I got Crash Course 1 & 2 in the mail yesterday. I was up till 3:00 AM watching them.
Crash Course 1 is good, but it would have impressed me a lot more if I hadn't gotten Wayne Houchin's Art of Magic first. There are a few controls and sleights taught. Then they are used in four different tricks. Finally Brad teaches a way to gimmick a card so you can cut to it over and over.
The best trick is a transposition. The routine shown is great, but well Wayne Houchin's French Kiss blows this and any other transposition away.
There is another excellent trick where you have two spectators each pick a card. You pull one of the cards out of the deck, lay it down, add some theatrics, then you make the card on the table turn into the second spectators card. I will definitely be adding this one to my repertoire of card tricks.
Now Crash Course 2 really blows Crash Course 1 out of the water. First of all it probably has more content than any magic dvd I have ever seen before. Second, the content is amazing. This is actually a very long DVD with a huge amount of controls, sleights, palms, and reveals taught.
Brad starts out teaching various controls and shows you some routines. Then about 1/3rd of the way through the DVD he says "some people are ACR purists and don't believe anything other than the card rising to the top of the deck should be included in an ACR. However, I'm going to show you some other stuff you can add to your routine if you want to." After that the moves just get better and better.
I will be re-watching parts of this DVD over and over for the next month.
My favorite move on the DVD is a reveal that is super easy. Brad goes, "this move was in a book of children's magic tricks I borrowed from the library when I was 10. That means NOTHING! Your spectator will be shocked."
You drop the deck from one hand into the next. The ambitious card lands face up when the deck hits your other hand. As soon as I saw Brad do it, I knew how it was done because of the techniques I learned from Extreme Beginners. However, it looks amazing and I don't think most people would pick up how you did it at all. Very easy move, but looks so cool.
Crash Course 1 is good, but it would have impressed me a lot more if I hadn't gotten Wayne Houchin's Art of Magic first. There are a few controls and sleights taught. Then they are used in four different tricks. Finally Brad teaches a way to gimmick a card so you can cut to it over and over.
The best trick is a transposition. The routine shown is great, but well Wayne Houchin's French Kiss blows this and any other transposition away.
There is another excellent trick where you have two spectators each pick a card. You pull one of the cards out of the deck, lay it down, add some theatrics, then you make the card on the table turn into the second spectators card. I will definitely be adding this one to my repertoire of card tricks.
Now Crash Course 2 really blows Crash Course 1 out of the water. First of all it probably has more content than any magic dvd I have ever seen before. Second, the content is amazing. This is actually a very long DVD with a huge amount of controls, sleights, palms, and reveals taught.
Brad starts out teaching various controls and shows you some routines. Then about 1/3rd of the way through the DVD he says "some people are ACR purists and don't believe anything other than the card rising to the top of the deck should be included in an ACR. However, I'm going to show you some other stuff you can add to your routine if you want to." After that the moves just get better and better.
I will be re-watching parts of this DVD over and over for the next month.
My favorite move on the DVD is a reveal that is super easy. Brad goes, "this move was in a book of children's magic tricks I borrowed from the library when I was 10. That means NOTHING! Your spectator will be shocked."
You drop the deck from one hand into the next. The ambitious card lands face up when the deck hits your other hand. As soon as I saw Brad do it, I knew how it was done because of the techniques I learned from Extreme Beginners. However, it looks amazing and I don't think most people would pick up how you did it at all. Very easy move, but looks so cool.