[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez2DD8LEcfU[/video]
This is a Cardistry DVD so it teaches various cuts and card flourishes that are aesthetically pleasing. It?s not magic but some of the flourishes look magical or have their roots in magic moves. I would say that overall this DVD is a set of beginning to intermediate flourishes and the way it is taught, most could learn the moves involved.
For those of you who might be brand new to flourishing I give the same piece of advice to everyone. Learn one moderately complex flourish, as you do so you will get a feel for how the cards move and how much longer it takes to learn a modern flourish than it would take to learn the moves for a card trick. Back to the DVD.
The Teaching
There are 3 main formats that cardistry tutorials come in; the walk through, subtitles, and silent. The walk through is where the artist, either live or through a voice over, takes you through the flourish step by step. Subtitles are used often in conjunction with highlighted video enhancements to point out key points in the flourish. The last way to learn is silently and it is by far my least favorite way to learn.
Every flourish on this DVD is taught silently from multiple angles. The angles are definitely helpful but I feel like they are in the wrong order. Each explanation starts with a straight on and over the shoulder view, then a straight on view by itself, then an over the shoulder by itself and finally and over the shoulder slo mo. While I was learning, the only one that I was able to follow along with was the over the shoulder slo mo angle which happens to be the last setting on every flourish.
Let?s get into the flourishes.
Rumba: This is one of the more difficult flourishes on the DVD as well as a very quick flourish. This is a 4 packet flourish that resembles a type of tornado flourish with a modified grip.
Golden Gate: This is one of my favorite on the DVD. It is a 3 packet flourish with a unique almost magnetic feel to it. The packets seem to move themselves as they repel each other. This is a fairly simple flourish to learn as well, I learned it in about 20 minutes.
Monaco 2: It always kinda bugs me when they teach the sequel to a cut or flourish without teaching the original. Anyways, this is a fairly complex 4 packet cut that is deceptively easy to learn. It reminds me of the skater cut to some extent and maybe being familiar with it made it easier to learn.
Dizzy: I?m not a real big fan of this flourish but at least this offers some variety. Basically you take 2 cards in the midst of a cut, flip them through your fingers and finish with a propeller like motion. on your thumb. This flourish is very reminiscent of Flicker, Pirouette and the One Card Twirl all performed with 2 cards.
Samba: This feels like Dan and Dave?s sequence Pandora, and could probably be added to that sequence without a problem. The basic flourish is the classic Tornado cut with an interesting reverse action. This one will be tough to learn.
Spitfire: This is a nice flourishy way to get into a Sybil like display with four packets and a flourishy clean up.This one will take some time to learn as well. This is not your basic Sybil from Z grip.
Double Barrell: This is my least favorite kind of flourish. It involves spinning the card in a wobbly circle on your thumb and back of the hand. It?s not incredibly hard to do, you could probably get it down in a day or two, but I don?t like the main part. The final six packet display is nice but I feel like the wobbly card twirls always look just a little sloppy in my opinion.
Merengue: This is a five packet cut. This is fairly generic looking even when the grips and finger placement is new. My hunch is that most magicians and flourishers, let alone laymen, would look at this and confuse it with everything else out there and fail to see this flourishes merit. Then again it is much less static than the classic Sybil and it may suit your style more that what is already out there.
None of the flourishes were extremely ground breaking or jaw dropping. They were impressive by themselves but when compared to what there is already out there there was very little diversity. In every cut as well it is clear that there were influences by Daniel Madison, Kevin Ho, Chris Kenner, Dan and Dave Buck and so on but there were absolutely no credits.
So if you are looking to start flourishing more seriously this DVD is good. Most of the cuts could be learned in a couple weeks or less with a lot of patience. It would have been easier to learn if there was some sort of explanation.
This is a Cardistry DVD so it teaches various cuts and card flourishes that are aesthetically pleasing. It?s not magic but some of the flourishes look magical or have their roots in magic moves. I would say that overall this DVD is a set of beginning to intermediate flourishes and the way it is taught, most could learn the moves involved.
For those of you who might be brand new to flourishing I give the same piece of advice to everyone. Learn one moderately complex flourish, as you do so you will get a feel for how the cards move and how much longer it takes to learn a modern flourish than it would take to learn the moves for a card trick. Back to the DVD.
The Teaching
There are 3 main formats that cardistry tutorials come in; the walk through, subtitles, and silent. The walk through is where the artist, either live or through a voice over, takes you through the flourish step by step. Subtitles are used often in conjunction with highlighted video enhancements to point out key points in the flourish. The last way to learn is silently and it is by far my least favorite way to learn.
Every flourish on this DVD is taught silently from multiple angles. The angles are definitely helpful but I feel like they are in the wrong order. Each explanation starts with a straight on and over the shoulder view, then a straight on view by itself, then an over the shoulder by itself and finally and over the shoulder slo mo. While I was learning, the only one that I was able to follow along with was the over the shoulder slo mo angle which happens to be the last setting on every flourish.
Let?s get into the flourishes.
Rumba: This is one of the more difficult flourishes on the DVD as well as a very quick flourish. This is a 4 packet flourish that resembles a type of tornado flourish with a modified grip.
Golden Gate: This is one of my favorite on the DVD. It is a 3 packet flourish with a unique almost magnetic feel to it. The packets seem to move themselves as they repel each other. This is a fairly simple flourish to learn as well, I learned it in about 20 minutes.
Monaco 2: It always kinda bugs me when they teach the sequel to a cut or flourish without teaching the original. Anyways, this is a fairly complex 4 packet cut that is deceptively easy to learn. It reminds me of the skater cut to some extent and maybe being familiar with it made it easier to learn.
Dizzy: I?m not a real big fan of this flourish but at least this offers some variety. Basically you take 2 cards in the midst of a cut, flip them through your fingers and finish with a propeller like motion. on your thumb. This flourish is very reminiscent of Flicker, Pirouette and the One Card Twirl all performed with 2 cards.
Samba: This feels like Dan and Dave?s sequence Pandora, and could probably be added to that sequence without a problem. The basic flourish is the classic Tornado cut with an interesting reverse action. This one will be tough to learn.
Spitfire: This is a nice flourishy way to get into a Sybil like display with four packets and a flourishy clean up.This one will take some time to learn as well. This is not your basic Sybil from Z grip.
Double Barrell: This is my least favorite kind of flourish. It involves spinning the card in a wobbly circle on your thumb and back of the hand. It?s not incredibly hard to do, you could probably get it down in a day or two, but I don?t like the main part. The final six packet display is nice but I feel like the wobbly card twirls always look just a little sloppy in my opinion.
Merengue: This is a five packet cut. This is fairly generic looking even when the grips and finger placement is new. My hunch is that most magicians and flourishers, let alone laymen, would look at this and confuse it with everything else out there and fail to see this flourishes merit. Then again it is much less static than the classic Sybil and it may suit your style more that what is already out there.
None of the flourishes were extremely ground breaking or jaw dropping. They were impressive by themselves but when compared to what there is already out there there was very little diversity. In every cut as well it is clear that there were influences by Daniel Madison, Kevin Ho, Chris Kenner, Dan and Dave Buck and so on but there were absolutely no credits.
So if you are looking to start flourishing more seriously this DVD is good. Most of the cuts could be learned in a couple weeks or less with a lot of patience. It would have been easier to learn if there was some sort of explanation.