There aren’t a lot of materials on the Squeaker in the market. You can probably still find the book “The Art of Public Squeaking” from some old magic shops.  This DVD will cover what the book covers and more.

If you were to look at the video demo for this DVD, you’d probably not be impressed by it. When I first saw the demo, I was thinking “What was Jeff McBride thinking?” The demo does not do this DVD justice. The DVD is divided into two parts. The first part is on the on the Ball and Bowl routine, this includes very detailed histories, tips on props as well as the method employed with squeakers. You’d be surprised that squeakers actually made the routine more enjoyable and it also acts as a “convincer” when the ball vanishes or appears.

The second part is on adding sound effects to routines such as Dancing cane, Waltzing Matilda, thimbles, mime. I was not really impressed on the second part of the DVD. I agree that you can improve your routine with squeakers but I think it has to be used sparingly. Another point that I was not impressed is probably with Jeff McBride’s character, I like Jeff McBride and he is a very good magician, I just don’t see him doing funny acts.

I am a sucker, I mean fan of squeakers. I have various squeakers and plenty of Swiss Warblers. They are always fun to use, especially good for pranks . With this DVD, you will be able to add squeakers to your repertoire; squeakers will enhance your sponge ball routines. Recommended. Rating 4/5.

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If you have been doing magic for a while, you should know about this effect “Out of this World” by Paul Curry. This is one of the best card routine ever devised. The original method is very easy to do and many magicians have versions of their own. Some versions are impromptu whilst others are gimmicked. Roberto Mansilla’s version is a little of both.

This is a stand up version of OOTW. The routine is easy to understand as well as perform. You will need to setup the deck in advance, an easy setup too. In this version, you don’t really have to do much, no counting, no memorizing, no difficult sleights. Mansilla employs some simple subtitles which makes the effect more convincing. You will just need to concentrate on the presentation. The good thing about this effect is that the spectators seem to be doing the magic rather than the magician.

The DVD has a very good layout. Production quality is also high. There is even a segment on the history of the original OOTW effect. If you are into parlor performances, this is a must have. This version can be performed close-up to a few or parlor and even in a stage setting. Highly recommended. Rating 4/5.

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“Changing one playing card into another is for sissies.”….. the first sentence on the product description of this item. So, have you been a sissy for a long time? If changing one card for another makes you a sissy, I don’t see how changing two cards at the same time makes you not a sissy.

Anyway, let’s skip the sissy part. This is yet another well produced DVD from The Blue Crown. I’m not talking about the content; I was referring to the overall production of the DVD. Content wise, it was ok. Color changing is always nice to look at, that is if it is done in moderation and part of a routine. I cringe whenever I see someone doing a color change as a “routine” by itself.

Some of the changes in this DVD are modifications from the standard color changes like the “Erdnase Color Change”. There are several versions taught for the Erdnase Double. The color change I like most is the Standard Double change. There is no visible hand motion when the card is being changed. It looks very visual and magical too. This version is not too difficult to do.

There are many changes taught and some of them can be quite tough too. If you like color changes, then this DVD is for you. It’s good to know many color changes but is it necessary? May be good if you intend to do a series of changes, but then again, it can be self satisfying to do all this but will your spectator like it? Hmmmm, points to ponder.

Rating 3.5/5.

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Let’s face it; there are many versions of the Haunted Deck available in the market, what makes this version standout from the rest? Most Haunted Deck uses some form of thread (IET, loops, IT etc). Eggink’s version uses none of those.

Haunted can be done surrounded up close or you can even perform this standing far away from it since the gimmick does not rely on you to activate it. There are no complicated electronics involved (pretty obvious by looking at the MSRP). The deck used is not gimmicked and can be examined before and after the performance. You will need to do some preparations prior to performance and after using the gimmick for a while, you will need to do some “touchups” to the gimmick.

Many other versions will have the deck cut by itself in an eerie way and at the end; the selected card will shoot out of the deck. In Haunted, the card will card itself but I don’t think it looks as good as other versions. You will need the spectator to lift the top half of the deck in order for the selected card to shoot out. The top half of the deck will have to be lifted up in a way so as to allow the deck to shoot out; otherwise, the selected card will not shoot. You’d probably not be able to get the spectator to lift it that way constantly.

Without using any form of threads, this allows the performer to have more freedom during performance without any restrictions in movement, having said that, there is a trade off. With this method, you will sacrifice the “eerie” movement seen in other haunted deck. Most importantly, you will lose control over when the “action” will start. You can be staring at it and nothing happens and then the deck starts to move. When I saw the DVD, I feel that the “wait” for the action is a tad too long.

Apart from being not able to control the actions of the deck, its actually quite a cool effect.

Rating 3.5/5

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This is what coin magic should look like. Slow, beautiful and elegant. Unfortunately, this is also the type of coin magic that stops non-coin magicians from picking up coin magic.

I like coin magic….very much! But this is a tough one to do. I like the thinking behind the routine, the moves seems “moveless” and some of the sleights are pretty novel and did I mentioned tough? I think the speed or rather the lack of it makes this routine look magical. When I first saw the demo, I immediately liked it. I’m sure many of you would agree with me.

The routine uses non-gimmicked coins with pure sleight of hand. With some modifications, I’d think you can cheat by using some gaffs. The video production is top notch and the teaching is also very clear and precise. All the essential points are covered very well. Additional tips are also included. The DVD starts off by teaching the individual sleights needed to perform the routine and it slowly progresses to the full routine. This is probably one of the most difficult routine I have ever seen. If you can master this routine, I think you’d be able to do any sleight intensive coin routines.

It’ll probably take you a long time to be able to perform this routine. It is not impossible but it is a very tough routine. I wish I can do this but I doubt I’d be able to find time to invest in practicing the moves for the routine.  Rating 3.5/5

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This box allows you to produce a full deck of cards or anything that can fit inside a card box from a seemingly empty card box.

I find the effect ok; you can’t really use it as a routine by itself but rather as an opener or part of a routine. There are similar effects out that, a good one would be David Regal’s Sudden Deck 2. For Empty, you’d need to perform this with two hands; the angles are pretty good since you are using 2 hands. When showing the box empty, you will need to show the mouth of the box directly to your spectators. For Regal’s Sudden Deck, you can perform it with one hand and the box is clearly empty since the card box is opened flat out. Regal’s also has an additional printing of the card box effect.

Besides producing a deck, you can also use Empty like a change bag. Additional ideas are taught in the DVD.The production quality of the gimmick and DVD is top notch but I guess magicians are more interested in the quality of the effect. Between Empty and Sudden Deck, I’d choose the latter if I want to produce a deck of cards from an empty box. Other than deck, using Empty as a change bag can produce good results.

Rating 3.5/5

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When I first saw the demo, it looks very familiar to me. I thought that Salvador Sufrate re-released his effect “Don’t Blink”. It was after doing a search when I realized that Salvador Sufrate has two similar products.

Don’t Blink and Naked both by Sufrate has the same effect but totally different in method. Though Don’t Blink can do more, there are still some restrictions. With Naked, the restrictions are lesser and I actually think the method is quite cool and clever.

When I opened up the DVD and saw the gimmick, I didn’t know how it works until I saw the explanations. The method and gimmick is simple and there are no complicated sleights involved. A beginner would have no problem performing this. The downside for this effect is that you can’t perform it surrounded. The other thing I want to point out is, putting things in your mouth and then giving it away isn’t that hygienic. But of course some people might not mind.

The DVD is very short, only about 11 mins long but it is more than adequate to cover the methods. Card workers who want to do a hands free color change might want to take a look at this. I liked it but I don’t like the name. Recommended.  Rating 4/5

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Gary Jones has put out several effects in the market and some of them are really strong ones. This DVD contains 16 of his effects. Some of the routines are pretty good while some are just ok. The routines are a mixture of close-up routines. You can apply some of them in restaurant works.

I will talk about some of the routines in this DVD.

Starter for 10 – is not really a routine. It is actually an “opener” which is especially good for approaching a table. The “order pad” transforms into a deck of cards. Easy to construct as well as perform.

3 Fly plus – as the name suggest, is a 3 fly routine. The routine ends with the vanish of all coins one at a time. I was not impressed by this routine as there was nothing outstanding or special about it. I particularly don’t like the hands to go into the pocket without apparent reasons.  I’m not saying that this routine is no good, just that there are plenty of other 3 flys around.

3 coin Prediction – is a quickie. The performer is able to predict the number of heads and tails of 3 coins being tossed onto the table. You’d need 2 gimmick items for this effect. The gimmicks are easily available from any magic dealers.

Rings and Pins Plus – uses 2 large safety pins. A finger ring is locked in one of the pins and then jumps to the other pin. Easy to do and looks visual too.

The effects in this DVD are very short routines. You can probably link some of them together to make a longer routine. Short routines are good for table hopping and if you are a restaurant worker, you might want to take a look at this DVD. Though you won’t find new methods or totally new effects in this DVD, there are still some effects which you can use. Rating 3.5/5.

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Dani DaOrtiz is a talent, a very talented card magician. He has this casual style much like the well liked Juan Tamariz. DaOrtiz makes everything look so fair and effortless; there is no hint of any sleights or whatsoever during his performance. He has this pleasant and humorous character which puts everyone at ease during his performance.

The routines in the DVD set ranges from easy to tough and some even gutsy. There are some routines which has plenty of participation on the spectator’s part. His patter makes the magic very enjoyable to watch and the spectators helping out were clearly enjoying themselves too.

Mathmagic particularly made a very deep impression on me, when I first saw the performance part, I didn’t know how it was done. The magic literally happens in the spectator’s hands. This routine is like a “spectator finds the chosen card” type of routine, everything happens in the spectator’s hands, 4 spectators actually and all of them found the selected card at the same time. There are plenty of byplay which makes the routine more enjoyable. This is probably the most enjoyable “do as I do” or “magic using mathematics routine out there.

Another unique routine is the T&R Chink-a-Chink. This is a sympathetic coin routine using a signed card which is torn into pieces. Each piece is place on the corner of the table and these pieces join the other pieces one at a time. At the end of the routine, the torn pieces magically restores into a full card. There are some small and easy preparations prior to the performance of this routine. This is a very strong and visual routine.

If you like card magic, this set of DVD is a must. You should seriously study the routines and you’ll be able to learn and pick up some tips to enhance your magic. You’ll learn even from watching the interview section of the DVD. This is a set of gems you do not want to miss. Do yourself a favor and buy this immediately. Highly recommended. Rating 4/5.

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There are many newspaper tear available in the market. Some of them can be shown on both sides while some can’t. Some of them look very visual while some of them needed some fidgeting. Tony Clark’s version is visual and easy to do, you don’t need special gimmicks but you do have to construct the gimmick yourself. It’ll probably take you like 5-10 minutes to make a set. You can’t use broadsheet size newspaper for this version, only tabloid size.

The gimmick can be re-used but it will eventually succumb to wear and tear but you can always make another one.  In the bonus section, Tony Clark has included several versions to do the newspaper tear; some of them are really cool too.

Sly News Tear is as good as any expensive version in the market. If you always wanted to do a newspaper tear, you should probably consider this version as it cost very little to make a set. Recommended. Rating 4/5

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