I think that their flourishes are better than their tricks.
I borrowed the Trilogy from a friend of mine and was very excited because I have been trying to learn impromptu card tricks rather than gimmicked ones like Alpha Deck or election, anything along those lines. Anyways, even as I stare at the Bucks flawless card work I have this feeling that these tricks are just flashy.
They aren't very spectacular tricks, quite a bit of sandwhich effects and transpos, the good ones are card to hand and mouth and hoffzy ozbourne imo. I practice the tricks constantly and while I can perform them very well the reactions from people are simple and somewhat dulled. If you take away the flash then very little is left with the actual trick, and I realllly wanted this not to be, a simple flash of movements that produces some sort of trick. Maybe it's just me. The angles are very sensitive also it seems but misdirection helps.
The teaching on the tricks was subpar also, they went over the easiest things several several times and more of the advanced once or possibly twice which irked me a bit when I was trying to follow along. "To spin the card put your fingers........." and this was said about six times which was so simple then the next move which was very difficult was told once then just quickly repeated.
The flourishes were very good and I am learning nearly all of them. The teaching is about the same but it's a w/e kind of thing.
So while this may have seemed like a review I am just discussing some things that I noticed and was wondering if anybody else had these issues. To clear things up I can perform all tricks except for Queens very well with very little issue, So anybody else see this, or am I just whining about something?
Honestly, I don't really think that this should be a thread to begin with as its sole purpose is to judge two magicians. So I won't be voting. I will say my opinion though. Their flourishes are awesome and overall I do like their style a lot, but only to a certain extent. While their style isn't like mine at all, I still like it. I think they take it a bit far and I honestly think magicians would find their magic more entertaining than a layman. I think their material is AWESOME as far as sleights go. Their performance style I think is pretty cool too. However, like I said, only to a certain extent. I think they take their no patter style too far. I also think sometimes their magic can be a bit too complicated for someone to comprehend. I remember watching Hedbergs Peak for the first time and I had to watch it 2 or 3 times to know what I even just witnessed. I think they are sometimes too fast and could use at least a little bit of patter. Of course, that's just my opinion.
-Doug
You're forgetting the System and a bunch of other stuff they've come out with. Their magic may be flashy, but they do stress that that's their brand. (read the booklet in the Trilogy.) they point out that they don't expect you to go out and perform these tricks, but to take away sleights, ideas and their finesse with a deck of cards and add that to your routines. It's a source of ideas. You want a convincing double you'll find it in those DVDs. You want a good dribble control, its in there. How you apply those to your individual routines is down to you as a performer. Could Dan and Dave perform just about any trick? Sure, they've got all of the sleights, but that's not their style. Their style has made them recognized the world over for what it is. For you however you need to find a way of taking that style and making it your own, or the aspects of that style that you like.
The magic community doesn't need a bunch of Dan and Dave clones, RD is absolutely right. Take what you like from what they offer. The double in Portal has a thousand applications beyond Portal for instance.
So yeah they do have great magic. But I don't think it's repeatable by anyone else that hasn't spent 10 years with a deck of cards in their hands, lol, but you can take aspects of that magic and add it to your established routines and you'll have something special.
I personally don't want to take any one source as my entire inspiration. I want to draw from many sources. Aaron Fisher's no nonsense magic, which is just straight down the line, and not flash, to D+M's ridiculous stage persona, to David Blaine's scarey face, to Wayne Houdin's demeaner when he's performing. You wouldn't try and emulate any one of them, but you may take things from them and add them, make them yours when you are performing them.
This is an unfair question basically. We are -not- in a position to judge D&Ds magic, because I don't think most here have seen them perform live. Their instructional DVDs are just that, instructional, so you can take what you like and leave the rest, but still have a DVD of some great performances.
We've all had reactions like that at some point or another. The guy clearly didn't get the trick. I performed panic (obviously not a D&D trick) for one guy and he was like...."yeah that was kinda neat" I performed it for someone else and they ran away from me and then came back being like..."how the hell, how the hell did that just happen."
It just depends on the person. Some guy that barely speaks English and didn't seem to get the trick not reacting isn't documentary proof that Tivo 2.0 is a bad trick. I've had good reactions to it and I don't perform it anywhere near as well as in that video, lol.
So yeah......I mean really, when you perform their tricks, what reactions do -you- get. That's all that should really concern you as a magician. Some people also don't react! I mean some people internally are made happy by seeing magic but don't scream and yell when they see something. It's an entertainment art. Do you entertain people when you perform these tricks? If so keep doing them, if not, don't, lol, but you can't judge a trick by one guys reactions.
For the record I'm not some D&D fan boy either, lol. I don't go home and watch five hours of the trilogy and learn all their tricks. I like more conventional magic personally, less flash more length, but when in a nightclub, or a loud environment, where patter and a complex trick is impossible due to music volume, I'll smash out one of there's.