Street Cups, Street cups and Balls book By: Gazzo and Simon Jackson

The Effects: The cups and Balls as performed by Gazzo

The Cost:$50.00 dvd+book Combo

Penguin Magic publishers

Difficulty= 3 or 4 depending

Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only

Review. I will review each Item in this Combination

First and Foremost this has to be the best Magic dvd I own in terms of production Values. High quality menus and navigation. There are three full live performances on the dvd that make the cost of the dvd worth it even though its the mostly the same routine all three times. I would recommend watching the technical side of the vidoe first. The tech explanations offer good coverage of all aspects of Gazzo's routine for the cups and balls. From the pouch to the table and even the quality of the cups Gazzo uses. I would highly recommend this dvd even though it employs some of the more common sleights for the cups and balls. Gazzo states in the book that he believes simpler is better. Both the dvd and the book give you reviews and details of all his working equipment. The unfortunate thing is that the props if purchased together would cost well over $600 dollars all together. So this doesn't really offer a good in, for getting started in street magic unless you have that kind of money to spend to begin with. But however it does offer enough practical advbice that you may be able to devise your own routines to get started in street magic. The dvd alone to me is worth the $50 dollar price tag. Its seems to me very educational in there are more than just the cups and balls to learn here.

The book is great in combination with the dvd. I read the book entirely from cover to cover before even viewing the dvd. The book offers practical advice and show the sleights employed for Gazzo's Routine. He also talks about the ups and downs of performances, he offers cautions and details for handling hecklers, he also has a very comedic way of writing which to me makes the book that much more enjoyable. Overall this material in both the dvd and book combination is well worth the money. I would take what you can from the routine and make it your own. Not only did this book offer wonderfull advice and show the interactions Gazzo has with his crowd but it also inspired me to try and devolop my own routine, not just in the cups and balls but in other effects as well. Any time I feel inspired by my purchase of magic items then I would have to say it has value and I got my full moneys worth.

Highly recommended. There is so much info to be gained from this set that I couldn't possibly fit it all into my review of this product.

Woderfull material, that wouldn't suprise me if it started turining street magicians into Gazzo Clones. Why be a clone though, take what you can from this book and apply it to your performance and you may just have a recipe for success, so go get em kid, now get out there and make Magic

Great review!

Trust me, Gazzo doesn't want clones any more than we do. Only Gazzo can get away with the lines he uses. However, the DVD focuses heavily on the moves, not the jokes. The natural pauses for gag lines are built into the routine. How you filll in those gaps is up to you.

I would like to see Penguin offer A few various degrees and somewhat comparable cups for getting started. All the really awesome cups start at about 300 bucks. I will purchas soem of that caliber at some point but I would like a good alternative to start and practice with before I make that kind of investment, Alunim cups are just craps atleast all the ones I have run into so far, they don't have the correct wieights to them. But my cup purchas ewill be a long term thing so maybe I'll just save the money and get good quality cups the first time. Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

Be patient, help is on the way.