OK. I honestly have to say that this is one of my most favorite penguinmagic produced DVD's that I have. If you are a stand up performer then this is the way to go. Gary most definitly knows what he is doing. If you are willing to put a little bit of time and daily practice into the stuff that you like on this DVD, Then you will be getting lai-I mean paid a lot more.
DVD case and all graphics: 4/4 This whole DVD looks awesome. One of the best I have seen from penguin in my personal feelings. I Really liked the simplicity in it all. It revolves around the entire plot of the DVD. It is all a dollar bill basically. The graphics and titles in it are basically a bar that comes up and looks like a dollar.
Performances: 3/4 I liked the way he performed it all but he seemed a little bit stiff. It is his performance style but i dont mind. I like the whole idea of his show and the tricks he likes to use. He takes this little close up tricks and puts them on a platform and makes it visual to 2 or 300 people. He performed it all well and the audience liked it so thats really all that counts.
The Teaching: 3/4 I cant really complain about the teaching. He teaches it well but he goes very fast. You always have a god visual aid of what he is really doing and works you through it which is great. There is a 2 angle shot and penguin navigates you through what you are supposed to be doing. He goes fast but you have the DVD so you can watch it whenever you like. I have been watching it almost every day and I have learned everything except the sleeving and the palming.
cigar routine 3/4 I liked this routine. It is one of the simplest to do out of them all. basically you produce 2 cigars from one tiny purse, put one away and it appears back in the hand, shoot one up the nose, produce it from your ear, try lighting it but realize it is all twisted up, untwist it, light it, make the lighter vanish, then try cutting the cigar but your finger gets chopped off. you pick it up and realize it is your finger, you make the gap in your hand jump, then you put the finger back on. I really liked this routine. It is one of my favorites to watch him perform. Takes some practice but it is a great opener.
tower of power 2/4 I honostly did not like this routine. You have them choose a card, replace it, then a pyramid of cards appears at your fingertips, none are there card, you put the deck away and take the 3 cards. You change them all into the spectators card like 10 times and then put them away. I didnt like it. I cant stand watching it because its just so fast and boring and the way he does it just bugs be. there are some weird movements and i dont like it.
On the up and up 3/4 If you have bigger hands then this will be good for you. it is a 3 card rising card deck without the gimmicks. basically it is just a sleight to use. it is a good sleight and when you do it well and you have better motions than gary, you can get a nice piece of magic. I cant do it unfortunately because my hands are too small but I get around it. Im pretty sure that Chris Kenner took this sleight and renamed it and told people it is his own. I dont have the book but I saw the performance and it is basically the same thing except he does it with one card.
Standing triumph variation/the travelers 2/4 3/4 I was a bit confused when I first got this because the travelers isnt even recognized in the DVD. It is a part of the standing triumph variation but it isnt named. oh well. I hated the triumph. but the good thing is that you really put the cards face up into face down but if you are trying to do this stand up or platform, it wont work. It is basically 3 chosen cards, the deck is shuffled then shuffled face up/face down, cut some more, then the cards rise, then you cut the deck some more, the cards are replaced, the deck turns face up except one card, that card tells you where the other 4 cards are and now you are into the travelers which is basically a really nice card to pocket idea.
Fickle card 2/4 I gotta say that this effect is actually a bit boring. 2 cards are chosen and shuffled in undoubtfully. a card is turned over from the top of the deck and it shown to be not theirs. but it mysteriously changes into one of the cards. then you chance it into the other card ect. If you want to do a simple trick then this is good but you need to know a rather hard sleight to do it. I cant do it because hand size. gary's hands were probablly ceated by brian tudor cuz they are huge.
spellbound 4/4My most favorite thing from this entire DVD. It is a simple spellbound routine. a coin changes from silver to copper back to silver again and BAM! you slam your finger strait through the coin. the spectator pulls it off and you can take it from there. I love watching this. His presentation for the karate coin is fantastic and I think that if you take the time to learn this then it is a great addition to any close up show. you do need to sleeve a coin for this but dont get turned off. you can additionally hold out with the coin in the end. But the good thing is it uses a rarely used sleight that replaces the basic spellbound routine. and it all mixes into each other. each phase has a meaning of being there which I love.
top stock false shuffle 4/4 This was originally created by steve forte but gary got permission to use it in this DVD and I believe in his previous dvd, Four play. It is a great way to retain multiple sets of cards inside the deck in a not so fancy but classy and professional way of shuffling the deck. I will be using this in my table card tricks.
S.W elevator 1/4 This is basically another way of performing Chris Kenners effect from his book. The card sticking out in the middle visually rises. Gary does a terrible job explaining it but his presentation makes up for it. I cant even do the trick yet because he spends like 10 seconds showing you the grip from the side angle which basically doesent even show you the grip. He then tells you that is the card is sticking out enough then the whole trick is virtually self working. I got this trick almost down but with a diferent way of doing it.
Impromptu invisible deck 1/4 The only thing that makes this a new trick is that he throws in like 10 extra sleights that are all entirelly unnecessary. I believe gary has you peek at a card then shuffle the deck and he does all these bizzare sleights that you dont even need to do. There has been a lot of work put into the impromptu invisible deck that is all way better than this. but if you like to work tough and practice than feel free to use this. But I feel like it is a waste of time.
So there is part one of my 2 part review of Gary Norsigian's dvd, tricks that will get you paid. Overall I give this a 3/4 volume 1. volume 2 is coming in a day or so. I highly reccomend both.
DVD case and all graphics: 4/4 This whole DVD looks awesome. One of the best I have seen from penguin in my personal feelings. I Really liked the simplicity in it all. It revolves around the entire plot of the DVD. It is all a dollar bill basically. The graphics and titles in it are basically a bar that comes up and looks like a dollar.
Performances: 3/4 I liked the way he performed it all but he seemed a little bit stiff. It is his performance style but i dont mind. I like the whole idea of his show and the tricks he likes to use. He takes this little close up tricks and puts them on a platform and makes it visual to 2 or 300 people. He performed it all well and the audience liked it so thats really all that counts.
The Teaching: 3/4 I cant really complain about the teaching. He teaches it well but he goes very fast. You always have a god visual aid of what he is really doing and works you through it which is great. There is a 2 angle shot and penguin navigates you through what you are supposed to be doing. He goes fast but you have the DVD so you can watch it whenever you like. I have been watching it almost every day and I have learned everything except the sleeving and the palming.
cigar routine 3/4 I liked this routine. It is one of the simplest to do out of them all. basically you produce 2 cigars from one tiny purse, put one away and it appears back in the hand, shoot one up the nose, produce it from your ear, try lighting it but realize it is all twisted up, untwist it, light it, make the lighter vanish, then try cutting the cigar but your finger gets chopped off. you pick it up and realize it is your finger, you make the gap in your hand jump, then you put the finger back on. I really liked this routine. It is one of my favorites to watch him perform. Takes some practice but it is a great opener.
tower of power 2/4 I honostly did not like this routine. You have them choose a card, replace it, then a pyramid of cards appears at your fingertips, none are there card, you put the deck away and take the 3 cards. You change them all into the spectators card like 10 times and then put them away. I didnt like it. I cant stand watching it because its just so fast and boring and the way he does it just bugs be. there are some weird movements and i dont like it.
On the up and up 3/4 If you have bigger hands then this will be good for you. it is a 3 card rising card deck without the gimmicks. basically it is just a sleight to use. it is a good sleight and when you do it well and you have better motions than gary, you can get a nice piece of magic. I cant do it unfortunately because my hands are too small but I get around it. Im pretty sure that Chris Kenner took this sleight and renamed it and told people it is his own. I dont have the book but I saw the performance and it is basically the same thing except he does it with one card.
Standing triumph variation/the travelers 2/4 3/4 I was a bit confused when I first got this because the travelers isnt even recognized in the DVD. It is a part of the standing triumph variation but it isnt named. oh well. I hated the triumph. but the good thing is that you really put the cards face up into face down but if you are trying to do this stand up or platform, it wont work. It is basically 3 chosen cards, the deck is shuffled then shuffled face up/face down, cut some more, then the cards rise, then you cut the deck some more, the cards are replaced, the deck turns face up except one card, that card tells you where the other 4 cards are and now you are into the travelers which is basically a really nice card to pocket idea.
Fickle card 2/4 I gotta say that this effect is actually a bit boring. 2 cards are chosen and shuffled in undoubtfully. a card is turned over from the top of the deck and it shown to be not theirs. but it mysteriously changes into one of the cards. then you chance it into the other card ect. If you want to do a simple trick then this is good but you need to know a rather hard sleight to do it. I cant do it because hand size. gary's hands were probablly ceated by brian tudor cuz they are huge.
spellbound 4/4My most favorite thing from this entire DVD. It is a simple spellbound routine. a coin changes from silver to copper back to silver again and BAM! you slam your finger strait through the coin. the spectator pulls it off and you can take it from there. I love watching this. His presentation for the karate coin is fantastic and I think that if you take the time to learn this then it is a great addition to any close up show. you do need to sleeve a coin for this but dont get turned off. you can additionally hold out with the coin in the end. But the good thing is it uses a rarely used sleight that replaces the basic spellbound routine. and it all mixes into each other. each phase has a meaning of being there which I love.
top stock false shuffle 4/4 This was originally created by steve forte but gary got permission to use it in this DVD and I believe in his previous dvd, Four play. It is a great way to retain multiple sets of cards inside the deck in a not so fancy but classy and professional way of shuffling the deck. I will be using this in my table card tricks.
S.W elevator 1/4 This is basically another way of performing Chris Kenners effect from his book. The card sticking out in the middle visually rises. Gary does a terrible job explaining it but his presentation makes up for it. I cant even do the trick yet because he spends like 10 seconds showing you the grip from the side angle which basically doesent even show you the grip. He then tells you that is the card is sticking out enough then the whole trick is virtually self working. I got this trick almost down but with a diferent way of doing it.
Impromptu invisible deck 1/4 The only thing that makes this a new trick is that he throws in like 10 extra sleights that are all entirelly unnecessary. I believe gary has you peek at a card then shuffle the deck and he does all these bizzare sleights that you dont even need to do. There has been a lot of work put into the impromptu invisible deck that is all way better than this. but if you like to work tough and practice than feel free to use this. But I feel like it is a waste of time.
So there is part one of my 2 part review of Gary Norsigian's dvd, tricks that will get you paid. Overall I give this a 3/4 volume 1. volume 2 is coming in a day or so. I highly reccomend both.