Ok so it's been a VERY LONG time since I made a review and I've had Art of Magic by Wayne Houchin for awhile so I think it's time I write a review.
Ok so Art of Magic, incase you don't know, is a DVD by Wayne Houchin. He produced it himself, mainly for his own website although it is sold on other magic websites. The DVDs teach you 5 awesome effects. The first DVD is the performances DVD which is about an hour long. Along with the performances of the 5 effects it also includes interviews with Aaron Fisher, Dan and Dave Buck, David Regal, and of course Wayne Houchin. It was along the lines of a documentary magic DVD, which is new and refreshing. If you don't get this to just learn the tricks, the performances is just worth watching, at least for me. It's very entertaining and everytime I watch it I find myself taking their advice in a different way everytime; thinking of something new and creative. And Wayne goes into GREAT detail explaining these effects. Most of the time in magic DVDs the magician will say just perform a double lift, or a classic pass and then continue with the trick but wayne goes into detail about every move! Double lifts, hindu force, you name it. Beginners that just picked up a deck of cards will understand this dvd!
Alright so the 5 tricks taught.
French Kiss : My all time favorite of the dvd! The general effect is nothing new or original but the different presentation sure hits hard! When I first learned this I knew I had just learned something awesome but I had NO IDEA that this effect would be this big! I get the most awesome reactions ever and it's one of my top requested effects to perform. Basically a spectator selects a card, signs it, the magician folds it up into a packet and the spectator bites down on the card with their teeth. The magician does the same, selects a card, signs it, folds it into a packet and bites down on it. And within a blink of an idea the magician the opens the card in his/her mouth to reveal he/she know holds the specators signed card and the spectator now has the magicians signed card. Very clever and very easy. My favorite effect on the DVD.
Carbon Paper : My second favorite of the dvd! This is yet another effect that happens in the spectator's hands, which makes it awesome by default haha. So the spectator selects a card, signs it and places the card in between his/her hands. The magician then takes the joker, or any X card he/she wants and burns the back with a lighter causing it to blacken the back of the card. The magician then places the burnt joker or X card on top of the spectator's hands to reveal that the burn mark on the back of the joker or X card is completly gone. The specator looks at the back of their selected card that's been in their hands the entire time to show that their card is no burnt. This trick is AWESOME! I've gotten CRAZY reactions from this one too. It's very simple and easy to perform. I love it!
Ring+String Mystery: This one is very good though not personally my style but if you're into this kind of thing I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT!! An envelope with a whole in it and a piece of string and a ring, all of which these items can probably be borrowed, is introduced, the ring is placed cleanly into the bag and sealed up. The magician threads the string through the whole and ties it into a knot. The Magician then starts ripping the envelope towards the ring to reveal that the ring has now looped itself into the string. Very visual and quite clever! Like I said, this effect isn't really my style but nontheless this effect slays laymen!!
Twisting the Aces : A classic effect by Dai Vernon with a few Wayne Houchin twists in it. The 4 aces or shown cleanly, there are no extra cards. This can also work with any 4 of a kind. Basically the effect is turning each of the aces faceup 1 at a time and of course without anyone seeing the magician turn the ace faceup. You begin and end clean. It's all slight of hand. At first I didn't think very much of this effect but then I performed it and got great reactions! This is also a great magician fooler as I have fooled several of my magician friends performing this, mainly because it's very clean and appears to have no moves. Very good and awesome effect.
Match Bite : This effect is very similar to the famous quarter bite trick. Except this is impromptu. The magician shows a match, the match can be borrowed if needed. He/she then bites of the head of the match and magicially spits it back on to reveal it is completly restored. Now this effect isn't really one you just go up and perform and continue with your day, you do kind of need to fit it into the middle of a routine. At least, I think that's the best way to go with this effect. But even so I do like this effect. I haven't actually gotten the chance to perform this mainly because no one around me usually carries matches, everyone has lighters. I guess I could buy my own. eh. haha
The performances does show another effect though Wayne doesn't explain it because during one of Wayne's daily update videos he explains that another magician, I believe it was Luke Dancy, already published the effect recently. Along with the Ring+String Mystery, Wayne shows you a performance at the Magic Castle a different presenation to the same trick. Very interesting and entertaining to watch.
So all in all this DVD is a TOTAL WIN! I give it a 10 out of 10! I always enjoy and love Wayne's dvds. If you haven't gotten these dvd or have been thinking about getting it, GET IT!! =)
Ok so Art of Magic, incase you don't know, is a DVD by Wayne Houchin. He produced it himself, mainly for his own website although it is sold on other magic websites. The DVDs teach you 5 awesome effects. The first DVD is the performances DVD which is about an hour long. Along with the performances of the 5 effects it also includes interviews with Aaron Fisher, Dan and Dave Buck, David Regal, and of course Wayne Houchin. It was along the lines of a documentary magic DVD, which is new and refreshing. If you don't get this to just learn the tricks, the performances is just worth watching, at least for me. It's very entertaining and everytime I watch it I find myself taking their advice in a different way everytime; thinking of something new and creative. And Wayne goes into GREAT detail explaining these effects. Most of the time in magic DVDs the magician will say just perform a double lift, or a classic pass and then continue with the trick but wayne goes into detail about every move! Double lifts, hindu force, you name it. Beginners that just picked up a deck of cards will understand this dvd!
Alright so the 5 tricks taught.
French Kiss : My all time favorite of the dvd! The general effect is nothing new or original but the different presentation sure hits hard! When I first learned this I knew I had just learned something awesome but I had NO IDEA that this effect would be this big! I get the most awesome reactions ever and it's one of my top requested effects to perform. Basically a spectator selects a card, signs it, the magician folds it up into a packet and the spectator bites down on the card with their teeth. The magician does the same, selects a card, signs it, folds it into a packet and bites down on it. And within a blink of an idea the magician the opens the card in his/her mouth to reveal he/she know holds the specators signed card and the spectator now has the magicians signed card. Very clever and very easy. My favorite effect on the DVD.
Carbon Paper : My second favorite of the dvd! This is yet another effect that happens in the spectator's hands, which makes it awesome by default haha. So the spectator selects a card, signs it and places the card in between his/her hands. The magician then takes the joker, or any X card he/she wants and burns the back with a lighter causing it to blacken the back of the card. The magician then places the burnt joker or X card on top of the spectator's hands to reveal that the burn mark on the back of the joker or X card is completly gone. The specator looks at the back of their selected card that's been in their hands the entire time to show that their card is no burnt. This trick is AWESOME! I've gotten CRAZY reactions from this one too. It's very simple and easy to perform. I love it!
Ring+String Mystery: This one is very good though not personally my style but if you're into this kind of thing I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT!! An envelope with a whole in it and a piece of string and a ring, all of which these items can probably be borrowed, is introduced, the ring is placed cleanly into the bag and sealed up. The magician threads the string through the whole and ties it into a knot. The Magician then starts ripping the envelope towards the ring to reveal that the ring has now looped itself into the string. Very visual and quite clever! Like I said, this effect isn't really my style but nontheless this effect slays laymen!!
Twisting the Aces : A classic effect by Dai Vernon with a few Wayne Houchin twists in it. The 4 aces or shown cleanly, there are no extra cards. This can also work with any 4 of a kind. Basically the effect is turning each of the aces faceup 1 at a time and of course without anyone seeing the magician turn the ace faceup. You begin and end clean. It's all slight of hand. At first I didn't think very much of this effect but then I performed it and got great reactions! This is also a great magician fooler as I have fooled several of my magician friends performing this, mainly because it's very clean and appears to have no moves. Very good and awesome effect.
Match Bite : This effect is very similar to the famous quarter bite trick. Except this is impromptu. The magician shows a match, the match can be borrowed if needed. He/she then bites of the head of the match and magicially spits it back on to reveal it is completly restored. Now this effect isn't really one you just go up and perform and continue with your day, you do kind of need to fit it into the middle of a routine. At least, I think that's the best way to go with this effect. But even so I do like this effect. I haven't actually gotten the chance to perform this mainly because no one around me usually carries matches, everyone has lighters. I guess I could buy my own. eh. haha
The performances does show another effect though Wayne doesn't explain it because during one of Wayne's daily update videos he explains that another magician, I believe it was Luke Dancy, already published the effect recently. Along with the Ring+String Mystery, Wayne shows you a performance at the Magic Castle a different presenation to the same trick. Very interesting and entertaining to watch.
So all in all this DVD is a TOTAL WIN! I give it a 10 out of 10! I always enjoy and love Wayne's dvds. If you haven't gotten these dvd or have been thinking about getting it, GET IT!! =)
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