Brad Christian DVD

I am a relatively new to magic having only a few months of any performing under my belt, however I can completely see the value in Brad's style of teaching. Yes, he does spend a lot of time on simple sleights and techniques, but it is great reference material for the fundamentals.

Let's face it most of the magic being performed at all levels today has been written about before by someone in a book. The modernized tech being done today is very impressive, but most are clever variations and combination's of existing ideas. The people coming up with the new material are just very well educated in the classic material. They simply apply it with their years of experience to create "new" effects.

Much like learning mathematics.... you have to get proficient with the basics of addition and subtraction, and division before you can move on to Algebra and on.

The "new" idea of teaching by video is doing nothing more than giving new comers and experienced artists more ability to learn quickly with out having to read through so much material to come up with some good ideas for themselves. Just as books still have a solid place in modern magic to build a foundation on which to build new effects, videos that attempt to teach that same material should not be criticized for their simplicity, but applauded for their attempt to teach "good habits" on which to build your abilities as a magician.

So thank you Brad, and others (T11's awesome 1on1 videos for example), for "over-teaching" your methods, because a simple effect done perfectly will baffle an audience far more often than a difficult "flourishy" one poorly executed.

People don't care if you can do a perfect Pharaoh shuffle... they want you to distract them from the ordinary existence of what is tangible. If just for a second you can suspend their disbelief then you have really done something.

Simple magic is REAL magic.

It's spelled Faro, and if you can tell me what "X" is in this equation I'll give you a dozen virtual cookies: 4X + 8(34 + X) -12 = 146

 
Sep 30, 2008
310
0
34
Pittsburgh
How can they say that Brad doesn't teach things correctly when they didn't know how it was done in the first place? Or if they did know how to do it, and it was taught in a different way than how they learned it, so what? Get over it. It obviously worked for the majority of people that purchased it or E wouldn't be the most profitable magic shop in the U.S. Sponsoring their own reality show on VH1, etc. It reminds me of Wal-mart, once Wal-mart became a mega-power in it's particular market it's stock price stopped doing well and people started negative here-say when in fact they still shopped there weekly. Wal-mart is dissed all the time due to personal bias and it being a large entity in a market that keeps decreasing in size because ma and pa shops are going out of business. E is the largest company in this particular market so negativity will head in it's direction more often than other places.

Zack

That's a great comparison. I like that

Brad Christian's teaching/effect performance style appeals to someone that has no clue about magic, when I was young I thought he was a great teacher because you never had to rewind the tape to see what he taught. But now many of us pick up moves quickly and don't need to watch each little aspect 5 times in a row. So it can get annoying but personally he seems like a cool guy.



-Michael

Brad's DVDs ARE beginner DVDs. He teaches so that it's easy for beginners to learn. Like, if I was a card magician for 10 years, then T11 came out with Aaron Fisher's card fundamentals, why would I buy it? They don't expect advanced magicians to need this.

-Kevin
 
Dec 11, 2008
3
0
It's spelled Faro, and if you can tell me what "X" is in this equation I'll give you a dozen virtual cookies: 4X + 8(34 + X) -12 = 146


Like I said... I am a noob. :) I was just happy to spell the other kind of "Pharaoh" correctly. I'll try and learn to spell it correctly when I learn the shuffle I suppose.
 
Apr 27, 2008
184
1
To answer the OP's question in an opinion form.

Brad is a great guy who is very good at what he does, yes he may hype some of the easier moves a bit to much and he isn't cool in the eyes of younger people but he is good. The stuff he teaches isn't for intermediate to advanced, he teaches beginner moves and some slightly intermediate sleights and some other things like the pass. While the pass isn't in great detail I think that it's fine since I haven't found a DVD teaching the pass like his yet.

E may not be the greatest website especially since they have released a few snoozers here and there but alot of their stuff is exclusive and while some are impratical or w/e they have some amazing effects like the Tagged tricks, X- Finger, Ninjas and Crash Courses for beginners, and some of the older stuff is good. The greatest thing I thought is that if you don't like one of Brad Christians videos you can actually exchange it or trade it in which I haven't seen at a magic store yet.

So to sum it up it all depends on you, your skill level, your understanding, and your ability to accept. If you are new then Brad will be your God for alittle while and then get caught up in the Brad Christian reign of E fanboys and everybody elses downpour of made up *bs* about him. Try him out and see what you like I recommend Crash Course 2 for a good learning guide. Good Luck if you decide to buy something.

Btw the reason they don't mention the names penguin and etc. is for business purposes and so they don't diss penguin. Keeps it neutral for people who hate and love Penguin.
 
Jun 8, 2008
128
1
I think he's a great teacher, He got my started in magic with his crash series,

The only thing i dont like is the guy is always behind the scenes he hasn't put anything out in a LONG time I don't think that is good.
 
Dec 30, 2009
57
0
i personally have 4 of his dvds, i have how to do street magic, king rising levitation, inside magic, and ninja 1, and i think hes an excellent teacher, he goes over everything well, and i admit when you look back after you know it and watch the dvd again your like "wow, do we really need to go over that 4 times?" but he pays attention to little details which can make the magic much better, and when you dont know it, and your just learning to do the sleight it can be helpful.

alot of people may not like him cuz hes not "As young" but i hang out with magicians older than him, and i find them rather interesting, they have had all that time to learn and if you spend all your time arround the younger generation you wont learn as much, i dont care if i dont have all the newer stuff, i like the kind of magic brad teaches because it fits me, alot of stuff i see, it looks really great, but it requires just so much set up, i cant do it the way i perform, most of brads stuff requires verry little setup, and what does require alot of setup i dont do often.

the only real problem i have with grads work is he doesnt give credit on his dvds, the magicians who made it deserve credit if it is at all possible to figure out who originated it, and on the dvds i have it seems he only gives credit if he cna think of who created it off the top of his head, he doesnt take the time to research it to find out...
 
May 9, 2008
603
0
It's spelled Faro, and if you can tell me what "X" is in this equation I'll give you a dozen virtual cookies: 4X + 8(34 + X) -12 = 146



It's spelled Pharoah in certain places, I know because I'm holding a copy of the learning material that spells it this way.
 
Jun 2, 2008
134
0
Dallas, Texas
I had met these 2 other magicians before who were watching me perform. Now these guys were 6 months into it, and had their black and ghost decks ready to perform their greatest trick, sadly hovercard. They were tryin to be all cool and smart by tryin to call me out and acting like they have the "magician eye"(wtf does that mean?) They did not succeed but I did try to be nice and strike conversation with them. I asked these arrogant people all the basics and who their favorite magician was: Brad Christan. Rolling my eyes I walked off. Why do some magicians seem to worship him? He hasnt created anything. He has no original material on dvd. He is rude and oblivious to the art and other performers. He may be a good teacher but does that make him a good performer? Not necessarly! I just wanted to vent myself... I feel better now.
 
Jan 1, 2009
2,241
3
Back in Time
I don't think he's a bad teacher, infact he's a excellent teacher!
But I don't like him only because it seems like he's doing begginer magic that a 12 year old knows and he hypes it up soooooooo much almost like if he just made it look like he just physically vanished the moon or something.
Yeah he's pretty darn good at his sleights BUT I mean with some practice, a child could do the same thing......


Also, when I watch him, I don't feel emotionally connected to him, I feel like I'm watching a trick without being entertained. Instead of creating an emotional experience for the audience I feel like he's only out here to trick us instead of entertain us.

idk if it's like that for anyone else, but that's just my opinion.

News flash, you don't buy Instructional DVD's to feel "emotionally connected" to the teacher. You buy them so you can learn new sleights or effects.

Personally I think he has an OK teacher. After awhile of buying DVD's you start to learn that often times books are usually the best. Because you don't have to deal with the other persons annoying sense of humor (Bill Malone, Jay Sankey.) and they allow you to take your time.

As for the Street Magic DVD. I remember that DVD and it was WAAAAAAAAAAY over priced for what it had. which was barely anything at all. The only other E stuff I have is two other Card magic DVD's and maybe a few David Stone ones.
 
Apr 24, 2010
26
0
I had met these 2 other magicians before who were watching me perform. Now these guys were 6 months into it, and had their black and ghost decks ready to perform their greatest trick, sadly hovercard. They were tryin to be all cool and smart by tryin to call me out and acting like they have the "magician eye"(wtf does that mean?) They did not succeed but I did try to be nice and strike conversation with them. I asked these arrogant people all the basics and who their favorite magician was: Brad Christan. Rolling my eyes I walked off. Why do some magicians seem to worship him? He hasnt created anything. He has no original material on dvd. He is rude and oblivious to the art and other performers. He may be a good teacher but does that make him a good performer? Not necessarly! I just wanted to vent myself... I feel better now.

I was once one of those E fanboys until I realized how pathetic I was, and now I kind of hate Brad Christian for it. I dont mean to be E bias, but I sort of flinch whenever I see him perform now.
 
Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
News flash, you don't buy Instructional DVD's to feel "emotionally connected" to the teacher. You buy them so you can learn new sleights or effects.

I respectfully disagree on two points.

First: I don't believe that instructional DVDs function solely and most importantly as a vehicle for learning new sleights or effects. Especially after one gains more experience, magic ceases to become about sleights or effects, but about thinking. For example, I want to buy Tommy Wonder's Books of Wonder - but I know I would not in a million years perform any of his material. This is just one example of half a dozen that instantly came to mind. This is not to say that we don't buy material to learn sleights or effects, or that we stop doing so - but it's not exclusively the most important thing, or even an important thing, necessarily.

Second: Whilst you may not look for teachers for the sole purpose of gaining an emotional connection, your implication that this emotional connection is therefore not important is incorrect. Someone's performing style is very important if we are indeed to learn the material on the DVD. If we don't think they're doing a good job with the audience, and if the material in their hands doesn't speak to us, I think that's a fairly good indicator about the suitability of the material for the individual.
 
Apr 1, 2009
1,067
1
33
California
I honestly don't mind him. The biggest problem I have is the creepy silence after the trick he has. Yes, he makes a good point about letting the spectators have their reaction. but still, it seems like too much. I've learned a lot from him.
 
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