(RE: Digital Dissolve, I know the on-going debate about Digital Dissolve but I'm going to review the effect as a whole without regard to the current debate.)
Digital Dissolve
Description: A copper old english penny and a silver american half dollar are shown - front and back - The silver coin is placed into the spectators (or performers) closed fist and the copper coin rested on the back of the hand leaning on the performers thumb. With a rub, the coin is visually seen to transpose into the silver coin, it is immediately shown front and back. What is left in the spectators hand?... The copper coin they just saw. - Everything is completely examinable at the end of the effect
Difficulty: On a scale of 1-10 (1 being easiest, 10 being hardest) I'd say probably about a 3-4 to get it smooth and performable. Clean up is as easy as performing it, seriously.
Method: Yes, there is a gimmick but don't think it's going to do it all for you
the method itself is brilliant. I'm almost completely new to coin magic but this is one of the best coin transposition effects I've seen - And completely examinable too! In Digital Dissolve what you see in the preview is pretty much almost exactly what you get.
The DVD Itself
Performance: First of all we get to see the people Dan peforms to in the preview. (This is the only performance I've yet to see on the DVD but there may be more in easter eggs or something) He starts off by doing a card trick that is similar (if not the same as) to Here then There from Crash Course 1 (And other sources, CC1 is just where I learned from). Then he says he'll slow it down for them, and introduces the coins. He shows them front and back before placing them into the spectators fist and pulling the copper coin out, he then goes into the effect which I assume you already know (being as I have already outlined it here) so I won't go into that. Dan gets GREAT reactions from this and one guy runs off (I don't blame him) and refuses to come back even though the others comfort him: "It's okay!!"
Teaching: Dan White is a very good teacher, he takes you through everything you get, how to use it and then puts it all together. Once taking you through your new toys, he goes on to the core move.
The Core Move: The core move is simple, but is what makes the effect so very nice, I say simple, and it is, but it's going to take some praciticing to get down smooth and natural. There are then two handlings which are taught one with the coins in the spectators hand and one with the coins in your own hand.
Version 1: The first version is great, everything happens in the spectators hand and is just pure magic; the coins are placed in their hand and you pull one out and proceed with the effect. Everything is handed out for examination immediately. The misdirection for your clean up is perfect, absolutely flawless if you know what you're doing with a crowd.
Version 2: This second version happens entirely in your own hands. Dan teaches you the One-Handed Toss, this is a move which displays the two coins at your finger tips, one coin is thrown into your hand which is then closed and turned face down and the other is rested on top such as in Version 1. The effect is continued with as normal. Clean up on this one is slightly harder, I think, and you're going to need a tad more misdirection to get rid of what you need to.
Angles: The only bad angles I can think of for this effect are directly beneath you and to the sides of you if you're not careful. If you can manage an audience well so they get to see the effect from the best possible view, you'll be fine.
Clean-Up: As I've described in both versions, the clean-up is relatively easy but each will require a calculated amount of misdirection. Nothing you can't handle though, I'm sure.
Quality: Great quality, shot in HD. Nothing more I can say, I love the quality of Theory11's videos.
Cost: The cost of this effect is tremendous value for money I think, the quality of the gimmick and DVD is well worth the price.
Overall: 9/10 (10/10 is reserved for real magic)
##DISTORTION REVIEW IS THE NEXT POST DOWN##
Digital Dissolve
Description: A copper old english penny and a silver american half dollar are shown - front and back - The silver coin is placed into the spectators (or performers) closed fist and the copper coin rested on the back of the hand leaning on the performers thumb. With a rub, the coin is visually seen to transpose into the silver coin, it is immediately shown front and back. What is left in the spectators hand?... The copper coin they just saw. - Everything is completely examinable at the end of the effect
Difficulty: On a scale of 1-10 (1 being easiest, 10 being hardest) I'd say probably about a 3-4 to get it smooth and performable. Clean up is as easy as performing it, seriously.
Method: Yes, there is a gimmick but don't think it's going to do it all for you
the method itself is brilliant. I'm almost completely new to coin magic but this is one of the best coin transposition effects I've seen - And completely examinable too! In Digital Dissolve what you see in the preview is pretty much almost exactly what you get.The DVD Itself
Performance: First of all we get to see the people Dan peforms to in the preview. (This is the only performance I've yet to see on the DVD but there may be more in easter eggs or something) He starts off by doing a card trick that is similar (if not the same as) to Here then There from Crash Course 1 (And other sources, CC1 is just where I learned from). Then he says he'll slow it down for them, and introduces the coins. He shows them front and back before placing them into the spectators fist and pulling the copper coin out, he then goes into the effect which I assume you already know (being as I have already outlined it here) so I won't go into that. Dan gets GREAT reactions from this and one guy runs off (I don't blame him) and refuses to come back even though the others comfort him: "It's okay!!"
Teaching: Dan White is a very good teacher, he takes you through everything you get, how to use it and then puts it all together. Once taking you through your new toys, he goes on to the core move.
The Core Move: The core move is simple, but is what makes the effect so very nice, I say simple, and it is, but it's going to take some praciticing to get down smooth and natural. There are then two handlings which are taught one with the coins in the spectators hand and one with the coins in your own hand.
Version 1: The first version is great, everything happens in the spectators hand and is just pure magic; the coins are placed in their hand and you pull one out and proceed with the effect. Everything is handed out for examination immediately. The misdirection for your clean up is perfect, absolutely flawless if you know what you're doing with a crowd.
Version 2: This second version happens entirely in your own hands. Dan teaches you the One-Handed Toss, this is a move which displays the two coins at your finger tips, one coin is thrown into your hand which is then closed and turned face down and the other is rested on top such as in Version 1. The effect is continued with as normal. Clean up on this one is slightly harder, I think, and you're going to need a tad more misdirection to get rid of what you need to.
Angles: The only bad angles I can think of for this effect are directly beneath you and to the sides of you if you're not careful. If you can manage an audience well so they get to see the effect from the best possible view, you'll be fine.
Clean-Up: As I've described in both versions, the clean-up is relatively easy but each will require a calculated amount of misdirection. Nothing you can't handle though, I'm sure.
Quality: Great quality, shot in HD. Nothing more I can say, I love the quality of Theory11's videos.
Cost: The cost of this effect is tremendous value for money I think, the quality of the gimmick and DVD is well worth the price.
Overall: 9/10 (10/10 is reserved for real magic)
##DISTORTION REVIEW IS THE NEXT POST DOWN##
