Overpriced? Brad Henderson hit the nail on the head. These videos are designed and created with unparalleled quality and attention to detail, and they're intended for those truly serious about learning, practicing, and perfecting this artform.
Earlier in this thread, someone brought up the topic of the Zarrow Shuffle. The Zarrow Shuffle DVD (Herb's original video) goes for $35. Herb Zarrow's incredible book (A LifeTime of Magic - in which 40+ pages are devoted to the shuffle) goes for $125. Our 1-on-1 with Jason is one of the ONLY other authorized publications of the move, and it's $12.95. That's less than half of the other two instructional options, and is an amazing resource for those beginning to study the technique.
I think there's two misconceptions here that should be addressed. Firstly, you are not paying for Jason to hold a deck in front of the camera and read to you, from the pages of Erdnase or otherwise, how to do a Pass. He could show you the basic technique in 30 seconds, and we could charge 99 cents for it. You're also not paying for instruction from someone unqualified to teach it - which is a trend ubiquitious on YouTube and several other instructional magic sites.
What you're paying for is experience. You're a guitar player, and you're paying $10 for the opportunity to watch Van Halen tell you how to play that guitar properly. You're an artist, and you're listening to Rembrandt, Manet, or Monet tell you how to move that paint brush. Jason England probably sucks at guitar, and probably sucks at painting. But damn, he is one of the best card mechanics ALIVE. And he's one of the most well read in the world.
When you watch his videos, you're getting the fruit of that labor. You're hearing him talk about the finer points of these moves. How they REALLY work - not the basic mechanics. How to make them deceptive. Alternative handlings. Additional applications only found in rare manuscripts that he - not you - has studied. He's done a lot of the legwork for you; he has that experience; he is - and this term is often overused - a true expert. Let that word sink in for a moment.
This is a guy that is flown around the world to lecture on these techniques for thousands of dollars. Don't believe me? As I write this, he's in Tokyo lecturing right now. Soon, he'll be presenting at a conference in Italy with Steve Forte (his best friend and mentor), Bill Kalush (founder of the Conjuring Arts Research Center), and R. Paul Wilson.
All of that stuff is built in. All of that knowledge is jammed into these videos packed with information in 30 to 35 minutes. And all of it's available for about the same price I just paid for a Mocha Latte at Starbucks about an hour ago. Expensive? No way. Bargain. And worth every penny.
Earlier in this thread, someone brought up the topic of the Zarrow Shuffle. The Zarrow Shuffle DVD (Herb's original video) goes for $35. Herb Zarrow's incredible book (A LifeTime of Magic - in which 40+ pages are devoted to the shuffle) goes for $125. Our 1-on-1 with Jason is one of the ONLY other authorized publications of the move, and it's $12.95. That's less than half of the other two instructional options, and is an amazing resource for those beginning to study the technique.
I think there's two misconceptions here that should be addressed. Firstly, you are not paying for Jason to hold a deck in front of the camera and read to you, from the pages of Erdnase or otherwise, how to do a Pass. He could show you the basic technique in 30 seconds, and we could charge 99 cents for it. You're also not paying for instruction from someone unqualified to teach it - which is a trend ubiquitious on YouTube and several other instructional magic sites.
What you're paying for is experience. You're a guitar player, and you're paying $10 for the opportunity to watch Van Halen tell you how to play that guitar properly. You're an artist, and you're listening to Rembrandt, Manet, or Monet tell you how to move that paint brush. Jason England probably sucks at guitar, and probably sucks at painting. But damn, he is one of the best card mechanics ALIVE. And he's one of the most well read in the world.
When you watch his videos, you're getting the fruit of that labor. You're hearing him talk about the finer points of these moves. How they REALLY work - not the basic mechanics. How to make them deceptive. Alternative handlings. Additional applications only found in rare manuscripts that he - not you - has studied. He's done a lot of the legwork for you; he has that experience; he is - and this term is often overused - a true expert. Let that word sink in for a moment.
This is a guy that is flown around the world to lecture on these techniques for thousands of dollars. Don't believe me? As I write this, he's in Tokyo lecturing right now. Soon, he'll be presenting at a conference in Italy with Steve Forte (his best friend and mentor), Bill Kalush (founder of the Conjuring Arts Research Center), and R. Paul Wilson.
All of that stuff is built in. All of that knowledge is jammed into these videos packed with information in 30 to 35 minutes. And all of it's available for about the same price I just paid for a Mocha Latte at Starbucks about an hour ago. Expensive? No way. Bargain. And worth every penny.