RESTLESS - dan hauss

what.IS RESTLESS

Back in 2007 Dan Hauss brought up the idea of doing a massive film project unlike anything else on the market. The idea was simple, to make a multi-volume DVD set packed with effects that could be released on their own. Over three years have passed and the dream has become a reality.

Restless is the result of many sleepless nights where Dan created some truly unique and sometimes bizarre magic. On these DVDs there is magic with shoe strings, gum, name tags, water bottles, matches, straws, candy, coffee creamers and many other ordinary everyday objects. Plus fans of Sleeping Queen and Lit will get a deeper look at the visual and unusual card magic of Dan Hauss. We are extremely proud to present this set of unique, practical and unforgettable magic from one of magic's fastest rising stars.

my.FIRST IMPRESSIONS

When I first learned of Dan Hauss's RESTLESS I couldn't wait. After viewin the downloads, this is all I had to say:

"There are no words to describe the creative force before Dan Hauss. His out-of-the-box thinking, and his out-of-this-world workings behind his effects makes him like no other out there. He's like the prize in a cereal box, you don't know what you're going to get, but you know it's going to be good!"

NOTE: Now, this isn't going to be a traditional review, but I wanted to post my inital thoughts on Volume 1 to begin with. I'll be updating this weekly with each Volume, when I get to play around with everything more. But the REAL POINT as to why I'm posting this is because some effects on the downloads suited me better then others. I want to post a COMPLETELY HONEST review about my thoughts on RESTLESS so far.

So, let's begin...

the.TEACHING

Dan Hauss goes REALLY in-depth with everything. I was also glad to see Dan Hauss in action when he performed some of the effects. He explains EVERYTHING you'll need, and he takes you step-by-step with the construction of the gimmicks, and set-ups you'll need to get into each effect. Dan Hauss also throws in a few tib-bits of humour throughout the video.

the.VIDEO

RESTLESS is all put together in Papercrane format, which is FIRST CLASS. I also wanted to note that I am a fan of the music that runs throughout the download. Also, I wanted to say that Volume 1 runs at 2 HOURS.

the.EFFECTS

Box Prediction- Dan's ultra clean change of one card for another uses an incredibly simple gimmick that you can use for many different routines. This is one of the most convincing in the hands change your spectators will ever see.

*Box Prediction is one of the effects that I REALLY like so far in Volume 1. You'll need a few items in order to construct the gimmick for Box Prediction, but it will only take you around 5-10 minutes. The advantage that I REALLY enjoyed in Box Prediction is the fact that EVERYTHING is self-contained. I also like the fact that you can show the inside of the box before and after the change begins. Dan Hauss teaches you 2 versions; one with the cellophane and one without the cellophane needed. I prefer the former. The version that doesn't include the cellophane is too "risky", while with the one with cellophane is a lot easier, and cleaner in my opinion.

Blurred- SPECTATORS WILL NOT BELIEVE THEIR EYES... seriously. In this routine a spectator concentrates on a bottle and stares at the label. Shortly after they begin to look the label becomes blurry and then back to its normal state. Unbelievable.

*Blurred sparked my interest while I saw a glimpse of it in the demo. The ad is write when they say it's unbelievable. This looks unreal in reality, than it does in the video. The only disadvantage I find in Blurred is the fact that the bottle isn't examinable, but there is a time and place for this, though. This effect will work wonders in any enviroment; street, parties, on-the-go, so that makes up for the fact that it isn't examinable. The idea behind Blurred is very clever, and one of those ideas where you say, "Why didn't I think of that?" Dan Hauss also explains that this will work great alongside Flow, another effect released by Dan Hauss, which should also definitely be picked up. The 'gimmick' for Blurred should only cost you a few bucks, but for an effect like this, it's worth it. And the fact that Blurred is sooo easy to perform, you'll be crazy not to check this out.

Tourist 1- Awesome souvenir routine, a corner of a card is torn, the card is signed as well as the one below. The restoration happens in the spectators hand and the signed card now has half of the other card permanently attached.

*I am a fan of the T&R plot, and I like the direction that Dan has taken with it. Tourist 1 will require you to obtain a few gaff cards, but the fact that the card is signed by TWO spectators makes Tourist 1 very powerful. I probably won't perform this as much as Dan Hauss, but I do see myself performing this sometime in the near future. The 'gimmick' for Tourist 1 is very, very clever, and one of those, "LOL-That's ridiculous" thoughts, but this fools. The subtleties that Dan also includes make this T&R workable, and believable.

Unmatched- Eric Jones stops by to help us out with a great handling of Dan's awesome effect with a pack of matches. A empty pack of matches is shown very clean, front and back. The magician closes the pack and opens it to reveal that the pack of matches is now full.

*In the beginning, you see a performance clip of Eric Jones performing this, and WOW! this is GOOD. The effect in performance is beautiful. One second you see NO matches, and just in a snap, there's a matchbook FULL of matches. It certainly plays our like it's written. You'll need a few items, whcih are easily avaliable. In order to construct the matchbook in order to perform Unmatched, it will average around 10 minutes, or less. The workings behind this is very ingenious.

Dan teaches you a few versions, one being a straight forward and direct performance, which has a slight angle problem. The other version Dan teaches, is quite similar to the first, just the matchbook is held at a different angle, but still has the angle problem. Dan also includes two versions where the last reamaining match is taken from the matchbook, lit, and waved over the matchbook, to show it has become a full matchbook again. The other version plays out something along the lines of LIT, the last remanining match is taken out, lit, settled to burn, eaten, and when you open the matchbook, not only do you find the matchbook full again, but with the burnt match inside. The last version Dan teaches you is a Wipe Vanish; you show a full matchbook pack, wipe the matches with your hands, and all the matches have vanished.

We then see Eric Jones teach his handling. Eric's handling allows you to perform Unmatched with you facing the audience and holding the matchbook in a natural aspect. The handling is very easy and allows you to show both the front and back of the matchbook, also. I favor Eric's handling at the moment, but I enjoyed Dan's Unmatched.

Billiard- A wager is offered of a dollar that you will be able to find their card. After an unsuccessful attempt to find their card you change the wrong card into a dollar bill. This is a great, visual way to introduce money into your close up routine. Dollar not included. 2 great versions of this effect are explained.

*This is essentially a "bet you a dollar" effect. This was also another that sparked my interest in the demo. Along with Box Prediction, and Unmatched, Billiard is my third favorite. You'll have everything in order to perform Billiard, and it will only take you around 5 minutes in order to construct everything. It's pretty simple, actually, and the set-up will take only a matter of seconds. Dan teaches you 2 versions; one where you flip the card on a surface and it changes into the dollar bill, and a second version where you throw the card in the air, and once you catch it, it changes into the dollar bill. Both had A LOT of potential. I enjoyed both versions taught; while the flipping version will only take a few seconds to master it, the air version will take some practice to get down perfectly, but it's visually impressive that it smacks the spectators in the face... it's very unexpected, and that's what makes Billiard so good. The clean-up is very easy, and you're left very clean.

Hello My Card Is- Super clean; super commercial routine. A signed card is found in a completely impossible location, under your name tag.

*While this a nice, and commerical effect, this one fell flat for me. I feel that there's too much involved in order to perform this. I feel that the justification for the effect lacks a bit, and the set-up and construction involved doesn't do this effect a lot of justice. I like how their card appears under the nametag, but it's not for me. I'll leave it at that.

Pack Attack- A piece of gum penetrates an unopened pack of gum in the most visual way.

If you own Sleeping Queen, the you'll know that Dan is a fan of magic involving gum. I like the visual, and casual aspect to Pack Attack. The set-up will only take you around 60 seconds; nothing to hard. I also like the fact that once you penetrate the pack of gum, and take the gum back out, you open the pack to show that it's free of any slits, and the gum inside is completely ok. Very easy to perform, also. And magic with a normal everyday and common item, Pack Attack works perfectly.

creating.MAGIC

This is a section where Dan Hauss talks about creating magic. He admits that while he is one to create good magic, he isn't always the best at creating patter, and routining the effect perfectly. But the reason as to why Dan creates his magic is to see how everyone differs in the way they improve or perform one of Dan's effect, and that's what really matters to him. A nice, and very short listen.

the.CONCLUSION

Well, those are my initial thoughts on Restless-Volume 1 so far. 3 years behind-the-scenes and I have to say, this was worth it! At the end of the video we see a few funny scenes with Dan and the Papercrane crew. Like I said before, I'll be updating this weekly. So, out of V1, I enjoyed Box Prediction, Unmatched, Billiard... and I'll throw in Blurred. So 4 out of the 7 effects included, not bad at all. As you can see, I got more out of V1 than I woulnd't have. To go inside the crazy, and creative mad-man mind of Dan Hauss was a very nice treat. I'll give V1... 8/10.

the.LINK

http://papercranemagic.com/restless.htm

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I WANT THIS RIGHT NOW. SERIOUSLY.

Anyway, yeah. If you didn't know, I REALLY want this. I GOTTA save up some cash for this one.

Great review! Can't wait for the next.

Thank you very much for the kind words.

Believe me when I say that you won't be disappointed with RESTLESS.

Dan Hauss is one of the very few who actually thinks 'out-of-the-box' and to be able to dwell into his mind and see what has been in the works for 3 years is EXTRAORDINARY.

RESTLESS gets my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.

I just watched this yesterday. Great stuff. We'll have it at Penguin very soon (if we don't already ).

Acar

GREAT to hear that Penguin will be stocking RESTLESS.

I actually saw this demo and wanted it, which is rare for me. I used to think down on Dan Hauss but now it seems like he is pretty respectable

HAHA; that's how I felt, too, when I watched the demo, but also because I am also a Dan Hauss fan I felt that NEEDED this.

On a side note, I find a lot of paper crane DVDs feel like "arts 'n crafts hour" but a) that's not inherently a bad thing, and b) it's cool that you can make "stuff" with what you learn.

Well, not off of Papercrane's DVDs have an "arts 'n crafts section" in them, LOL, but I do enjoy following along with the DVD to create the needed item to perform the effect... it can be pretty fun, HAHA, especially because there's this anticipation inside you when building the prop.

Hey guys, I see Dan once every 6 weeks or so (we live in the same general area) and last time I saw him I saw him do just a couple of the effects off of "Restless" and they were so cool to watch. I think this project is gonna be a goldmine!

-Ari

Afelbs, do you go to Trick Zone when he performs? I have yet to go since the shows are unconvieniently scheduled on Thursday nights late, but maybe during the summer I'll get to see him.

I sure do! im freinds with the owner and Dan performs there quite a lot. He also hangs out down there at times. It is a good show and atmosphere.

Deffinetly let me know when you are going to attend or if you want to meet down there sometime, I would love to put a face to your user name and make a freind in magic.

Where do you live? How old are you?

I live in Lower Merion, I am about a 25 minute or so drive from TrickZone.

Here is my review for Volume 2 -

RESTLESS - dan hauss

what.IS RESTLESS

Back in 2007 Dan Hauss brought up the idea of doing a massive film project unlike anything else on the market. The idea was simple, to make a multi-volume DVD set packed with effects that could be released on their own. Over three years have passed and the dream has become a reality.

Restless is the result of many sleepless nights where Dan created some truly unique and sometimes bizarre magic. On these DVDs there is magic with shoe strings, gum, name tags, water bottles, matches, straws, candy, coffee creamers and many other ordinary everyday objects. Plus fans of Sleeping Queen and Lit will get a deeper look at the visual and unusual card magic of Dan Hauss. We are extremely proud to present this set of unique, practical and unforgettable magic from one of magic's fastest rising stars.

So, let's begin...

the.TEACHING

Dan Hauss goes REALLY in-depth with everything. I was also glad to see Dan Hauss in action when he performed some of the effects. He explains EVERYTHING you'll need, and he takes you step-by-step with the construction of the gimmicks, and set-ups you'll need to get into each effect. Dan Hauss also throws in a few tib-bits of humour throughout the video.

the.VIDEO

RESTLESS is all put together in Papercrane format, which is FIRST CLASS. I also wanted to note that I am a fan of the music that runs throughout the download. Also, I wanted to say that Volume 2 runs at 2 HOURS.

the.EFFECTS

Jumping Jacks- An old school classic gets the Dan Hauss treatment, the cards get a little funky on this one, cards switch places, they change, they have a party. Extremely visual card magic.

*Jumping Jacks is a 'Sandwich' & 'Transposition' effect. Dan teaches both a GIMMICKED and NON-GIMMICKED VERSION.

In order to perform the GIMMICKED VERSION, you'll need to obtain a few gaffs, so with that said, the GIMMICKED VERSION cannot be examined (the cards, that is). Although I am a fan of Jumping Jacks, I was not a fan of the GIMMICKED VERSION of Jumping Jacks - I feel that there's too much movement and handling going on... but it's going to take some practice to get down perfectly.

Now let's go into the NON-GIMMICKED VERSION. It pretty much plays out just like the GIMMICKED VERSION, except in the NON-GIMMICKED VERSION, the selection can be signed, but there's a downside, you can't do the transposition aspect. So in all, the NON-GIMMICKED is just a sandwich effect.

I would prefer performing the GIMMICKED VERSION, but the complex workings is a little too much, but I do like the visual aspect of the transposition. Do I see myself performing this? Hm... only time will tell.

Refilled- Dan's way to turn a ordinary gas station coffee cup into a utility item for making items appear in an empty cup.

*Two methods are taught, gimmicked and impromptu- The gimmick may be time consuming, but the end result is worth it. After time making the gimmicks should be a breeze, but the overall construction and performance are very easy.

Both of them have the same overall look of the effect, but both have their pros and cons. For example, impromptu method: can be signed and the gimicked version: more natural looking.

You will likely have all the needed items to perform this effect, if not they are easy to get a hold of and are very common. Now, this is a time and place for this, but the reactions you'll get from this effect are amazing and mind-blowing; empty cup, shake and their card is now found inside. Very practical in any coffee and cafe shop.

The angles can be a problem for some, but with the right confidence and management you can easily control them to make it comfortable for you.

3C- A red backed card changes to blue one corner at a time. Finally a insanely visual color change made for real world performance.

*You'll need 2 gaffs to perform 3C - they will require some minimal tweaking, and the set-up will take only 10 seconds. This is another visual piece from Dan Hauss. What I didn't like is how the the creased card isn't introduced as to why it's creased or why it's there to begin with. But Dan states this is more of an idea, meaning, play around with it yourself and see what you can come up with it.

Laced- Dans very popular effect for making a card appear on your shoelaces.

*You’ll need two (2) items to make this effect work. You probably own both and also use them quite often, if not they can be easily purchased. Dan tells you how to set-up the gimmick; the method behind this is very ingenius and will work with most shoelaces.

It took me about 10-15mins. To set this up, because I was following along with the video, but after doing it a few times you’ll be able to do it in 2mins. You can set it up in the morning and walk the entire day with the set-up. It also creates a great illusion. You can only do this once with the set-up, but can reset it. Also, Dan teaches you how to perform this twice if asked again to perform or if wanting to perform for a later performance.

v1- Here the card is selected and “thrown” to have “penetrated” the shoelace. This one requires a basic sleight that maybe some aren’t comfortable doing.

v2- Here instead of it being thrown, the card is mixed into the deck. Which he then springs the cards and the selected card now is linked onto the shoelace. There is a problem he hopes doesn’t happen during performing, but teaches a way to make it a little bit cleaner.

v3- Same as Performance Two, but using a gimmicked card to make it a lot safer and cleaner to perform. Also, he mentions instead of springing the cards a fan can be performed to link the card.

v4- This is a torn corner version. Where the card is selected, corner is torn, card mixed back in deck, and the cards are thrown at the shoelace, where the card is now linked. Probably the best version taught on the video. This is more of a convincer and yes it’s the actual corner.

Broke Band Mountain- This is another awesome contribution to the always growing number of great magic effects you can do with rubber bands. A rubber band is broken by a spectator and in a snap (pun intended) it is restored. This is just as great magic should be simple, visual and easy.

*I am slightly a rubberband-magic fan, although they're not a staple effect of mine, but I do wear rubberbands around my wrist... so this seemed up my alley. VERY simple and VERY visual, I like it.

TNR Creamer- Ever wanted to have a spectator tear off the label of coffee creamer, completely empty the contents of the creamer just to have it restored by you? No, well if you get the urge here's an extremely clever method for making this effect extremely convincing.

*I really won't go into this one, as I don't really drink coffee that much. Dan, again, teaches you TWO VERSIONS; one STANDING VERSION and one SITTING VERSION. Both play as a nice, "back-in-time" plot. But there's no plans for me to perform this, at this time.

Growing Straw- Just like the title says, a borrowed straw grows to twice its size and shrinks to its original size before it is handed out for examination. You have to see it to appreciate the strength of creating a giant straw in an impromptu setting.

*A nice visual and 'impromptu' piece of magic - perfect for restaurants. The gimmick will cost you less than 5 cents and this is VERY, VERY simple - a caveman could do it. The only "downside" is you can't be able to perform this with a clear straw. The gimmick can easily be carries and can be used over and over again, and if you want to make another, it'll just take you 2 seconds.

the.CONCLUSION

Well, those are my initial thoughts on Restless - Volume 2 so far. 3 years behind-the-scenes and I have to say, this was worth it! At the end of the video we see a few funny scenes with Dan and the Papercrane crew. Like I said before, I'll be updating this weekly. So, out of V2, I enjoyed 3C, Broke Band Mountain, Growing Straw and Laced. So 4 out of the 7 effects included, not bad at all. As you can see, I got more out of V2 than I woulnd't have. To go inside the crazy, and creative mad-man mind of Dan Hauss was a very nice treat. I'll give V2... 7.5/10.

the.LINK

http://papercranemagic.com/restless.htm

Oops - Double Post

Reserved for Vol. 3

This set should be named "Dan Hauss Cutting S**t With Scissors".