into two items. It is a three coin production, vanish, and reproduction using cards as covers. Coins appear under them and disappear under them. It is not particularly my favorite genre of coin magic but for those who are looking for some coin/card magic that is not a matrix it's worth taking a look. I did like the look of the vanish sequence in particularly. The way the card sinks down onto the hand to create the vanish just looks kinda neat.
Doug performs the "Pinch Production" that was written in his book, and does teach some secret shell re-nesting and un-nesting techniques that are worth a look. Doug also performs a variation of John Carney's "Fingertip Vanish" to vanish the last coin in this sequence.
Bonus Routine (performance only) "Coins & Cylinder" The basic plot is this Three coins vanish one at a time to be found inside a cylinder underneath a slice of cork. The coins are re-covered and one at a time re-appear back in the magician's hands.
John Ramsay's Cylinder & Coins is a modern classic of coin magic. I really enjoy Cylinder & Coins on so many levels. The routine is fundamentally a 3-4 coin (depending on the version) vanish and reproduction. The really great thing about the addition of the cylinder is that when the coins are revealed in an impossible location, not only is the reveal very startling, but it takes the heat off of your hands where you just vanished multiple coins. Spectator's can stop looking for the coins, they are in plain view. This also sets up the spectator for a startling production sequence where coins are appearing once again, that they just saw moments ago in another location.
The original Ramsay and the more recent John Carney published versions are a great lesson in misdirection and coin manipulation it takes a lot of work to hold out four coins in your hand and have the audience believe they have all vanished. It is a "manly" routine to say the least.
Doug's version is performance only that uses three coins. Coin magicians tend to favor certain types of handlings of coins, certain favorite sequences, moves, etc. to accomplish various effects. This is very apparent in Doug's performance of Cylinder & Coins. You will instantly recognize some of Doug's techniques primarily taught in the preceding "Wishing Coins" and "Payout" in his Cylinder routine. It should not be too hard for you to follow the "work" if you are familiar with the basic mechanics of Cylinder & Coins and learn the coin sequences Doug teaches on his DVD in other routines.
Ramsay's routine had a lot of "soft coin" and Fingerpalm work that is completely absent in Doug's rendition. Doug favors moves that work out of classic palm and techniques that manipulate the use of a gaff. Doug does not use "soft coin" manipulation in his version.
I have my own pet handling for the routine, and I personally enjoy watching different magician's performance of Cylinder and Coins. How the magician chooses to vanish and reproduce the coins is always interesting to me. Doug's vanish and reproductions are convincing and get the job done, but I must confess I do miss some of the more Ramsay-esque type coin handling (soft coin, Fingerpalm stuff) just a personal preference.
As I said before, Doug uses a three coin version; this is a route I have taken myself. It makes the routine a bit more succinct and I believe that the point gets across very well without having to use a forth coin.
Doug's version is done with half dollar coins. (I personally prefer the larger dollar size coins which are more visible in a parlor type setting). The impromptu wand is a sharpie marker so it is a direct handling without flourishy wand spins. I think using a traditional wand brings a level of elegance to the routine and is more necessary to sell the coin vanishes when really holding out four solid coins. Doug's solution employs a gaff and a lesser amount of coins which makes the wand less necessary functionally for the routine. Doug's "impromutu" wand does the job for his handling.
I must admit that I did not particularly care for Doug's handling of the cork slice in his routine. At the beginning of the routine a cursory explanation of the props is a good idea since they are atypical items. After that is done, it is my opinion that their function becomes extremely obvious in the middle of the routine. I choose to completely ignore the props until they become necessary again. I think that the impact of what happens with those props is one of (if not the) strongest points in the routine. In John Carney's teaching he advocates lifting the cylinder to show the cork mid way through his coin vanishes to comply with the "Too Perfect Theory". I personally think it only serves to lessen the impact and the logic of the coins being revealed there later. (If you just vanished two coins, and you just showed their future destination, but they were not there then where the heck where they in the mean time? Coin Purgatory?)
Doug's performance literally reveals the cork after every coin vanish. Doug told me via email that this was an accident, he only meant to do it once. In a three coin version, showing the cork once is bad enough but twice, just kills the effect.
Finally at the end of the routine, traditionally the cork is taken by the magician. And the coins transpose with the cork (the coins wind up in the hand, the cork back in the cylinder). Some versions have this occur all at once (Carney) and most others have the coins travel back to the hand one at a time, and the spectators get another magical moment when the cork is shown to have returned into the cylinder.
In Doug's performance, he openly places the cork back into the cylinder and then produces the coins one at a time. I think Doug is missing a final magic ingredient. If all the three coins are now back in view on the table, and everyone saw him put the cork back into the cylinder, when he lifts the cylinder there should be not be any surprise that the cork is there (they saw it go in). Nor should it be terribly shocking that the coins are not there they see them lying on the table.
When the cork magically transposes with the coins, the cork is a magical re-appearance in the cylinder. It ends the routine with one more magical moment. I would not have eliminated this.
I did not intend for the lengthiest review to be of the performance only bonus effect, but I had a lot to say. Magicians who do the Ramsay routine hold very personal viewpoints on this routine. I am sure there will be those who disagree with my personal thoughts regarding the routine, and some that agree. I wanted to explain why I felt the way I did about components of Doug's routine to create an understanding of any of the critical items I may have pointed out in my personal perspective.
I really enjoyed Doug's book, and looked forward to seeing Doug perform all the routines himself. I am glad I got the chance.
I will be very honest here; the book is still a better bargain at half the cost of the DVD for mostly overlapping material. Those who prefer seeing routines visually, and who want to see Doug's two new routines and his Cylinder routine will definitely want to buy the DVD. The DVD is more "wacky" too. (You'll need to watch the performances to get that inside joke).
Doug has a new website up at www.dougbrewermagic.com where he has both the book and the DVD for sale. He also has package deals for that combine some of his books and DVDs together. Go spend your money.
By: Chris Korn
Both of these DVDs are 2004 releases from Bob Kohler Productions featuring the magic of Chris Korn.
Both DVDs were professionally shot at Bob Kohler's studio in Las Vegas, NV. The sound and video quality are exceptional, and everything was filmed with a two camera shoot. I must say that I am very impressed with the cameras that Bob Kohler Productions is using lately. I think he first used them on Cultural Xchange 2, the quality is outstanding. During the performance and explanation of some of Chris' coin routines; I could actually see an expanded shell over a coin while Chris held the coin edge toward the camera. You can clearly see the relief on coins, and different shading on coins. That is some serious detail. Usually filming shiny objects like coins tends to bleed away the details on the coins.
The entire package is presented well, everything is taught in minute detail, and everything is clearly seen and explained.
I will say up front, that I was expecting to be slightly disappointed in the quantity of material on these DVDs because they only have four routines each (compared to a recent Bob Kohler Productions release like Cultural Xchange that had fourteen items). In reality, Cultural Xchange was approximately one hour in length with about eight minutes of performance, the balance explanations. Radical Korn mirrors this exactly, about eight minutes of performance, and the balance of an hour in explanations. Extreme Korn is about six minutes shorter. Chris' material is good, and the explanations are thorough, my preconceived quantity expectation was unwarranted.
Three of the four routines in Radical Korn are coin routines; the other is a card trick. Two of the four routines in Extreme Korn are coin routines, one is a card trick, the last starts as a coin routine and ends as a pen transposition.
As always, the focus of this review will be the coin material, with only a cursory look at the non-coin stuff.
Lets take a look at the content:
Radical Korn:
Routine
#1: "3 Korn Vanish" - Chris produces a coin from his left bicep, and a
second from his right bicep. He places the coins into a fan at the left
fingertips. He reaches to his left bicep for the third coin, but strangely
there is now only one coin at his left fingertips. He puts both coins in his
right fingertips and reaches toward his right bicep for the third coin.
Strangely enough, it is still only two coins. He puts both coins in his left
fingertips and remembers now where the third coin is. He coughs and pulls it
from out of his mouth.
He shows that from the front side there are three coins, pivots the coins over, and shows from the back side, there are only two.
Chris places one of the two coins into his left hand and waves the remaining coin over it. He opens his left hand once again to show that the coin is still there, and re-closes his hand. Once again, he waves the remaining coin over his left fist. When he opens, the coin is gone.
Chris places the last coin into his mouth and audibly chews it up.
He tells the spectator he will start over, and he produces a coin from his left bicep, drops it into his left hand. The coin quickly splits in two at the fingertips. He places the two coins in his right fingertips and reaches toward his right bicep for the last coin, which is not there. The last coin suddenly appears in the fan in the right fingertips with the other two coins.
This is the first of three coin routines in this DVD series that is a 3 coin vanish and production sequence. It is very apparent that Chris is very fond of this type of magic. If you are familiar with Troy Hooser's "exTROYdinary" routine, then you are familiar with the basic premise of the plot. Actually, Chris opens his teaching segment saying that this routine is his handling based upon some of Troy's work.
Chris' first sequence is fun. I like the repeating simultaneous vanishes and production of coins. As Chris states, the appearance of the last coin allows the audience to relax. This initial sequence prolongs this, and keeps the audience on edge. I first saw this sequence used by Troy Hooser at the end of his "exTROYdinary" routine, it fits very well the way Chris uses it as an opening sequence.
Chris also has a very nice use of Dr. Michael Rubinstein's ROPS vanish in the context of this routine, and he teaches how it is done. So if you do not have Rubinstein's materials, this is a great place to learn this wonderful coin steal.
This routine has a really nice "final thoughts" section right after the explanation that I particularly enjoyed. It gave the reasons behind the structure of the routine, and why the routine works.
Routine #2: Brutal Deck Switch - A $100 wager is placed on the table that Chris will be able to find a spectator's thought of card. The spectator shuffles the deck and Chris holds the deck up and riffles through it. The spectator just thinks of a card that he saw riffle past. The deck is shuffled again by the spectator. Chris then looks through the deck and chooses two possible selections. Both selections are placed on the top of the deck. He turns over the top card shows the Ace of Diamonds. Feeling confident he turns the card back face down and puts it on the table and guesses the Ace of Diamonds.
The spectator informs Chris that he is wrong. Chris looks a bit flustered and says, "We weren't betting on this money." and he picks up the $100 bill. Chris then picks up the card from the table and puts it back into the deck held in his hands. Chris then asks the spectator what his card was.
The spectator names his selection and Chris astonished says that it can't be that card because that is the one in the box. They look back toward the box that was on the table, however now, the box is not there, and the deck of cards is. Chris looks at his hands and the box is in his hands. He opens the box and allows the spectator to remove the card, which is the thought of selection.
Ok a quick comment. No short cards. It is an un-gimmicked deck, and the selection is always different. At least some money was involved in the trick even though it wasn't a coin! *grin*
Routine #3: "She Holds the Money" - Chris holds a fan of three coins at his left fingertips. The spectator is used as his assistant to vanish coins. Chris puts the fan inside the spectator's raised right hand and her hand closes over the coins as Chris' left hand exits her hand. Chris holds only two coins at his fingertips. The spectator blows on her hand, and slowly opens it to reveal the first coin has vanished.
For the second coin, Chris merely has the spectator pass her hand in front of his. When Chris' hand comes back into view, there is only one coin left.
Chris explains that the last one is difficult; he won't make her make the last coin disappear. He reaches to his left elbow and produces a second coin. He drops the produced coin onto the existing coin in his left fist, counting it one two.
He reaches behind the spectator's arm and produces the third coin, which he in turn tosses into the air and it vanishes. He looks at his left fist and opens it, and the other two coins have vanished as well. He shows his hands completely empty.
After instructing the spectator to contain herself from her obvious over jubilant glee; he explains that most people think the coins go up his sleeves, which he momentarily pushes back. He informs her that they do not, but one of the coins is found up on his shoulder. He removes that coin. He quickly passes his fingertips over each other and the one coin splits into two.
Chris places one of the coins into his left fist, and waves the remaining coin over it. His fist is opened to show that the coin has vanished, and once again appeared on his shoulder. Chris places the coins into a fan at his right fingertips.
After instructing the spectator to say some magic words of her choice, she passes her hand in front of the two coins. When she moves her hand back away, a third coin has appeared.
Very cool idea about using the spectator. In reality is the "assistant" has no idea how the magic is happening and is being fooled just as much as the rest of the audience (maybe even more so).
This routine also bears similarities to Hooser's "exTROYdinary" and Chris opens by saying he was again influenced by it.
Chris' shoulder concealment has its roots in the neck concealment used in "exTROYdinary" however, Chris has adapted it to be more useful in my opinion if one is wearing a jacket (suit or sport coat). The method Chris came up with much more secure than the neck concealment. I tried it out and was able to move much more freely without worrying about the coin sliding off my neck. This was a very useful insight.
Obviously you need to wear a jacket to get the most out of this routine and perform it exactly the way Chris does. Also a jacket helps for a clean empty hand show in the middle of the routine. You can however make adjustments if you don't want to wear a jacket.
One of the best things taught is a new click pass (I have never seen it used before). As I was taking notes on this DVD, there is a part of the routine where Chris counts a coin onto another coin (supposedly). I was following the routine and was pretty sure that only one coin was in play. When he did the click pass, it really caught me off guard and I immediately wrote a note about this saying, "I like this". When I finally learned what he did in the explanation, I laughed. It looks very deceptive and it really is a click pass with one coin. If you are looking for something to work on, he also teaches a one coin Himber click pass you will need to get the DVD to see what I am talking about. It's pretty cool.
Routine #4: "Coppa Silva" - A copper coin and a silver coin are shown front and back. The coins are placed into a spectator's hand. The magician's hands are shown empty. The spectator closes her hand and Chris reaches into the thumbhole of her hand and takes out the silver coin, which he in turn places on the top of the spectator's clenched fist. Chris waves his hands over the spectator's fist and the coins change places: The copper coin is lying on the spectator's fist, and the silver coin is clenched inside. The coins are examinable.
This is a nice and direct copper silver transposition. Make sure you have a very good classic palm, or you will not be able to perform this routine (trust me, you will see why). Chris utilizes a pretty standard coin gaff in a unique way to create this effect. Really good thinking.
Extreme Korn:
Routine
#1: "Fire in the Hole" - A coin purse is shown to a spectator. When it is
opened, a few strips of paper are found inside. A spectator reaches in, takes
the paper, and hands them to another spectator.
Chris reaches back into the coin purse and pulls out a giant match that is much too big to have fit inside the purse. The giant match is shown to really be a lighter; it is handed to the first spectator.
The purse is placed inside Chris' jacket pocket. Chris proceeds to take a little strip of paper form the second spectator. The paper is set on fire with the lighter that the first spectator is holding.
The burning paper is thrown onto Chris' palm up left hand. Suddenly a coin appears when the flash goes away. Another piece of paper is lit on fire and thrown at the coin, and the coin disappears. A third piece of paper is lit on fire and thrown at the palm up left hand. The coin appears once again. Finally, the last piece of paper is lit on fire, thrown at the coin, and the coin purse appears. The coin purse is opened to reveal the coin is inside it.
I really must say that making coins appear and vanish with the toss of a flash paper is visually stunning. According to Chris, the appearance of the coins was something, he, Brett Wolf, and Homer Liwag sorted out back in the late 80's. Chad Long later developed the idea of throwing flash paper to vanish a coin. (See Chad's "Flash Coins" routine).
There are two considerations you must take into account if you are going to perform this routine. 1. You must wear a jacket. 2. You must play with fire. The jacket isn't much of a big deal, most working pros wear them, but the fire thing may be an issue if your venue is not conducive to lighting things on fire. Frankly, you need the flash paper to make this routine look good. It does not work at all without it.
The giant match Chris says is "available in stores". I ran a search on the internet for "Giant Match Lighter" and found this to be true. It is called MegaMatch Lighter. It's about $10 online. The production of the match is pretty cool, akin to the classic purse & cigar routine.
If you like the flashy attention that fire effects create, grab your coat, grab your big match looking lighter thingy, grab a coin and a purse and have fun with this routine.
Routine #2: "One For the Bar" - A spectator chooses a card from the deck which is subsequently placed back into the deck and lost. Chris puts the deck behind his back, and claims that he is going to find her card and put it in a specific position in the deck.
After the deck is brought back out, the spectator is asked to name a number between one and ten. She chooses, "seven". He counts off seven cards from the deck and in the seventh position is a folded up bar napkin. Apparently they counted in the wrong pile. He then proceeds to count through bar napkins that have been sitting in plain view. He counts down seven bar napkins and the spectator's selection is found face up in the napkin pile.
If you are one who frequents drinking establishments, you want to drink for free, and you don't have good card skills, this is a fine routine to learn. It is a great bar bet routine. It is easy to learn and carries a lot of impact because you use a common item found at the bar it appears impromptu.
Routine #3: "Double Crossed" - Chris displays a coin to a spectator. Chris grabs the coin with his right hand and apparently tosses it into the air; it vanishes. Chris states that the coin has appeared in the spectator's jacket pocket. He holds open the spectator's jacket and points to the inner breast pocket. The coin is not found. Then Chris reaches to the spectator's lower inner lower pocket, and finds the coin. Chris puts the coin into his jacket pocket and removes a white pen.
In an instant the white pen changes into a yellow pen which formerly was in the spectator's breast pocket. The white Bic pen is now found inside the spectator's breast pocket. Chris trades pens back with the spectator and the routine ends.
This routine obviously must take advantage of circumstance. You need a spectator that is wearing a jacket with a pen in his breast pocket. Chris uses this routine as an adjunct to a coin flurry routine. Although it could be used stand alone, I think it probably would work best as part of a greater routine.
In order to perform the routine exactly as Chris does, you must be wearing a jacket. Chris explains a way to perform it without a jacket under the cover of a silk but I am a bigger fan of the visual stuff, not hiding it behind silks. If you are going to perform this routine, I say go for the visual one. Take a look at the demo video at Bob Kohler Magic. The pen transformation is part of the demo clip it looks fabulous.
Routine #4: "Lip-tak Sighting" - Two coins are produced from a spectator's shirt sleeve. The coins are dumped onto the table. Chris miscounts the two coins as three, and then corrects himself and says, "The third coin is here." He reaches over to his left bicep to produce a coin from his upper sleeve. He pulls the material with his right hand, and attempts to transfer the coin to his left hand only to find that the third coin is now lying in plain sight on the table.
Chris then takes one of the coins and places it into his left hand, where it completely vanishes. He shows the other two coins, and shows his hands empty. He takes the second coin and closes it into his left hand. He opens momentarily to show that the coin is still there, and re-closes his hand. When he re-opens his hand the second coin has vanished. The third coin is picked up directly with the left hand which immediately extends to hand the coin to the spectator.
As Chris opens his hand to dump it into the spectator's hand, the coin has vanished and traveled up his coat sleeve to his left bicep. The right hand takes this coin and tables it. The left hand reaches behind the right elbow and finds another coin, which is tabled. He reaches back over to his left bicep with his right hand, grabs something, and brings it to his face to blow on it. As he does, we find that the third coin is now lying in plain sight on the table.
This last routine brings the series full circle. This is the third and last three coin vanish/production sequence on the DVD series. This one departs from the stand up in the hands sequences that have the Troy Hooser flavor to them. The first magician Chris saw have a coin appear on the table was a magician named Mike Liptak. This is where the routine gets its name.
The productions are pretty simple. This routine hits the spectator's twice between the eyes with the magical appearance of the last coin on the table. The vanish sequences is a bit more involved than the simple productions. During the explanation of the vanishes, Chris provides a very detailed teaching of his variation of a Retention Pass that minimizes finger movement as well as a very detailed teaching of Dr. Michael Rubinstein's ROPS Vanish.
This is a really good routine to practice misdirection and timing. If you are off in either of these things, the appearance of the coins on the table will not go over well. Luckily with practice there is nothing that demands a high level of knuckle busting to achieve. Mike Rubinstein's ROPS vanish is another example this move requires critical timing to pull off, but is well worth the effort.
I like the coin magic on this DVD series. I think Chris does a very nice job streamlining his routines into flowing creations. There are not a lot of extra un-needed moves, transfers, and changes that happen without reason that can over complicate coin routines. Additionally, the items on this DVD are not extremely difficult to learn.
I usually do not like to get specific with the methods used in routines, however in this case, I think it is beneficial to mention that Chris' work in this DVD series heavily uses the expanded shell. Chris utilizes this gaff to really make the coin routines look clean. I can tell that Chris really enjoys using a shell and has obviously spent a great deal of time working with it. I mention this because I often read on magic internet forums queries about teachings on using this versatile gaff. I would definitely recommend these DVDs for anyone looking for good shell work, especially Radical Korn. As an example, one thing that I personally enjoyed was Chris' subtlety to drop 3 coins from a fan (one being the gaff) without having the tell tale tinny sound of a shell. It looks and sounds as if 3 solid coins were dropped from a fan into an awaiting hand.
I think both DVDs are good, but I already anticipate the question from those of you on a budget who will ask, "If I only buy one, which one should I get?"
My pick would be Radical Korn. This DVD had more coin magic, and I really enjoyed his stand up, no table, three coin work. It also appears as though Radical Korn is the first DVD of the set, even though the DVDs are stand alone items. In Radical Korn he introduces himself and the spectators in the beginning, which he does not do in Extreme Korn. There is also a bit more of Chris' personality shown while working with the spectators in Radical Korn. Extreme Korn just has a feel of a continuation of Radical Korn, there was also a few contextual things in Extreme Korn that fall into place if you watch Radical Korn such as exactly where does Jenny get the money she pulls out of her blouse?!?
Both DVDs have good material, get them both if your budget allows.
You can purchase them as well as see the online demo clip of the DVDs at Bob Kohler Magic for $34.95 each including shipping.
By: Apollo Robbins and Shoot Ogawa
Cultural Xchange 1 and 2 are both 2003 DVD releases from Bob Kohler Productions featuring the magic of Apollo Robbins and Shoot Ogawa.
The DVDs were professionally filmed with dual cameras and edited at Bob Kohler's Studio in Las Vegas. The video clarity, sound, camera angles, etc. are all top notch. You can see and hear everything you are supposed to in these videos. The teaching is clear.
Apollo Robbins works in Las Vegas. He first became a rumor to magicians as the incredible pickpocket at Caesar's Magical Empire. He is the guy who successfully pickpocketed the secret service protecting President Carter during a visit to Caesar's. Not only is Apollo an expert pickpocket, but a phenomenal sleight of hand magician as well.
Shoot Ogawa hails from Tokyo, Japan and is the recipient of the prestigious Magic Castle's "Close Up Magician of the Year" for 2002. Shoot has jumped to the top of the close up world also winning the MacMillan Convention's Close Up contest in November 2002. He was also featured on the cover of Magic Magazine in the March 2003 issue.
At the time of filming, Apollo and Shoot often worked together at the Shadow Bar in Caesars Las Vegas. Their performing environment is very loud. Taught on the DVDs are routines that can be done with very little or no speaking at all. Routines such as these allowed them to perform in this environment where they often cannot be heard. Most of the magic is short, to the point, and highly visual.
The material is split pretty evenly between card and coin magic to pack small for walk around. As always, the focus of the review for this website will be the coin magic. Cultural Xchange 2 also has a few routines with other types of objects like pens and dice etc.
Because of the short, quick, visual nature of the non-coin magic on this DVD I will quickly describe the non coin effects, but I won't discuss them beyond a description.
Cultural Xchange
1:
Routine #1, "Trinity": Apollo's right hand is shown in a "C" formation at face level. The front and back of the hand appears empty. Suddenly a silver half dollar coin appears at his right fingertips. The left hand takes the coin and is re-gripped immediately in a "C" formation by the right hand. The coin is rubbed away by the left fingers and shown to have vanished.
Suddenly, the coin appears again at the right fingertips. The left hand momentarily covers the silver half dollar and the coin immediately changes into a brass Chinese coin with a hole in the center.
The Chinese coin is taken by the left hand and then is immediately re-gripped in a "C" formation by the right hand and pivoted 180 degrees to display both sides.
Eventually the Chinese coin is taken back by the left hand and re-gripped in the "C" formation of the right hand. The left hand moves away and the coin has vanished.
Trinity is actually a culmination of handlings taught in Apollo's lecture notes reviewed here. It looks fabulous. To save myself some writing I am going to recycle some of my comments on this routine from my prior review of Apollo's notes:
Trinity starts with a teaching of the "Apollo Palm" (in the lecture notes) called the "360 Production" in the DVD explanation. This is a variation of a purse palm. The coin is concealed in such a manner that it is not visible from the front, behind, or right side (when using the right hand). This is a very disarming concealment. Joshua Jay covered this concealment in more detail in the February 2002 issue of MAGIC magazine.
Also taught is concealment that Apollo calls "Fitch Palm". Recently this concealment has been credited to Jimmy Wilson Sr. from Horace Bennett's book. The concealment is called "J.W. Grip", and is referenced as such on Cultural Exchange 2. The coin is pushed to the fingertips to produce it.