Paint the Roses Red - Lewis Le' Val

JD

Jul 5, 2009
638
1
Longview, Texas
Paint the Roses Red is the debut DVD from UK magician Lewis Le' Val.
The DVD contains 7 effects, 4-5 PDFs, and a 45 minute roundtable discussion.

http://www.the1914.com/store/products/paint-the-roses-red/

I want to be clear and honest when I give this review here, so any harsh things I say about this are not meant to be taken to heart.

I do like this DVD, but not for the effects. I will go over each effect and give my honest opinion of each.

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Harmony: This is the effect that fooled the WPR crew and Andy Nyman. A deck is handed to a spectator and asked to name a suit, which they do. You then tell them to take the deck and give it a cut, then a shuffle, and repeat once more. These are 4 genuine mixes by the spectator.
You then have them deal down until they reach the first card containing their suit. You then proceed by telling them what card in their suit will come next with your back turned. You can put any sort of presentation on this that you want.

Thoughts: It's truly an awesome effect. I love it. BUT, it doesn't work when I do certain parts of the trick. If anyone is having trouble with this turning out as it's supposed to, PM and I will give you a very, very simple solution.
This is the BEST effect on the entire DVD, and it was the reason I bought the DVD to begin with.

Curiosity: The spectator secretly conceals their own coins at various locations on their body (left pocket, right pocket and one in their closed fist). The performer is able to divine the location of every coin. As a finale, the date on the third coin is also revealed under seemingly impossible conditions.

Thoughts: This is very similar to Dee Christopher's Loki, but with a twist or two. I do like it, but I'm no coin guy. It's very, very simple. This isn't meant to be astounding, so if you enjoy coins, have a go with it.

Binary: The spectator finds their selected card using an unknown prediction card from another deck. The prediction is then revealed to bear the same value as the original selection and to have even predicted its numerical position in the deck.

Thoughts: I do really like this trick. It is, while simple, very effective and to the point. It has multiple kickers, which I like. Not bad, Lewis.

Off with his Head - During an entertaining exposé of card cheating techniques, the performer finds a royal flush in a deck of cards previously shuffled by the spectator.

Thoughts: When I first saw this in the preview, I brushed it off. I did so because I missed a very important part: When Dee shuffled the deck before the effect. After I watched it again, I liked it. Again, not bad.

Hack – A number force using a spectator’s borrowed phone.

Thoughts: Upon first seeing this, I thought it was dumb. I thought I had it figured out. I was wrong. This is actually very cool. I may use this from now on. Very cool concept.

Caterpillar Control – A flashy card control paying credit to Chris Brown’s Venus Trap.

Thoughts: Like the description says, it's a variation to the Venus Trap control. It's alright, I guess. Lewis does do this very smoothly, so I'll give him that. With that said, the Venus Trap, and this, are very angle sensitive.

Wardrobe Change: Instantly make a card change by popping your T-shirt!

Thoughts: Shouldn't even be on the DVD. They gave no credit to who created the move. If they had done so, I might feel differently, but they didn't. However, Lewis even said this wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

If you wish to see the performances of each effect, you can do so here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WGwS_ssoLmk

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I know I said that I actually liked this DVD, but not for the effects. Here's what I mean by that: The roundtable is worth the price of the DVD. It's Lewis and Dee Christopher discussing various things in magic, and they offer some great advice. It was very refreshing to hear magicians being 'real' for once on a DVD.

Here's what they discuss:

How to tell if a person is left or right handed.

How to sense when a phone is going to ring.

Dissolving situations.

There may be more, but I can't remember it at the moment.

These all have some really great advice in them, and like I said, this stuff is worth the asking price of the DVD.
There are also 4-5 PDF's that go over the roundtable material in depth.

So all in all, it's a great DVD. However, the material wasn't that strong for me, except for Harmony. That effect is awesome. Overall, you get a great deal for what they're asking for price wise. I do recommend this DVD.
 
Jan 12, 2011
20
0
Southern England
Harmony alone is enough to purchase this DVD. It really is worth it for that one effect. I have performed that one trick now for about 6 different groups since getting the DVD yesterday, and everytime have had fantastic reactions. Plus it is super easy to do! This is going straight in my gig on saturday where im going to try and perform it as much as possible.

What i really liked about it was how cut back all patter was. You have to create that yourself which is great to get rid off copycats.

Most of the tricks are quite slow paced, this is perfect for me as it fits my style, however if you are a very fast paced Magician you might want to look into the tricks to make sure they will fit your own style. having said that i still think there is something for everyone on here and the extra knowledge you get would be worth it.

I give this DVD 9/10
 

JD

Jul 5, 2009
638
1
Longview, Texas
Of course. Harmony is worth the price alone. It is fantastic. The advice they gave was better than all the tricks for me. They were being honest and real, as where others are very prude about it, at least from my experiences. I do really like the DVD, as I said, but the material wasn't what I liked the most. I do advise people to get it. Lewis has come out with a great product.
 
Sep 17, 2007
84
1
I watched Harmony and thought it looked a bit similar to an effect by Liam Montier called Henry Sugar. Turns out, it is very similar. So similar in fact that I was shocked to learn that Liam receives no credit on the project. I'm sure Lewis didn't know about Liam's trick. But maybe some sort of crediting arrangement could be worked out. It's just too similar to not credit Liam's effect.

Henry Sugar is available as an ebook at Vanishing Inc.
 

JD

Jul 5, 2009
638
1
Longview, Texas
i agree harmony was the only real effect on the dvd, everything else seems like it was put on the dvd to take up space :/ but hey at penguin they had it at a discount so i cant complain :p

I do agree that Harmony was great, but the roundtable/PDF material was great as well. I really loved that stuff. I also got mine at Penguin.
 
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