Hi Everyone,
I was sent a pre-release copy of this DVD and wow... there is some good content on here! So without further ado... THE REVIEW!
AM/PM by Alex Pandrea & Jonathan Price
The DVD arrived in my mail box today, shipping only took 3 days. Pretty sweet! It comes with a custom-made label which I just had to include, because it made me feel important. (Note:: Helicopter not included)
The DVD Cover looks like this:: (sorry for the flash!)
The back of the DVD is very nicely designed as well, with a cool logo/strip of playing cards, footage "glimpses" and descriptions of the effects. Unfortunately, the flash of the camera was too strong and made the back of the DVD look "not so good...
" so, you'll have to buy it to see the back of the DVD, well not just to see the back, you have to buy it for the effects too!
Effects::
Local- What THEY say: "An empty matchbox becomes full in your spectator's hands. They can examine the box and matches!
What I say:: This is a very clever effect, it does use a gimmick, but it is neither hard to make, nor, impractical. I may even incorporate this into something similar to my BURN (d+M) routine.
Practicality: 8/10
Effect itself: 9/10
Difficulty:4/10
Between the Backpalms- What THEY say: "A spectator's chosen card vanishes from the deck and instantly reappears sandwiched between the magicians and spectator's empty hands.
What I say:: This effect is golden. I would have given at least 20 dollars for this effect alone! It is very well thought out, is very versatile, and get's awesome reactions... trust me on this.
Practicality: 9/10
Effect itself: 10/10
Difficulty: 6/10 *It will take some adjusting/practicing in front of a mirror!*
4OUR- What THEY say: "A quick, visual, and surprising production of four cards, using a neat two card flourish."
What I say:: I like the two card flourish, but since I already have a lot of different ways to produce a four of a kind, it's not really my cup of tea, however, the "flourish" is more of a "top-shotty" move in my opinion, but is a little bit easier and flows well with the routine. You also have to be quite skilled at misdirection in order to accomplish this effect, or, have spectators that follow YOUR hands/the main point where you are focusing the whole time.
Practicality: 10/10
Effect itself: 8/10
Difficulty: 6/10 (the "flourish" is a little bit knacky!)
The Coin Mint- What THEY say:: "A coin is borrowed, signed, quarter is transformed into a Listerine strip. The quarter is then found inside the Listerine pack!
What I say:: My copy of the DVD did not include this trick on it (unfortunately), whether it was my DVD player, or, the disc itself, I am not sure, but I may have skipped over it by accident! I will update this review later on. *Apologies*
Papermate- What THEY say:: A multi-phase pen routine with a kicker ending that they'll never see coming!
What I say:: When they say "NEVER," they MEAN "NEVER!" I was completely astonished by this routine, and the ending was just icing on the cake. Brilliantly routined, and quite versatile as well. You learn a lot of great vanishes/moves with a pen, and you can always take out/switch moves if you need to. I love maniuplating routines and this one is pefect to do.
Practicality: 8/10 (you have to go into your pocket a little bit to much in my opinion, however you can always cut the routine shorter to rid this problem!)
Effect itself: 10/10... yes, it's THAT good *limited to 11 smileys so removed it*
Difficulty: 5/10, a few angly moves that will take a little bit of getting used to, you also have to perform some moves very quickly otherwise it will be ugly... 'Nuff said.
AKT 1- What THEY say:: "An instant transposition of two four of a kinds.
What I say: It's a nice routine. Well structured, and is perfect for people who perform for the elderly, small children, or people hard of hearing. You don't need much patter for this one, the effect speaks for itself. Similar to some effects on AVENUE by Dorian Rhodell, but in my opinion, not only easier, but more practical.
Practicality: 7/10
Effect itself: 8/10 (this is nothing original, just a well-structured transposition.)
Difficulty: 6/10 (eh, a few knacky moves here and there, but overall not too bad.)
The Domino Effect- What THEY say::"A unique take on the "Coper/Silver" plot. A pink sugar packet and a white sugar packet magically switch places between the magician and the spectator's hands."
What I say:: Outstanding. Fooled me when I watched it for sure. It is very visual if you can get the change "up-to-speed," and you end very cleanly.
Practicality: 8/10
Effect itself: 10/10 *PERFECT for Restaurants/Bars*
Difficulty: 5/10 Similar to other "in the hands" transpos, you may need to practice your speed of taking out objects from spectator's hands, but it is definitely worth the practice, I GUARANTEE it *limited to 11 smileys so removed it*.
Cash Back- What THEY say:: "After the magician fails to find a selected card, he puts his money on the line in order to prevail."
What I say:: A magician (fake) failure effect. Love these. Perfect for hecklers, first, make them feel bad that they made you mess up (if they have any sort of heart they will at least feel a bit guilty/bad), but then boost up your self confidence with a kicker ending! Brilliant! Perfect for bar/restaurants.
Practicality: 9/10 (forgot to mention at the beginning, 10 is the MOST practical)
Effect itself:10/10 Awesome *thesaurus's for synonyms of awesome*
Difficulty: 7/10 *some misdirection required* not a big deal though.
Arson- What THEY say:: "A lighter vanishes into the deck to reveal a card, only to pop back out again!"
What I say:: Sort of like the "Worlds Best Card Trick" and the "Hershey Kiss" trick combined. They structured this in an outstanding way. Very well thought out. I was very inspired and made up my own variation of this, which I have already done once and it KILLED!
Practicality: 6/10 (the vanish of the lighter is kinda "iffy" in my opinion)
Effect itself: 9/10 (if you remove the lighter vanish and replace it with some stuff, it is better in my opinion...)
Difficulty: 4/10 (Basic sleight of hand involved, but nothing too bad at all.)
Under and Out- What THEY say:: "A selected card vanishes from under the spectator's hand under truly impossible conditions.
What I say: Impossible conditions is definetly true. It really fooled me the first time I watched it! The effect reveal is a little bit overdone in my opinion, but can be easily manipulated for less of an effect, but a much easier "load." Hard to say more without revealing anything... trust me though, it's worth it!
Practicality: 6/10 Like I said, if you cut out some stuff it works better (in my opinion, the way they did it on the DVD worked great for them though!)
Effect itself: 9/10 //very hard hitting//very nice principle!
Difficulty: 6/10
Final Thoughts::
A great buy. Real world magic, performed LIVE! Yes, LIVE performances are ALL OVER this DVD and I just LOVE that. No dinky little studio performances... The teaching is also pretty good, they have multiple angles and you see as much as you need to see/learn the effect. I perform in a restaurant so this was absolutely perfect for me *limited to 11 smileys so removed it*. The whole thing is shot in HIGH-Definition, the bloopers/outtakes are hilarious too. If you are into real-life performances//enjoy watching "street magic" don't think too hard, just buy it!
I was sent a pre-release copy of this DVD and wow... there is some good content on here! So without further ado... THE REVIEW!
AM/PM by Alex Pandrea & Jonathan Price
The DVD arrived in my mail box today, shipping only took 3 days. Pretty sweet! It comes with a custom-made label which I just had to include, because it made me feel important. (Note:: Helicopter not included)
The DVD Cover looks like this:: (sorry for the flash!)
The back of the DVD is very nicely designed as well, with a cool logo/strip of playing cards, footage "glimpses" and descriptions of the effects. Unfortunately, the flash of the camera was too strong and made the back of the DVD look "not so good...
" so, you'll have to buy it to see the back of the DVD, well not just to see the back, you have to buy it for the effects too!Effects::
Local- What THEY say: "An empty matchbox becomes full in your spectator's hands. They can examine the box and matches!
What I say:: This is a very clever effect, it does use a gimmick, but it is neither hard to make, nor, impractical. I may even incorporate this into something similar to my BURN (d+M) routine.
Practicality: 8/10
Effect itself: 9/10
Difficulty:4/10
Between the Backpalms- What THEY say: "A spectator's chosen card vanishes from the deck and instantly reappears sandwiched between the magicians and spectator's empty hands.
What I say:: This effect is golden. I would have given at least 20 dollars for this effect alone! It is very well thought out, is very versatile, and get's awesome reactions... trust me on this.
Practicality: 9/10
Effect itself: 10/10
Difficulty: 6/10 *It will take some adjusting/practicing in front of a mirror!*
4OUR- What THEY say: "A quick, visual, and surprising production of four cards, using a neat two card flourish."
What I say:: I like the two card flourish, but since I already have a lot of different ways to produce a four of a kind, it's not really my cup of tea, however, the "flourish" is more of a "top-shotty" move in my opinion, but is a little bit easier and flows well with the routine. You also have to be quite skilled at misdirection in order to accomplish this effect, or, have spectators that follow YOUR hands/the main point where you are focusing the whole time.
Practicality: 10/10
Effect itself: 8/10
Difficulty: 6/10 (the "flourish" is a little bit knacky!)
The Coin Mint- What THEY say:: "A coin is borrowed, signed, quarter is transformed into a Listerine strip. The quarter is then found inside the Listerine pack!
What I say:: My copy of the DVD did not include this trick on it (unfortunately), whether it was my DVD player, or, the disc itself, I am not sure, but I may have skipped over it by accident! I will update this review later on. *Apologies*
Papermate- What THEY say:: A multi-phase pen routine with a kicker ending that they'll never see coming!
What I say:: When they say "NEVER," they MEAN "NEVER!" I was completely astonished by this routine, and the ending was just icing on the cake. Brilliantly routined, and quite versatile as well. You learn a lot of great vanishes/moves with a pen, and you can always take out/switch moves if you need to. I love maniuplating routines and this one is pefect to do.
Practicality: 8/10 (you have to go into your pocket a little bit to much in my opinion, however you can always cut the routine shorter to rid this problem!)
Effect itself: 10/10... yes, it's THAT good *limited to 11 smileys so removed it*
Difficulty: 5/10, a few angly moves that will take a little bit of getting used to, you also have to perform some moves very quickly otherwise it will be ugly... 'Nuff said.
AKT 1- What THEY say:: "An instant transposition of two four of a kinds.
What I say: It's a nice routine. Well structured, and is perfect for people who perform for the elderly, small children, or people hard of hearing. You don't need much patter for this one, the effect speaks for itself. Similar to some effects on AVENUE by Dorian Rhodell, but in my opinion, not only easier, but more practical.
Practicality: 7/10
Effect itself: 8/10 (this is nothing original, just a well-structured transposition.)
Difficulty: 6/10 (eh, a few knacky moves here and there, but overall not too bad.)
The Domino Effect- What THEY say::"A unique take on the "Coper/Silver" plot. A pink sugar packet and a white sugar packet magically switch places between the magician and the spectator's hands."
What I say:: Outstanding. Fooled me when I watched it for sure. It is very visual if you can get the change "up-to-speed," and you end very cleanly.
Practicality: 8/10
Effect itself: 10/10 *PERFECT for Restaurants/Bars*
Difficulty: 5/10 Similar to other "in the hands" transpos, you may need to practice your speed of taking out objects from spectator's hands, but it is definitely worth the practice, I GUARANTEE it *limited to 11 smileys so removed it*.
Cash Back- What THEY say:: "After the magician fails to find a selected card, he puts his money on the line in order to prevail."
What I say:: A magician (fake) failure effect. Love these. Perfect for hecklers, first, make them feel bad that they made you mess up (if they have any sort of heart they will at least feel a bit guilty/bad), but then boost up your self confidence with a kicker ending! Brilliant! Perfect for bar/restaurants.
Practicality: 9/10 (forgot to mention at the beginning, 10 is the MOST practical)
Effect itself:10/10 Awesome *thesaurus's for synonyms of awesome*
Difficulty: 7/10 *some misdirection required* not a big deal though.
Arson- What THEY say:: "A lighter vanishes into the deck to reveal a card, only to pop back out again!"
What I say:: Sort of like the "Worlds Best Card Trick" and the "Hershey Kiss" trick combined. They structured this in an outstanding way. Very well thought out. I was very inspired and made up my own variation of this, which I have already done once and it KILLED
! Practicality: 6/10 (the vanish of the lighter is kinda "iffy" in my opinion)
Effect itself: 9/10 (if you remove the lighter vanish and replace it with some stuff, it is better in my opinion...)
Difficulty: 4/10 (Basic sleight of hand involved, but nothing too bad at all.)
Under and Out- What THEY say:: "A selected card vanishes from under the spectator's hand under truly impossible conditions.
What I say: Impossible conditions is definetly true. It really fooled me the first time I watched it! The effect reveal is a little bit overdone in my opinion, but can be easily manipulated for less of an effect, but a much easier "load." Hard to say more without revealing anything... trust me though, it's worth it!
Practicality: 6/10 Like I said, if you cut out some stuff it works better (in my opinion, the way they did it on the DVD worked great for them though!)
Effect itself: 9/10 //very hard hitting//very nice principle!
Difficulty: 6/10
Final Thoughts::
A great buy. Real world magic, performed LIVE! Yes, LIVE performances are ALL OVER this DVD and I just LOVE that. No dinky little studio performances... The teaching is also pretty good, they have multiple angles and you see as much as you need to see/learn the effect. I perform in a restaurant so this was absolutely perfect for me *limited to 11 smileys so removed it*. The whole thing is shot in HIGH-Definition, the bloopers/outtakes are hilarious too. If you are into real-life performances//enjoy watching "street magic" don't think too hard, just buy it!
